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| | ==Sugar Digest== | | ==Sugar Digest== |
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| − | 1. Over the past month I have had the pleasure of visiting Sugar/OLPC deployments in Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Nicaragua, and Peru. Each has been different from the next, but all share a common goal of bringing the opportunity for learning to the children of their communities. I've gotten to spend time with the local deployment teams, teachers, trainers, technicians, government officials, children, and even some parents. Sugar, GNU/Linux and OLPC volunteers and community members has also been present everywhere I have gone. | + | 1. Twitter-style: Hello from [http://www.squeakland.org/squeakfest Squeakfest] in Wilmington, North Carolina. We just had a demonstration of some Etoys projects done by 7th graders; pretty amazing. One student, when asked what she does to keep from getting frustrated said: "Damn computer." But she is an accomplished problem solver. |
| | | | |
| − | I cannot begin to describe the dedication and energy I have observed and what it means to me to see the efforts of countless thousands of volunteers being put into practice.
| + | This is the first conference I have been to in years where the majority of presentors are ''not'' using PowerPoint. Naturally, by-in-large, they are using Etoys for their talks. |
| | | | |
| − | In Nicaragua, the deployment is being run by Grupo Financiero LAFISE BANCENTRO. They are focusing their efforts on the Atlantic Coast, where the needs are greatest. Daniel Drake, who deserves to be knighted for his tireless efforts – he has volunteered in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Nepal, Argentina, Paraguay, and Peru – was in Managua, helping yet another technical team get on top of all of the issues they face in scaling up a deployment. Claudia Urea led a series of discussions with the pedagogical team and I had a chance to hold a workshop on hacking Sugar with the local GNU/Linux community; we covered a lot of ground and managed to submit a patch by the end of evening.
| + | It is great to see how teachers have incorportated the tool into their curriculum and the realities of school: even the kids built "quizes" into their projects. But most of the learning is guided discovery. |
| | | | |
| − | In Peru, I spent time at the ministry of education, giving them an update on the latest from Sugar Labs and discussing with them a strategy for upgrading their XO 1.0 computers while phasing in XO 1.5 machines as well as Sugar on a Stick. The highlight of the trip was a day-long seminar with 1000 teachers from schools in the Lima region. (These teachers will be working with Sugar in the next phase of the Peru deployment.) I gave two presentations: a morning talk on Sugar and pedagogy and an after-lunch demonstration of Sugar (we ate chifa). I had a very good reception, but I was out-staged by the presentation by Sdenka Salas, a teacher from Puno, a city on the shore of Lake Titikaka. Sdenka, as you may recall, wrote a book about Sugar for teachers, ''La Laptop XO en el Aula''. She also hosted Sebastian Silva at a recent Sugar Camp in Puno that made major inroads into translating Sugar into Quechua and Aymara. As usual, I gave my presentation using Turtle Art. Sdenka used Etoys for her talk. Needless to say, the teachers were blown away by seeing the accomplishments of one of their own. It was breathtaking. Victor Castillo ended the meeting with a call for more regional autonomy and sharing among them – a great direction. | + | In many cases, kids use Etoys from a USB drive, so they could take their work home and turn in their homework. |
| | | | |
| − | 2. While in Lima, I got my first look at the OLPC "High School" machine. It is a blue XO 1.5 with a "standard" non-membrane keyboard. The keyboard exceeded my expectations. I am guessing that it will be quite popular with deployments.
| + | Bert Freudenberg showed an eloquent way to make animations in Etoys. I am inspired to finally add animation to my sprite library (the one I use for all of my activities: Turtle Art, Abacus, Visual Match, etc.) "Simply" a matter of adding paths and a timer. Yeah right. |
| | | | |
| − | ===In the community===
| + | Avigail Snir, a teacher from Illinois showed a great example of exploring the modeling of gravity based on a simple basketball simulation. A remarkable thing was her use of a "book" to show the progress of her thinking along the path to discovery – the closest to a "lab notebook" as I have seen with Etoys (or any other learning program, for that matter). Lots more at [http://www.etoysillinois.org/]. |
| | + | |
| | + | Mahnaz Moallem talked about the challenges of making a transition from a well-defined, one best answer, discourage making mistakes classroom into an ill-defined, many answers, making mistakes and developing problem-solving skills classroom. She and her colleagues use extensive use of scaffolding and guiding to help kids stay motivated. Etoys "Flaps" are used for documenting what the kids have done. The consensus among North Carolina teachers at the conference is that there is terrible constraint in the schools in terms of tightly-scheduled problem-based requirements imposed on the teachers. |
| | | | |
| − | 3. [http://www.squeakland.org/squeakfest/about/ Squeakfest] will be held in Wilmington, North Carolina on the 26th–28th of July.
| + | Chandra Roughton posed a tough question: "Is this a model or is it [just] a visualization?" Etoys teachers think and do and demand a lot of each other and their students. What a breath of fresh air. |
| | | | |
| − | 4. There will be a [[Turtle_Art_Day_2010|Turtle Art Day]] at the Arlington Career Center in Arlington Virginia on 7 August. Jeff Elkner's team will be showing off the activity portal they have build for uploading and sharing Turtle Art projects. (It could serve as a prototype for a general Sugar project portal.)
| + | ===In the community=== |
| | | | |
| − | ===Tech talk===
| + | 2. There is a new and improved website describing teacher resources (in Spanish) here: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Recursos_en_espanol |
| | | | |
| − | 5. Chris Ball announced the release of build os206 as the final 10.1.1 release
| + | 3. There will be a [[Turtle_Art_Day_2010|Turtle Art Day]] at the Arlington Career Center in Arlington Virginia on 7 August. |
| − | build for XO-1.5 laptops. Release notes are available at [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Release_notes/10.1.1]. Instructions for installing the release can be found at [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Release_notes/10.1.1#Installation].
| |
| | | | |
| | ===Sugar Labs=== | | ===Sugar Labs=== |
| | | | |
| − | Gary Martin has generated SOMs from the past few week of discussion on the IAEP mailing list. | + | Gary Martin has generated SOMs from the past few weeks of discussion on the IAEP mailing list. |
| | | | |
| | <gallery> | | <gallery> |
| − | File:2010-July-3-9-som.jpg|2010 July 3rd-9th (38 emails) | + | File:2010-July-10-16-som.jpg|2010 July 10th-16th (66 emails) |
| | + | File:2010-July-17-23-som.jpg|2010 July 17th-23rd (36 emails) |
| | </gallery> | | </gallery> |
| | | | |
What's new
This page is updated each week (usually on Monday morning) with notes from the Sugar Labs community. (The digest is also sent to the community-news at sugarlabs.org list, blogged at walterbender.org, and archived here.) If you would like to contribute, please send email to walter at sugarlabs.org by the weekend. (Also visit planet.sugarlabs.org.)
Sugar Digest
1. Twitter-style: Hello from Squeakfest in Wilmington, North Carolina. We just had a demonstration of some Etoys projects done by 7th graders; pretty amazing. One student, when asked what she does to keep from getting frustrated said: "Damn computer." But she is an accomplished problem solver.
This is the first conference I have been to in years where the majority of presentors are not using PowerPoint. Naturally, by-in-large, they are using Etoys for their talks.
It is great to see how teachers have incorportated the tool into their curriculum and the realities of school: even the kids built "quizes" into their projects. But most of the learning is guided discovery.
In many cases, kids use Etoys from a USB drive, so they could take their work home and turn in their homework.
Bert Freudenberg showed an eloquent way to make animations in Etoys. I am inspired to finally add animation to my sprite library (the one I use for all of my activities: Turtle Art, Abacus, Visual Match, etc.) "Simply" a matter of adding paths and a timer. Yeah right.
Avigail Snir, a teacher from Illinois showed a great example of exploring the modeling of gravity based on a simple basketball simulation. A remarkable thing was her use of a "book" to show the progress of her thinking along the path to discovery – the closest to a "lab notebook" as I have seen with Etoys (or any other learning program, for that matter). Lots more at [1].
Mahnaz Moallem talked about the challenges of making a transition from a well-defined, one best answer, discourage making mistakes classroom into an ill-defined, many answers, making mistakes and developing problem-solving skills classroom. She and her colleagues use extensive use of scaffolding and guiding to help kids stay motivated. Etoys "Flaps" are used for documenting what the kids have done. The consensus among North Carolina teachers at the conference is that there is terrible constraint in the schools in terms of tightly-scheduled problem-based requirements imposed on the teachers.
Chandra Roughton posed a tough question: "Is this a model or is it [just] a visualization?" Etoys teachers think and do and demand a lot of each other and their students. What a breath of fresh air.
2. There is a new and improved website describing teacher resources (in Spanish) here: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Recursos_en_espanol
3. There will be a Turtle Art Day at the Arlington Career Center in Arlington Virginia on 7 August.
Sugar Labs
Gary Martin has generated SOMs from the past few weeks of discussion on the IAEP mailing list.
2010 July 10th-16th (66 emails)
2010 July 17th-23rd (36 emails)
Visit our planet for more updates about Sugar and Sugar deployments.
An archive of this digest is available.
Planet
The Sugar Labs Planet is found here.
Sugar in the news
| 23 Jun 2010 |
ABC digital – Xo para todas las escuelas de Caacupé
|
| 21 Jun 2010 |
La Nacion – “Buscamos que los niños no solo usen softwares, sino que puedan crear uno”
|
| 20 Jun 2010 |
UltimaHora.com – La laptop une a padres, alumnos y docentes
|
| 15 Jun 2010 |
The H – OLPC XO-1.5 software updated
|
| 10 Jun 2010 |
engadget – Sugar on a Stick hits 3.0, teaches us about a new kind of fruit
|
| 27 May 2010 |
Pro Linux DE – Sugar on a Stick v3 freigegeben (German)
|
| 27 May 2010 |
NY Times – One Laptop Per Child Project Works With Marvell to Produce a $100 Tablet
|
| 27 May 2010 |
PC World – OLPC Rules out Windows for XO-3
|
| 03 May 2010 |
WXXI: Mixed Media – Interview with Walter Bender (audio)
|
| 03 May 2010 |
Linux Magazine – OLPC Computers for Palestinian Refugee Children
|
| 14 Apr 2010 |
National Science Foundation – XO Laptops Inspire Learning In Birmingham, Alabama (video)
|
| 02 Apr 2010 |
|
| 15 Mar 2010 |
nbc13.com – Birmingham City students opt to spend spring break in class, XO computer camps (video)
|
| 18 Feb 2010 |
LWN – Karma targets easier creation of educational software
|
| 05 Feb 2010 |
iprofesional – La PC barata de Negroponte desembarca en la Argentina para pelear contra Intel
|
| 14 Jan 2010 |
AALF – Open Systems for Broader Change
|
| 03 Jan 2010 |
Educacion 2.0 – PLAN CEIBAL, El Libro
|
| 14 Dec 2009 |
xconomy – Sugar gets sweeter
|
| 10 Dec 2009 |
Ars Technica – Sugar software environment gets sweeter with version 2
|
| 09 Dec 2009 |
Wired – New Sugar on a Stick Brings Much Needed Improvements
|
| 08 Dec 2009 |
engadget – Sugar on a Stick OS goes to 2.0, gets Blueberry coating and creamy Fedora 12 center (video)
|
| 07 Dec 2009 |
Teleread.org – Sugar on a Stick: What it means for e-books and education
|
| 27 Nov 2009 |
CNET Japan – 「コードを見せて、もっと良くなるよ」と言える子どもが生まれる--Sugar Labsが描く未来
|
| 16 Nov 2009 |
zanichelli – software libero a scuola
|
| 12 Nov 2009 |
opensuse.org – openSUSE 11.2 Released
|
| 07 Nov 2009 |
My Broadband News – Mandriva 2010 packs a punch [and Sugar]
|
| 06 Nov 2009 |
GhanaWeb – Open education and an IT-enabled economic growth in Ghana: Musings of a dutiful citizen
|
| 26 Oct 2009 |
Linux Magazine ES – Software Libre como apoyo al aprendizaje
|
| 09 Oct 2009 |
interdisciplines – OLPC and Sugar: mobility through the community
|
| 08 Oct 2009 |
IBM developerWorks – 10 important Linux developments everyone should know about
|
| 01 Oct 2009 |
OLPC France – Interview Walter Bender au SugarCamp
|
| 25 Sep 2009 |
The Inquirer – One Laptop per Child marches on
|
| 18 Sep 2009 |
Groklaw – The Role of Free Software in Education
|
| 18 Sep 2009 |
Reuters – Sugar Labs and Free Software Foundation Celebrate Software Freedom Day
|
| 17 Sep 2009 |
ICTDev.org – Dream Again with One Laptop per Child
|
| 26 Aug 2009 |
Latinux – Azúcar en una memoria USB
|
| 03 Aug 2009 |
Wired: Geek Dad – Inventing a New Paradigm: SugarLabs and the Sugar UI
|
| 30 Jul 2009 |
Zanichelli – Sugar on a Stick: imparare insieme
|
| 23 Jul 2009 |
Everything USB – RecycleUSB.com - Donate your Flash Drives for a Good Cause
|
| 22 Jul 2009 |
OLPC France – Sugar : mauvaise presse et mise au point
|
| 13 Jul 2009 |
Spiegel Online – Das zuckersüße Leichtbau-Linux
|
| 07 Jul 2009 |
ComputerWorldUK – Gran Canaria Desktop Summit: a Study in Contrasts
|
| 06 Jul 2009 |
Windows Forest – USBメモリなどから“OLPC”用のOSを利用できる「Sugar on a Stick」が無償公開
|
| 02 Jul 2009 |
Howard County Library – Sugar on a Stick
|
| 27 Jun 2009 |
Deutschlandfunk – Süßes für die Kleinen: Sugar ist Linux speziell für Kinder (in Deutsch)
|
| 26 Jun 2009 |
EduTech – Sugar on a stick, and other delectables (praise for the lowly USB drive)
|
| 26 Jun 2009 |
Ars Technica – Sugar on a Stick brings sweet taste of Linux to classrooms
|
| 24 Jun 2009 |
BBC – OLPC software to power aging PCs
|
| 24 Jun 2009 |
Technology Review – $100 Laptop Becomes a $5 PC
|
| 15 Jun 2009 |
TechSavvyKids – Episode 10 FOSSVT: Sugar on a Stick (audio)
|
| 10 Jun 2009 |
LWN.net – Sugar moves from the shadow of OLPC
|
| 27 May 2009 |
LWN.net – Activities and the move to context-oriented desktops (subscriber link)
|
| 27 May 2009 |
Business Wire – Dailymotion Launches Support for Open Video Formats and Video HTML Tag
|
| 01 May 2009 |
Guysoft – Nokia N810 Running OLPC Sugar
|
| 29 Apr 2009 |
El Mercurio – Así se vivió la fiesta del software libre
|
| 27 Apr 2009 |
ostatic – Sugar on a Stick: Good for Kids' Minds (and School Budgets)
|
| 25 Apr 2009 |
Free Software Magazine – The Bittersweet Facts about OLPC and Sugar
|
| 24 Apr 2009 |
Ars Technica – First taste: Sugar on a Stick learning platform
|
| 22 Apr 2009 |
Betanews – Beta of Live USB Sugar OS opens
|
| 27 Mar 2009 |
Mass High Tech – Google promotes summer open-source internships
|
| 18 Mar 2009 |
Metropolis – A Good Argument
|
| 16 Mar 2009 |
Laptop Magazine – Sugar Labs’ New Version of Sugar Learning Platform Is Netbook and PC Ready
|
| 16 Mar 2009 |
Market Watch – Sugar Labs Nonprofit Announces New Version of Sugar Learning Platform for Children, Runs on Netbooks and PCs
|
| 14 Feb 2009 |
OLPC Learning Club – DC – Learning Learning on a Stick
|
| 05 Feb 2009 |
xconomy – Sugar Beyond the XO Laptop: Walter Bender on OLPC, Sucrose 0.84, and “Sugar on a Stick”
|
| 26 Jan 2009 |
Linus Magazine – Sugar Defies OLPC Cutbacks
|
| 19 Jan 2009 |
Feeding the Penguins – The status of Sugar, post-OLPC
|
| 16 Jan 2009 |
OLPC News – Sugar on Acer Aspire One & Thin Client via LTSP
|
| 12 Jan 2009 |
Bill Kerr – thoughts about olpc cutbacks
|
| 07 Jan 2009 |
Ars Technica – OLPC downsizes half of its staff, cuts Sugar development
|
| 06 Jan 2009 |
OLPC News – An Inside Look at how Microsoft got XP on the XO
|
| 30 Dec 2008 |
OLPC News – Sugar Labs Status at Six Months
|
| 22 Dec 2008 |
The GNOME Project – Sugar Labs, the nonprofit behind the OLPC software, is joining the GNOME Foundation
|
| 16 Dec 2008 |
Feeding the Penguins – Sugar git repository change
|
| 14 Dec 2008 |
NPR – Laptop Deal Links Rural Peru To Opportunity, Risk (Part 2)
|
| 13 Dec 2008 |
NPR – Laptops May Change The Way Rural Peru Learns (Part 1)
|
| 09 Dec 2008 |
SFC – Sugar Labs joins Conservancy
|
| 31 Oct 2008 |
Linux Devices – An OLPC dilemma: Linux or Windows?
|
| 10 Oct 2008 |
Feeding the Penguin – Sugar on Ubuntu
|
| 21 Sep 2008 |
Groklaw – Interview with Walter Bender of Sugar Labs
|
| 17 Sep 2008 |
Bill Kerr – Sugar Labs
|
| 16 Sep 2008 |
Open Source – Sugar everywhere
|
| 28 Aug 2008 |
OLPC News – An answer to Walter Bender's question 22
|
| 20 Aug 2008 |
OLPC News – Sugarize it: Intel Classmate 2
|
| 08 Aug 2008 |
Investor's Business Daily – 'Learning' Vs. Laptop Was Issue
|
| 06 Aug 2008 |
OLPC News – Twenty-three Questions on Technology and Education
|
| 18 Jul 2008 |
Bill Kerr – evaluating Sugar in the developed world
|
| 28 Jun 2008 |
OLPC News – A Cutting Edge Sugar User Interface Demo
|
| 18 Jun 2008 |
PC World – OLPC Spin-off Developing UI for Intel's Classmate PC
|
| 17 Jun 2008 |
Datamation – If Business Succeeds with GNU/Linux, Why Not OLPC?
|
| 11 Jun 2008 |
LinuxInsider – The Sweetness of Collaborative Learning
|
| 06 Jun 2008 |
Bill Kerr – untangling Free, Sugar, and Constructionism
|
| 06 Jun 2008 |
Open Education – Walter Bender Discusses Sugar Labs Foundation
|
| 06 Jun 2008 |
BusinessWeek – OLPC: The Educational Philosophy Controversy
|
| 05 Jun 2008 |
Code Culture – The Distraction Machine
|
| 05 Jun 2008 |
BusinessWeek – OLPC: The Open-Source Controversy
|
| 27 May 2008 |
The New York Times – Why Walter Bender Left One Laptop Per Child
|
| 26 May 2008 |
Ars Technica – OLPC software maker splits from X0 hardware, goes solo
|
| 22 May 2008 |
BetaNews – Linux start-up Sugar Labs in informal talks with four laptop makers
|
| 16 May 2008 |
OSTATIC – OLPC's Open Source Sugar Platform Aims for New Hardware
|
| 16 May 2008 |
PCWorld – Bender Forms Group to Promote OLPC's Sugar UI
|
| 16 May 2008 |
MHT – Bender jumps from OLPC, founds Sugar Labs
|
| 16 May 2008 |
News.com – Sugar Labs will make OLPC interface available for Eee PC, others
|
| 16 May 2008 |
Feeding the Peguins – The future of Sugar
|
| 16 May 2008 |
Sugar list – A few thoughts on SugarLabs
|
| 16 May 2008 |
xconomy – Bender Creates Sugar Labs—New Foundation to Adapt OLPC’s Laptop Interface for Other Machines
|
| 16 May 2008 |
BBC – '$100 laptop' platform moves on
|
| 15 May 2008 |
OLPC wiki – Dual-boot XO Claim: OLPC will not work to port Sugar to Windows.
|
| 16 May 2008 |
Softpedia – Bender Launches Sugar Labs for Better Development of OLPC's Sugar UI
|
Press releases
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