Earning badges

After sitting through a PAINFUL advanced scripting class where a minority of the attendees occupied all of the time on subjects such as what an integer is and the like, I would like to propose a system by which you would be able to receive "badges" for successfully completing intro classes.

My getting these badges, you'd qualify to attend advanced classes ( maybe basic, beginner, intermediate, advanced would be the levels )

That way, when I go to a class to learn something new, I would be able to actually learn something as opposed to waiting forever for us to actually get into the meat of the tutorial.

I have experienced this in every advanced class that I have attended and spoke to a number of other members and instructors in 2L who also believe this to be critical if these advanced level tutorials are to be successful.

Thanks!

Underway. Look out for advanced classes and the prereqs soon.

FYI many of these classes may be run independently of the standard instructor agenda and will not be free. There will likely be registration, prereqs, and a minimum attendance number. Teaching an advanced class adeptly requires real world skill...it's work.

If you're curious, the first class I have in mind is object permissions. How to lock, detect, etc.

"Badges? We dont need no stinking badges!" (lol sry had to put that up, its from a old movie by mel brooks - Blazing Saddles) But it sounds like a good idea sketch.

lynn

hehehe...didn't think of it from that perspective.

I thought diploma/course completion was a little too heavy....although having to finish scripting 101 before taking 201 might be an idea!

It's a tad more flexible too.

I think prerequisites are a great idea.

Off topic:



The line is originally from the 1948 movie Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Mel Brooks was making a humorous reference to it when he quoted the line in Blazing Saddles.

No it would be a stupid idea...
Some people who are already programmers can learn the scripting by themselfs.
But maybe they have one question that they want to ask on the class. Would be stupid to let them attend the basic class first...

Perhaps, but then there's a new market for people to build "testing" faciities that test basic knowledge and award a badge at the end for some kid of fee.

It's not the programmers coming in and asking one little question that I'm trying to prevent here ( because, odds are that they have the sense to ask someone who knows via IM ). It's the people who are way over their depth and derail training classes for those who REALLY want to get to learn scripting better without the constant interruptions of those who don't know the basics.

Prereqs are never stupid; don't think of them as being a shot at your ability to code. The lsl scripting environment is not Java or VB, it's proprieatry. Two half hour/hour classes of basic walkthroughs would serve even a hardcore programmer well.

Advanced syntax might look like, "then we pull the key with the llDetect functions out of the touch_start integer argument, set the kPlayerKey global value to that detected key, pass execution to the 'locked' state, and use kPlayerKey as the condition for unlocking the door on touch in that state so only the locker can unlock it....furthermore, if you add <xxx> you can create a form of access list so that only certain people have the ability to lock it in the first place...here's a variation to set that list dynamically by voice commands, so now you have to set up llListen in the default state's entry event..."; it would be unfair to others to have to review the basic concept of states, the events they contain, types and variable scopes, and where to find documentation. Or to discover that you'd rather be playing Plinko.

Overall, the intent isn't to hear, "I didn't know how that worked but now I do," it's to hear, "I was aware of it, but didn't know it could be used that way."

I agree on the need for some pre-req system. I have tought exactly one Advanced scripting class, and I feel sorry for Ope. He showed up and waited patiently to get one question he wanted answered. Most of the class was spent talking about where { and } go in relation to the rest of the code.

That is good information to know, but it is definatly beginer stuff not advanced. I had my notecard with all the lines I was going to say to teach the class and I basically had to ditch it. And the lesson lasted about an hour and a half.