Sugar Labs

Google Code In 2016


This is the project page for the Sugar Labs application to Google Code In 2016. 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 2016.

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. Collaborate with the community and mentors on the #sugar channel in the irc.freenode.net network.

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.

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.

Getting started with Sugarizer

Sugar Web Framework is the JavaScript Framework for Sugar [2]. Sugarizer [3] is a subset of Sugar that allow runing activities developed with Sugar Web Framework on any web browser. Sugarizer is also available as Android, iOS, Firefox OS and Chrome Web App.

This is a stub for 25+ example tasks new for GCI 2016.

  1. Investigate Google Fuzzing tool (Research)
  2. Decimal places in Calculate activity (Code: Pyhton)
  3. Music Blocks examples (Documentation/Training)
  4. Space team activity (Code: Python)
  5. Bugzilla clean up (QA)
  6. Teach me how to draw activity (Code: Javascript)
  7. Manage order of blocks in Turtle plugins (Code: Javascript)
  8. Plugin manager for Turtle JS (Code: Javascript)
  9. Refactor pitch-time matrix code (Code: Javascript)
  10. Fix scrolling problem with pitch-time matrix (Code: Javascript)
  11. Refactor Training activity to be non-specific to Australia (Code: Python)
  12. Refactor Turtle graphics to adopt look of Javascript version (Code: Python)
  13. Improvements to Lilypond interface (Code: Javascript)
  14. Add drum icons in Music Blocks (Design)
  15. Add more synths/sound fonts to Music Blocks (Research)
  16. Add ABC import to Music Blocks (Code: Javascript)
  17. Add ABC export to Music Blocks (Code: Javascript)
  18. Add Lilypond import to Music Blocks (Code: Javascript)
  19. Refactor Planet server for Turtle Blocks (Code: Python)
  20. Research graphics caching in Turtle (Research)
  21. Wiki cleanup (Documentation)
  22. Make trash areas smaller on Turtle (Code: Javascript)
  23. Write a Turtle plugin (Code: Javascript)
  24. Write a Pinetrest plugin for the Sugar Journal (Code: Python)
  25. Investigate CSound/Python version of Music Blocks (Code: Python)
  26. Add synth lab widget to Music Blocks (Code: Javascript)
  27. Backport a web plugin from Turtle Blocks JS to Python (Code: Python)
  28. Turtle write directly to the canvas instead of using Easel (Code: Javascript)
  29. Visualize turtle movements in Pitch-Time Matrix (Code: Javascript)
  30. Visualize turtle pitch in Music Blocks project (Code: Music Blocks)
  31. Visualize turtle pitch in Music Blocks widget (Code: Javascript)
  32. Synonym-Antonym activity to classify them correctly (Code: Javascript)
  33. Create a zoo activity - Differentiate between animals, birds, reptiles etc (Code: Javascript)
  34. Laser mirror reflection game activity


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 [4], 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 [5][6][7], 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) One source of inspiration might be [8]. 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 1 Add live examples missing from the Guide to Programming with Turtle Blocks. 48 Walter Documentation
Turtle Blocks Programming Guide 2 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
Sugarizer Server API Documentation Write a documentation for the REST API for Sugarizer Server. Include some GET/POST/DELETE sample inside 48 Lionel Documentation
Sugarizer Server Collaboration Tutorial Write a tutorial on how to connect a Sugarizer Client to a Sugarizer Server and how to use it to do Journal sharing and collaboration 24 Lionel Documentation
Sugarizer wiki page Write a Sugarizer page in the SugarLabs wiki 24 Lionel Documentation
Sugarizer wiki page Create a Sugarizer entry in Wikipedia 48 All 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 [9] 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, Devin 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
Sugarizer marketing web page Create a marketing web page to explain what is Sugarizer and replace the current one 40 Lionel 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 (F25). See https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Fedora_25#fedora_25, https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick [10] #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
Update fedora sugar to latest version Deliverable is a tarball allowing update of sugar on a stick to latest sugar 72 ? 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


Mentors

NOTES TO MENTORS
Please refer to Google Code In 2016/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
  • Lionel Laské
  • Batchu Venkat Vishal
  • Ibiam Chihurumnaya
  • Utkarsh Tiwari
  • Abhijit Patel
  • Julio Reyes
  • Ezequiel Pereira
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