Changes

==Technical challenges==

==Technical challenges==

Sugar on a Stick is unique among the [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/#alphaorder Fedora Spins] in that it is designed to be the primary and a resumable portable medium for computing on different computing hardware.  (The installations are not simply demonstrations or temporary stages for a future home, although thay may be.)  This feature exposes the software platform to some difficult shortcomings in system capability:

Sugar on a Stick is unique among the [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/#alphaorder Fedora Spins] in that it is designed to be the primary and a resumable portable medium for computing on different computing hardware.  (The installations are not simply demonstrations or temporary stages for a future home, although they may be.)  This feature exposes the software platform to some difficult shortcomings in system capability:

* Hardware interoperability

* Hardware interoperability

** For example, we have not yet provided reliable [[Macintosh | Macintosh support]].

** For example, we have not yet provided reliable [[Macintosh | Macintosh support]].

The pervasive availability of ever-more-capable cell phones among students, and an anticipated boom in tablet computing devices and their apparently easy-to-use apps (often using touch interfaces) has begun to shift the attention of educators toward rethinking the role of such technology in learning. This should open the door for more techno–social experimentation as it becomes easier for teachers, parents, and all participants in the learning environment to imagine how they might be involved with the new technology for traditional roles.

The pervasive availability of ever-more-capable cell phones among students, and an anticipated boom in tablet computing devices and their apparently easy-to-use apps (often using touch interfaces) has begun to shift the attention of educators toward rethinking the role of such technology in learning. This should open the door for more techno–social experimentation as it becomes easier for teachers, parents, and all participants in the learning environment to imagine how they might be involved with the new technology for traditional roles.

The mass of resulting deployments will set standards of expectations for ease of use and will likely stimulate creative improvements in networking and collaborative methods.  Synchronizing tablet and smart phone versions of Sugar is the natural extention of the portable and resumable essence of Sugar on a Stick, where the phone can become both the computer and the storage stick.

The mass of resulting deployments will set standards of expectations for ease of use and will likely stimulate creative improvements in networking and collaborative methods.  Synchronizing tablet and smart phone versions of Sugar is the natural extension of the portable and resumable essence of Sugar on a Stick, where the phone can become both the computer and the storage stick.

The social–technical feedback cycle presses both traditional educators and traditional technologists who might be comfortable with their current systems and supposedly reliable methods. As Alan Kay has taught, the computing revolution has hardly just begun, and the Sugar on a Stick concepts can surely contribute to the future of learning and computing.

The social–technical feedback cycle presses both traditional educators and traditional technologists who might be comfortable with their current systems and supposedly reliable methods. As Alan Kay has taught, the computing revolution has hardly just begun, and the Sugar on a Stick concepts can surely contribute to the future of learning and computing.

We need to stimulate more sympathetic technologists to work on Sugar on a Stick technical challenges so that we can advance our partnerships with educators and learners.  See this description of the [[Marketing_Team/Website#Collaboration | core strengths]] of Sugar Labs that help us meet our mission.

We need to stimulate more sympathetic technologists to work on Sugar on a Stick technical challenges so that we can advance our partnerships with educators and learners.  See this description of the [[Marketing_Team/Website#Collaboration | core strengths]] of Sugar Labs that help us meet our mission.

One potential benefit that Sugar on a Stick might achieve as part of its essence is independence from many current technical and administrative barriers that inhibit free collaboration in learning.  Imagine a field trip where a class visited a museam and, without special preparation, was able to connect their SoaS devices to the computers in the museam's computer or library room and continue group projects and Activites in a routine and safe manner.

One potential benefit that Sugar on a Stick might achieve as part of its essence is independence from many current technical and administrative barriers that inhibit free collaboration in learning.  Imagine a field trip where a class visited a museum and, without special preparation, was able to connect their SoaS devices to the computers in the museum's computer or library room and continue group projects and Activities in a routine and safe manner.