Thanks Sarven, Sounds like you have flesh on very much the sort of thing I was thinking. And in fact you are reporting success too, which is great. And yes, definitely turtle/n3, and even the command line world too! Very best Hugh On 12 Jul 2014, at 13:38, Sarven Capadisli <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 2014-07-12 13:02, Hugh Glaser wrote: >> The other day I was asked if I would like to run a Java module for some >> Physics & Astronomy students. >> I am so far from plain Java and that sort of thing now there was almost a >> cognitive dissonance. >> >> But it did cause me to ponder on about what I would do for such a >> requirement, given a blank sheet. >> >> For people whose discipline is not primarily technical, what would a >> syllabus look like around Linked Data as a focus, but also causing them to >> learn lots about how to just do stuff on computers? >> >> How to use a Linked Data store service as schemaless storage: >> bit of intro to triples as simply a primitive representation format; >> scripting for data transformation into triples - Ruby, Python, PHP, awk or >> whatever; >> scripting for http access for http put, delete to store; >> simple store query for service access (over http get); >> scripting for data post-processing, plus interaction with any data analytic >> tools; >> scripting for presentation in html or through visualisation tools. >> >> It would be interesting for scientists and, even more, social scientists, >> archeologists, etc (alongside their statistical package stuff or whatever). >> I think it would be really exciting for them, and they would get a lot of >> skills on the way - and of course they would learn to access all this Open >> Data stuff, which is becoming so important. >> I’m not sure they would go for it ;-) >> >> Just some thoughts. >> And does anyone knows of such modules, or even is teaching them? >> >> Best >> Hugh >> > > Hi Hugh, > > I teach a few introductory lectures on Linked Data, HTTP, URI, RDF, SPARQL as > part of a Web and Internet Technologies course to students in Business IT at > the Bern University of Applied Sciences. Majority of the students do not have > a developer profile. Focus of the lessons is not about the inner technical > details of these technologies, but via some practical work, what they can > take away: understanding some publishing and consuming challenges for data on > the Web, and potentially communicating problems and solutions to their > colleagues with technical expertise in the future. > > What I have observed: > > * Before going any further, examples on the state of things and the > potentials of what can be accomplished is vital. If they are not remotely > excited, it sets the tone for the remainder of the lectures. > > * At first they do not completely take the importance of HTTP/URI seriously. > "They've seen them, they know" mentality. The exercises around that is about > designing their own URI patterns for their site/profile, and repeating the > importance of "Cool URIs" and what that entails over and over. > > * Majority of the students understand the RDF data model and can express > statements (either using human language or one of the formats). I usually > bounce back and forth between drawing graphs on the board, and showing, > dereferencing, browsing RDF resources, and pointing at people and objects in > and outside of the room. > > * As far as their comprehension for the formats i.e., how to write some > statements that's mostly syntactically valid, Turtle/N-Triples lead the pack. > RDF/XML and RDFa usually turn out to be a disaster. Most do not bother with > JSON(-LD). > > * Once they get the hang of Turtle, they do relatively well in SPARQL. I've > noticed that it is via SPARQL examples, trials and errors, they really get > the potential of Linked Data. Along the way, it appears to reassure them that > RDF and friends are powerful and will come in handy. > > > IMHO: > > Although I welcome them to use any format for exercises and whatnot, I > encourage them to use Turtle or N-Triples. I tell them that learning Turtle > is the best investment because they can use that knowledge towards SPARQL. > However, Turtle comes with a few syntactical "traps" and declarations, that, > I secretly wish that they use N-Triples instead to learn to create statements > for the sake of simplicity. After all, N-Triples is as WYSIWYG as it gets! > > With a blank slate: > > In most cases: I have a strong bias towards *nix command-line toolbox and > shell scripting over alternative programming languages. *Out of the box*, the > shell environment is remarkable and indispensable. The documentation is baked > in. Working in this environment leads to some design decisions as described > in http://www.faqs.org/docs/artu/ch01s06.html. One can do everything from > data processing, transformations, inspection, analysis to parallelization > here. Besides, it is the perfect glue for everything else. > > > -Sarven > http://csarven.ca/#i -- Hugh Glaser 20 Portchester Rise Eastleigh SO50 4QS Mobile: +44 75 9533 4155, Home: +44 23 8061 5652
