[MWForum]books

[Wendy Petti]

I have a few remarks on the matter of MW books:

1) From what I understand, after the early versions of MW, LCSI made the
decision to focus on software itself rather than on printed manuals and
supplementary resources.  Sharon Yoder (not affiliated with LCSI) wrote
several books on MW 2.0 which are now out of print.  I bought them but did
not find them as helpful as LCSI's early print materials.

2) I believe I've read recently that LCSI has recently produced a book on
MicroWorlds EX, but I can find no mention of it on their site or anywhere
else.  Perhaps it is still in production.  (Also, MW EX comes with more
helpful resources built into the software, including tutorials and
projects.)

3) After Jim Muller wrote "The Great Logo Adventure" (which focused on
MSWLogo but much of it is applicable to all versions of Logo), he mentioned
on the LogoForum list that in the future he would stick to electronic
distribution of Logo writings.  And his book did become available for free,
electronically, a year or two after it was published.  I think part of his
reasoning for shying away from print resources in the future is that it
takes so long to bring a book to market and by then one wishes to make
changes.  As Ray points out, state-of-the-art computer software and related
information is typically distributed through the Internet, and I'm sure that
the main reasons are the ease of distribution and the ease of updating
information.

4) I agree that sometimes print materials are the easiest to use and to
refer to, although perhaps that's only because we are all still adjusting to
the world of electronic information.  But I found it a huge help, years ago
in the days of MW 1.0 and the first MW 2.0 for Mac, to refer to the print
resources packaged with the software, including step-by-step projects.
(Prior to that, I valued the old Logowriter activity cards.)  I believe that
some of these resources were included electronically in later versions on
the CD but I don't think they are any more.  I wonder if LCSI might consider
placing some of these early MW resources in downloadable version on their
website.

5) I'd like to remind you that OpenWorld Learning has been developing a
collection of online MW resources at the MicroWorlds in Action site -
http://mia.openworldlearning.org.  The project folders there guide users
through building related projects of increasing complexity.  The
"educational context" materials in the Resources area give some background
on the "Logo philosophy" and ideas on using MW in a constructivist computer
lab.  We would welcome your input and contribution of ideas, articles, "how
do I" tips, etc., as we continue to build this online MW resource.

Wendy Petti
OWL's MicroWorlds in Action
http://mia.openworldlearning.org
Math Cats
http://www.mathcats.com


> -----Original Message-----
> From: mwforum-admin@lists.mathcats.com
> [mailto:mwforum-admin@lists.mathcats.com]On Behalf Of Ray Catzel
> Sent: Sunday, March 07, 2004 6:05 PM
> To: mwforum@lists.mathcats.com
> Subject: RE: [MWForum]books
>
>
> I believe the best resources for MicroWorlds is via the Internet - and why
> not, since that is the medium through which any state of the art computer
> software will distribute and publish information.
> --------Ray Catzel