KACP Revival Proposals

Overview

Hello there, thanks for visiting this post and showing interest in the Revival project! It has become apparent to some native programmers that the Khan Academy Computer Programming (KACP) section has been having issues ever since Pamela left. Some issues are outlined in the following paragraphs, as well as brand new features that should make a big difference.

To fix these problems, a dedicated group of former and current KACP users have come up with a list of solutions to the problems. To make these become a reality, this request needs your support! Please read through the following paragraphs outlining the biggest issues, or use the “Too Long Don't Read” (TLDR) for quick skimming.

Live Editor

TLDR: Allow submissions of Pull Requests, turn into community project for everyone, support ES6 syntax, better Oh Noes error coverage.

The Live Editor and its version of Processing.js has many bugs (there's a ton of issues on GH) and shortcomings. Many of the bugs could be fixed with ease, even by volunteers, but KA is no longer accepting pull requests on GitHub. KA includes the Live Editor in their list of Open Source projects, but won't accept help. This needs to change!

If KA turned the Live Editor into more of a community project that welcomed community requests and encouraged their more advanced members to try to help with it, we're confident the bugs would be fixed much quicker and shortcomings addressed. KA has a wealth of experienced and advanced programmers using their site, and taking advantage of that seems logical. Reviewing these changes wouldn't be a problem if a few developers set aside some time to make sure the changes worked and are beneficial.

The Live Editor needs to support ES6 syntax, which is basically a more updated version of JavaScript. The current version is ES5, and the Intro to JS covers the basics of this version. If ES6 is supported, a new course or updated course teaching the syntax will need to come with it. Volunteers would gladly offer their time and expertise to construct this course!

Lastly, Oh Noes guy needs to have better coverage of errors, that make more sense to the coder. This is especially true when working with object methods. Make sure there is a "show me where" option for all errors.

New content

TLDR: New coding courses, demand is high, need new Computing Lead, teach how to use real world tools.

Many learners find that real world computer programming is quite different than programming on KA. They are missing many real-world skills, and to remedy this KA should add more courses on other languages like C, Python, and Java, as well as a course on ES6, and keep these courses updated with the times. The KACP section of the site could now teach people how to make basic desktop, mobile, and web apps, something they can do professionally!

The demand for new courses has been high, one of the most requested features on the KA Help Center. This graph shows a random sample of 57 requests just from the Help Center:

This obviously means there needs to be someone who makes the tutorials, helps build new Live Editors, and monitor the courses. This would have been Pamela Fox, but she left as we all know. If KA is serious about investing in programming and wants to make new content, they need a new Computing Lead. (Jett, a member of the Revival, is very interested in this position.)

The new curriculum could also include basic articles that teach skills like using GitHub and a real text/code editor (Sublime, VSC, Atom, etc). We say basic because the purpose of this would just be to teach them the basics so that they can decide what kind of development they want to pursue, and then recommend off-site next steps and courses for them to pursue that type of development (Udemy, Udacity, SoloLearn, etc). That way they're set up for success in the real world of development, and have had a chance to decide what they want to pursue through basic tutorials on KA.

Contests

TLDR: Bring back contests and Golden Winston badges. Allow learners to submit contest ideas and appoint a trusted group of users to judge/create new competitions. Appoint/hire a new Computing Lead.

A really great way to revitalize KACP would be to bring back the official contests. This would add healthy competition to the community, and encourage people to make the highest quality programs they can. There would be more of a balance for webpage and SQL contests though, so that all the courses are regularly studied instead of just one. Golden Winston badges would be awarded to contest winners.

Allowing the community to submit contest ideas would be an efficient way to always have new, fresh contest topics, and a select group of KA-approved programmers and curators would pick one. Then the community would submit their contest entries like normal, and perhaps the same group would vote on winners for beginner, intermediate, and advanced brackets. This would be a great way to spark some creativity and excitement.

Speaking of this group of programmers, there should be a new volunteer program that allows trusted, veteran KACP users to become contest judges and creators, who can even give the Golden Winston badges to the winners. As long as the right people are chosen, we think this program would be a very effective addition.

Not much would be different from how Pamela once held the contests, only thing is that there needs to be someone who takes her place as Computing Lead, or at least someone who can do what she did. This could be a trusted volunteer or maybe a real paid employee.

Featured List

TLDR: Group to pick great programs, better motivation to make great programs, featured list badge.

Add a Featured list for outstanding or very creative programs, regardless of votes. This would be curated by another group of KA-approved programmers, or maybe the same group who makes contests.

They would add truly outstanding programs that are original and innovative, and the list would be chronological. This would give more recognition to great programs and programmers, as on the Hot List the best doesn't always rise to the top. This would give the community motivation to create one of the next featured programs.

Like the Hot List's "1000 Kelvin" badge, there should be a new one like "shining star" or something for featured program creators.

Hot List

TLDR: Add tags and ratings to stop voting abuse.

The current system of votes/time is not a very good method of assigning places on the hotlist. As demonstrated by subscription pages, votes/time can be abused by “famous” programmers in order to secure a high spot on the hotlist, whether purposefully or not. With ratings though, this could be fixed since ratings will better symbolize program quality.

There should be tags for different types of programs (Games, Graphics, Web pages, Tutorials… etc) that users can add to their program. This will allow programs of different varieties to get noticed, since there will be Hot Lists for each of the categories. Here is an example of this. The recent, featured, and top lists should be all tags combined.

Rating System

TLDR: Replace the current voting system with ratings.

Currently, when a KACP user thinks a program is good, they vote it up. When they think a program is great, they vote it up. When they think a program is absolutely incredible, they vote it up. This leads to the decent programs receiving just as many votes as absolutely incredible programs.

This problem can be fixed by replacing the old voting system (which only allows users to express that they like or don’t like a program) with a rating system, to better determine program quality. One way this could be implemented would be a 3 or 5 star rating system: users could select 1 star for okay, 2 stars for decent programs, and 3 stars for good programs, 4 stars for great programs, and 5 stars for amazing programs. This would cause users to think before they rate, instead of instinctively clicking the vote-up button.

Thanks for reading through all that, means a lot! If you agree with any of the ideas or have some of your own, please let us know in the comments below. Also, vote up the post if you like the proposals, votes on Zendesk mean a lot!

Link to our brainstorming document, a lot more info is there:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nZRZn3W5m5hCykxrRBdqqkz79dT8KdjmuUk0-Fkld3k/edit#

dingjon

September 30, 2017 00:16

Hopefully this will work :)

ANC

September 30, 2017 00:34

For lack of anything better to say, Go Revive!! I'm proud to be part of this group and I support 100%

TheLuckyRobot

September 30, 2017 00:40

Yay!

Squishy

September 30, 2017 01:20

I really hope this gets noticed! If I worked at Khan Academy I would be sure to implement these amazing ideas.

#Revive

Alex Tayler

September 30, 2017 02:17

I completely support Revive. One way all of us can help, even those who are not well known in the community, is to give more attention to the programs that are made. I love the community and it would definitely be a huge loss if the programming section of KA went away :)

Academic Ninja

September 30, 2017 05:13

I'm in! Also, I would like to suggest a new Top List, because right now it is virtually impossible to get any program on the Top List, because the programs there have so many votes.

SilverCat

September 30, 2017 07:21
Edited

Though it is a nice idea, I can still see the Rating System being abused. I feel that some people will give a program they really like a high rating, regardless of whether or not it deserves it. For this idea to work you are relying on people to think critically. As large majority of the community are very young and I am not sure they are capable of this.

Exploring Programming

September 30, 2017 08:48

Revive!

thegeicogecko

September 30, 2017 12:43

-6

Maybe you could make a type of programming building blocks/puzzle pieces, like Scratch does, in which this programming is highly based off of Java. This could help people to understand programming better.

Mitrue®

September 30, 2017 12:53

Totally support you Jett.

Chris A.

September 30, 2017 14:06

I totally agree with Jett. I've had similar thoughts for a long time on how KA needs to update their current compiler and content and the rest of the KACS department. Go revival!

xacer

September 30, 2017 15:29

Yes! I totally agree with revive, and I think they should add a python course or a c++ course. I think that even if Khan Academy does not have any staff members who code in one of these languages, they should let users make tutorials. I know a lot about python, and I would love to help!

#2 Joke Proponent #Revive

September 30, 2017 15:51

I am not a well known programmer, and not that good for that matter, but I am changing my name, and if you need support I can give it to you. Why don't you round everyone that is supporting it into one program, so you can bring it to the Khan Academy Staff. I agree with almost everything, and funnily enough, about two years ago, I didn't even understand the hello world command xD. I do now, but the only reason I was unaware of this is because I learned using the Khan Academy's library. You have a steep, steep battle, but I hope that I among other users can help revive the CS community...

ThingsNotSeenYetProgrammers

September 30, 2017 16:08

Revive is Awesome =)

Joseph Mullan

September 30, 2017 19:09
Edited

I Cant wait to Revive To Become A Reality

Finally Fixing Oh-Noes

Bringing Back Golden Winston Badges

And I Am Very Interested In Python And Lua

Voting System Change That Would Be Very Nice Although

All The Programs On The Vote's List will Reset And Everybody Know's There Are Some Really good Programs On The Votes List It Would Be A Shame To Remove Them From The List

XSwerbensky #Revive

September 30, 2017 19:50

I support Revive! Also, I believe that a random program list, while possibly too much work to implement, could be added using the same tag system that you proposed with the Hot List changes!

Quackerton

September 30, 2017 21:25
Edited

There are things here that are realistic and things that probably are not but I support progress and there are some good idea's here. I like the part about making top programs more visible and a more in depth voting system. There are ppl here that are way beyond amateur but I'm not sure if KACS want's to provide more than a basic education. I also think that they strive to provide a structured and "standard format" education. Too many fish in the pond and it will be hard to maintain that. An online c compiler would be awesome but i don't think it's very feasible. Also it's going to take a lot more than talk to get this done, It's going to take donation $$$. Even if they wanted to open things more to the community it would take a hired KA employee to implement and maintain it. I've also always felt as if this community was kind of hidden from KA. A newbie to the programming lessons may not even notice it. That make's me think that either they're not really interested or they don't know that to do with it.

I support the revieval but We'll see what change actually happens.