Sugar Summer Program/Massachusetts Field Trip

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We have scheduled a field trip to Massachusetts to visit some technology sites and learn and work with people there.

This page is a collaborative planning site for this trip.

Rough Schedule (getting polished)

Adjustments or additional suggestions welcome.

Monday 10 August

  • Drive to Boston (Fred, Wesley, & Karlie from Rochester; David arriving separately)
  • ~5 pm - Check in to Hostel, http://bostonhostel.org/about.shtml
  • 6:00 pm - Bus to Harvard Square (25 minutes)
  • 7:00 pm reservations - Dinner out with Mel Chua at John Harvard's Brew House, learn the T, etc.
    • Pre-dinner - Introductions and Reintroductions
    • Dinner and post-Dinner topic - "What we've learned as OLPC/Sugar Labs students about working in the FLOSS environment as RIT students, co-ops, and associates" (a small group self-evaluation session, with Mel Chua as sole guest beyond the 6 in our group)—A serious topic for dinner, so we will punctuate the discussion with food and drink to ease our inhibitions and anxiety.
      1. Why we enrolled
      2. Questions we haven't asked
      3. Difficulties we've encountered
      4. Personal learnings, such as dealing with our own and other's lack of knowledge or skill.
      5. How we would change the experience based on all the above
    This should give us a good sense of our expectations, limitations, and potentials for the time ahead of us.

See this Teaching Open Source wiki page for a report of our Friday workshop that followed up on the ideas raised in this discussion.

Tuesday 11 August

  • 10 am - Visit MIT Museum, http://web.mit.edu/museum/
  • 1 pm - lunch on or near campus
  • 2 pm - Review field trip plans and schedule
  • 2:30 pm - Conference room session, or classroom or administrator session with Caroline.
  • 5 pm - Quit for dinner & evening plans (TBD)

Wednesday 12 August

  • 9:30 am - Museum of Science, Cahners Computerplace exhibit, http://www.mos.org/exhibits_shows/current_exhibits&d=232
  • 12:30 am - Lunch at museum or nearby
  • 2 pm - Conference room sessions, "Our projects - let's help each other. Problems we've had and need help with" (guests welcome)
    • Community Interactions - David Farning
  • 5 pm - Quit for dinner & evening plans (TBD)

Thursday 13 August

  • 11 am - Return to Flagship Computer Clubhouse with kids (open 12 to 3 pm) for workshop with Caroline and Sugar on a Stick session
    • Math Quest review with clubhouse children - Eric Mallon & Tyler Bragdon
  • 5 pm - Quit for dinner & evening plans (TBD)
  • Evening: New England Aquarium (time permitting)

Friday 14 August

  • 10 am - Red Hat visit in Westford, MA with Luke Macken and Mel Chua
    • Peek at working life at Red Hat in Westford
    • Technical discussion - Author's tour of Live USB Creator
    • Lunch nearby
  • afternoon

See this Teaching Open Source wiki page for a report of our Friday workshop.

  • evening plans - open

Saturday 15 August

  • 10:30 am - Teotwawki Net demonstration - William Schaub (remote) & Fred Grose
  • Free time
  • evening plans open

Sunday 16 August

  • Return home

Monday 17 August

  • Wesley, Fred, David, Karlie back in Rochester (Adam Holt welcome to join, if available)
  • Rest and visit Genesee River falls and pier, Abbotts, etc.

Tuesday 18 August

  • RIT visits with Professor Jacobs (Adam Holt welcome to join, if available)

Possible Adjunct meetings


Hoping others can offer some suggestions and support.

Participants

  • Frederick Grose, Rochester, 10 - 18 August, room for 3 others at my house in Rochester, room for 3 others in my car.
  • David Farning, Wisconsin, , room with Fred in Rochester
  • Wesley Dillingham, Rochester, ride with Fred, if needed has a car available to bring as well.
  • Tyler Bragdon, Boston,
  • Karlie Robinson, Rochester, One room to share at her house near RIT (must not mind kids and dogs), car we can use for travel to Boston
  • Eric Mallon, Statham, NH,

Background

We were planning to take a field trip to Boston, MA this summer with our Sugar Summer Co-ops, to visit some of the technology destinations and preferably overlap with some Sugar Labs or OLPC project or event. Perhaps we could arrange to provide ourselves as work resources for several days to one of Caroline's projects or something else yet to come to mind. We called this idea a 'work & tour' party or crew.

  • The remote co-ops have not had the opportunity for an "around the summer campfire" experience, and this would be a goal for the trip for all the rest of us too. Dave Farning will join us to extend his Sugar Labs and OLPC event experience (and I think he will have some good stories and thinking to share).

There may be some awkward issues though:

  • Project teams may be uncertain of the benefits of "hosting" a short-term 'work & tour' party or crew in a project that is still forming a stable base. It may not be a good idea and turn out to be a distraction because it's hard to define expectations. Not knowing what practical service or resource we could provide in a few days of service, makes it hard to generate interest. We would look at it like campground trail maintenance or kitchen patrol--an indirect learning and load-sharing opportunity.

Questions from those who can't attend

  • Will you be encouraging people to record/photo/video what they see?
    Wes will bring his digital camera and help with documentation.
  • Will there be field survey tools used, i.e., a prepared questionnaire for those running labs, etc.?
    We will bring this up with Keith Simmons at the Flagship Computer Clubhouse.
  • Does everyone have business cards?
  • Is the success of the trip measured by fun or productivity? If productivity, how will that be measured?
    By learning, which we categorize as both fun and productive. Watch for growth in knowledge, character, and resources for the community.
  • How many instances will you be able to observe of young/naive users of Sugar / OLPC?
  • Will anyone be blogging/vlogging the trip? If so, will they post their links here?
    There will be some kilogging here on the wiki.
Thanks for your contributions.
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