[ShamelessC]

> but I’m taking the product name “Github Classroom” seriously. Maybe it should have been named “CSLab”.

I also was confused about the scope they are going for with this. My initial assumption was that since it's GitHub, it's probably mostly for coding lessons. I read your comment though which implied it could be used for more generic lessons and I mistakenly assumed you had used the offering and had more info about it than me.

> Github/Gerrit workflows seem ideal for these types of collaborative projects

Are you suggesting complicated version control could be useful for e.g. some group of teens doing a 6 paragraph research paper in their social studies class? Again, that is just...so bizarre. That has an even lower chance of being easy for teachers or students to use than markdown.

> conclusion from your feedback is that a Google Docs-like WebUI is a requirement and my question switches to when is it appropriate to peak under the covers and see the plumbing.

That's totally valid. The difference between manually editing markdown and using a GUI toolbar is all that it takes for me to approve of the idea really. If there's a way to make the underlying format be markdown and still maintain the broad appeal of Docs/Word then I think that sounds great!

[sradman]

> Are you suggesting complicated version control could be useful for e.g. some group of teens doing a 6 paragraph research paper in their social studies class?

Yes, kinda. I am suggesting that revision history is a powerful tool. The concept of change control has long been a staple of science and engineering. So yeah, I see a group of teens working on a a three file project, Report.md, TODO.md, and Links.md very useful. The complicated part I could live without but using non-standard tools is not desirable either.

If there is a WebUI then it simply looks like a Wiki with file history.

[ShamelessC]

Yeah I'm fine with that proposal as well. I think that existing wiki solutions could do what you suggest. I'm not sure if any wiki systems use git as a sort of backend and I have a feeling that a database is better suited to the task. I think you might be overestimating the need to revert to older versions to more than the level of specificity that something like Time Machine or File History provides. I also think that merges and diffing aren't necessary or useful compared to the collaborative simultaneous live editing features that Docs has.

I understand and completely agree with the core premise you're getting at here though. You want mainstream collaborative learning using proven open source tools and formats either directly or as a backend of sorts.

I thought the idea of students using git or markdown directly was silly but there is merit to using those as the backing structure for a more user friendly (and hopefully also open source!) frontend.