Free Educational Software that teaches student computer
programming in a 3D environment Computers used to keep
businesses on track, assist doctors with complicated surgeries
and even develop life-saving combinations of drugs. The demand
for computer programmers has never been greater, yet there has
been a 50-percent drop in the number of computer science majors
over the past seven years -- especially among women. A new
program uses the lure of animated movies to entice young
students. The sky should be the limit for someone imagining a
future in computers. But how do you light a fire under an
aspiring student? Find a way to make it fun. Computer scientists
at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a revolutionary new
way to teach the basics of computer programming called "Alice."
Instead of using Java -- the computer language with lots of
numbers and punctuation -- "Alice" relies on three-dimensional
figures placed in a storyline. "We like to refer to it as Pixar
in your garage. It's 3-D characters, but it