Changes

Sugar Labs goals for 2017.

Sugar Labs goals for 2017.

''[This is a draft based on proposals made on the [http://www.mail-archive.com/iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org/msg17778.html IAEP email thread] started on April 9th.]''

''[This is a draft based on proposals made on the [http://www.mail-archive.com/iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org/msg17778.html IAEP email thread] started on April 9th plus the [[2016 Goals|goals identified on 2016.]]]''

''[See [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fvR8Qr3CVI_n8ccho0dEW81hvAhgoWmJJl6ACgDvBNY/edit Sugar Labs Goals] for another shared editing document started in that thread.]''

''[See [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fvR8Qr3CVI_n8ccho0dEW81hvAhgoWmJJl6ACgDvBNY/edit Sugar Labs Goals] for another shared editing document started in that thread.]''

==Mission==

==Mission==

''[Our Mission is the responsibility of the Board; any changes to the Mission must be passed by the Board.]''

''[Our Mission is the responsibility of the Board; any changes to the Mission must be passed by the Board. Here is the Mission from the Board in May 2017:]''

Sugar Labs^® is a volunteer-driven member project of Software Freedom Conservancy, a nonprofit corporation. Originally part of the One Laptop Per Child project, Sugar Labs coordinates volunteers around the world who are passionate about providing educational opportunities to children through the Sugar Learning Platform. Sugar Labs® is supported by donations and is seeking funding to accelerate development.

Sugar Labs is a volunteer-run project whose mission is to reach global learners and educators with a collection of tools that enable them to explore, discover, create, and reflect in their local language. Sugar Labs distributes these tools freely and encourages its users to appropriate them, taking ownership and responsibility for their learning.

 

<!-- if you really think the mission should change, copy and paste it below this line, with a new heading ==Proposed Mission== so that the existing mission can be kept in context for people contributing to this document -->

==Vision==

==Vision==

==Context==

==Context==

''[A current and historical context to guide the goals, objectives and actions listed above.  This text is modified from what Walter Bender posted on sugar-devel@ in response to request.]''

''[A current and historical context to guide the goals, objectives and actions listed above.  This text is modified from what Walter Bender [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/sugar-devel/2017-April/054050.html posted] on sugar-devel@ in response to request.]''

===What is Sugar Labs?===

===What is Sugar Labs?===

===Who supports Sugar?===

===Who supports Sugar?===

A very cool team of volunteers takes care of our infrastructure such as the wikis, mailing lists, code repositories, localization platforms, etc. The organizational rules are constantly crafted by the team at the Sugar Labs Oversight Board.  

A very cool team of volunteers takes care of our infrastructure such as the wikis, mailing lists, code repositories, localization platforms, etc.

 

Organizational rules and financials are constantly crafted by the team at the Sugar Labs Oversight Board.  

Sugar Labs was envisioned as a supporting platform for multiple “Local Labs”—hence the name “Sugar Labs”, plural—support in terms of local-language localization, training documentation and customizations. This model is growing slowly as there are some active local communities (e.g., Educa Paraguay, OLPC France, Sugar Labs Colombia and Sugar Labs Perú) that continuously work closely with their communities while contributing to the upstream project.   

Sugar Labs was envisioned as a supporting platform for multiple “Local Labs”—hence the name “Sugar Labs”, plural—support in terms of local-language localization, training documentation and customizations. This model is growing slowly as there are some active local communities (e.g., Educa Paraguay, OLPC France, Sugar Labs Colombia and Sugar Labs Perú) that continuously work closely with their communities while contributing to the upstream project.   

===What is next for Sugar?===

===What is next for Sugar?===

We face several challenges at Sugar Labs. Since we are serving children's needs, with a particular focus on children in the developing world, we must adapt to their real needs as much as possible. Quality assurance for all our products must be an obsession. Frequent feedback from field, feeds developers and inspires them to upgrade their prototypes..

We face several challenges at Sugar Labs. Since we are serving children's needs, with a particular focus on children in the developing world, we must adapt to their real needs as much as possible. Quality assurance for all our products must be an obsession.  

With the ebb of OLPC, we have a contracting user base and the number of professional developers associated with the project is greatly diminished. How can we expand our user base? How can we keep our more experienced developers? Why would they want to work on Sugar as opposed to some other project? The meta issue is how do we keep Sugar relevant in a world of Apps and small, hand-held devices? Can we meet the expectations of learners living in a world of fast-paced, colorful interfaces? How do we ensure that it is fulfilling its potential as a learning environment?  How do we ensure that it is fulfilling its potential as a collaboration tool?

With the ebb of OLPC, we have a contracting user base and the number of professional developers associated with the project is greatly diminished. How can we expand our user base? How can we keep our more experienced developers? Why would they want to work on Sugar as opposed to some other project? The meta issue is how do we keep Sugar relevant in a world of Apps and small, hand-held devices? Can we meet the expectations of learners living in a world of fast-paced, colorful interfaces? How do we ensure that it is fulfilling its potential as a learning environment?  How do we ensure that it is fulfilling its potential as a collaboration tool?