Google Code In 2015

This is the project page for the Sugar Labs application to Google Code In 2015. Sugar Labs community members: please feel free to add tasks below. We'll do an edit before final applications are due the first week of November 2015.

Message to potential participants

It is important that you obtain permission of your parents.

Es importante que obtengas el permiso de tus padres para participar.

https://developers.google.com/open-source/gci/resources/contest-rules

Please see the Contest Rules for Eligibility and Registration process.

https://developers.google.com/open-source/gci/resources/contest-rules

Details regarding the required forms and paperwork are here: Google Code In 2015/Participate#Students.

Also, you will likely need to set up the Sugar development environment. See http://developer.sugarlabs.org/dev-environment.md.html for details. Further information about contributing to the project can be found here: http://developer.sugarlabs.org/

Please don't hesitate to ask questions on our irc channel (#sugar on irc.freenode.net) or on the sugar-devel list: sugar-devel AT lists.sugarlabs DOT org

Why we are participating

Sugar is written and maintained by volunteers, who range from seasoned professionals to children as young as 12-years of age. Children who have grown up with Sugar have transitioned from Sugar users to Sugar App developers to Sugar maintainers. They hang out on IRC with the global Sugar developer community and are full-fledged members of the Sugar development team. It is this latter group of children we hope will participate in and benefit from Google Code-in. Specifically we want to re-enforce the message that Sugar belongs to its users and that they have both ownership and the responsibility that ownership implies. Just as learning is not something done to you, but something you do, learning with Sugar ultimately means participating in the Sugar development process. At Sugar Labs, we are trying to bring the culture of Free Software into the culture of school. So the Code-in is not just an opportunity for us to get some tasks accomplished, it is quintessential to our overall mission.

Some background from GCI

[See https://developers.google.com/open-source/gci/resources/getting-started]

Open Source Fundamentals

You can contribute without being a coder! You do not have to be a coder to contribute to open source. There are many different skill sets needed to help an open source community thrive:

Documentation

If you are a good writer and enjoy attention to detail then you might want to contribute by writing or editing documentation. Documentation is a huge part of a successful open source project. Organizations need documentation to help attract new contributors as it helps them see what the codebase looks like and where things are and what the plan is for the project.

Research

An organization may need help crunching numbers or sorting through pages of documents to better understand what the users want or need. There are many different types of tasks that students could work on that are very important to the health of the project.

Outreach

If you have an outgoing personality and like being around and talking to people, take a look at the outreach tasks. Outreach tasks often include hosting meetups in your local community or creating a plan on how people around the globe can host a meetup about the project in their local communities.

Training

You could create a YouTube video discussing a new feature of the project or maybe some basics on what the project does so people who haven’t heard about it can understand the project and get involved.

User Interface

User interface can include many types of tasks including designing new aspects of a webpage or creating a new logo for the project. It may also include various accessibility opportunities to help make the project easier for people who are blind.

Other

If you have an idea that may help an organization, reach out to them and let them know! Sometimes the best task is one that the organization hasn’t even considered yet.

Collaboration

Open source is not just about coding but working with other people to find the best solution. Being a part of the community is an essential part of success in Google Code-in. Mentors tell us every year that their best students were the ones who worked hard on their projects but also participated on IRC and helped answer questions other students had.

Quality over Quantity

It’s not about being the student who completes the most tasks, that only gets you to the top 10 to be reviewed, it doesn’t mean you will be a grand prize winner. We have had quite a few students who completed the most tasks for their organization yet were not named as Grand Prize Winners because they did everything solo and didn’t get involved in the community or think about the health of the project as a whole, they just kept completing task after task like a machine. If you actively participate in the community then you not only feel the camaraderie that comes with working as a team but you become committed to making the project better for everyone.

Some basics about Sugar Labs

For some basics about the project, see Chapter 4 of Learning to Change the World.

Getting started with coding

Sugar development is in either Python or Javascript.

• You will need knowledge of Python and GTK (See http://python-gtk-3-tutorial.readthedocs.org/en/latest/);
• or Javascript/HTML5;
• and then the basic of Sugar development (See http://www.flossmanuals.net/make-your-own-sugar-activities/);
• and to have a Sugar development environment running (See http://developer.sugarlabs.org).

Please note that you must run pep8 and pyflakes on your code before submitting your patches.

Getting started with GIT

Some knowledge of git is important as your work will be submitted to our git repository (https://github.com/sugarlabs). The basic mechanism is a pull request (PR), which is detailed in [1].

GitHub provides a tutorial (See https://try.github.io/levels/1/challenges/1), although there are many others as well.

Note that our bug tracker is http:bugs.sugarlabs.org.

Tasks

Note: This is our preliminary list of tasks. We can add more as the contest progresses.

Mentors: please feel free to add more tasks and/or add yourself as a potential mentor to an existing task.

Tasks must fall within one of these five categories: #Documentation/Training; #Outreach/Research; #User Interface; #Quality Assurance; and #Code.

Beginner Tasks

We have several tasks that are targeting people new to Sugar and Sugar development. You are only allowed to complete two beginner tasks.

Title	Description	Hours	Mentor	Tag
Install the Sugar development environment	Following the instruction at [2], set up the Sugar development environment. Submit a screen-shot of the development environment running to complete this task. You can get help on our irc channel should you run into any difficulties.	48	all	beginner
Install Sugar in a virtual machine	If your intention is to focus on documentation and training or outreach, then you may want to install Sugar in a virtual machine. Following the instructions at [3][4][5], set up the Sugar development environment. Submit a screen-shot of the development environment running to complete this task. You can get help on our irc channel should you run into any difficulties.	48	all	beginner
Create an example program in Turtle Blocks	We distribute examples with the Turtle Blocks programming environment. Create your example -- some art, some geometry, some multimedia, a simple game -- to be included with the package. Deliverable is a Turtle Blocks project file to be reviewed by Sugar Labs designers and educators. (Use either the Python version bundled with Sugar or the Javascript version at Turtle Blocks JS)	48	all	beginner
Create an example program in Music Blocks	We distribute examples with the Music Blocks programming environment. Create your example -- some music (and art) -- to be included with the package. Deliverable is a Music Blocks project file to be reviewed by Sugar Labs designers and educators.	48	all	beginner
Create a simple machine in Physics	We distribute examples with the Physics Activity. Create a simple machine we can include in the examples collection -- some interesting mechanical device. Deliverable is a Physics activity project file to be reviewed by Sugar Labs designers and educators.	48	all	beginner

Documentation/Training

Tasks related to creating/editing documents and helping others learn more

Title	Description	Hours	Mentor	Tag
Update the Sugar Labs entry in Wikipedia	The Sugar Labs entry in Wikipedia could use some TLC. Please bring it up to date.	48	Walter	Documentation
Update the Sugar Labs wiki page on git	The Activity Team/Git Tutorial is out of date: we have migrated to GitHub. Please update the page to reflect the GitHub workflow. See http://developer.sugarlabs.org/contributing.md.html for more details	48	Walter	Documentation
Turtle Blocks Programming Guide	Extend the Guide to Programming with Turtle Blocks to include more examples.	48	Walter	Documentation
Music Blocks Programming Guide	Extend the Guide to Programming with Music Blocks to include more examples.	48	Walter	Documentation
Turtle Blocks Classroom Guide	Write a guide on how to use Turtle Blocks in the classroom -- a manual for teachers who might want to engage in programming. Please consult with a classroom teacher when creating the guide.	96	Walter	Documentation
Music Blocks Classroom Guide	Write a guide on how to use Music Blocks in the classroom -- a manual for teachers who might want to engage in programming with Music. Please consult with a music teacher when creating the guide.	96	Walter	Documentation

For information about how to create help pages for activities

http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Activities/Help/Contribute

https://github.com/godiard/help-activity/blob/master/source/restructuredtext.rst

https://github.com/godiard/help-activity/blob/master/source/collaborating.rst

Outreach/Research

Tasks related to community management, outreach/marketing, or studying problems and recommending solutions

Title	Description	Hours	Mentor	Tag
Turtle Art Day	Organize a Turtle Art Day in your community. Details at [6]	96	Walter	Outreach
Promo Video	Create a 60 second promotional video on Sugar and its community.	96	Mariah	Outreach
Hangout Q&A	Host a Question and Answer (Q&A)/Information session about Sugar on Google Hangouts. Invite friends, family, peers, as well as academic and community leaders.	96	Mariah	Outreach
Local Lab Wiki	Create/update a "Local Lab" page for your area/country. Fill in the page with information on the Sugar community in your area. This could include contact information, mailing lists, events and any other information that may be relevant.	96	Mariah	Research
How-To Guide	Create a guide for how to host your own DIY Sugar on a Stick party. The guide should include at least two promotional item designs (like a sticker, brochure, flyer). Feel free to change the name to something else.	96	Mariah	Outreach
DIY Sugar on a Stick	Organize and host a Sugar on a Stick party where you show people how to make their own Sugar on a Stick. Then, hold a workshop on the basics of using Sugar. Take pictures to document the experience. Post a blog about it.	96	Mariah	Outreach
Potential Users	Gather information on who could benefit from using or knowing about Sugar. Look at non-profit organizations, academic institutions, the home-school community. Build a database including contact information, website URLS, social media profiles, and any other relevant information.	96	Mariah	Research
Sugar Tools & Resources	Find the resources that people are using throughout the world to learn about or teach Sugar Activities. This can include manuals, teacher guides, YouTube videos, blogs, etc. Document what type of resource it is, the URL for the resource, the target audience of the resource and whether it is up-to-date.	96	Mariah	Research
Introduce Yourself	Write a blog post about why you are participating in Google Code-In, what you hope to learn from the GCI and how Sugar Labs can help you. Include a picture. Share blog post through social media.	48	Mariah	Outreach
Interview a GCI Peer	Interview another Sugar Labs GCI participant. Ask them questions about how they are selecting/completing tasks, any successes/struggles they are having, etc. Post on participant blog. Share blog post through social media.	48	Mariah	Outreach
Interview an Educator	Find an educator who is using open-source educational software to teach. Interview the educator about their experience as an educator and why they are using open-source software to teach. Post about it on the blog, include a picture. Share the blog post through social media and with the educator.	48	Mariah
Review an Activity	Write a review about an Activity in Sugar. Explain how you use it, what kind of project you could do with it, any bugs it might have, etc. Post your review. The review can be a video review or a written review with screenshots. Share the blog post through social media.	48	Mariah	Outreach
Women in the Sugar Community	Create a 10-minute presentation celebrating at least three women within the Sugar community and/or the open-source community at large. Write a blog post about what you learned when making this presentation and include a link to the presentation.	48	Mariah	Outreach
Wrap-Up	Write a blog post about your experience as a GCI participant for Sugar Labs. Share your thoughts on what was successful and what can be improved for next year's participants. Feel free to include pictures, videos, links to work that you are most proud of. Share the post through social media.	48	Mariah	Outreach

User Interface

Tasks related to user experience research or user interface design and interaction

Title	Description	Hours	Mentor	Tag
Icon design for Music Blocks	The icons used for the main toolbar in Music Block don't "sing" to me. This task is to design better icons both in terms of expressing the intention of the button and visual engagement of the user.	72	Walter	UI, design
Save file design for Music Blocks	Since Music Blocks programs don't always create artwork, when you save the project, there may be no corresponding image to associate with it. This task is to design a default graphic to use in such cases.	72	Walter	UI, design
Classroom collaboration	Sugar provides tools for sharing and collaborating among students, e.g., peer editing of texts, chat, group programming, etc. Survey the list of collaboration-enabled activities and categorize them by whether they are learning utilities, classroom management utilities, communication, games, etc.	72	Walter	UI, pedagogy
Classroom management 1	Sugar provides only a few tools for classroom management, e.g., the Share With Teacher webservice. Survey classroom services that run either as web services or native in desktop environments.	72	Walter	UI, pedagogy
Classroom management 2	Sugar provides only a few tools for classroom management, e.g., the Share With Teacher webservice. Which of the results from the Classroom management 1 task would be useful to incorporate into the Sugar ecosystem? Evaluation should include s description of the service and a sketch of how the user interaction would work.	72	Walter	UI, pedagogy
Sugar on a small screen	Sugar was originally designed as a desktop environment for small computers. But these days, many children have access to smart phones rather than computers. This task is to make some sketches as to how Sugar might be redesigned for a smart phone form-factor. A series of annotated sketches should be made as part of completing this task.	72	Walter	UI
Programming on a small screen	We put an emphasis on programming in Sugar. One popular programming environment is Turtle Blocks. Recently we made a Javascript version that can run in a browser (and hence on a smart phone). How should the UI change to accommodate that form-factor? A series of annotated sketches should be made as part of completing this task.	72	Walter	UI
End-user customization	We try to encourage our users to re-imagine Sugar as they'd like it. Users can change the icon layout, the background screen, and the XO avatar. What else should be made easier to customize with minimal programming?	72	Walter	UI

Quality Assurance

Tasks related to testing and ensuring code is of high quality.

Title	Description	Hours	Mentor	Tag
Behavior diff for Turtle Blocks JS	Turtle Blocks JS is a Javascript port from the Python version of the activity. The goal of this task is to document any differences in behavior between the two versions.	72	Walter	QA
Unit tests for JS activities	We have no unit tests for our Javascript activities. This task is to investigate approaches to unit testing in Javascript	72	Walter	QA
Test Sugar on a Stick	Help test the latest Sugar on a Stick on Fedora (F21). See [7], [8] #fedora-qa (freenode IRC). Deliverable is a report of the major Sugar features, e.g., desktop, journal, collaboration, and the core activities, e.g., Write, Browse, Turtle, Chat, Speak, etc.	48	Satellit	QA, SoaS
Interview a teacher	Ultimately the quality of our work is determined by our end users. Interview a classroom teacher who is using Sugar and solicit feedback about what works, what doesn't.	72	Walter	QA
Interview a student	Ultimately the quality of our work is determined by our end users. Interview a student who is using Sugar in school and solicit feedback about what works, what doesn't.	72	Walter	QA

Code

Tasks related to writing or refactoring code

Title	Description	Hours	Mentor	Tag
Turtle Confusion in Javascript	Turtle Confusion presents 40 shape challenges to the learner that must be completed using basic Logo-blocks. The challenges as based on Barry Newell's 1988 book, Turtle Confusion: Logo Puzzles and Riddles. This task is to implement Turtle Confusion within the framework of the JavaScript version of Turtle Blocks.	72	Walter	Code, JavaScript
Music Blocks Play Backwards Feature	Issue 58 describes a new feature: play the notes backward.	72	Walter	Code, JavaScript
Music Blocks Export Matrix as HTML file Feature	Issue 57 describes a new feature: export the note selection matrix as HTML.	72	Walter	Code, JavaScript
Music Blocks Matrix highlight Bug	Issue 56 describes a bug regarding highlighting the matrix	72	Walter	Code, JavaScript

Unsorted tasks

Sugar enhancements from bugs.sugarlabs.org

Each of these open tickets is potential task-worthy.

Ticket	Description	Type	Component
1646	No way to force-close (kill) an activity	enhancement	Sugar

Sugar bugs from bugs.sugarlabs.org

Each of these open tickets is potential task-worthy.

Ticket	Description	Type	Component
4307	clipboard.set_with_data/set_with_owner is not introspectable	defect	Sugar

Activity enhancements from bugs.sugarlabs.org

Each of these open tickets is potential task-worthy.

Ticket	Description	Component
758	Port to new tube API	Read

Mentors

NOTES TO MENTORS

Please refer to Google Code In 2015/Participate#Mentors for details regarding enrolling as a mentor.

Please add yourself to the list below.

Feel free to add new tasks to the table above.

Depending on the project, we will assign multiple mentors from our various development and support teams.

• Walter Bender - also org admin for GCI
• Sam Parkinson
• Ignacio Rodriguez
• German
• Amit
• Martin Abente
• Mariah Noelle Villarreal
• Gary Servin Cardozo
• Rajul Srivastava