I must admit that I'm a little bit disappointed with your overconfident answer. First you've said, that you had no success with getting kids interested than you say that team needs no help at all and know enough to make the best possible programing course.
You know, the question "how to teach people and get them interested" is one of the most nontrivial questions at all. There is very vivid branch of science that is constantly trying to improve methods and approaches. Maybe, if the profile of this project is rather self-learning, you should write an e-mail to one or two authors of the best self-learning books or interactive courses. They usually like to talk about their work. Don't be arrogant, this is a very difficult problem.
I've read the whole discussion. Filtered out the horrible part, I realized that you didn't even asked yourselves some crucial questions like: Is it more instructive to make step by step tutorials or give exercises witch demand searching for answer in docs? Or maybe at first like this and then like that. And what do you mean by "rewarding"? What is this reward? Pure knowledge? Understanding? Benefit in game? Benefit later? What's the palyer's motivation? You assume that he want to play or to learn? Does he make exercises for fun or because this game was recommended by Polish Ministry of National Education as a teaching aid for learning the basics of algorithms and object-oriented programming? He want to automate boring part of the game with robots? He likes remarkable features of robots like instant knowledge of position of everything even if it is hidden somewhere on the giant map or the great precision to use robot as measuring devices, universal compasses or just having absolute power on them? Or he don't even know yet? Should you inform him about possibilities of usage in game or let him discover them by himself?
Now, these are not simple questions. I don't expect you to answer them right away. I don't know an answer to any of them. Those questions are not all that one can pose. I know that this is very hot topic in your team so I'm maybe stirring up a hornets' nest but I think your team is really awesome and I love what you've done with Gold edition. I think that YOU are the right persons to answer those hard questions and you will. You feel this game as no one else and my suggestion to ask someone was because my questions is just one point of view. All my experience are private lessons and that's not much. (But i've managed to interest someone uninterested once) I think that there are better questions to be asked than mine and tips to get but the final decision on shape of this course is yours - Terranova Team. And' thats the best part. Just don't treat it too lightly.
Also i advice to consult with real life teachers because there are things trivial for you, experienced programmers that you might not even know that can be hard at the beginning. When you understand such ideas as monads or programming in logic, old and familiar ideas might seem very natural end obvious. Only someone with huge experience with teaching actually know what is problematic for students at the beginning.
Best wishes,
Karol
Edit:
@Simbax, I've just read your posts in shoutbox and some of my objections seem completly missed right now. I can see that you don't treat it too lightly and you are not arrogant. I'm sorry for that words.
You know, the question "how to teach people and get them interested" is one of the most nontrivial questions at all. There is very vivid branch of science that is constantly trying to improve methods and approaches. Maybe, if the profile of this project is rather self-learning, you should write an e-mail to one or two authors of the best self-learning books or interactive courses. They usually like to talk about their work. Don't be arrogant, this is a very difficult problem.
I've read the whole discussion. Filtered out the horrible part, I realized that you didn't even asked yourselves some crucial questions like: Is it more instructive to make step by step tutorials or give exercises witch demand searching for answer in docs? Or maybe at first like this and then like that. And what do you mean by "rewarding"? What is this reward? Pure knowledge? Understanding? Benefit in game? Benefit later? What's the palyer's motivation? You assume that he want to play or to learn? Does he make exercises for fun or because this game was recommended by Polish Ministry of National Education as a teaching aid for learning the basics of algorithms and object-oriented programming? He want to automate boring part of the game with robots? He likes remarkable features of robots like instant knowledge of position of everything even if it is hidden somewhere on the giant map or the great precision to use robot as measuring devices, universal compasses or just having absolute power on them? Or he don't even know yet? Should you inform him about possibilities of usage in game or let him discover them by himself?
Now, these are not simple questions. I don't expect you to answer them right away. I don't know an answer to any of them. Those questions are not all that one can pose. I know that this is very hot topic in your team so I'm maybe stirring up a hornets' nest but I think your team is really awesome and I love what you've done with Gold edition. I think that YOU are the right persons to answer those hard questions and you will. You feel this game as no one else and my suggestion to ask someone was because my questions is just one point of view. All my experience are private lessons and that's not much. (But i've managed to interest someone uninterested once) I think that there are better questions to be asked than mine and tips to get but the final decision on shape of this course is yours - Terranova Team. And' thats the best part. Just don't treat it too lightly.
Also i advice to consult with real life teachers because there are things trivial for you, experienced programmers that you might not even know that can be hard at the beginning. When you understand such ideas as monads or programming in logic, old and familiar ideas might seem very natural end obvious. Only someone with huge experience with teaching actually know what is problematic for students at the beginning.
Best wishes,
Karol
Edit:
@Simbax, I've just read your posts in shoutbox and some of my objections seem completly missed right now. I can see that you don't treat it too lightly and you are not arrogant. I'm sorry for that words.