> I only make them use Notepad for a day or two. My goal is that they understand that nothing magical is happening. This makes sense. > I do have auto-complet

> I only make them use Notepad for a day or two. My goal is that they understand that nothing magical is happening. This makes sense. > I do have auto-completion turned off I also agree with this. I'm not going to start a debate over the topic, but I believe its benefits are best exploited once they are least needed. With regards to choice of editor: I don't know your district's rationale, but I personally wouldn't want to encourage use of an editor that they would have to purchase to use at home and get the same experience---it's not necessary in our field, and there are many good alternatives. Your choice was a good one. I can't speak for the editor (though I have co-workers that use it for light editing), but it is free/libre software---proprietary editors would send mixed signals, saying that it's great to be curious and learn, to share code with others, to modify your software to suit your needs and help your friends...except when others tell you that you can't. Don't impose limits on their ability to learn and explore. :)