James Ambach

Tactile programming: a unified manipulation paradigm supporting program comprehension, composition and sharing

Although visual programming techniques have been used to lower the threshold of programming for end users, they are not sufficient for creating end user programming environments that are both easy to use and powerful. To achieve this, an environment must support the definition of programs that are not just static representations of behavior, but are instead dynamic collections of program objects which can be applied in a number of contexts rather than just a program editor. We describe an approach to end user programming called tactile programming which extends visual techniques with a unified program manipulation paradigm that makes programs easy to comprehend, compose and, most importantly, share over the World Wide Web. Tactile programmings inherent ability to support the social context in which programming takes place along with its ability to ease program comprehension and composition is what differentiates this approach from others. In the context of the Agentsheets programming substrate, we have created an instance of a tactile programming environment called Visual AgenTalk which is used to create interactive simulations.

The agentsheets behavior exchange: supporting social behavior processing

In end-user programming it is still hard to overcome the tension between usability and expressiveness. Some end-user programming approaches focus on simple use but they make it hard or even impossible to write programs expressing useful functionality. Other programming approaches can be very expressive by allowing the construction of arbitrary complex programs but this expressiveness comes at the price of usability. End user programming approaches that are at least reasonably usable and expressive at the same time require not merely a syntactic improvement of programming languages but a new way to conceptualize the programming process in a social context. Social behavior processing describes the idea of elevating programming components to the level of easily composable and decomposable entities that can be shared through the World Wide Web with a community of end-users. The Agentsheets Behavior Exchange is outlined here as a forum for end-user programmers, including middle school kids and professionals, to (a) compose behaviors in order to create interactive SimCity™-like simulations and games, to (b) comprehend behaviors created by other users or by themselves, and to (c) share these behaviors with other users.

Learn to Communicate and Communicate to Learn

Thinking of a computer as an educational tool emphasizes a solitary interaction between the learner and the computer. A tool is something that is applied to an object in order to change it, and this usually implies a single user working on a single object or project. While tools are an important aspect of an educational experience, the tool metaphor can isolate individual learners from each other and from their teachers instead of cultivating a sense of educational community. Reconceptualizing the computer as a constructionist medium increases the computers educational value, by allowing the development and support of communities of learners. As a medium, the computer is viewed as a collection of tools and capabilities that are used to communicate. This reconceptualization leads to a new class of computer applications that places constructionist activities within a more social context in which computers simultaneously provide opportunities for learning how to communicate as well as for enabling communication to enhance the learning experience. Computers are a particularly interesting educational medium, because not only do they allow communication via more traditional media (e.g. text, pictures and video), but they also enable the communication of ideas through the creation and sharing of computational objects (e.g. agents, simulations and analysis tools). As these computational objects become easier to create, share and combine, the educational opportunities afforded by the computer become more viable and effective. This article describes the AgentSheets system and its use as a constructionist medium in K-12 and university educational settings. Specifically, AgentSheets supports the social creation of SimCity-like interactive simulations by providing an environment for the definition and sharing of computational components, called agents, through the World Wide Web. Reviewers: Mary Beth Rosson (Virginia Tech.), Josie Taylor (Open U.) Interactive elements: The Agentsheets Behaviour Exchange is on the web, two simulations from which are embedded as Java applets. Video clips are also provided showing LEGOsheets applications in use. Interactive demonstrations:Agentsheets, Visual AgenTalk and the associated Behaviour Exchange are at http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~l3d/systems/agentsheets . The FishTank and Adding Machine simulations are embedded as Java applets (requiring a Java-aware Web browser ), and two video clips can be viewed of LEGOsheet applications in use (requiring a QuickTime player ).

Remote exploratoriums: combining network media and design environments

Abstract In an educational context, World Wide Web clients such as NCSA Mosaic® are of limited value because they put learners in the role of information absorbers. Drawing on a museum analogy, learners using Mosaic can be perceived, similar to museum visitors, as passive observers of exhibits. Despite the richness of exhibits in terms of the amount of information as well as the use of multimedia, activity is restricted to navigation through real (museum) or hyper (Mosaic) spaces. More effective learning would include constructive activities that are more engaging than just browsing information spaces. Distance education could be improved by augmenting network media with design environments to create remote exploratoriums that encourage highly interactive, engaged learning experiences. In contrast to classical museums, exploratoriums, such as the one in San Francisco and several childrens museums, feature hands-on learning exhibits that are not only observed but can be actively manipulated. The Agentsheets Remote Exploratorium is a mechanism to facilitate the easy exchange and distribution of interactive educational exhibits through the Internet. Agentsheets is a programming substrate to create design environments. In this paper, we discuss the implications of combining a network medium and a design environment in order to support distance education.

Participatory theater: interacting with autonomous tools for creative applications

Creating art can be seen as creative exploration through a design space defined by the artist and the tools. Artistic tools such as brushes and chisels are passive, stressing direct manipulation interaction that leaves exploration to the artist. If tools were more autonomous, creativity could be enhanced by allowing the artist to delegate aspects of exploration. We describe a software environment called Agentsheets that combines direct manipulation and delegation into an interaction scheme called participatory theater. The advantages of this approach are described in the context of two drawing applications. Art Pals and Art Dwarves, that involve the computer more actively in exploration. We also explore the utility of participatory theater in the physical world by describing our experiences developing and using autonomous painting robots in conjunction with a professional artist.

Directing pictures with Art Pals

Creating art can be seen as the creative exploration of a design space defined by the artist and his or her tools. Existing artistic tools such as paint brushes, chisels and erasers are of a passive nature stressing a direct manipulation interaction scheme which leaves the exploration process strictly to the artist. If these tools had the ability to be more autonomous, they could assist in the exploration process, possibly discovering things that the artist was unaware of. This poster describes Art Pals, a drawing application which combines passive drawing tools with active, behaviorbased tools in order to create an artistic environment more conducive to creative exploration.