Trinket.io is shutting down.
I'm kind of bummed. It doesn't seem possible to spin up your own version on a local server so I need to decide what to do for fifth grade python programming by the end of the summer.
The head of IT put me on to trinket... I didn't like that it was an IDE in a browser. But It was clean.
Please don't tell me "just install linux on 300 chromebooks."
That would be nice, but it's not in my control. I could ask IT to add apps to the the chromebooks however.
@futurebird you're not going to like this but maybe you can install something like Termux on those chromebooks and teach the students to use nvim 😜
Probably not, though. Learning Python AND a totally different way to edit text would be tough for most students, although for a few it might be great.
What I could use is an app, that is in the "google play store" that you can buy, or is free... with no ads (non-negotiable about the ads, this is for school)
That was kind of an all in one python compiler and text editor.
On mac, python is in the command line and I use "thony" or other IDEs to work with it (or terminal if I want to scare the children)
But what do you do on a got dang chromebook?
I don't need to run big programs. Just turtle and scripts.
I made the seniors in advanced CS use ONLY terminal for a whole week and got a "thank you" letter from one at college.
"everyone thinks I'm a hacker this is amazing"
Yes, it is that easy I suppose.
One of my sixth grade student **tattled on me** to the IT head because "she was hacking" (using terminal)
He just rolled around laughing for a full min.
@futurebird @alter_kaker no clue what your after, other than that Chromebook environments have a ton of apps to search through
https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/python-playground/jfippgilnpggpddhmfjaaecadnfhcopa
JupyterLab is OK but it's much more busy and confusing than trinket.io which was perfect for fifth graders *without* limiting them much if they wanted to try to do some real coding.
It's a fine line.
There are websites that let you execute python online. Perhaps there's on that is specialized for students in a classroom.
This one has ads so you may not want it:
https://www.online-python.com/
I'm trying to get away from browser apps because they can change or be shut down at any moment.
Though we may end up just hoping to another service like this.
Codidad can be run on your own server and students can go to a url and they'll get a python ide. But there's no command line.
I'll ask my son the HS math teacher if he knows of anything.
@futurebird @alter_kaker Pydroid 3 sounds like it might be what you are after.
Free version has ads, but you can purchase a subscription which removes that. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.iiec.pydroid3
Would a hosted Jupyter instance work? It lets you write Python in a browser, run individual snippets, and see the output, and pass state from one snippet to the next.
DataCamp[1] has a nice hosted version that provides databases and things. Apparently if you get in contact with DataCamp Donates they offer free subscriptions to schools.
[1] Disclaimer: my partner works for them.
@futurebird would a teaching-specific language with a web IDE work? Something like Pyret?
@futurebird I don't know how much freedom you have but I taught a one week course on just general coding but we used python, and i have resources here:
https://moosadee.gitlab.io/courses/camp_creative_coding/index.html
We did some various web tools.
@futurebird
https://pyscript.net/
https://www.online-python.com/
Search python in browser and try some more... there are kinda too many options.
another option would be to set up jupyterlab on a server and let the kids work with jupyter notebooks.
@dlakelan @futurebird It looks like real-time collaboration (RTC) in marimo notebooks is still in the works:
https://deepwiki.com/marimo-team/marimo/6.1-real-time-collaboration
They do already have cloud-hosted notebooks https://docs.marimo.io/guides/molab/
I guess my original post is kind of unclear. What I'm trying to get away from are web apps.
That's what I mean by "I didn't like that it was an IDE in a browser."
Though we may land on something like this if I can't find a better alternative.
Can the chromebooks do android apps?
Because there's kind-of linux as a free app.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.termux
Though I don't feel like vim or emacs is the best choice for an editor for learners.
I also found microrepl which offers micropython for android on f-droid, then I searched for it on google play.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=micro.repl.ma7moud3ly
Stuff that's FOSS enough to be on f-droid, usually doesn't include ads.
I thought you wanted something you can "spin up on your local server". That would be JupyterHub for example. you could have even like a dell desktop machine in your classroom as the Jupyter Hub server, then everyone gets their own connection to a separate Jupyter Notebook, and they can write text and run code inline in the notebook.
@futurebird @dlakelan I don't know if Marimo notebooks might help with your usecase.
They are Python files. They can be run in a web browser, but don't have to be.
@futurebird
https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/9145439?hl=en
most modern Chromebooks can have a Debian environment set up with a small number of menu clicks. from there you could install Python and emacs or maybe vscodium. likely your IT dept will need to enable the developer options on your kids machines which they may not want to do. the Debian system is fully sandboxed and can't harm the chrome base OS.
That is a bummer!
Perhaps one of these could help?
https://help.pickcode.io/docs/transition-from-trinket/
Google Colab (Totally get it if if you'd like to avoid Google)
@futurebird even if a solution in the browser is not ideal, I wanted to mention https://posit.cloud/
Maybe there are even ways to install positron on Chromebooks, but I don't know how easy that is.
@futurebird EDIT: Whoops, commented before spotting your post about steering away from web apps. Sorry about that!
Hmmm, how about a Jupyter notebook that runs entirely in the browser?
https://jupyterlite.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
Students don't need to install anything, you can just point students to a web page you've customized with each lesson's material. Since it sounds like each student's browser is identical, debugging the environment should be straightforward.
Details on customization are here:
https://jupyterlite.readthedocs.io/en/stable/howto/content/files.html
@futurebird
Remember when Replit let you run a web IDE for free? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
If you want/need to use another browser-based IDE, then CodeSkulptor3 might be your best bet, although programs with multiple files seem... difficult. Not impossible though. Trinket recommends Pickcode in their announcement. I haven't tried it.
If an Android app would be better, then apps like Micro REPL, Acode, or Squircle CE are all open source and at least let you edit python code, although for the latter two I'm not certain they're able to run it (although they probably still can). Pydroid seems more powerful, but I'm unsure how much they'll push their paid features.
I think Chromebooks have a Linux layer you can enable without changing the user experience otherwise, which would let you use the normal programs. But I'm not sure you could convince IT to enable it, or if performance would be good enough under it.
Since Trinket is going to open source their code anyway according to their announcement (and they're shutting down in early August), most likely someone in the community (possibly you) will be hosting a version by the time the next school year starts. They might let you have the necessary files early if you ask. The worst they can say is no.
@futurebird Don't know if it's something appropriate to your teaching, but last year I saw an excellent talk by Felienne Herman's, the creator of the Hedy programming language https://hedy.org/ . This guides young students through different levels of complexity onto full fledged Python.
You can watch her talk here, as she obviously explains it much better than me (it's video 15 in the playlist, you might enjoy the other talks as well!) https://pairprogramming.ed.ac.uk/winter-school-25/
I also recommend her article "A Case for Feminism in Programming Language Design" https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3689492.3689809
Attached: 1 image Last year's shutdown of @[email protected] was a blow to my pedagogy. Glitch was ideal for creative coding classes and workshops. I looked around for alternatives. But there was nothing that was open, decentralized, and not at the mercy of VCs or Big Tech. So I built my own. Here's Glitchlet. Glitchlet runs on any shared hosting service (e.g., Reclaim Hosting). If you can run WordPress, you can run Glitchlet. Projects-in-progress are stored in the browser's local storage, but you can also one-click publish to make them public and remixable. Glitchlet is designed with educators in mind. There's no single, primary Glitchlet that everyone uses. The idea is that every instructor installs their own Glitchlet and manages their own classes/workshops/projects. You can seed your instance with template files, or Glitchlet can easily import projects (including archived Glitch .tgz files). Making something so easy to install and host has trade-offs, of course. No fancy pants Node or React projects, but Glitchlet works beautifully with HTML/JavaScript/CSS. No live collaboration, but you can still remix published projects. Best of all—you're in control and not subject to the whims of some startup that suddenly decides to "sunset" a key pedagogical tool. Glitchlet is alpha now, but its code will available to all very soon!
myrmepropagandist
Marc Trius
kessler herd immunity
Thanasis Kinias
Michael Reese
fraggle
Solarbird 
Warden
Shar(yna)Tran/Shark(aeopteryx)
Alien software, human hardware
CM Thiede
Steve Leach
Sean Lynch
ginoputrino
Grant_H
David Chisnall (*Now with 50% more sarcasm!*)
Kanenas
Max Leibman
Andy L.
Lewis LaCook
Jonathan E. Magen 🇮🇱🇺🇦☮️
b
Moos-a-dee 🫎
Daniel Lakeland
DrDatta
Diane
Dusk to Don 
Roger Schürch
hjhornbeck
Kevin
Nicola Romanò
John-Mark Gurney
Fugue State Machine Moto