[off-topic-ish] do you prefer LC-related content as books or video courses?

[Tore Nilsen]

Hi Andre!

As others have pointed out, whether to go for a text based or a video based course, very much depends on your target audience. I like Richards proposal of using LiveCode as the framework for a course. This way you can in fact utilize the strengths of both formats. You can present most of the course as text, and with a good search function and a good index, it can in many ways work better than a traditional printed text.

The real benefit is that you can also add video wherever this will provide an added value. If the course are a beginners course, video can work well when you demonstrate how to use the IDE and how to build a UI for an application. Remember that shorter videos are better. Also, video works best for demonstration of concrete actions. You can further enhance the effect of being able to use both text and video by adding each step of the video as text as well.

If you are to show script as video, remember to give the viewer plenty of time to study each line of code. I find that when I show my students something on the whiteboard, they very often think that I am to quick, and that I move along to fast. It is also advisable to keep the screen as clutter free as possible, only show code that is part of the command/function you are writing at the moment. If the students get lost during the presentation, it is very hard for them to get back on the right track (or line as it were) if they have to distinguish between different parts of your code.These are hard learned facts after teaching high school students how to use LiveCode in computer science classes for the last seven years. 

Just as important as the format you choose to deliver your course are the content of your course. From my experience as a teacher I would suggest that you distinguish basic skills from intermediate and advanced skills. I have run into trouble trying to rush things in my classes from time to time.

Best wishes and best of luck.
Tore