Re: [IAEP] [UKids] Re: [Sugar-devel] [Announcement] Sugarizer v0.8 is available for your device

[Steve Thomas]

Bert,

Works on Chromebook.

Is there anyway to open a Etoys project I already created? Perhaps as a
parameter in the URL pointing to somewhere I uploaded the file?

Thanks,
Stephen

On Sun, Jan 8, 2017 at 3:39 PM, Bert Freudenberg 
wrote:

> Hi Steve,
>
> have you tried plain Etoys on a Chromebook?
>
> https://squeak.js.org/etoys/#fullscreen
>
> Also, we have an experimental Chrome app here:
> https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/etoys/pfddkmhbbphp
> elipkocbhmgbofdoagpi
>
> - Bert -
>
> On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 10:46 PM, Lionel Laské 
> wrote:
>
>>
>> Hi Steve,
>>
>> Yes, unfortunately EToys could have some limitation because it need to
>> load a full VM to run, it's why it not appear as favorite by default.
>> I'm CC'ed Bert that could help you on it.
>>
>> Regards.
>>
>>   Lionel.
>>
>>
>> 2017-01-06 23:21 GMT+01:00 Steve Thomas :
>>
>>> Okay, I tried restarting Chrome a second time and now Etoys opens on
>>> Mac. But had an issue saving. I'll investigate further.
>>>
>>> Hoping to get Etoys (et al) working on Chromebook's so I can get
>>> teachers in my kids school to start using it.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Stephen
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jan 6, 2017 at 5:15 PM, Steve Thomas 
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Lionel,
>>>>
>>>> This is great work, thank you.
>>>>
>>>> Ran into a few issues trying to run Etoys (Turtle Blocks seems to run
>>>> just fine), :
>>>>
>>>>1. Added Chrome extension but Etoys did not run, just got black
>>>>screen.
>>>>   1. Tried on Mac and Windows using latest Chrome, waited about 5
>>>>   minutes+
>>>>2. Also downloaded from iTunes onto my Mac and had same issue
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Stephen
>>>>
>>>>


-- 

To some of us, writing computer programs is a fascinating game. A program
is a building of thought. It is costless to build, weightless, growing
easily under our typing hands. If we get carried away, its size and
complexity will grow out of control, confusing even the one who created it.
This is the main problem of programming. It is why so much of today's
software tends to crash, fail, screw up.

When a program works, it is beautiful. The art of programming is the skill
of controlling complexity. The great program is subdued, made simple in its
complexity.

- Martin Harverbeke (from Eloquent JavaScript
<http://eloquentjavascript.net/index.html>)
___
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Re: [IAEP] [UKids] Re: [Sugar-devel] [Announcement] Sugarizer v0.8 is available for your device

[Steve Thomas]

Okay, I tried restarting Chrome a second time and now Etoys opens on Mac.
But had an issue saving. I'll investigate further.

Hoping to get Etoys (et al) working on Chromebook's so I can get teachers
in my kids school to start using it.

Cheers,
Stephen

On Fri, Jan 6, 2017 at 5:15 PM, Steve Thomas  wrote:

> Lionel,
>
> This is great work, thank you.
>
> Ran into a few issues trying to run Etoys (Turtle Blocks seems to run just
> fine), :
>
>1. Added Chrome extension but Etoys did not run, just got black screen.
>   1. Tried on Mac and Windows using latest Chrome, waited about 5
>   minutes+
>2. Also downloaded from iTunes onto my Mac and had same issue
>
> Thanks,
> Stephen
>
> On Fri, Jan 6, 2017 at 3:55 PM, Lionel Laské 
> wrote:
>
>> Thanks all.
>>
>> @Walter, PR is the best way.
>> More precisely: clone Sugarizer, replace Turtle Blocks code by the new
>> one, if possible test on all browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, EDGE) to
>> ensure portability on all devices, then PR.
>>
>>  Lionel.
>>
>>
>> 2017-01-06 14:22 GMT+01:00 Walter Bender :
>>
>>> Lionel,
>>>
>>> Congrats.
>>>
>>> Quick question: What is the procedure for an app developer to get a new
>>> version into your distro? Turtle Blocks has made many advances since the
>>> version you package.
>>>
>>> regards.
>>>
>>> -walter
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jan 6, 2017 at 3:02 AM, Lionel Laské 
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I'm proud to announce the eighth version (0.8) of Sugarizer, a taste of
>>>> Sugar for any device.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> http://sugarizer.org
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Main features in this new version:
>>>>
>>>>- Speak activity: The famous Sugar Speak activity: anything you
>>>>type will be spoken aloud using the speech synthesizer.
>>>>- Moon activity: Another famous Sugar activity. A Moon phase viewer,
>>>>includes Lunar phase information and eclipse data.
>>>>- Video Viewer activity: A generic video viewer, explore a
>>>>predefined libraries (Khan Academy, Canopé) or import your own library 
>>>> and
>>>>share it with others in the Journal.
>>>>- Shared Notes activity: A shared board where you could stick
>>>>Post-It notes and share it in real time with others using presence.
>>>>- Updated Etoys activity: Latest version of Etoys is now included
>>>>in the Sugarizer package.
>>>>- Windows 10:  Sugarizer is now available in the Windows Store [1].
>>>>So if you've got a PC on Windows, Sugarizer is one click long from you.
>>>>- Performance improvement: script optimization and lazy loading of
>>>>data had dramatically improve performance in all activities.
>>>>- Better touch support: a new scrollable home view and a better
>>>>handling of long touch on touch screens of any size.
>>>>- Application size reduction: Sugarizer application size is now
>>>>under 50Mb.
>>>>- Portuguese localization: a new language support for our friends
>>>>from Portugal and Brazil,
>>>>- SugarLabs inside: Sugarizer source code is now in SugarLabs
>>>>repository [8].
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> New in Sugarizer 0.8 for Android is "Sugarizer OS". Sugarizer OS is a
>>>> way to use Sugarizer as your Android Launcher on the device. So you could
>>>> have the same experience with Sugarizer on your tablet/smartphone that
>>>> you've got with Sugar on the XO laptop. More specifically, Sugarizer OS
>>>> features are:
>>>>
>>>>- Directly boot the device on Sugarizer home view (no more Android
>>>>stuff)
>>>>- Full features and activities of Sugarizer (Sugarizer and
>>>>Sugarizer OS share the same code)
>>>>- Include both Sugarizer activities and Android applications in
>>>>your home view using favorites feature
>>>>- Launch Android applications from Sugarizer home view
>>>>- Journal will trace both Sugarizer and Android application launch
>>>>- Launch Android settings from the Sugarizer settings dialog
>>>>- M

Re: [IAEP] [UKids] Re: [Sugar-devel] [Announcement] Sugarizer v0.8 is available for your device

[Steve Thomas]

Lionel,

This is great work, thank you.

Ran into a few issues trying to run Etoys (Turtle Blocks seems to run just
fine), :

   1. Added Chrome extension but Etoys did not run, just got black screen.
  1. Tried on Mac and Windows using latest Chrome, waited about 5
  minutes+
   2. Also downloaded from iTunes onto my Mac and had same issue

Thanks,
Stephen

On Fri, Jan 6, 2017 at 3:55 PM, Lionel Laské  wrote:

> Thanks all.
>
> @Walter, PR is the best way.
> More precisely: clone Sugarizer, replace Turtle Blocks code by the new
> one, if possible test on all browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, EDGE) to
> ensure portability on all devices, then PR.
>
>  Lionel.
>
>
> 2017-01-06 14:22 GMT+01:00 Walter Bender :
>
>> Lionel,
>>
>> Congrats.
>>
>> Quick question: What is the procedure for an app developer to get a new
>> version into your distro? Turtle Blocks has made many advances since the
>> version you package.
>>
>> regards.
>>
>> -walter
>>
>> On Fri, Jan 6, 2017 at 3:02 AM, Lionel Laské 
>> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I'm proud to announce the eighth version (0.8) of Sugarizer, a taste of
>>> Sugar for any device.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> http://sugarizer.org
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Main features in this new version:
>>>
>>>- Speak activity: The famous Sugar Speak activity: anything you type
>>>will be spoken aloud using the speech synthesizer.
>>>- Moon activity: Another famous Sugar activity. A Moon phase viewer,
>>>includes Lunar phase information and eclipse data.
>>>- Video Viewer activity: A generic video viewer, explore a
>>>predefined libraries (Khan Academy, Canopé) or import your own library 
>>> and
>>>share it with others in the Journal.
>>>- Shared Notes activity: A shared board where you could stick
>>>Post-It notes and share it in real time with others using presence.
>>>- Updated Etoys activity: Latest version of Etoys is now included in
>>>the Sugarizer package.
>>>- Windows 10:  Sugarizer is now available in the Windows Store [1].
>>>So if you've got a PC on Windows, Sugarizer is one click long from you.
>>>- Performance improvement: script optimization and lazy loading of
>>>data had dramatically improve performance in all activities.
>>>- Better touch support: a new scrollable home view and a better
>>>handling of long touch on touch screens of any size.
>>>- Application size reduction: Sugarizer application size is now
>>>under 50Mb.
>>>- Portuguese localization: a new language support for our friends
>>>from Portugal and Brazil,
>>>- SugarLabs inside: Sugarizer source code is now in SugarLabs
>>>repository [8].
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> New in Sugarizer 0.8 for Android is "Sugarizer OS". Sugarizer OS is a
>>> way to use Sugarizer as your Android Launcher on the device. So you could
>>> have the same experience with Sugarizer on your tablet/smartphone that
>>> you've got with Sugar on the XO laptop. More specifically, Sugarizer OS
>>> features are:
>>>
>>>- Directly boot the device on Sugarizer home view (no more Android
>>>stuff)
>>>- Full features and activities of Sugarizer (Sugarizer and Sugarizer
>>>OS share the same code)
>>>- Include both Sugarizer activities and Android applications in your
>>>home view using favorites feature
>>>- Launch Android applications from Sugarizer home view
>>>- Journal will trace both Sugarizer and Android application launch
>>>- Launch Android settings from the Sugarizer settings dialog
>>>- Manage WiFi connection from the Sugarizer neighborhood view (like
>>>in Sugar)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> With Sugarizer OS, Sugar on Android is now a reality: enjoy the
>>> experience and spread the world with Sugarizer !
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Sugarizer 0.8 is available on: Windows Store [1], Google Play [2],
>>> Amazon Store [3], Apple Store [4], Chrome Web Store [5] and F-droid [6].
>>>
>>> Sugarizer OS for Android is available in beta here [7].
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Lionel.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> P.S.: Special thanks for their contribution on this version to Vishal
>>> Batchu (Speak activity), Shirsh Zibbu (Moon activity), Bert Freudenberg
>>> (Etoys activity), Jeremie Amsellem (Sugarizer OS), Michaël Ohayon
>>> (Sugarizer OS), Afmachado (Portugueuse Translation), Naofum (Japanese
>>> Translation), Christoph Derndorfer (German Translation),  Piotr Antosz
>>> (Polish Translation), Shubham Jaiswal (Arabic Translation), Samson Goddy
>>> (Igbo Yoruba Translation), Tymon P.Radzik (TankOp localization), Matías
>>> Martínez (Get Things Done, Chat Prototype and Markdown activity
>>> localization) - 4 students from Google Summer of Code and 5 students from
>>> Google Code In !
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> [1] https://www.microsoft.com/store/apps/9nblggh4r782
>>>
>>> [2] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.olpc_franc
>>> e.sugarizer
>>>
>>> [3] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NKK7PZA
>>>
>>> [4] https://itunes.apple.com/us

[IAEP] Will XO-4 work with Makey Makey?

[Steve Thomas]

At Maker Faire New York, I was demo-ing some of the XO's and tried to
hookup a Makey Makey, but it did not work with the XO-4.  It worked fine
with the X0-1.

Is this a known bug?

Also, met some great folks and have one 12 year old kid working on turning
his sisters stuffed Monkey into a input device for the XO so we can use it
with disabled kids. .

Cheers,
Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] Sugar Digest 2013-08-22

[Steve Thomas]

Caryl,

Can you refer me to the "nice collection of books in English and Spanish
from the Project Gutenberg collection"   A good set of stories I can put on
a USB stick would be good for an orphanage my wife is working with in
Colombia (and some other places I know of).

Thanks,
Stephen


On Thu, Aug 22, 2013 at 9:31 PM, Caryl Bigenho  wrote:

> Just curious... has anyone been working on making Sugar and/or the apps
> available on Android devices? This was discussed some time ago, and if I am
> not mistaken, was to be one of this year's goals for SugarLabs.
>
> I purchased the XO Tablet and am very disappointed in the apps on it.
> There is no opportunity for sharing between apps or between tablets.  Many
> of the apps on it require a web connection to use and the content on some
> won't even open unless you pay extra.  The "My Books" section is excellent
> with a nice collection of books in English and Spanish from the Project
> Gutenberg collection. There is also a small video collection with an actor
> reading some of Aesop's Fables that is nice too. But, for the apps in the
> main children's "Dream" interface section, there is very little that offers
> an opportunity for creative, collaborative learning like Sugar does.
>
> Caryl
>
> > Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 20:56:22 -0400
> > From: walter.ben...@gmail.com
> > To: community-n...@lists.sugarlabs.org
> > CC: iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org; sugar-de...@lists.sugarlabs.org
> > Subject: [IAEP] Sugar Digest 2013-08-22
>
> >
> > == Sugar Digest ==
> >
> > "When I want to read a novel, I write one." -- Benjamin Disreali
> >
> > “An expert is a man who has stopped thinking because ‘he knows.” --
> > Frank Lloyd Wright
> >
> > 1. Flavio Danesse made a post on the sur list [1] about his approach
> > to teaching Python programming to children of age 12. He eschews the
> > use of IDEs and other affordances in favor of giving them a basic
> > understanding of simple, readily available tools.
> >
> > :Yo me hice 5 repartidos básicos en pdf que conforman los tres
> > talleres base de python joven, donde se les enseña a usar la terminal,
> > a escribir código en un archivo, a ejecutarlo, luego se enseñan los
> > tipos de datos, los operadores de todo tipo, control de flujo,
> > conversiones de tipo, colecciones, funciones, clases, y poca cosa más.
> >
> > :A eso hay que agregar que también hay que enseñarles donde pueden
> > consultar el api, como buscar ayuda en internet, etc . . .
> >
> > Flavio goes on to say that when they are beginning to understand these
> > things, he starts them on small exercises and only then the GTK API.
> > Some of the students go on to use IDEs, but only after they have a
> > strong foundation.
> >
> > There is evidence that his approach has merit: many of the young
> > programmers from Uruguay who have contributed so much to Sugar are
> > current and former students of Flavio.
> >
> > 2. We continue to make great progress in our efforts to make
> > HTML5/Javascript a first-class development environment in Sugar. An
> > indication of progress is that community members not directly
> > affiliated with the development effort are beginning to write Sugar
> > Apps [2] using the new API. More details can be found at [3].
> >
> > 3. Gonzalo Odiard and I have been doing some work on classroom
> > management in support of the OLPC AU deployment. The basic idea is to
> > make it easier for the exchange of a variety of data within a
> > classroom setting: the Journal Share activity enables bi-directional
> > sharing of Journal objects, facilitating the distribution of materials
> > and resources, as well as handing in homework assignments; the Share
> > Favorites activity enables a group of students to share their Sugar
> > desktop favorites settings, so that when embarking on a group or class
> > project, everyone has access to the same set of tools; the Share Stats
> > activity enable students to share activity-usage statistics with the
> > classroom teacher, part of a general effort to make learning visible
> > to both students and teachers.
> >
> > Regarding statistics gathering, we've implemented an age/gender
> > setting in the Sugar control panel so that data can be sorted by age.
> > This work is not yet up-streamed, but the patches are available here
> > [4, 5].
> >
> > 4. I've been working with Spirituality for Kids [6] to make their
> > videos and lessons available as Sugar activities. We published
> > English-language activities [7] one month ago and Spanish-language
> > activities this week [8].
> >
> > 5. "Dog bites man": I've made some changes to Turtle Blocks. In
> > response to a request from a teacher in the OLPC Charlotte deployment,
> > I changed the way in which the coordinate rescaling works. (Chances
> > are you didn't even know Turtle Blocks lets you transform the
> > coordinate scale. It is done with a button on the View toolbar.) By
> > default, the turtle coordinates are scaled to pixels: if the turtle
> > moves forward 100, it 

[IAEP] Fwd: [squeakland] Etoys at a Maker Faire in Germany

[Steve Thomas]

Bert and Rita did a great job showing Etoys and the XO at Maker Faire in
Hanover Germany,
http://squeaklandnews.blogspot.de/

Did anyone from OLPC sign up for Maker Faire in NYC?
If so I would be willing to help staff the booth and do some demos.

Thanks,
Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] You may want to do an install to a 4 GB USB stick for a more reliable persistent SoaS.

[Steve Thomas]

Tom,

Thanks for all the information.  Just want to be sure I understand. Are you
suggesting I use Quandong (0.96.1) and use UNetbootin instead of
Liveusb-creator?

Thanks,
Stephen
On Aug 4, 2013 6:45 PM, "Thomas Gilliard"  wrote:

>  You may want to do an install to a 4GB USB stick for a more reliable
> persistent SoaS.
>
> Liveusb-creator created persistent USB's wear out, or fill up the USB and
> fail; and are generally not very reliable.
>
> UNetbootin
>  Does not make persistent USB sticks
>
> (The anaconda installer in f19 is different and more difficult to use this
> way)
> look at these older SoaS versions:
>  Sugar on a Stick - ʻŌhelo ʻai
> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick/Quandong
>*Sugar version 0.96.1*
> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick/Pineapple
>   *Sugar version 0.94.1*
>
> Tutorial :
> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Tutorials/Installation/Install_with_liveinst
>
> good  luck.
>
> Tom Gilliard
>
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Re: [IAEP] How can I Install Sugar on a Stick on a USB

[Steve Thomas]

Thanks I will document and update the wiki to point to this once it works
and I understand better.

Stephen


On Sun, Aug 4, 2013 at 5:41 PM, Walter Bender wrote:

> https://fedorahosted.org/liveusb-creator
>
> On Sun, Aug 4, 2013 at 5:39 PM, Steve Thomas 
> wrote:
> > Folks,
> >
> > So I went to http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick and
> downloaded
> > the ISO file, but it is unclear (to me at least) how to prepare the "live
> > USB" for booting.
> >
> > My wife and son are taking a number of laptops down to an orphanage in
> > Colombia (along with one XO) and I would like to give each kid a copy of
> > Sugar (and Etoys-to Go) they can "own" on a USB stick.  There are about
> 40
> > kids at the orphanage.
> >
> > So I need:
> >
> > Help/instructions on how to prepare the USB Keys
> > Confirmation that the plan of having each kid have their own USB Key to
> boot
> > on one of 5-7 laptops will work (of course I will do some testing before
> > hand, but appreciate any advice that can help avoid problems.
> >
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Stephen
> >
> >
> > ___
> > IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> > IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
> > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
>
>
> --
> Walter Bender
> Sugar Labs
> http://www.sugarlabs.org
>



-- 

To some of us, writing computer programs is a fascinating game. A program
is a building of thought. It is costless to build, weightless, growing
easily under our typing hands. If we get carried away, its size and
complexity will grow out of control, confusing even the one who created it.
This is the main problem of programming. It is why so much of today's
software tends to crash, fail, screw up.

When a program works, it is beautiful. The art of programming is the skill
of controlling complexity. The great program is subdued, made simple in its
complexity.

- Martin Harverbeke (from Eloquent
JavaScript<http://eloquentjavascript.net/index.html>
)
___
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[IAEP] How can I Install Sugar on a Stick on a USB

[Steve Thomas]

Folks,

So I went to http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick and downloaded
the ISO file, but it is unclear (to me at least) how to prepare the "live
USB" for booting.

My wife and son are taking a number of laptops down to an orphanage in
Colombia (along with one XO) and I would like to give each kid a copy of
Sugar (and Etoys-to Go) they can "own" on a USB stick.  There are about 40
kids at the orphanage.

So I need:

   1. Help/instructions on how to prepare the USB Keys
   2. Confirmation that the plan of having each kid have their own USB Key
   to boot on one of 5-7 laptops will work (of course I will do some testing
   before hand, but appreciate any advice that can help avoid problems.


Thanks,
Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] How can I get Camera to work on XO? Also how to access USB

[Steve Thomas]

Thanks Mike  (and a BIG public thank you for staying up until almost 5 in
the morning to get ready the three XO's for Haiti!!!)

Stephen

On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 6:01 PM, Mike Lee  wrote:

> Just a footnote to say that 12.1.0 stable was installed on the XO-1s
> straight from:
>
> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Release_notes/12.1.0#XO-1
>
> Mike
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 3:45 PM, Steve Thomas wrote:
>
>> XO-1
>> Linux xo-12-05-2a
>> etoys5.0 #2406
>> Mike Lee did the installs.
>>
>> I found the Scratch plugins Karl referred to in
>> /home/olpc/Activities/Scratch.Activity/plugins/i686
>> But there is no plugins directory in /home/olpc/Activities/Etoys.Activity
>>  only directories are activity and bin.
>>
>> Do I simply copy the plugins directory and those two plugins?
>>
>>  Stephen
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 1:50 PM, Bert Freudenberg 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 2013-03-14, at 17:56, Steve Thomas  wrote:
>>>
>>> > Bert,
>>> >
>>> > Video Camera does not work either :(
>>>
>>> Odd.
>>>
>>> > I tried loading just the CameraPlugin using the mcz.
>>>
>>> That is the source code for the plugin, not the compiled plugin. See
>>> Karl's message.
>>>
>>> Maybe we need to go back to the basics:
>>>
>>> * what hardware do you have (XO-1, 1.5, 1.75)
>>> * what OS version
>>> * what version of Etoys (and how did you install it)
>>> * what version of the Squeak VM (and how did you install it)
>>>
>>> - Bert -
>>>
>>>
>>> ___
>>> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
>>> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
>>> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>>>
>>
>>
>> ___
>> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
>> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
>> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>>
>
>
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Re: [IAEP] How can I get Camera to work on XO? Also how to access USB

[Steve Thomas]

Success!!!

I copied the ScratchPlugin and CameraPlugin from
/home/olpc/Activities/Scratch.activity/plugins/i686 to /lib/squeak/3.10-5

Note: I did it via terminal using *sudo *and it worked.  Was surprised I
didn't even need to enter a password.

Thanks to all.
Stephen

On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 3:45 PM, Steve Thomas  wrote:

> XO-1
> Linux xo-12-05-2a
> etoys5.0 #2406
> Mike Lee did the installs.
>
> I found the Scratch plugins Karl referred to in
> /home/olpc/Activities/Scratch.Activity/plugins/i686
> But there is no plugins directory in /home/olpc/Activities/Etoys.Activity
>  only directories are activity and bin.
>
> Do I simply copy the plugins directory and those two plugins?
>
> Stephen
>
> On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 1:50 PM, Bert Freudenberg wrote:
>
>> On 2013-03-14, at 17:56, Steve Thomas  wrote:
>>
>> > Bert,
>> >
>> > Video Camera does not work either :(
>>
>> Odd.
>>
>> > I tried loading just the CameraPlugin using the mcz.
>>
>> That is the source code for the plugin, not the compiled plugin. See
>> Karl's message.
>>
>> Maybe we need to go back to the basics:
>>
>> * what hardware do you have (XO-1, 1.5, 1.75)
>> * what OS version
>> * what version of Etoys (and how did you install it)
>> * what version of the Squeak VM (and how did you install it)
>>
>> - Bert -
>>
>>
>> ___
>> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
>> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
>> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>>
>
>
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Re: [IAEP] How can I get Camera to work on XO? Also how to access USB

[Steve Thomas]

XO-1
Linux xo-12-05-2a
etoys5.0 #2406
Mike Lee did the installs.

I found the Scratch plugins Karl referred to in
/home/olpc/Activities/Scratch.Activity/plugins/i686
But there is no plugins directory in /home/olpc/Activities/Etoys.Activity
 only directories are activity and bin.

Do I simply copy the plugins directory and those two plugins?

Stephen

On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 1:50 PM, Bert Freudenberg wrote:

> On 2013-03-14, at 17:56, Steve Thomas  wrote:
>
> > Bert,
> >
> > Video Camera does not work either :(
>
> Odd.
>
> > I tried loading just the CameraPlugin using the mcz.
>
> That is the source code for the plugin, not the compiled plugin. See
> Karl's message.
>
> Maybe we need to go back to the basics:
>
> * what hardware do you have (XO-1, 1.5, 1.75)
> * what OS version
> * what version of Etoys (and how did you install it)
> * what version of the Squeak VM (and how did you install it)
>
> - Bert -
>
>
> ___
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> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
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Re: [IAEP] How can I get Camera to work on XO? Also how to access USB

[Steve Thomas]

Bert,

Video Camera does not work either :(

I tried loading just the CameraPlugin using the mcz (don't know how to
steal it from Scratch) but no luck.  That said when I did load the mcz
using the Monticello Browser, it did not work either.

Karl had suggested I try to print "Smalltalk listLoadedModules" which I did
after loading the CameraPlugin, but when I did I did not see the
CameraPlugin.

I know I can use Record to take pictures, then import them into Etoys, but
it's so "unEtoys"

Stephen

On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 10:23 AM, Bert Freudenberg wrote:

>
> On 2013-03-13, at 19:08, Steve Thomas  wrote:
>
> > Bert,
> >
> > On Wed, Mar 13, 2013 at 12:20 PM, Bert Freudenberg 
> wrote:
> >
> > On 2013-03-13, at 16:50, Steve Thomas  wrote:
> >
> > > Tried with Etoys 5.0 build 2406. But camera does not work. Saw this in
> trakcer, but no wifi access, although I can put files on a USB.
> >
> > Possibly the Camera plugin is missing? See /usr/lib/squeak/...
> >
> > I have the mcz packages from WebCamMorph, on the USB drive.  How do I
> load them into Etoys on XO?
>
> I wasn't talking about mcz packages. The Etoys 5 image does already have
> the WebCamMorph (otherwise the camera wouldn't work on your Mac either).
>
> I was talking about the new CameraPlugin it needs. If that is not yet
> installed, you may steal it from the Scratch activity.
>
> Alternatively, you can use the old VideoCamera morph, which works only on
> Linux, not cross-platform. Find it in the object catalog's alphabetical
> list. This is what we used on the XO before Etoys 5. It uses the
> VideoForLinuxPlugin, which is pre-installed for sure.
>
> - Bert -
>
>
>
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Re: [IAEP] How can I get Camera to work on XO? Also how to access USB

[Steve Thomas]

Bert/Karl,

Figured out how to load the Monticello packages.  But Camera still does not
work.

I downloaded from http://www.squeaksource.com/WebCamMorph.html the two
latest mcz files:
Filename 
<http://www.squeaksource.com/@YOtMYeDhCTYq5_lc/4s13Sgnr?16>Author<http://www.squeaksource.com/@YOtMYeDhCTYq5_lc/4s13Sgnr?17>
Timestamp <http://www.squeaksource.com/@YOtMYeDhCTYq5_lc/4s13Sgnr?18>Actions
CameraPlugin-dmoc.2.mcz<http://www.squeaksource.com/@YOtMYeDhCTYq5_lc/4s13Sgnr?19>Derek
O'Connell <http://www.squeaksource.com/@YOtMYeDhCTYq5_lc/4s13Sgnr?20>2010-05-31
11:30:05details <http://www.squeaksource.com/@YOtMYeDhCTYq5_lc/4s13Sgnr?21>
download <http://www.squeaksource.com/WebCamMorph/CameraPlugin-dmoc.2.mcz>
WebCamMorph-kfr.7.mcz<http://www.squeaksource.com/@YOtMYeDhCTYq5_lc/4s13Sgnr?22><http://www.squeaksource.com/@YOtMYeDhCTYq5_lc/4s13Sgnr?23>2011-10-17
20:26:45details <http://www.squeaksource.com/@YOtMYeDhCTYq5_lc/4s13Sgnr?24>
download <http://www.squeaksource.com/WebCamMorph/WebCamMorph-kfr.7.mcz>

Then put them on a USB stick and opened the directory from within Etoys
 using "+Repository" in the Monticello browser.
Was able to load both, but still no luck on getting the camera to work.

Any suggestions?

Stephen

On Wed, Mar 13, 2013 at 2:08 PM, Steve Thomas  wrote:

> Bert,
>
> On Wed, Mar 13, 2013 at 12:20 PM, Bert Freudenberg 
> wrote:
>
>>
>> On 2013-03-13, at 16:50, Steve Thomas  wrote:
>>
>> > Tried with Etoys 5.0 build 2406. But camera does not work. Saw this in
>> trakcer, but no wifi access, although I can put files on a USB.
>>
>> Possibly the Camera plugin is missing? See /usr/lib/squeak/...
>
>
> I have the mcz packages from WebCamMorph, on the USB drive.  How do I load
> them into Etoys on XO?
>
> Ie: I know the path, but I usually just drag and drop.  Is there a simple
> command I can use to load or ???
>
> Stephen
>
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Re: [IAEP] How can I get Camera to work on XO? Also how to access USB

[Steve Thomas]

Bert,

On Wed, Mar 13, 2013 at 12:20 PM, Bert Freudenberg wrote:

>
> On 2013-03-13, at 16:50, Steve Thomas  wrote:
>
> > Tried with Etoys 5.0 build 2406. But camera does not work. Saw this in
> trakcer, but no wifi access, although I can put files on a USB.
>
> Possibly the Camera plugin is missing? See /usr/lib/squeak/...


I have the mcz packages from WebCamMorph, on the USB drive.  How do I load
them into Etoys on XO?

Ie: I know the path, but I usually just drag and drop.  Is there a simple
command I can use to load or ???

Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] How can I get Camera to work on XO? Also how to access USB

[Steve Thomas]

Walter,

Thanks found USB and should be able to install activities, Etoys projects
etc.

Camera block did not work when I tried last night. But does not give the
same error now.  Also Record Activity is now working (as suggested by
Tony), that also did not work last night.

Regarding the Virtual Box could not get it to work.  May be lack of memory
available on my machine (only 1GB and could only allow Sugar to run with
<512MB).   Will try on another laptop.

Thanks,
Stephen



On Wed, Mar 13, 2013 at 12:15 PM, Walter Bender wrote:

> On Wed, Mar 13, 2013 at 11:50 AM, Steve Thomas 
> wrote:
> > Folks,
> >
> > Heading to Haiting in two days and I have 3 XO's.
> >
> > How can I take a picture with the camera?
> >
> >  Tried with Etoys 5.0 build 2406. But camera does not work. Saw this in
> > trakcer, but no wifi access, although I can put files on a USB.
>
> The camera block in Turtle Art should work with the built-in camera.
> Also, it will work with a USB camera.
>
> >
> > How can I install new activities (for whatever reason the XO's I have
> can't
> > see my wireless network at home?
> > How can I address the USB device from terminal? What is the path?
>
> /run/media/olpc/???
>
> > Can I download Activites to the USB and install from there? If so how?
> > Also tried to use Sugar on some laptops I am taking down with Virtual
> Box,
> > but no luck.  If I can schedule a chat or Google Hangout with someone to
> get
> > some help that would be GREATLY appreciated.
>
> Opening the USB device from the Journal will work or use unzip from
> Terminal, e.g.,
>
> cd /home/olpc/Activities
> unzip /run/media/olpc/???/myactivity.xo
>
> good luck
>
> -walter
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Stephen
> >
> >
> > ___
> > IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> > IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
> > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
>
>
> --
> Walter Bender
> Sugar Labs
> http://www.sugarlabs.org
>
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Re: [IAEP] How can I get Camera to work on XO? Also how to access USB

[Steve Thomas]

FYI on Sugar with Virtual Box problem seems there are two sets of
instructions on the Wiki:

http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_Creation_Kit/VirtualBox - The one I had
problems with and has a filename error for the V7 version

http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick/Virtual_machines which I am
trying now.

Stephen

On Wed, Mar 13, 2013 at 11:50 AM, Steve Thomas wrote:

> Folks,
>
> Heading to Haiting in two days and I have 3 XO's.
>
>1. How can I take a picture with the camera?
>   1.  Tried with Etoys 5.0 build 2406. But camera does not work. Saw this
>   in trakcer <http://tracker.squeakland.org/browse/SQ-615>, but no
>   wifi access, although I can put files on a USB.
>2. How can I install new activities (for whatever reason the XO's I
>have can't see my wireless network at home?
>3. How can I address the USB device from terminal? What is the path?
>4. Can I download Activites to the USB and install from there? If so
>how?
>5. Also tried to use Sugar on some laptops I am taking down with
>Virtual Box, but no luck.  If I can schedule a chat or Google Hangout with
>someone to get some help that would be GREATLY appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Stephen
>
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[IAEP] How can I get Camera to work on XO? Also how to access USB

[Steve Thomas]

Folks,

Heading to Haiting in two days and I have 3 XO's.

   1. How can I take a picture with the camera?
  1.  Tried with Etoys 5.0 build 2406. But camera does not work. Saw this
  in trakcer , but no wifi
  access, although I can put files on a USB.
   2. How can I install new activities (for whatever reason the XO's I have
   can't see my wireless network at home?
   3. How can I address the USB device from terminal? What is the path?
   4. Can I download Activites to the USB and install from there? If so how?
   5. Also tried to use Sugar on some laptops I am taking down with Virtual
   Box, but no luck.  If I can schedule a chat or Google Hangout with someone
   to get some help that would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks,

Stephen
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[IAEP] Suggestions needed for Learning(Teaching) reading

[Steve Thomas]

I will be heading to Haiti next month and the teachers are requesting
feedback and ideas on teaching English at the school I will be visiting.

I am looking for good resources on methods of teaching/lessons, software
suggestions and non computer games and methods of learning.

I have ordered "Proust and the Squid" and am looking at Maryanne Wolf
video's suggested by Mike Lee.

Thanks,
Stephen
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[IAEP] Translation Question

[Steve Thomas]

In http://translate.sugarlabs.org/ what does it mean when a translation has
"Fuzzy" checked?
Will the translation get included or does it depend on the project or ???

Thanks,
Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] [Sugar-devel] About to teach Python programming

[Steve Thomas]

Gerald,

Hope the course is going well.  Another resource I just found which you
might find useful is Project Euler <http://projecteuler.net/>.
I am considering using it as "extra credit" problems.  It depends on the
the kids in your class. The problems are geared towards math/programming
geeks.

Here are some examples:

If we list all the natural numbers below 10 that are multiples of 3 or 5,
we get 3, 5, 6 and 9. The sum of these multiples is 23.

Find the sum of all the multiples of 3 or 5 below 1000.

---
A palindromic number reads the same both ways. The largest palindrome made
from the product of two 2-digit numbers is 9009 = 91 99.

Find the largest palindrome made from the product of two 3-digit numbers.

What we really need (for those who are not mathematical/logical types) are
some nice libraries that allow kids to play with images and sounds.
Two really fun examples (in Scratch 2.0) are You've been
Framed<http://beta.scratch.mit.edu/projects/10036009/> by
JJROCKER and Round <http://beta.scratch.mit.edu/projects/10036112/> by Jens
Mönig

If we had a simple interface to the TamTam instruments you could do
something like Jens' Round.

Also if we had a way to simple way to reference each pixel (R, G and B
values) in an image and modify them, kids could do some fun mods on You've
been Framed.
There is a great course from Cousera
CS101<https://www.coursera.org/course/cs101> image manipulation (using
JavaScript).  If we had a similar library to the
JavaScript one used in the course, it would be a lot of fun for the kids.

Cheers,
Stephen



On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 10:14 PM, Mike Rehner  wrote:

> Here is a list of Python resources if that would help-
> http://www.babarehner.com/ewrench1011/Python/index.html
>
> Cheers,
>
> Mike
>
> On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 6:31 PM, Gerald Ardito  wrote:
> > Stephen,
> >
> > I am starting two weeks from tomorrow.
> > I am still trying to wrap my head about the key goals and projects. It
> would
> > be great to share ideas.
> >
> > Gerald
> >
> > On Monday, January 14, 2013 at 6:08 PM, Steve Thomas wrote:
> >
> > On Sat, Jan 12, 2013 at 9:58 PM,  wrote:
> >
> > Hi
> >
> > As a beginner, I found creating a Sugar Activity difficult. More
> difficult
> > than creating a program to run from Terminal or Pippy. You might get
> better
> > value using Pygame and writing something that can run from Pippy. The
> goal
> > could be to create more Pippy built in samples.
> >
> > If you are going to write an Activity, you could give them a 'hello
> world'
> > template and get them to build on that rather than starting from the
> > beginning. Your 'hello world' template could have the basics:a text box
> for
> > text entry/display, a canvas for graphical display and an example of
> > keyboard and mouse capture.
> >
> > Agreed. Having a template to build on for an Activity would make things
> much
> > simpler.
> >
> >
> > Good luck. Please ask if you need help.
> >
> > Ditto.  When will you start the class?  I am also teaching Python to some
> > kids now, and  interested sharing ideas.
> >
> > Stephen
> >
> >
> > Tony
> >
> >>  wrote:
> >> > Hello.
> >> > I have been asked by my school district to teach a one semester course
> >> > on
> >> > computer programming to some of our high school students. I was
> already
> >> > settled on Python. In my planning, I thought it would be great if the
> >> > students built an application for Sugar/XO Laptop. I have, as I think
> >> > you
> >> > know, been using them in our school for a few years, I think the
> >> > transition
> >> > from consumer to producer would be great.
> >> >
> >> > I am not a Python programmer, although I understand the basic concepts
> >> > and
> >> > can muddle my way through. So,here's my question -- what should the
> >> > students
> >> > know/be able to do in Python before they are able to write an
> Activity?
> >>
> >> Beyond the basics, understanding the concept of classes and
> >> inheritance is pretty essential. Some GTK stuff, but that is pretty
> >> straightforward.
> >>
> >> -walter
> >>
> >> >
> >> > I hope this makes sense. And I appreciate your time.
> >> >
> >> > Best,
> >> > Gerald Ardito
> >> >
> >> > ___
> >> > Sugar-devel mailing list
> >> >

Re: [IAEP] Sugar Digest 2013-02-04

[Steve Thomas]

FYI,  the following is a response to my question from about Scratch having
share via Facebook (et al), from Amos Blanton who is part of the Scratch
team and manages the website.

Yep, this is an interesting conundrum. Our site is for ages 8+, but really
> there is no restriction - and we have plenty of users who are over 13. Is
> there are a concern about offering a feature that can only be used by
> people who are above a certain age (according to FB TOU)? It might also be
> possible, and I suspect perfectly ok with facebook, for a parent to share
> something their kid made to FB via this functionality, right?


Stephen

On Tue, Feb 5, 2013 at 1:41 AM, Ron Feigenblatt  wrote:

> http://walterbender.org/?p=641 says:
> "Our goal is to build an interface between the Sugar Journal and
> several on-line services."
>
> Maybe I don't get a vote in this discussion, because I haven't written
> Sugar code and am unlikely to do so in the near future. But please
> accept that I have friendly intentions. I was an advocate of such
> notions when I first made contact with Sugar Labs through the
> Marketing Group three years ago now. Details follow below..
>
> On 2/4/13, Walter Bender  wrote:
> >...on the one hand, I filled a ticket with Youtube regarding
> >enabling the uploading of .ogv files. On the other hand, when I post
> >videos, I use Dailymotion, because it supports .ogv. And yet I admit
> >to still watching the occasional Youtube video.
>
> | Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:16:34 -0500
> | Subject: Re: Sugar and OLPC
> | From: Ron Feigenblatt 
> | To: Sean Daly 
> |
> | ...On 1/12/10, you wrote:
> | ...
> | > we are not using YouTube because they don't support free formats - we
> | > use DailyMotion, who does. The Sugar Labs channel is here:
> | > http://www.dailymotion.com/sugarlabs
> |
> | You know, I noticed that when I used Internet Explorer 6 on
> | Microsoft Windows 98 to access your Web site, your Web [server]
> | failed to block your usual content and instead post a message
> | reading something like:
> |
> | "Please uses a kosher open source
> | platform to access our content. Thanks!"
> |
> | It's fine if you use Daily Motion so you can publish using an
> | open-source codec, but why not ALSO simply transcode and
> | DUPLICATE all videos on YouTube, as the hosting is free
> | and the site is INCREDIBLY popular? Don't think of YouTube
> | as JUST [] a hosting site - think of it as a SEARCH ENGINE:
> |
> http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/12/31/technology/internet/31tubeGrfx/articleInline.jpg
> | ...
>
> http://walterbender.org/?p=641 says:
> "Specifically, Raul and I are working on an interface between the
> Journal and Facebook and Bernie is working on an interface between the
> Journal and Google Drive..."
>
> | Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 12:39:09 -0500
> | Subject: Idea: Sugar Live CD uses Cloud-based Journal, courtesy Google
> Docs?
> | From: Ron Feigenblatt 
> | To: Sean Daly - Sugar marketing coordinator ,
> JT4sugar   
> | Cc: wal...@sugarlabs.org
> |
> | ...I just want to [flesh] out the idea I suggested in the latest
> | Sugar marketing meeting.
> |
> | You guys think about Sugar being used in a school setting.
> | I think it might be fun to try out at home, too.
> |
> | Most homes in the US, among other nations, now have broadband...
> |
> | The idea is to mail Sugar Live CDs for kids to try out on any
> | PC at home attached to the Internet. Besides being cheaper
> | to provide than flash drives, not a few home users know how
> | to copy CDs (not always for nice reasons) and blanks are
> | cheap. Each CD can bear the legend "PLEASE COPY ME!"
> | (Aside: Who will ever forget the CD carpet-bombing AOL did?)
> |
> | It is easy to generate identifiers unique to a PC, based on
> | its hardware. Microsoft uses this technique to identify PCs
> | and reduce piracy, through its "activation" procedure.
> |
> | Unique identifiers can provide the automated credentials
> | needed to access online storage, which can hold Journals.
> | (This means one Journal store per PC, unless one mandates
> | user involvement.) When Sugar boots, it would check if the
> | online store already existed, and if not, would establish it.
> |
> | Among other firms, Google now provides a limited amount of free
> | online storage; in its case, 1GB for Google Documents users, see:
> |
> http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/01/upload-and-store-your-files-in-cloud.html
> | I think signing up for an account could be automated, save for the
> | need for a human to recognize a CAPTCHA image ONCE. (People
> | had already created software to exploit Google Gmail for storage.)
> |
> | Unlike a thumb drive, a kid could not lose online storage (unless
> | the PC dies, or is upgraded in a way which changes its credentials.)
> | And while availability may only be 3 to 5 nines, one much doubts Google
> | storage is as likely to totally die as is a flash drive. See the remarks
> at:
> |   http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Edu

Re: [IAEP] Linux/Sugar questions

[Steve Thomas]

Thanks folks, I plan on testing this weekend.  I'll reach out if I need any
help or have any questions.

Stephen

On Tue, Feb 5, 2013 at 10:12 AM, James Simmons  wrote:

> Steve,
>
> I agree with Daniel.  If you use the Sugar that comes with Fedora you can
> log into a Sugar environment.  The login screen has an option where you can
> select the kind of desktop you want to use. Sugar will be listed right
> alongside GNOME, XFCE, WindowMaker, etc.  Also when you install Sugar you
> get the Sugar boot up animation.  There are a bunch of Activities in the
> Fedora repository which you can install when you install Sugar, or you can
> get them from activities.sugarlabs.org using the Browse Activity.
>
> James Simmons
>
> On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 9:27 AM, S. Daniel Francis 
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Steve,
>>
>> 2013/2/4 Steve Thomas :
>> > I will be installing Sugar on the systems.  In checking the Wiki I see
>> Sugar
>> > works with Fedora 18 and plan on installing that on the boxes (unless
>> > someone suggests something they feel is better).
>>
>> I'm not completely informed about Sugar in Fedora 18, but I think the
>> best will be installing Sugar from the Fedora repositories, which
>> provide Sugar 0.98.
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>> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>>
>
>
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Re: [IAEP] Sugar Digest 2013-02-04

[Steve Thomas]

Walter,

Thanks didn't know about the age restriction. I can use this on my two
youngest for a while to keep them off :)
I also posted to Scratch to get their feedback.

Stephen

On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 5:44 PM, Walter Bender wrote:

> On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 5:30 PM, Steve Thomas 
> wrote:
> > On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 11:51 AM, Walter Bender 
> > wrote:
> >>
> >> Kim Toufectis commented on my post [1] about online services:
> >>
> >> :Appreciative of the ideals upon which SugarLabs and OLPC formed, it’s
> >> deeply troubling to envision a commercial entity like FaceBook
> >> integrated into the Control Panel.
> >>
> >> :For a system in which a proprietary browser (Opera) or plugin (Adobe
> >> Flash) are controversial even as optional add-ons, can we really be
> >> headed for integrating a private corporation into the heart of the
> >> OS?This is very difficult to understand…
> >>
> >> My response:
> >>
> >> There are several issues raised by our proposal (none of this code has
> >> yet been reviewed and accepted):
> >>
> >> (a) Should Sugar facilitate integration with online services?
> >
> > +1  go to where the kids are.
> >
> >> (b) If so, should we do it in such a way that is service-provider
> >> agnostic?
> >
> > +1
> >
> >>
> >> (c) Why specifically are we working on a Facebook plugin?
> >>
> >> There are certainly caveats: First, Facebook is not for children.
> >
> > Really? I know a lot of children on Facebook.  Also the new Scratch 2.0
> is
> > going to have a Share to: Facebook and Twitter, along with Youtube
> uploading
> > at some point.  And look at the ages of Scratch users.
> > That said as a parents of four young ones (or as our kids call us "Ma
> and Pa
> > Luddite") we did our best to keep them off Facebook as long as possible.
> >
>
> We need to tread lightly here. The FB terms of service require 13+
> yrs. Our children are younger than that. Maybe the Scratch team thinks
> it is OK, but I am uncomfortable with encouraging children to violate
> the terms of service. That said, I suspect Facebook will address this
> issue at some point. Or some other web service provider.
>
> >>
> >> My intention is to provide a mechanism for teachers, not children.
> >
> > Why not both? Isn't our goal to engage kids? Social networking is where
> they
> > are. Of course once its there its there for both.
>
> Agreed, but see above.
>
> >
> >> Second, Facebook does not provide a place for file (project) sharing,
> >> just a place for talking about projects. We will need other services
> >> for that (dare I say, Google Drive).
> >
> > File sharing would be wonderful. +2
> >
> > It would also be nice to be able to "embed" a running project in a web
> page
> > (when we get to the point where the projects can run in a web page :)
> >
> > Stephen
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Walter Bender
> Sugar Labs
> http://www.sugarlabs.org
>
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Re: [IAEP] Sugar Digest 2013-02-04

[Steve Thomas]

On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 11:51 AM, Walter Bender wrote:

> Kim Toufectis commented on my post [1] about online services:
>
> :Appreciative of the ideals upon which SugarLabs and OLPC formed, it’s
> deeply troubling to envision a commercial entity like FaceBook
> integrated into the Control Panel.
>
> :For a system in which a proprietary browser (Opera) or plugin (Adobe
> Flash) are controversial even as optional add-ons, can we really be
> headed for integrating a private corporation into the heart of the
> OS?This is very difficult to understand…
>
> My response:
>
> There are several issues raised by our proposal (none of this code has
> yet been reviewed and accepted):
>
> (a) Should Sugar facilitate integration with online services?
>
+1  go to where the kids are.

(b) If so, should we do it in such a way that is service-provider agnostic?
>
+1


> (c) Why specifically are we working on a Facebook plugin?
>
> There are certainly caveats: First, Facebook is not for children.

Really? I know a lot of children on Facebook.  Also the new Scratch 2.0 is
going to have a Share to: Facebook and Twitter, along with Youtube
uploading at some point.  And look at the ages of Scratch
users.

That said as a parents of four young ones (or as our kids call us "Ma and
Pa Luddite") we did our best to keep them off Facebook as long as possible.


> My intention is to provide a mechanism for teachers, not children.
>
Why not both? Isn't our goal to engage kids? Social networking is where
they are. Of course once its there its there for both.

Second, Facebook does not provide a place for file (project) sharing,
> just a place for talking about projects. We will need other services
> for that (dare I say, Google Drive).

File sharing would be wonderful. +2

It would also be nice to be able to "embed" a running project in a web page
(when we get to the point where the projects can run in a web page :)

Stephen
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[IAEP] Linux/Sugar questions

[Steve Thomas]

Folks,

I will be going to Haiti March 16-24 on a mission trip with Foundation for
Peace.  We work with a number of schools in Haiti and I will be bringing
down some laptops and PC's to setup.

I will be installing Sugar on the systems.  In checking the Wiki I see
Sugar works with Fedora 18  and
plan on installing that on the boxes (unless someone suggests something
they feel is better).  The wiki page suggests using Sugar 0.96.2, but it
also says development changes occur rapidly, so would appreciate
confirmation that 0.96.2 is the version to install.

I also have three or four XO's I plan to bring down (assuming I can fix two
of them).

Can/should I update the XO's to Fedora 18 as well?

Thanks,
Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] (no subject)

[Steve Thomas]

Great talk.  My favorite part was where he showed some Java code and said:

> Now, for some of you, when you hear about 
> this,
>  it might seem sort of strange about everybody learning to 
> code.
>  When many people think of coding, they think of 
> it
>  as something that only a very narrow 
> sub-community
>  of people are going to be 
> doing,
>  and they think of coding looking like 
> this.
>  And in fact, if this is what coding is 
> like,
>  it will only be a narrow sub-community of 
> people
>  with special mathematical skills and technological 
> background
>  that can 
> code.


We really need new ways to think about programming.

Cheers,
Stephen
P.S. Here's one nice clip from Dan Ingall's talk at JSConf 2012:
http://youtu.be/QTJRwKOFddc?t=12m for some "new" way to think about
programming.  I really like the use of connecting objects via drag and drop
and connectors.




On Sat, Feb 2, 2013 at 2:32 PM, Caryl Bigenho  wrote:

>  A neat TED talk by Mitch Resnick about why (and how) kids need to learn
> to code. http://bit.ly/TreN5K Be sure to watch to the end. You're never
> too old to learn to code!
>
> Caryl
>
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Re: [IAEP] Sugar Digest 2013-01-25

[Steve Thomas]

On Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 6:04 PM, Walter Bender wrote:

>
> 8. Cool visualization of the week [8]. Anyone want to code this up?
> [8]
> http://www.datapointed.net/visualizations/math/factorization/animated-diagrams/


Beautiful, thanks for sharing. If anyone does code this up, please allow
for stepping (rather than playing) and allow kids to enter numbers and
factors, so they can guess and look for patterns.  Or kids could create
their own versions in Turtle Art or Etoys as part of a lesson.

Cheers,
Stephen
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[IAEP] Ideas for Teaching Python

[Steve Thomas]

Gerald,

I switched email subjects and figured I would keep this on the IAEP list
(as I seem to get bounces from others). As a start, below is from an email
I sent to one of the parents:

My approach in general is to try and catch kids doing something interesting
and then name it and bring it to the attention of the whole class.  I look
for kids passions and try and find ways to build on that.  I try not to
explain everything to them, at the same time I can't expect them to
re-create all we have learned throughout history without falling into the
same traps and making the same mistakes.  So I also try and give them
examples of "good literature" (via code walk throughs and explanations of
concepts, trying to relate it to things they know).  Note: I often fail to
acheive my goals, but I keep trying. Ideas and suggestions always welcome.

I also try to give some "step away from the computer and no one gets hurt"
lessons. This is similar to the CS Unplugged  stuff
and "How to Program your parents" like what they do
here
.

Two exercises you can do with Jonathan which are from one of the classes he
missed.  One involved asking them how to find a name in a phonebook,
explaining how long it would take to go one by one through all the names.
 Then asking them to rip the phonebook in half and throw away the half that
doesn't have the name he is looking for (repeat) until you find the name.

Next is to play a version of "Guess my Number"  (where you tell them
higher, lower or correct when they guess).  Play one game where the number
is between 1-100.

Then have him make a table like the one below:
|Numbers |   # Guesses |
|10  | |
|   100  | |
| 1,000  | |
|10,000  | |
|   100,000  | |
| 1,000,000  | |
| 1,000,000,000  | |
| 4,000,000,000  | |

And ask him to fill in How many guesses it would take to guess the number.
 If he follows a pattern, compliment him on looking for and using a pattern
(even if it's not the right one)


Then have him make a table like the one below:
| Numbers | Maximum Guesses |
|  2  | |
|  3  | |
|  4  | |
|  5  | |
|  6  | |
|  7  | |
|  8  | |
|  9  | |
|  10 | |
|  11 | |
|  12 | |
|  13 | |

Tell him you are "evil" and will change your number as often as possible
and ask how many guesses it will take to find the answer.
At some point you can write down the list of numbers (pick an odd number,
so he can pick the one exactly in the middle) and then ask okay how many
left.  The goal is to make the invisible visible and show him how you are
getting rid of ~1/2 each time.  Then ask him, how many for 16, 32, 64 (you
get the idea).

Then ask him to look back at the first table once he figures it out how it
works and ask again how many guesses.

Then ask what is similar between the phone book excercise and the "Guess my
Number" excercise.

The key to focus on and repeat a few times is how you can take a simple set
of steps and just keep repeating them to do amazing things.

(In response to a question from the parent about this email:)

> Homework for this week:
>
> 1) Write your madlibs programs in python 3 and send them to me
> 2) Go to www.udacity.com and sign up for CS101
> 3) Complete Unit 1:1-13 of CS101 and send me a screenshot showing
> completion
> 4) When watching section 11 - Backus Naur Form, think about how it applies
> to our MadLibs game and also how it relates tot he syntax errors we got
> when coding (great job Colleen in recognizing and properly naming them).
>
> Some of the Big Ideas we went over in class:
>
>- We walked up and down "The Ladder of Abstraction"
>   - From 0 and 1 ==> 26 letters of the alphabet ==> words ==>
>   sentences ... to trillions of words in published books
>- Using a few simple "first principle" building blocks we can create
>amazing things
>   - When working on a program or any project, think about what are
>   the basic first principle ideas I can use to build powerful ideas
>   -
>
>
 what I meant by trying to teach them about the "Ladder of Abstraction"...

The main idea is levels of abstraction in programming.  I want them to
start thinking about and hopefully seeing how you can walk up and down the
ladder and how to find the appropriate first principle building blocks.
Ladder isn't a perfect analogy but I think its a good one to start with.


Note, I have the advantage of teaching an "after school" course to a small
group of homeschoolers (and one "schooler") we meet once a week for about
90 minutes.

The Udacity CS1

Re: [IAEP] [Sugar-devel] About to teach Python programming

[Steve Thomas]

James,

On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 6:24 PM, James Simmons  wrote:

> Steve,
>
> In my book I develop an e-book reader, starting with a standalone program
> and then converting it to a simple Activity, followed by adding toolbars,
> etc.  The examples are simple but not trivial.  I'm not a big fan of "Hello
> World".  I prefer a simple program that actually does something useful.  I
> don't have to understand absolutely every line of code to learn from an
> example.
>
Agreed (on the part about a simple program that actually does something
useful, and hopefully interesting to them).  I was thinking more a template
(as opposed to classic "Hello World) where there were some useful objects
setup that they could use/modify, which is what I thought Tony was talking
about.

I am starting to go through your book. I'll ask questions on the list as I
go.

> James Simmons
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 5:08 PM, Steve Thomas wrote:
>
>> On Sat, Jan 12, 2013 at 9:58 PM,  wrote:
>>
>>> Hi
>>>
>>> As a beginner, I found creating a Sugar Activity difficult. More
>>> difficult than creating a program to run from Terminal or Pippy. You might
>>> get better value using Pygame and writing something that can run from
>>> Pippy. The goal could be to create more Pippy built in samples.
>>>
>>> If you are going to write an Activity, you could give them a 'hello
>>> world' template and get them to build on that rather than starting from the
>>> beginning. Your 'hello world' template could have the basics:a text box for
>>> text entry/display, a canvas for graphical display and an example of
>>> keyboard and mouse capture.
>>>
>> Agreed. Having a template to build on for an Activity would make things
>> much simpler.
>>
>>
>>> Good luck. Please ask if you need help.
>>>
>> Ditto.  When will you start the class?  I am also teaching Python to some
>> kids now, and  interested sharing ideas.
>>
>> Stephen
>>
>>>
>>> Tony
>>>
>>> >  wrote:
>>> > > Hello.
>>> > > I have been asked by my school district to teach a one semester
>>> course on
>>> > > computer programming to some of our high school students. I was
>>> already
>>> > > settled on Python. In my planning, I thought it would be great if the
>>> > > students built an application for Sugar/XO Laptop. I have, as I
>>> think you
>>> > > know, been using them in our school for a few years, I think the
>>> transition
>>> > > from consumer to producer would be great.
>>> > >
>>> > > I am not a Python programmer, although I understand the basic
>>> concepts and
>>> > > can muddle my way through. So,here's my question -- what should the
>>> students
>>> > > know/be able to do in Python before they are able to write an
>>> Activity?
>>> >
>>> > Beyond the basics, understanding the concept of classes and
>>> > inheritance is pretty essential. Some GTK stuff, but that is pretty
>>> > straightforward.
>>> >
>>> > -walter
>>> >
>>> > >
>>> > > I hope this makes sense. And I appreciate your time.
>>> > >
>>> > > Best,
>>> > > Gerald Ardito
>>> > >
>>> > > ___
>>> > > Sugar-devel mailing list
>>> > > sugar-de...@lists.sugarlabs.org
>>> > > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
>>> > >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > --
>>> > Walter Bender
>>> > Sugar Labs
>>> > http://www.sugarlabs.org
>>> > ___
>>> > Sugar-devel mailing list
>>> > sugar-de...@lists.sugarlabs.org
>>> > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
>>> >
>>> > _
>>> > This mail has been virus scanned by Australia On Line
>>> > see http://www.australiaonline.net.au/mailscanning
>>>
>>> ___
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>>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
>
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Re: [IAEP] [Sugar-devel] About to teach Python programming

[Steve Thomas]

On Sat, Jan 12, 2013 at 9:58 PM,  wrote:

> Hi
>
> As a beginner, I found creating a Sugar Activity difficult. More difficult
> than creating a program to run from Terminal or Pippy. You might get better
> value using Pygame and writing something that can run from Pippy. The goal
> could be to create more Pippy built in samples.
>
> If you are going to write an Activity, you could give them a 'hello world'
> template and get them to build on that rather than starting from the
> beginning. Your 'hello world' template could have the basics:a text box for
> text entry/display, a canvas for graphical display and an example of
> keyboard and mouse capture.
>
Agreed. Having a template to build on for an Activity would make things
much simpler.


> Good luck. Please ask if you need help.
>
Ditto.  When will you start the class?  I am also teaching Python to some
kids now, and  interested sharing ideas.

Stephen

>
> Tony
>
> >  wrote:
> > > Hello.
> > > I have been asked by my school district to teach a one semester course
> on
> > > computer programming to some of our high school students. I was already
> > > settled on Python. In my planning, I thought it would be great if the
> > > students built an application for Sugar/XO Laptop. I have, as I think
> you
> > > know, been using them in our school for a few years, I think the
> transition
> > > from consumer to producer would be great.
> > >
> > > I am not a Python programmer, although I understand the basic concepts
> and
> > > can muddle my way through. So,here's my question -- what should the
> students
> > > know/be able to do in Python before they are able to write an Activity?
> >
> > Beyond the basics, understanding the concept of classes and
> > inheritance is pretty essential. Some GTK stuff, but that is pretty
> > straightforward.
> >
> > -walter
> >
> > >
> > > I hope this makes sense. And I appreciate your time.
> > >
> > > Best,
> > > Gerald Ardito
> > >
> > > ___
> > > Sugar-devel mailing list
> > > sugar-de...@lists.sugarlabs.org
> > > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Walter Bender
> > Sugar Labs
> > http://www.sugarlabs.org
> > ___
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> > sugar-de...@lists.sugarlabs.org
> > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
> >
> > _
> > This mail has been virus scanned by Australia On Line
> > see http://www.australiaonline.net.au/mailscanning
>
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Re: [IAEP] [support-gang] XO-4 Questions After Viewing CES video

[Steve Thomas]

Mike,

Thanks for the video links.

So two basic comments:
1) The Parental Controls (from what I can determine from the videos) seem
more like "Parental FYI" rather than controls.  I would like to see some
"controls" to help parents keep kids from "distracting themselves to
death".  I suspect that one of the reasons the "helicopter drop" experiment
worked so well, was the kids had nothing much to distract them from using
this really cool new toy,  No internet, YouTube, lowest common denominator
games etc.  The App Store with a set of curated Apps is a good start
(assuming the device can only download apps from the curated store and the
curation is good).  It would also be good if there were time limits on
internet surfing.  I'm thinking time limits as it seems too hard to decide
what to allow/not and to keep up with changes.  That said I have yet to see
a really good implementation of Parental Controls and the bigger challenge
is implementing them across multiple devices (XO tablet, Xbox, Wii,
handhelds, Smartphones, etc).  Would be nice if there were a way to do this
via the cloud and there was a common protocol all vendors implemented.

2) The goals of reflection and sharing are good, I never was quite sure how
well the Sugar Journal helped meet those goals though.  Reflection I think
needs more of a cultural rather than technical solution. One thing which I
try (and often fail) to practice with my kids is to have them write down
what they plan to do/learn today, reflect on what they actually did/learned
and what went well/what didn't.  The main problem seems to be getting them
to write, talking and asking questions works much better.  As for sharing.
the Scratch website seems to have done that best so far and having a
website to share projects and allow kids to comment/remix would be great.

Cheers,
Stephen

On Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 9:28 PM, Mike Lee  wrote:

> [I meant to copy this to the IAEP list as well...]
>
> On Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 1:36 AM, Mike Lee  wrote:
>
>> Caryl,
>>
>> In today's Engadget video[1], the host interviews Giulia and Bob, and the
>> XO-4 is never displayed. Most of the segment covers OLPC history and
>> mission, then they recap the features of the new consumer tablet. One
>> interesting soundbite towards the end at 17:05 when Bob is referring to
>> the XO-4 Touch (he calls it the clamshell):
>>
>> "We're going to port that device to Android. So it's going to possible
>> for a child in Africa on a clamshell to be using the same software as a
>> child coming to Walmart."
>>
>> One way to interpret this statement is that the new "Dreams" interface
>> will be ported to an Android version of the XO-4 Touch. That opens
>> questions on if some deployments will opt for an Android version of the
>> XO-4 Touch and if this new consumer interface is customizable as open
>> source.
>>
>> Thinking about this, and since Guilia mentions the Journal in her demos,
>> I went and took a closer look at the short hands-on video Engadget shot of
>> the XO Tablet [2] as well as a higher quality clip by Jeremy Hill [3].
>>
>> On the new tablet, the Journal icon leads to a dashboard showing % usage
>> of each of the "dream" categories (e.g. XO Artist, XO Athlete) of the
>> tablet. There's nothing of the Sugar Journal there. The other My Files icon
>> leads to a basic Android explorer file list. Screenshots here [4]
>>
>> So there's lots to think about. But one thing is for sure, the original
>> concepts behind the Sugar Journal as a portfolio for reflection and sharing
>> are gone.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>>
>> [1] http://www.viddler.com/v/41ee1d5e (no escape from pre-roll ad)
>> [2] http://www.viddler.com/v/3f7d1d50?secret=39213658 (no escape from
>> pre-roll ad)
>> [3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzU7zJV4kFs
>> [4] http://www.flickr.com/photos/curiouslee/sets/72157632489475573/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 12:28 AM, Mike Lee  wrote:
>>
>>> I was looking for that clip and finally found it after the incorrectly
>>> placed clip. Here is the direct link to the clip on Viddler where it is
>>> actually hosted for Engadget:
>>>
>>> Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with OLPC's Giulia
>>> D'Amico and Bob Hacker
>>> http://www.viddler.com/v/41ee1d5e
>>>
>>> Watching the 18:42 clip now...
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 12:08 AM, Caryl Bigenho wrote:
>>>
  Hi Mike...

 Check this again. The video was made *today,* and Giulia is clearly
 holding and pointing to things on an XO-4, not a tablet. The link might not
 work right... it didn't for me. I had to go to the Engaget schedule for
 today, find the one for OLPC, click on it, go down below the photos, there
 will be a video screen with a guy on the right. Click on play. It is short.

 Caryl

 --
 Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2013 23:51:20 -0500
 From: curious...@gmail.com
 To: support-g...@lists.laptop.org
 CC: iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org; support-g...@laptop.org
 Su

Re: [IAEP] It's a book!

[Steve Thomas]

On Fri, Dec 21, 2012 at 7:54 PM, Jonas Smedegaard  wrote:

> Quoting Chris Leonard (2012-12-21 20:04:37)
> > On Fri, Dec 21, 2012 at 1:59 PM, Chris Leonard
> >  wrote:
> > > On Fri, Dec 21, 2012 at 1:51 PM, Jonas Smedegaard 
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > >> Wauw - really exciting!  And freely licensed!
> > >>
> > >> I am curious about sources for the book - are those freely and
> > >> openly available too?  It seems you do not mention source location,
> > >> neither at the web page nor inside the PDF.
> > >
> > >
> > > By "sources for the book" are you talking about the book file itself
> > > or the example projects?
>
> Yes, I mean the book itself.
>
> I am involved in Debian, where we go by a principle that code and
> documentation must be Free not only in its "binary" (i.e. consumer) form
> but also its source.
>
> It is not satisfactory that some kind of "source" can be derived from
> the "binary" (e.g. reverse engineering, screen-scraping etc.) but that
> the preferred source format of the authors is made available.
>
> By no means to I mean to impose this principle must apply to this book.
> But I am curious _if_ it does apply, because then I have the opportunity
> of getting the book included with Debian, and that way also included
> with Skolelinux, which I am sure would be quite appreciated and used.
>

Yes its free and we would love to see the book and Etoys n Skolelinux.
The beauty of Etoys is all the source is available and you can look at it
and modify it right inside Etoys.

Cheers,
Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] [Olpc-open] Healthcare - Potential Opportunity

[Steve Thomas]

On Fri, Dec 21, 2012 at 1:17 AM, Alan Jhonn Aguiar Schwyn <
alan...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> > Also it suffers from not being able to work in a web page or on an
> mobile device which is what most people want to do.
>
> No scratch.. no python.. the future: html5
>

And Html6 and perhaps Back to the Future with Lively
Kernel:)
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Re: [IAEP] [Olpc-open] Healthcare - Potential Opportunity

[Steve Thomas]

Spelling correction:
You can put the lesson on a USB stick and it will run on any Mac, PC or
Linux box, because the code is Byte identical for all platforms

On Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 1:40 AM, Steve Thomas  wrote:

> Alan,
>
> So to quote your namesake "*A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ
> points."*
> So let me see if I can change your perspective on Etoys.  I just created a
> simple lesson in Etoys such as you described in about 10-15 minutes, most
> of that time was spent trying to find a good open source image of the eye
> (I used the one from WIkipedia which you may want to look at if you would
> like to take the Quiz I just developed).
>
> Here is the You Tube video of why Etoys rocks and 
> how<http://youtu.be/mqbnJG1dgkA>
>
>
> I created the quiz with 5 "lines of code" an image, a holder and two text
> objects.  You can put the lesson on a USB stuck and it will run on any Mac,
> PC and Linux, because the code is Byte identical for all platforms. No
> libraries to load or special drivers needed.
>
> Now of course perhaps this could be done quicker or more cost effectively
> in python :D
>
> Cheers,
> Stephen
>
> Below is a more full quote from Alan on IQ:
>
> Q - What if you had an "IQ" of 500, but were born in 10,000 BC. You would
> not be able to make a lot of progress. For example, Leonardo was very smart
> but couldn't come up with the engines his vehicle designs needed in order
> to work -- he was born in the wrong century for what he wanted to do.
>
> Knowledge - On the other hand, Henry Ford was not nearly as smart as
> Leonardo, but was born at a very good time and in a good place, so he was
> able to combine engineering and production inventions to make millions of
> inexpensive automobiles.
>
> Outlook - what made Henry Ford powerful (and most other things today) was
> an enormous change in Outlook (you called it a paradigm shift) which we can
> symbolize by invoking Newton.
>
> "Knowledge is Silver, but Outlook is Gold" (IQ is Lead ... because most
> worthwhile problems we want to work on and solve are beyond mere IQ)
>
> In other words, most human cultures accumulate and use a lot of knowledge
> (this is what a culture is all about) that is used to survive, to
> accommodate to the environment and even sometimes thrive. But the knowledge
> of a traditional society is very different from that of a feudal society
> which in turn is very different from a technological scientifically based
> society.
>
> The bug most people have about schools (including many who set up schools)
> is the idea that they are there to teach knowledge. (Not a bad secondary
> goal, but it's a very bad idea for it to be the main goal.) Montessori was
> an early voice who pointed out that the main purpose of schooling
> (especially early schooling) was to help students learn and deeply
> internalize the most powerful outlooks that have been discovered/invented
> by humans. She observed that otherwise children wind up living in the 20th
> century but with a 10th century (or much earlier) outlook ...
>
>
> On Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 12:47 AM, Alan Jhonn Aguiar Schwyn <
> alan...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I'm not sure why, but I not like much Etoys (with all my respect to my
>> namesake Alan Kay :-)
>>
>> I prefer a pure-python activity. For example, a first activity could be:
>> "I know the Eye" and use a
>> similar image to this: (search: eye anatomy)
>>
>> External: (muscleds, etc)
>>
>>
>> http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-x4oGiQWiUA/TMP2dRqClBI/AGY/PuehgCY8WJM/s1600/eye+anatomy+2.jpg
>>
>> And internal:
>>
>> http://www.floridaeyeclinic.com/images/aao-G04-large.jpg
>>
>> The first problem is obtain a good image (CC creative commons or similiar
>> free license).
>>
>>
>> --
>> Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 00:31:15 -0500
>> From: sthom...@gosargon.com
>> To: andry...@gmail.com
>> CC: olpc-o...@lists.laptop.org; alan...@hotmail.com;
>> sugar-de...@lists.sugarlabs.org; iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org
>> Subject: Re: [IAEP] [Olpc-open] Healthcare - Potential Opportunity
>>
>>
>> Alan,
>>
>> If you have the materials (images, test, knowledge, etc.) I would be
>> happy to work with you to create some materials in Etoys that could help
>> educate folks about the eye and more importantly detect vision problems and
>> provide suggestions and resources on how to deal with them.  If you send me
>> some materials I can put something together in Etoys fairly quickly.  It
>> would be available to all OLPC XO's and because its E

Re: [IAEP] [Olpc-open] Healthcare - Potential Opportunity

[Steve Thomas]

Alan,

So to quote your namesake "*A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points."*
So let me see if I can change your perspective on Etoys.  I just created a
simple lesson in Etoys such as you described in about 10-15 minutes, most
of that time was spent trying to find a good open source image of the eye
(I used the one from WIkipedia which you may want to look at if you would
like to take the Quiz I just developed).

Here is the You Tube video of why Etoys rocks and
how


I created the quiz with 5 "lines of code" an image, a holder and two text
objects.  You can put the lesson on a USB stuck and it will run on any Mac,
PC and Linux, because the code is Byte identical for all platforms. No
libraries to load or special drivers needed.

Now of course perhaps this could be done quicker or more cost effectively
in python :D

Cheers,
Stephen

Below is a more full quote from Alan on IQ:

Q - What if you had an "IQ" of 500, but were born in 10,000 BC. You would
not be able to make a lot of progress. For example, Leonardo was very smart
but couldn't come up with the engines his vehicle designs needed in order
to work -- he was born in the wrong century for what he wanted to do.

Knowledge - On the other hand, Henry Ford was not nearly as smart as
Leonardo, but was born at a very good time and in a good place, so he was
able to combine engineering and production inventions to make millions of
inexpensive automobiles.

Outlook - what made Henry Ford powerful (and most other things today) was
an enormous change in Outlook (you called it a paradigm shift) which we can
symbolize by invoking Newton.

"Knowledge is Silver, but Outlook is Gold" (IQ is Lead ... because most
worthwhile problems we want to work on and solve are beyond mere IQ)

In other words, most human cultures accumulate and use a lot of knowledge
(this is what a culture is all about) that is used to survive, to
accommodate to the environment and even sometimes thrive. But the knowledge
of a traditional society is very different from that of a feudal society
which in turn is very different from a technological scientifically based
society.

The bug most people have about schools (including many who set up schools)
is the idea that they are there to teach knowledge. (Not a bad secondary
goal, but it's a very bad idea for it to be the main goal.) Montessori was
an early voice who pointed out that the main purpose of schooling
(especially early schooling) was to help students learn and deeply
internalize the most powerful outlooks that have been discovered/invented
by humans. She observed that otherwise children wind up living in the 20th
century but with a 10th century (or much earlier) outlook ...


On Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 12:47 AM, Alan Jhonn Aguiar Schwyn <
alan...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> I'm not sure why, but I not like much Etoys (with all my respect to my
> namesake Alan Kay :-)
>
> I prefer a pure-python activity. For example, a first activity could be:
> "I know the Eye" and use a
> similar image to this: (search: eye anatomy)
>
> External: (muscleds, etc)
>
>
> http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-x4oGiQWiUA/TMP2dRqClBI/AGY/PuehgCY8WJM/s1600/eye+anatomy+2.jpg
>
> And internal:
>
> http://www.floridaeyeclinic.com/images/aao-G04-large.jpg
>
> The first problem is obtain a good image (CC creative commons or similiar
> free license).
>
>
> --
> Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 00:31:15 -0500
> From: sthom...@gosargon.com
> To: andry...@gmail.com
> CC: olpc-o...@lists.laptop.org; alan...@hotmail.com;
> sugar-de...@lists.sugarlabs.org; iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org
> Subject: Re: [IAEP] [Olpc-open] Healthcare - Potential Opportunity
>
>
> Alan,
>
> If you have the materials (images, test, knowledge, etc.) I would be happy
> to work with you to create some materials in Etoys that could help educate
> folks about the eye and more importantly detect vision problems and provide
> suggestions and resources on how to deal with them.  If you send me some
> materials I can put something together in Etoys fairly quickly.  It would
> be available to all OLPC XO's and because its Etoys, it can also run on
> Windows, Mac and Linux (with no code changes).  If it works for both of us,
> we could put together some quick prototypes to help build a "more robust
> case".
>
> Stephen
>
> On Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 12:09 AM, Chris Leonard 
> wrote:
>
> > From: andry...@gmail.com
> > To: olpc-o...@lists.laptop.org
> > Subject: [Olpc-open] Healthcare - Potential Opportunity
> >
> > Hello, I'm new to this venue but am looking to contribute and/or
> determine
> > if I might have some material that would benefit the community.  I work
> for
> > a healthcare company that specializes in vision and was wondering if
> there
> > was any need for material on healthy vision or perhaps an interactive eye
> > model to teach children about the different parts of the eye.  It could
> be
> > anything in this realm really - the sky is the limit.
> >
> > M

Re: [IAEP] [Olpc-open] Healthcare - Potential Opportunity

[Steve Thomas]

Alan,

If you have the materials (images, test, knowledge, etc.) I would be happy
to work with you to create some materials in Etoys that could help educate
folks about the eye and more importantly detect vision problems and provide
suggestions and resources on how to deal with them.  If you send me some
materials I can put something together in Etoys fairly quickly.  It would
be available to all OLPC XO's and because its Etoys, it can also run on
Windows, Mac and Linux (with no code changes).  If it works for both of us,
we could put together some quick prototypes to help build a "more robust
case".

Stephen

On Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 12:09 AM, Chris Leonard wrote:

> > From: andry...@gmail.com
> > To: olpc-o...@lists.laptop.org
> > Subject: [Olpc-open] Healthcare - Potential Opportunity
> >
> > Hello, I'm new to this venue but am looking to contribute and/or
> determine
> > if I might have some material that would benefit the community.  I work
> for
> > a healthcare company that specializes in vision and was wondering if
> there
> > was any need for material on healthy vision or perhaps an interactive eye
> > model to teach children about the different parts of the eye.  It could
> be
> > anything in this realm really - the sky is the limit.
> >
> > My company is constantly looking for ways to give back and if there was
> some
> > interest in this I'd look to build a more robust case and inquire more
> > deeply into whether the company would be willing to put some resources
> > behind this.
> >
> > Is there anyone on this distribution list that would be able to point me
> in
> > the right direction?
>
>
> I would suggest taking a look at the accumulated notes and links on these
> pages.
>
> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Vision_screening
>
> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Visual_Acuity
>
> cjl
> ___
> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
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Re: [IAEP] [Olpc-open] Healthcare - Potential Opportunity

[Steve Thomas]

What would also, be good would be tests included in the activity to help
detect color blindness, dyslexia and other common vision issues that affect
kids ability to read/learn.  My one son had a hard time learning to read
and it took us a while to find a doctor who could diagnose the issue.
 Turns out he would occasionally see two fingers when we held up one and
things would sometimes "shake".  He was bright otherwise so he had coping
mechanisms, but it would have been good to catch this earlier, as there
were a simple set of exercises that helped correct the issues and improve
his reading.

Stephen

On Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 11:45 PM, Alan Jhonn Aguiar Schwyn <
alan...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> And maybe in the sugar-devel you can obtain more ideas..
> Or in IAEP..
>
> --
> From: alan...@hotmail.com
> To: andry...@gmail.com; olpc-o...@lists.laptop.org
> Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 04:29:54 +
> Subject: Re: [Olpc-open] Healthcare - Potential Opportunity
>
> Hello,
>
> Maybe develop an activity to explain the parts of the eye.. There are some
> activitys called "Conozco" that
> allow make simple question about an image.
> The usual uses: geography; where is the city where born ? And the
> answer, click on a city.
> The same code can be used to this activity with minor changes.
> An example of the geography use: "I know America" [1]
> Another use: health food "Conozco Alimentos" [2]
>
> Another idea: make a "vision test". With random letters (to evite that the
> childrens memorize the letters)
> you put the XO to a some distance, and ask for the first line (0.2 or
> similar) and continues with small
> letters.
>
> Regards!
>
> Alan
>
> [1] http://activities.sugarlabs.org/es-ES/sugar/addon/4464
> [2] http://activities.sugarlabs.org/es-ES/sugar/addon/4324
>
> --
> Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 23:19:16 -0500
> From: andry...@gmail.com
> To: olpc-o...@lists.laptop.org
> Subject: [Olpc-open] Healthcare - Potential Opportunity
>
> Hello, I'm new to this venue but am looking to contribute and/or determine
> if I might have some material that would benefit the community.  I work for
> a healthcare company that specializes in vision and was wondering if there
> was any need for material on healthy vision or perhaps an interactive eye
> model to teach children about the different parts of the eye.  It could be
> anything in this realm really - the sky is the limit.
>
> My company is constantly looking for ways to give back and if there was
> some interest in this I'd look to build a more robust case and inquire more
> deeply into whether the company would be willing to put some resources
> behind this.
>
> Is there anyone on this distribution list that would be able to point me
> in the right direction?
>
>
> --
> AAA
>
> ___ Olpc-open mailing list
> olpc-o...@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-open
>
> ___ Olpc-open mailing list
> olpc-o...@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-open
>
> ___
> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
___
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[IAEP] Google Code-In - PORT GBRAINY TO PYTHON question

[Steve Thomas]

 Folks,

For this task, could kids use Etoys instead of porting to python?

Thanks,
Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] Introduction: teacher interested in SOAS

[Steve Thomas]

John,

Also if you would like support with Etoys, I would be happy to help and
live not that far from Philadelphia.
Please check out the lesson plans on etoysillinois.org

They have a wonderful set of lesson plans for K-6.

Steve Thomas

On Tue, Nov 20, 2012 at 1:50 PM, John Tierney  wrote:

>  Hi John,
>
> I would say your summary is pretty well on target
> taking into account Peter's comments and the continued
> improvements he has been making with each SoaS release.
> I would be happy to have a conversation with you on Skype
> or phone and give you some ideas on how you might want to
> approach the local Universities to establish relationships in Computer
> Science and Education schools to build up a support system. I think
> you mentioned your in Philadelphia so Temple and Drexel would be
> great options as well as the other smaller schools.
>
> I have been collaborating with Dr. Kevin Brooks and his Great Fargo
> project since its inception. I met Kevin at the Computers and Writing
> Conference at Purdue in 2010, where I helped put on a Sugar  Workshop
> with Dr. Gerald Ardito, and Walter Bender who joined via Skype. In turn I
> joined Kevin and his graduate student Chris Lindgren at the University of
> Michigan at Computers&Writing 2011 for another Sugar Workshop.
>
> I think this would be a great place for you to talk about the education
> portions of the project,for the technical questions/issues and updates
> on that front the Soas list would be best.
>
> It's Great to see you trying to help out your learners in this manner.
> Let me know if I can be of assistance.
>
> Best!
> John Tierney
> Skype: jt4sugar
> #248-613-7392
>
> > From: j...@johnlandis.net
> > Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2012 13:10:41 -0500
> > To: iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org
> > Subject: Re: [IAEP] Introduction: teacher interested in SOAS
>
> >
> > Thanks so much for the warm welcome. Particularly to Patricio,
> > Harriet, and Kevin for sharing such fascinating links.
> >
> > If it's okay, I'm going to use this list as a sounding board for my
> > thoughts as I explore Sugar. Again, if there's a better place for
> > this type of thing, please let me know!
> >
> > So far, I'm getting the impression that Sugar on A Stick is more or
> > less limited to experimental university-school partnerships, and
> > hasn't yet reached a phase of wide deployment in the hands of schools.
> > Is this an accurate assessment?
> >
> > The reason I'm interested in SOAS is that I work in the traditional
> > "computer lab" setting that is so familiar in K12 schools in the US.
> > This setting has a lot of restrictions and drawbacks. A big one is
> > that, even though the students are surrounded by computers in my lab,
> > and to varying degrees at home, they have no opportunity to take
> > ownership of these devices. They can't monkey about with the precious
> > computers that we adults see as far to precious to fully hand over to
> > children. A very basic symptom of this is that the students simply
> > can't save their work. A save dialog box on most computers is very
> > difficult to learn for the uninitiated. Add to this that all files
> > which don't make it onto a shared network or USB drive are basically
> > instantly lost given the shared nature of school computers. If the
> > kids can't do something as simple as save a piece of writing, the
> > computer is far less useful than a notebook.
> >
> > In this light, SOAS looks very appealing. The promise of handing a
> > student their own _persistant_ computer where they are free to explore
> > is exactly what I've been looking for. (to say nothing of sugar's
> > "Journal" which I think is a brilliant answer to the above problem).
> >
> > I'm curious, how do my motivations match up with how you guys think
> about sugar?
> >
> > -John
> > ___
> > IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> > IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
> > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
> ___
> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
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Re: [IAEP] It's Time to Sign Up For Sensors!

[Steve Thomas]

Unfortunately I will not be in SF, but I am very interested in Sensors.
Perhaps I can attend or see the final results if you do presentations via
Google Hangout?

I hope to be going to Haiti next March and plan to bring some lessons and
an "engineering challenge" around the kids/adults building Solar Stills.
 So temperature and humidity sensors would be good.  I would also be
interested in ones we can hook in through an arduino (like the versions C.
Scott Ananian designed) for data collection.


Thanks,
Stephen


On Fri, Oct 12, 2012 at 12:06 AM, Caryl Bigenho wrote:

>  Hi Folks, It's crunch time!
>
>
> STEM, SET, SCIB... no matter what you call it, the world is focusing more
> and more on science and technology in education. The XO is an ideal
> platform for furthering science education through hands-on student based
> experiments that will teach and/or reinforce science concepts from core
> curriculums. It is a perfect use of the XO for any deployment.
>
>
> So far the following people have shown interest in doing something with
> sensors at the SF Summit and/or Sugar Camp.
>
>
> Tony Anderson, Janissa Balcomb, Ed Bigenho, and myself.  Also, it is
> possible Nick Doiron and/or Alex Kleider can help us with the building.
>
>
> Surely there must be more of you that are interested in this!
>
>
> The plan is to make the sensors early on, maybe in free time, maybe at the
> Noisebridge makerspace, maybe at the Summit itself. That way, folks who
> aren't staying over for Sugar Camp will have the sensors to take home with
> them.  Those people who are able to stay past Sunday will have a chance to
> experiment with the sensors and find ways to use them in science lessons,
> probably focusing on upper elementary to middle school science. These ideas
> will be shared with all who are interested, principally on the SugarLabs
> wiki.
>
>
> Sensors we will probably  build will include temperature, light, and
> possibly one or two others. Once we know how to build and use them, it
> should be fairly easy to transfer what we learn to building others once we
> are home.
>
>
> If you want to be a part of this, I need to know in time to get the
> supplies for you. I plan to make a trip to a large electronics store in the
> San Fernando Valley next week to purchase the parts we will need. Their
> prices are excellent and they will sell small quantities if needed.  My
> best guess is that most sensors can be made for $5 or less… maybe much
> less. That means your investment for one each of 4 different sensors would
> be $20 or less.
>
>
> So… what I need to know is…
>
>
> Do you want to be included in this project?
>
>
> If yes, *what days/dates * will you be in SF and what part of town are
> you staying in?
>
>
> What sensors besides light and temperature are you interested in
> building?***
>
>
> Ideally, how many sets of parts for each sensor would you like me to get
> for you? I don't have an endless pot of money and expect to be reimbursed,
> but I can probably put enough into this for everyone interested to have at
> least one of each, maybe more.
>
>
> I will be making my shopping list for this over the weekend, so don't
> delay in making up your mind!! Just send me a reply to this email with your
> "reservation" and info.
>
>
> Hope to see you in SF.
>
> Caryl (aka SweetXOGrannie or GrannieB)
>
>
> *** If you missed or misplaced the links to into about sensors, here is a
> list from the SugarLabs wiki and a link to a series of videos make by
> Trinidad Guzman who makes and uses a lot of sensors with his students in
> Uruguay. The narration is in Spanish, but if you know any science no
> language is needed!
>
>
> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Activities/Turtle_Art/Using_Turtle_Art_Sensors
>
>
> http://www.youtube.com/user/guzmantrinidad?feature=watch
>
> ___
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> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
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Re: [IAEP] Stanford Online Education Course

[Steve Thomas]

Thanks, signed up.

Stephen

On Sun, Sep 9, 2012 at 9:22 PM, Caryl Bigenho  wrote:

>  Hi All...
>
> I saw a tweet from Christoph Derndorfer that he has signed up for this
> online class from Stanford. It looks like a perfect place for olpc/sugar
> labs folks to form a team and look at possible new directions that will
> work in XO classrooms. So, I signed up too!
>
> It would be wonderful if we got a nice mix of developers and classroom
> teachers and other supporters to get a team together for this. Check it
> out! If you like the idea, sign up and let us all know so we can be a
> "team"... not officially affiliated in any way with either OLPC or Sugar
> Labs, but folks who are interested in the XOs in education who would enjoy
> exploring new horizons and ways to use the XOs together.
>
> To join the adventure, go to this website. Be sure to watch the video. See
> what will be involved, and sign up if you want to be part of this.
>
> http://venture-lab.stanford.edu/education
>
> Caryl
>
> ___
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> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
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>
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Re: [IAEP] Khan Academy computer science

[Steve Thomas]

On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 10:35 AM, Walter Bender wrote:

> On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 3:42 AM, Tony Anderson 
> wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > The Khan Academy web site (http://www.khanacademy.org/) is announcing
> today
> > a 'playlist' on computer science. It appears to be an introduction to
> > programming based on Python!
>
> The funny thing is that many of the examples are also in the Turtle
> Art examples list :)
>

Yes and also in Etoys, Scratch, etc.


But they have one thing you haven't got ...

Okay more than one:

   - A nice set of short videos to walk you through using these tools to
   learn/introduce/explain the concepts
   - A tool to let you try to solve a problem and give you feedback as to
   whether you got it right or wrong
   - Hints when you don't get the answer
   - Social Network tools so a group of people can "learn together" and
   support "collaboritve floundering" (as mentioned by Mark Guzdial
here
   )


The above might make good GSoC projects, sort of a Udacity using the
excellent tools to learn with in Sugar.

Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] P.S. Re: Has anyone build a set of gears in Etoys or any other freely available program?

[Steve Thomas]

Thanks Alan.


On Sat, Jul 7, 2012 at 12:29 AM, Alan Kay  wrote:

> P.S.
>
> I vaguely recall that someone did an Etoy model of the Antikythera ...
> (might be findable on the web somewhere)
>
Karl Ramberg pointed me to: http://www.dmst.aueb.gr/dds/sw/ameso/ which may
be what your are recalling.

>
> Going a little deeper, it would be good for children to think about: 
> *Computing
> is inventing a kind of machine that can carry and manipulate
> representations of ideas.* The machine can be made from physical or
> symbolic materials.
>

I really like the inclusion of "inventing" in the definition.  I'll see
what the kids come up with and then weave this in.

>
> For example, the abacus -- which vastly predates the Antikythera -- is
> also a computing machine. And so is Algebra ...
>

> Cheers,
>
> Alan
>
>   --
> *From:* Steve Thomas 
> *To:* squeakland ; iaep <
> iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org>
> *Sent:* Friday, July 6, 2012 2:22 PM
> *Subject:* [IAEP] Has anyone build a set of gears in Etoys or any other
> freely available program?
>
> I got I asked my class to play 
> LightBot<http://armorgames.com/play/2205/light-bot> and
> then asked them:
>
> "How this is like and not like "programming"
>
>
> This lead into one kids responding its like "mabey small motors and
> gears"  (wish I knew what was going on in her mind, I'll ask in the next
> class)
>
> So I responded:
>
> I was on the Battleship NJ (commissioned in 1943).  They had a "computer"
> on board to calculate the angle and direction of the big guns and could hit
> a target miles away within a few yards!!!  Pretty impressive when you have
> to consider they had to take into account the ships speed and direction,
> wind speed, waves and the recoil from the guns firing.  The whole
> "computer" was built using gears which controlled BIG motors to move the
> gun.
>
>
> Here's a pop quiz (you will be graded on this and it will go on your
> PERMANENT record :)
> *What is the oldest computer we know about?*
> *
> *
>
> I then asked them to think about and email me an answer to:
>
> *What is a computer?*
>
> I then added the caveat, non-biological computer, as a bunch came back
> with the answer "the brain".
>
>
> I found a nice video on a Lego version of the oldest know computer 
> here<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLPVCJjTNgk>
> .
>
> So I want to get them to try and build some adding machines (and I will
> see if we can find enough lego parts amonst us to do that as it would be
> best), but in case I can't, and just for fun.
>
> Has anyone build a set of gears in Etoys or any other freely available
> program?
>
> Thanks,
> Stephen
>
> ___
> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
>
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[IAEP] Has anyone build a set of gears in Etoys or any other freely available program?

[Steve Thomas]

I got I asked my class to play
LightBot and
then asked them:

"How this is like and not like "programming"


This lead into one kids responding its like "mabey small motors and gears"
 (wish I knew what was going on in her mind, I'll ask in the next class)

So I responded:

I was on the Battleship NJ (commissioned in 1943).  They had a "computer"
on board to calculate the angle and direction of the big guns and could hit
a target miles away within a few yards!!!  Pretty impressive when you have
to consider they had to take into account the ships speed and direction,
wind speed, waves and the recoil from the guns firing.  The whole
"computer" was built using gears which controlled BIG motors to move the
gun.


Here's a pop quiz (you will be graded on this and it will go on your
PERMANENT record :)
*What is the oldest computer we know about?*
*
*

I then asked them to think about and email me an answer to:

*What is a computer?*

I then added the caveat, non-biological computer, as a bunch came back with
the answer "the brain".


I found a nice video on a Lego version of the oldest know computer
here
.

So I want to get them to try and build some adding machines (and I will see
if we can find enough lego parts amonst us to do that as it would be best),
but in case I can't, and just for fun.

Has anyone build a set of gears in Etoys or any other freely available
program?

Thanks,
Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] Butia 2.0 first tests

[Steve Thomas]

Nice.  What is the cost of making one of these and is there a parts list?

Stephen

On Sat, Mar 10, 2012 at 10:19 PM, Alan Jhonn Aguiar Schwyn <
alan...@hotmail.com> wrote:

>
> Hi,
>
> We have some progress with the butia 2.0 platform [1], including some
> related to the new board I / O USB4bot [2]
> Is working the motors of the robot, an example video:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNf2aJUQSfk
>
> [1] http://www.fing.edu.uy/inco/proyectos/butia/mediawiki/index.php/Butia2
> [2]
> http://www.fing.edu.uy/inco/proyectos/butia/mediawiki/index.php/Usb4butia
>
> Regards!
>
> Alan
>
> ___
> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
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Re: [IAEP] RFC:Simple Help widget for activities

[Steve Thomas]

On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 7:17 AM, Gonzalo Odiard  wrote:

> Walter, Stephen,
>
> Probably the same solution will not work for all our activities.
> TurtleArt and Etoys are complete environments,
> probably with the more complex and powerful UI.
>
Another possible solution would be to implement help similar to the way it
is done in Scratch, where you "right click" on a scripting tile and a help
dialog pops up for that tile.  This may be easier to integrate into other
environments and could allow for others to work on the help dialogs, the
end product being an image simple text + image  if the environment does not
support interactivity.  This could allow a separate group of folks to work
on the "help".

Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] RFC:Simple Help widget for activities

[Steve Thomas]

On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 9:37 AM, Gonzalo Odiard  wrote:

> We receive many times request about adding help in the activities,
> and if is true Sugar propose a exploratory approach,
> not all the people learn in the same way,
> and there are people who prefer a little guidance.
>

Not being one to read manuals and preferring to figure things out myself, I
was shocked when kids 8-14 who in their first or second class with Etoys,
were doing things in ways I had never seen before.  Especially after I had
been using Etoys for quite a while.  When I asked how they figured it out,
they said "Oh it's in the Quick Guides"

So yes, there are many different ways of learning and +1 for Gonzalo's
suggestions.

May I suggest as a format something similar to Kathleen Harness' Quick
Guides in Etoys.  They provide a fun and interactive way for kids to learn,
that is more than simple reading, but involves doing (albiet in a simple
way, that helps ensure early success).  One of their goals, I think, is to
help make the "undiscoverable" discoverable.

Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] Etoys or Scratch?

[Steve Thomas]

Caryl,

Scratch is an excellent program and a good choice.  I also like Mike's use
of Audacity and then importing the sounds which will work in Scratch as
well.

Okay, now in trying to improve on "*almost* a white paper" here are some
additional thoughts:

As pointed out by Maria, another big advantage of Scratch is the online
community, its excellent website and its ability to foster
sharing/re-mixing,  This is a big missing in Etoys and Sugar in general.

Importing Pictures (non XO comparison as I do not think you can drag
Pictures onto Scratch or Etoys on the XO):

   - Scratch: You can drag a picture onto Scratch and the picture is added
   to the costume list for the current sprite/background you are editing.
   - Etoys:  You can drag a picture onto Etoys and it becomes a new object.


Importing Sounds:



   - Both can import via a "menu interface"  Scratch also allows drag and
   drop of sounds, Etoys does not.

Re-Use of works (graphics, scripts, sets of scripts and objects etc):

I really need to think about this more, but want to get some initial
thoughts down in a portion of my electronic memory (aka Gmail).  The basic
unit of sharing (and re-mixing?) is the project for both Scratch and Etoys.
 Yet you often want to share/re-use/re-mix smaller units such as
script/object/set of objects.  I guess an argument could be made that you
want kids to "build it themselves" and not simply "copy" (which in that
unique world called school is considered a no-no ;).  There are valid
reasons to have kids build things themselves, but it depends on your
"learning objectives" and what you want to make hard and what you want to
make easy.


   - Scratch - You can export a Sprite and then later import it for re-use.
This form of sharing is not supported directly through the Scratch website
   (not sure why not, they could gather further stats on how kids re-mix and
   it might encourage more original work as a percentage of re-mixed projects)
   - Etoys - You can export an Object, but not in Etoys friendly mode, so
   basically not visible to most.  Another way to do this to place the objects
   in a shared flap (flaps are cool) or simply drag it into the Supplies flap
   and switch projects and drag it out.  Using these methods you can also
   share an interacting set of Objects.


Etoys also has a number of very useful artifacts such as Book, Holder,
Flaps and others.  Try creating a book in Scratch, its much easier in
Etoys.  Of course many other things are much easier in Scratch.

Another challenge with Etoys which I noticed in reading Mike's project
notes, is that while there are many powerful and different ways of doing
things in Etoys, they are not all easily discoverable and with the choices,
can come confusion.  For example in reading Mike's wonderfully done Project
Notes
I
noticed a couple of things:

First, I was struck by how he described the method to "change color":

He followed these steps:

   1. Get objects Halo
   2. click on Menu
   3. click on Change Color
   4. Select Color

Another way to do this (with one less step, two less steps if you just
resized as he did in the instructions) is:

   1. Get Objects Halo (not necessary if just re-sized)
   2. click on Eye Dropper in Halo
   3. change color


Also, the instructions seemed to imply that the user needed to "Repeat
creating transparent rectangles and assigning sounds and scripts for each
letter inthe artwork."  It would be much simpler and faster to simply copy
the Rectangle and modify the scripts to play the correct sound.  Now here
is where the power of Etoys shines (assuming you can discover how to use it
:)  Instead of copying the rectangle, you can create a sibling instance.
 This has the advantage of allowing you to change the script in one
Rectangle an it is changed in all the Rectangles.

How to deal with the "discoverability" of these things in Etoys is a
challenge.  A good teacher with knowledge of Etoys helps, but doesn't scale
well.

Stephen

On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 1:15 AM, Mike Lee  wrote:

> Caryl,
>
> You have almost a white paper in Steve's amazing reply--much of which I
> have experienced first-hand.
>
> In developing the first grant proposal with Lubuto Library to secure
> funding to enable children in Lusaka, Zambia and local teachers to author
> their own lessons, we chose Etoys over Scratch almost three years ago.
> Though both programs were/are widely used and cross-platform (starting with
> Sugar!), Etoys files launch into a cleaner interface that is ready to
> present pre-programmed interactive content. Scratch opens into a
> multi-paned integrated development environment from which you have to
> manually start a full-screen playback window.
>
> I had doubts about the learnability of Etoys in the non-technical
> environment of a Zambian community library, but I was blown away when we
> received the 700 lessons structured by th

Re: [IAEP] Etoys or Scratch?

[Steve Thomas]

Caryl,

You may want to talk with Mike Lee who did some amazing work with the Lubuto
Project  using Etoys.

So here are the pro's and con's of each platform if your are trying to
solve the problems of:

> animation, sound, possible narration, interaction and all that sort of
> thing. The text and sound in the end product would be translated into many
> target languages. The project might be done by youth with little or no
> prior programming experience.


I will try and be as objective as possible, but I am prejudiced towards
Etoys, so please get other opinions.

Animation:

   - I will classify animation in two parts:
  - Animating individual Sprites/Players
 - Scratch: simpler UI and interface for kids. Use multiple
 costumes and iterate over them using next costume.  Scratch
also has glide
 tile which Etoys does not (although it can be done, but we
would have to
 create some projects to make this simpler).
 - Etoys: Done with holders, there are other very nice and clever
 ways, but not for use with kids with little to no experience.
The advantage
 of the Etoys method is the kids can "see" the iteration as you iterate
 through the holder. The disadvantage of this approach is that
if you have a
 lot of "cells" in your animation you may not be able to see
them all at
 once.  Scratch, autosizes the "costumes" so you can see more
on one screen.
 - My Bottom line: Scratch simpler for kids. Etoys lets them "see
 the iteration" which is probably not our main goal :)
  - Synchonizing Animations over time
 - Scratch: Syncronizing animations in Scratch is much easier
 (thanks to the wait, broadcast and wait, say/think for x secs and play
 sound until done.
 - Etoys: It can be done in Etoys, but not as simple. If you do
 choose Etoys, we should provide you with a special set of "hand made
 scripting tiles" to make certain types of animation synchronization
 simpler.
 - My Bottom Line: Scratch wins.


Sound (Here referring to sounds such as "Musical Instruments", will talk
about recorded voice under narration):

   - Scratch: Has pre-samples instruments included.
   - Etoys: You would have to record the music and then play the sound.
Some issues with reverb (which can be handled) and really needs a “Play
   until done” or something to prevent the problem that can occur where when
   for example you have a play sound on mouse down, if they mouse down,
   multiple times it plays the same sound over itself.


Possible Narration (at least as how it differs from what I will call basic
sound):

   - Scratch: can record and play narration
   - Etoys: also can record and play narration, key issue is
   synchronization with other events. Can be done, but not simple “out of the
   box” we can support you with special tiles, but synchronization really
   should be much easier.



Interaction:

   - Scratch: react to the following events - mouse down, key pressed,
   clicked (this is mouse up in Etoys), color sensing and overlapping other
   objects.. Mouse over can be detecte but needs scripting. Ask tile pre-build
   in Scratch.
   - Etoys: react to the above events, plus Mouse up simpler, and also
   mouse enter, mouse leave, mouse still down, mouse enter dragging something,
   mouse leaving dragging something, color sensing and overlapping other
   objects. Connected to and Disconnected from. In Etoys you need to build
   your own Ask tile.
   - My bottom line: tie, both are good, Etoys has a few extra events it
   can sense, connecting can be powerful, but in general both good.



Text Translation:

   - Scratch: Need to Translate text by creating seperate projects.
   - Etoys: Text translation automatic when you change languages (not not
   auto translation, but if in English and enter Hello then switch to
   Spnish and change text to Hola. The text will auto-switch when you
   change languages.
   - Bottom Line: If you make a “animation change” after you have
   translated text, in Etoys you make the change in one project, with Scratch
   you would have to make the changes in all projects or re-enter the text.
Having said that Narration changes, may negate that advantage, but I think
   we can solve that problem if you choose Etoys, need to think about it more.


Narration Translation:

   - In both cases you will obviously need to record the different
   translations. Tie.


Being done by "youth with little or no prior programming experience":

   - My bottom line: Scratch has a  much better designed scripting tiles,
   easier to use and learn.  Etoys is more “powerful” (sorry, but too large of
   a topic and too little time to provide details here), the question is will
   kids use this power. I think not.  Only possible advantage is if you do
   something like I believe Mike Lee did with the Lubuto project where you
   cr

Re: [IAEP] [squeakland] Why Is programming an unnatural activity?

[Steve Thomas]

On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 7:36 PM, karl ramberg  wrote:

> Is it not that concise description or definition of any issue is hard.
>
> Most stuff we think or say is quite general and has all sorts of context
> and preconsieved notion.
> Once we have to work out the details we run into problems and that is
> where the hard comes from.
>

Karl,

Can you explain in more detail what you mean?  If I understand you
correctly, I would say its not that the concise description or definition
is hard, but getting there is and so is getting a full understanding and
the implications of those descriptions and definitions.

I have read many a concise definition, that I found hard to understand,
because the road the expert took to get there and all that they forgot is
hidden and I have not yet traveled and learned from the road they traveled.

Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] Why Is programming an unnatural activity?

[Steve Thomas]

On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 3:30 PM, Christopher Lindgren <
chris.lindg...@my.ndsu.edu> wrote:

> While some may have an affinity for programming languages, as they are,
> I'm not so sure that programming should be constructed upon a binary of
> natural/unnatural. This binary limits the potential for creating other
> identities around the scope of who and what a programmer should be, do,
> examine, and create.
>
Agreed and "hard" would have been a better word.

Literacy acquisition is far more complex than naturalness to the medium of
> any structured/unstructured language, and Miriam Posner just posted on some
> of those constructions that consequently produce such social
> stratification: http://miriamposner.com/blog/?p=1135
>
> I feel as though that this response may come across as being cross, but I
> just hope to challenge the construction of what constitutes a "natural"
> ability within any discipline, as I am currently dealing with such issues
> in Composition Studies/Critical Code Studies.
>
No offense taken or perceived "crossness"  in any of the emails in this
chain.

>
> Honestly, I would just like to see such social complexities taken more
> into account with projects such as OLPC/Sugar, etc., and I hope that said
> projects could be a catalyst for displaying and responding to the social
> nature of developing smarter computing cultures, rather than keeping both
> eyes too deep in the code.
>
Agreed.  That is the one areas where I believe the Scratch Web Site has
been really successful and we can learn a lot.  We really need a web site
for kids to share what they create, re-mix and interact.  That is a big
missing I hope to be able to help address some time this year (volunteer
programmers welcome!!!)

Thanks,
Stephen

>
>
>
> Chris Lindgren
> Graduate Instructor
> Department of English, Rm 217
> North Dakota State University
> Fargo, ND 58105
> www.clindgrencv.com
>
> Research Assistant
> Sugar Labs @ NDSU | fargoxo.wordpress.com
>
> 
> From: iaep-boun...@lists.sugarlabs.org [iaep-boun...@lists.sugarlabs.org]
> on behalf of Yamaplos . [yamap...@gmail.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 10:29 AM
> To: Steve Thomas
> Cc: iaep; squeakland
> Subject: Re: [IAEP] Why Is programming an unnatural activity?
>
> Steve,
>
> for some reason the link to your blog didn't work for me. JIC others
> needed it, here:
>
> http://mrstevesscience.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-is-programming-unnatural-activity.html
>
> Brilliant!
> I really appreciate you pointing out these great ideas to the rest of us.
>
> For many years I have struggled on trying to understand what makes it
> so that some people can and others can't. My conclusion is still that
> it is clearly a "gifting", part of the uniqueness every living being
> is created with. Some are "natural" programmers, others aren't. The
> latter being the majority by far, ergo, as a general thing
> "programming is unnatural", end of story.
> Ideologically this is very inconvenient, of course, since it is quite
> unfashionable, nay, *very* inappropriate, political incorrect to point
> at differences in potential from conception, but, no longer being
> constrained by ideology, I can afford to call it as it is.
>
> This still leaves me with trying to figure out who it  makes sense to
> invest in. And apparently more difficult, how best to "seed" that
> process, and overcome "blocks" (in some way what your authors call
> "bugs"), some of these set there by the kindness of the official
> one-size-fits-all education experts. Your notes and the authors you
> point out will help learn and understand how this all happens, thank
> you.
>
> Of course, even then we are left with trying to figure out how to beat
> socioeconomics, like this kid in a Nepal school I met, that will have
> extra struggles to go through to achieve his potential.
>
> 2012/2/29, Steve Thomas :
> > So I am sharing my blog post Why Is programming an unnatural
> activity?Hoping
> > to get some feedback from the community.
> >
> > For my P2PU course I have been looking at "Novice" programmers.  And in
> one
> > of the papers we were asked to read Mark Guzdial asks:
> >
> > “Why?” Is programming an unnatural activity?
> >
> > Could programming be made easier in a different form?
> >
> > Could programming be taught in a different way that makes learning
> easier?
> >
> > Or maybe we just have no idea how to actually measure what students know
> > about programming.* (1).*
> >
> > My main problem with the Guzdial paper 

Re: [IAEP] Why Is programming an unnatural activity?

[Steve Thomas]

On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 1:29 PM, Yamaplos .  wrote:

> Steve,
>
> for some reason the link to your blog didn't work for me. JIC others
> needed it, here:
>
> http://mrstevesscience.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-is-programming-unnatural-activity.html

Thanks for the correction.

Brilliant!
> I really appreciate you pointing out these great ideas to the rest of us.
>
> For many years I have struggled on trying to understand what makes it
> so that some people can and others can't. My conclusion is still that
> it is clearly a "gifting", part of the uniqueness every living being
> is created with. Some are "natural" programmers, others aren't

The latter being the majority by far, ergo, as a general thing
> "programming is unnatural", end of story.
>
I actually regret using the word "unnatural" and would now switch to "hard"
(although I still agree it is "unnatural" or non-universal)



> Ideologically this is very inconvenient, of course, since it is quite
> unfashionable, nay, *very* inappropriate, political incorrect to point
> at differences in potential from conception, but, no longer being
> constrained by ideology, I can afford to call it as it is.
>
Well I would be careful in saying "some people can and others can't" and
that some are "naturals."  I agree and have no problem saying we are not
all born or created equal as far as intelligence, size or looks are
concerned (I got more than my fair share of good looks, ego and bad
eyesight ;)

Yet, I come from the point of view that if kids don't get it it's my fault,
not the kids, perhaps not totally realistic, but it pushes me to do better
and that really is all I have control over.

Also, I would ask what is it about the way we teach programming and (I
think perhaps more importantly) the languages (programming and the words
 we use and think with) and problems we use to teach, that allows certain
kids to "get it" and others not?   For example as shown by Etoys and
Scratch, parallel programming is actually easier (unless perhaps if you
start with the sequential view and get trapped in thinking in that paradigm
and are asked to do concurrency with Pthreads)

Another thing that comes to mind is that all my kids can sing, yet neither
my wife nor I have would every be asked to sing (more likely we would be
asked to stop).  Perhaps they got a lucky draw, but I think more likely it
is the music exposure we were fortunate enough to be able to give them and
the great teachers and programs we found.  I think we need different types
of programs for teaching "programming" as well, to appeal to more kids and
allow them opportunity to be as successful as they are capable of becoming.


This still leaves me with trying to figure out who it  makes sense to
> invest in. And apparently more difficult, how best to "seed" that
> process, and overcome "blocks" (in some way what your authors call
> "bugs"), some of these set there by the kindness of the official
> one-size-fits-all education experts. Your notes and the authors you
> point out will help learn and understand how this all happens, thank
> you.
>
Thank you please share what you learn.

Of course, even then we are left with trying to figure out how to beat
> socioeconomics, like this kid in a Nepal school I met, that will have
> extra struggles to go through to achieve his potential.
>
Well you could spend time trying to figure out how to "beat socioeconomics"
and as my Great Aunt Suslie used to say "I wish you lots of luck," or
simply do what you can to leave the world a bit better wherever you are :)

Stephen


>
> 2012/2/29, Steve Thomas :
> > So I am sharing my blog post Why Is programming an unnatural
> activity?Hoping
> > to get some feedback from the community.
> >
> > For my P2PU course I have been looking at "Novice" programmers.  And in
> one
> > of the papers we were asked to read Mark Guzdial asks:
> >
> > “Why?” Is programming an unnatural activity?
> >
> > Could programming be made easier in a different form?
> >
> > Could programming be taught in a different way that makes learning
> easier?
> >
> > Or maybe we just have no idea how to actually measure what students know
> > about programming.* (1).*
> >
> > My main problem with the Guzdial paper (this was more my problem than a
> > problem with the paper) is I felt it didn't provide enough details or
> > specifics on "Why it is so hard to learn to Program?"  I need specifics
> and
> > examples to get my head around things.  Roy Pea, was a great find and
> > perhaps not surprisingly (for me at least) the Resnick article was 

[IAEP] Why Is programming an unnatural activity?

[Steve Thomas]

So I am sharing my blog post Why Is programming an unnatural activity?Hoping
to get some feedback from the community.

For my P2PU course I have been looking at "Novice" programmers.  And in one
of the papers we were asked to read Mark Guzdial asks:

“Why?” Is programming an unnatural activity?

Could programming be made easier in a different form?

Could programming be taught in a different way that makes learning easier?

Or maybe we just have no idea how to actually measure what students know
about programming.* (1).*

My main problem with the Guzdial paper (this was more my problem than a
problem with the paper) is I felt it didn't provide enough details or
specifics on "Why it is so hard to learn to Program?"  I need specifics and
examples to get my head around things.  Roy Pea, was a great find and
perhaps not surprisingly (for me at least) the Resnick article was very
useful.

Pea (et al) talked about three classes of bugs:

   1. Parallelism Bugs
   2. Intentionality Bugs
   3. Egocentrism Bugs

*Parrallelism Bugs*
The Parallelism Bugs, is basically an "assumption of different lines in a
program can be active or known by the computer at the same time or
in parallel".  For example, look at this code:


If (Size == 10)
print "Hello"
For Size in range(10):
print Size

When High School students. in their second year of programming course, were
asked what they thought the program would print 8 out of 15 predicted
"Hello" would print after "10".

*Intentionality Bugs*
The Intentionality Bugs, is the idea in the child's mind that "the program
has goals and knows or sees what will happen elsewhere in itself."

*Egocentrism Bugs*
The Egocentrism Bugs, stem from the belief that there "is more of their
meaning for what they want to accomplish in the program than is actually
present in the code."  Funny, I see these kinds of bugs all the time in my
code and those of other experience programmers :)

*The Super Bug*
He concludes that all these derive from the Super Bug:


The idea that there is a "hidden mind somewhere inside the programming
language that has intelligent and interpretive powers."  Not surprising
since most of kids experiences are with semi-intelligent beings (aka
Parents)

MultiLogo: A Study of Children and Concurrent Programming - Mitchel
Resnick
Resnick, noted that:

"This sequential paradigm does not match the way the real world works:
people and animals act in parallel, objects interact in parallel. As a
result, many real-world activities can not be modelled in a natural way
with sequential programming."

Thus developed a concurrent or parrallel version of Logo (Multi-Logo), so
they kids had a language/environment that more closely matched their view
of the world.  Although he did not go "parrallel" enough, and in his
lessons learned asked "

*SideNote*: I used to think and say that Concurrent Programming was really
really hard.  I had plenty of evidence to back this up and had heard and
read much smarter people than me saying the same thing.  Then I encountered
Etoys (and later Scratch) and started teaching these to kids.  And realized
that Concurrent Programming is actually easier (although you do have the
added complexity of syntonization issues) .  The problem was not the
topic/idea, it was the language we use to think about it.

Resnick noted that "In general, students appropriated the idea of agents
sending messages to one another quite easily."  Too bad we don't teach more
Smalltalk.
He identified three types of bugs specific to concurrent programming:

   1. Problem Decomposition Bugs
   2. Synchronization Bugs
   3. Object Oriented Bugs

*Problem Decomposition Bugs*
"These bugs arise out of students' difficulties decomposing problems into
actions to be performed concurrently by multiple agents."  Here there are
two types of decomposition:

   1. functional decomposition - dividing a problem in to simpler
   sub-problems (what needs to be done)
   2. agency decomposition - dividing the functional pieces among different
   agents (who does it)


*Synchronization Bugs*

"These bugs arise out of students' difficulties coordinating and
orchestrating the activities of multiple agents."
These bugs he divides into two type: Unintended Sequentiality and
Unintended Concurrency. In these cases the student expected Sequetiality
and got Concurrence (or vice versa).

It seems that in designing Multi-Logo to deal with synchronization he
provided two mechanisms: ask and demand.  Where when you "ask" an agent
something (ex: flash light -  for 20 seconds) the request is queued up to
be executed in the order received. When you "demand" the agent interrupts
what is going on to perform the request (or it might simply put it at the
head of the queue, I am not sure).  It is interesting, at least to me, that
Scratch, developed later by Resnick and his team

Re: [IAEP] Sugar Labs Website Revamp IRC Mtg 1-8-12 11:00amEST(16:00UTC)

[Steve Thomas]

On Sun, Jan 29, 2012 at 11:36 AM, Bernie Innocenti wrote:

> On Sun, 2012-01-15 at 09:58 -0500, Steve Thomas wrote:
> > I am working on a project hosting site for activities (similar to the
> > Scratch Website) where Sugar users can post projects they create.
> >
> > I am using Google App Engine, but would also need some other
> > infrastructure (ex:WebDav server for storing/serving project files)
>
> We can do that on Sunjammer, our main server.

My main need for now is:

   1. WebDav Server
   2. Ability to create login's (user/pass) that default to a specific
   directory
   3. Ability to create sub-directories (one per user)
   4. A cron job to detect newly uploaded files and parse them to get
   manifest information. (I'll write the cron job, just need permissions to
   set them up)



> If you want, the
> infrastructure team can host the entire application, but you'd have to
> switch to a free web framework such as LAMP, Rails, Drupal or (I hope
> not) Django.
>
At some point in the future I realize it would be good to build this on a
free framework, so it could be installed on school servers.  At this point
I think I will stick with App Engine and then once I have that working look
to porting something to another framework. I guess not Django, although I
am curious as to why not.



> Another idea could be integrating with the existing ASLO (php) or
> perhaps rebasing ASLO on the current upstream Remora codebase (python).

 Links please (for Remora)

Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] [squeakland] What makes examples good for novices? and How do we tell if an example is good for novices?

[Steve Thomas]

Lawson,

On Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 10:16 PM, Lawson English  wrote:

>  I can't give you any stats other than positive feedback I have gotten,
> but the Salman Khan style of video teaching seems to work well for
> programming as well as for math.
>
I generally like the Salman Khan video's and think they have their place
(flame away folks :).  The ability to watch at my your pace and on your own
time is a big plus and my kids use them sometimes when they are struggling
with a concept.  While it is preferable to struggle with the concepts
ourselves, who has the time (or the ability) to re-construct all that
knowledge. So, I think there is a role for a "good explanation."  Of
course, it would be nice if he had more "Sugar" like artifacts to play and
learn with.

That said I really didn't like his Programming videos.  Programming, I
believe, is much better if taught with lots of hands on opportunities and
problems.  Videos could be used after the learner has a chance to work on a
problem. Perhaps to show different ways to solve a problem and/or Providing
a Guided Tour through "good literature" (well written code) and perhaps bad
as well or something like Java Puzzlers, to let kids learn where the
pitfalls are and get a better understanding of how things work.


> My video series, Squeak from the very start, is a very conscious effort to
> duplicate his style:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6601A198DF14788D&feature=view_all
>
> Friends characterize my video style as being like a mentor in a
> pair-programming session.
>

I like the idea of kids pair-programming although I would think you would
need to set some ground rules like (the "advanced" kid can't touch the
keyboard).

FYI, I like your videos and have used them for myself.

Thanks,
Stephen


>
> On 2/2/12 5:56 PM, Steve Thomas wrote:
>
> So I am taking a P2PU course On How to Teach Web Programmin to Free Range
> Learners<http://p2pu.org/en/groups/how-to-teach-webcraft-and-programming-to-free-range-students/>and
>  a couple of questions came up:
>
> So I pose them to the community:
>
>1. What makes examples good for novices?
>2. How do we tell if an example is good for novices?
>
> Also where can I find a good set of examples for learning programming?
>
> It would be nice to have a curated set of "Great literature".
>
> Pointers to any research on the topic would be appreciated.
>
> Stephen
>
>
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>
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[IAEP] What makes examples good for novices? and How do we tell if an example is good for novices?

[Steve Thomas]

So I am taking a P2PU course On How to Teach Web Programmin to Free Range
Learnersand
a couple of questions came up:

So I pose them to the community:

   1. What makes examples good for novices?
   2. How do we tell if an example is good for novices?

Also where can I find a good set of examples for learning programming?

It would be nice to have a curated set of "Great literature".

Pointers to any research on the topic would be appreciated.

Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] Nice tool for learning Python

[Steve Thomas]

Caryl,

So what activity would you like to create.  Let me know and I will be glad
to spend time teaching you how to create it in Etoys.



Tabitha,

As to learning Python, you need multiple tools and multiple course syllabus
depending on the learner and the content.  This would definitely be one of
the tools I use as Alan said "it makes the invisible visible" and the
ability to step forward and *backward* at your own pace over and over,
would be a great aide for many learners.

For books/resources besides the one's Caryl mentioned:

   1. *Think Python*: How to Think Like a Computer
Scientist<http://greenteapress.com/thinkpython/thinkpython.html>
   2. The Python tutorial <http://docs.python.org/tutorial/index.html>
   3. Google's Python
Class<http://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/>

It would be great if we could put together some of these ideas and lessons,
combined with a tool like The Online Python
Tutor<http://people.csail.mit.edu/pgbovine/python/> for
kids to get started learning Python on the XO.  We could even put Think
Python and the Python documentation on school servers for those kids
interested in learning more.

Stephen

On Sun, Jan 29, 2012 at 12:29 PM, Caryl Bigenho wrote:

>  Hi All…
>
>
> I took a look at this last night and agree with Tabitha that it is
> definitely not a stand-alone way to learn Python.  I have also looked at,
> Pippy, and the ebook "Byte of Python" (among others), and the the Khan
> Academy videos for learning Python.
>
>
> It would be great if some master teacher of CS could put together a course
> syllabus using these free online resources that we could use to learn this
> handy, popular language.
>
>
> My programming days ended in the 80s with Pascal. I would love to learn
> Python and be able to create Activities for Sugar.  But with my busy
> schedule (and adult ADHD) I really need someone to give structure to my
> efforts.
>
>
> I'll bet there are lots of other folks out there in the same boat… well…
> maybe without the ADHD!
>
>
> Caryl
>
> --
> From: itprofjac...@gmail.com
> Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2012 10:08:31 -0500
> To: alan.n...@yahoo.com
> CC: tabi...@tabitha.net.nz; iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org;
> sthom...@gosargon.com
>
> Subject: Re: [IAEP] Nice tool for learning Python
>
> If you haven't seen Teagueduino yet, it's worth a look as a system that
> does a good job of making the invisible visible, especially parts of the
> programming interface that show you the signals/voltages in the chip being
> set high or low when things run.  The two pictures of the editor in the
> article below show some of this.
>
>
> http://www.open-electronics.org/teagueduino-making-things-really-simple/
> On Jan 29, 2012, at 8:55 AM, Alan Kay wrote:
>
> Hi Tabitha
>
> I don't think the premise of this system is for Python programming to be
> "discovered" while doing it, and I didn't see any claims for this.
>
> It simple "makes the invisible more visible" when manipulating computer
> entities and invoking processes that are usually shrouded at best.
>
> Systems like Etoys and Scratch need this particular visualization less
> because they have mostly visible objects that are being given behaviors
> (and which also in Etoys' case have visible data structures -- e.g.
> "Holders" etc -- as well). The programmers can see the changes in the
> already visible objects. (That is partly the point in how they are designed
> for beginners.)
>
> But these systems use a lot of parallel invocations, so one could imagine
> a facility like Bob Balzer's EXDAMS (in the 60s!) that captured all of the
> behavior for a stretch and allow it to be played forward and backward
> deterministically to help the programmer understand what was going on and
> the communications between objects.
>
> I think the main point here is that it really helps any programmer, and
> especially beginners, when the computer can be used to aid both their short
> term memories and abilities in visualizing the consequences of their code.
>
> A system like the Python visualizer is especially useful for low-level
> imperative-type data structure munging programming (and Python is often
> learned in this way).
>
> Cheers,
>
> Alan
>
>   --
> *From:* Tabitha Roder 
> *To:* Steve Thomas 
> *Cc:* iaep 
> *Sent:* Sunday, January 29, 2012 1:29 AM
> *Subject:* Re: [IAEP] Nice tool for learning Python
>
> On 28 January 2012 17:28, Steve Thomas  wrote:
>
> Just found this: http://people.csail.mit.edu/pgbovine/python/
>
> This tool looks like an amazing tool for someone who already understan

[IAEP] Nice tool for learning Python

[Steve Thomas]

Just found this: http://people.csail.mit.edu/pgbovine/python/

What I really like about it is that it allows you to step through your code
and visualize what is going on inside the computer.

It also seems to provide a simple interface for teachers to add exercises.

Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] Sugar Labs Website Revamp IRC Mtg 1-8-12 11:00amEST(16:00UTC)

[Steve Thomas]

Folks,

So one form of content would be project kids/teachers create using various
activities (Turtle Art, Etoys, etc.)

I am working on a project hosting site for activities (similar to the
Scratch Website) where Sugar users can post projects they create.

I am using Google App Engine, but would also need some other infrastructure
(ex:WebDav server for storing/serving project files)

Also, Andres Monroy-Hernandez had a good blog post on Supporting an Online
Community for 
Kids
.

Stephen

On Mon, Jan 9, 2012 at 10:52 AM, Bernie Innocenti wrote:

> On Sun, 2012-01-08 at 11:21 -0800, Christian Marc Schmidt wrote:
>
> > Does this coming Saturday 14th at 11:00am EST/16:00 UTC work for
> > everyone? Or is a time during the week better? Suggestions welcome.
>
> Works for me.
>
> As for the calendar, for please use the Sugar Labs Meetings calendar:
>
>  Calendar ID: h9cfuk10894em7a8moemquu...@group.calendar.google.com
>
>  atom:
> https://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/h9cfuk10894em7a8moemquusmg%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic
>  ical:
> https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/h9cfuk10894em7a8moemquusmg%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
>  html:
> https://www.google.com/calendar/b/0/embed?src=h9cfuk10894em7a8moemquu...@group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/New_York
>
> If you don't have write access, please give me a gmail / google account.
>
> BTW: I'm working to setup a calendar server within the Sugar Labs
> infrastructure, but it's not yet ready.
>
> --
> Bernie Innocenti
> Sugar Labs Infrastructure Team
> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Infrastructure_Team
>
> ___
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[IAEP] How can we help kids get into the habits of looking for all possible causes and counter examples to problems?

[Steve Thomas]

On Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 12:18 AM, Alan Kay  wrote:

> I gave a talk on how they did this in the Kyoto Prize lecture followups in
> San Diego in 2005. Aristarchus was one of several key figures.
>
> The shame of it is that for both math and science learning, the important
> heuristic of trying to identify all the possible cases for a result is never
> encountered by the children (or most adults) who have read about
> Eratosthenes.
>
> **
>
>
Early in the Alan's
talk<http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-124161889929978086>(~34:30,
sound terrible, content good) Alan talks about a survey done at the
Harvard commencement ceremonies where students, teachers and faculty were
asked:

   1. Why are there seasons?
   2. What causes the phases of the moon?

Most got it wrong (usually along the lines of "the seasons are caused by the
distance from the earth to the Sun").
Alan tried this at UCLA and got the same results (about 95% got had severe
misconceptions about one or both of them).
He then asked the follow up to question #1; When its Summer in the Northern
hemisphere, what season is it in the Southern Hemisphere?  They all got that
right, then after about 20 seconds the contradiction hit them

Then he asks, why is it, that they didn't come up with
this contradiction when they were asked the first question?

So what can we do about this, and how can we help kids look for all possible
causes and find counter examples?

I have some ideas which I will share later, what are yours?

Stephen

*From:* Steve Thomas 
> *To:* naturalm...@googlegroups.com; iaep ;
> squeakland 
> *Sent:* Wednesday, September 28, 2011 9:06 PM
> *Subject:* [NaturalMath] KIds from around the world measuring the
> Circumference of the Earth
>
> The Goal of the Noon Day Project <http://ciese.org/curriculum/noonday/> is
> to have students measure the circumference of the earth using a method that
> was first used by Eratosthenes over 2000 years ago.
>  Students at various sites around the world will measure shadows cast by a
> meter stick and compare their results.
> From this data students will be able to calculate the circumference of the
> earth. Click here to get to their site and 
> register.<http://ciese.org/curriculum/noonday/>
>
> Watch the Carl Sagan video, <http://youtu.be/0JHEqBLG650> its a treat.
>
> Thanks to Ihor Charischak for pointing this out.
>
> Stephen
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "NaturalMath" group.
> To post to this group, send email to naturalm...@googlegroups.com.
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> naturalmath+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit this group at
> http://groups.google.com/group/naturalmath?hl=en.
>
>
>
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Re: [IAEP] [NaturalMath] KIds from around the world measuring the Circumference of the Earth

[Steve Thomas]

Here is a link to Alan's talk, his reference to Eratostenes starts at around
51:50.

Alan, do you still have a copy of the presentation?

Stephen

On Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 12:18 AM, Alan Kay  wrote:

> But consider a flat Earth and a low small sun directly over the well. This
> will yield exactly Eratosthenes' result. The key here, which I've never seen
> mentioned in any books for children, is that the Greeks had to have a very
> good set of reasons for thinking the Earth round and the sun large enough
> and far enough away (and they did).
>
> I gave a talk on how they did this in the Kyoto Prize lecture followups in
> San Diego in 2005. Aristarchus was one of several key figures.
>
> The shame of it is that for both math and science learning, the important
> heuristic of trying to identify all the possible cases for a result is never
> encountered by the children (or most adults) who have read about
> Eratosthenes.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Alan
>
> --
> *From:* Steve Thomas 
> *To:* naturalm...@googlegroups.com; iaep ;
> squeakland 
> *Sent:* Wednesday, September 28, 2011 9:06 PM
> *Subject:* [NaturalMath] KIds from around the world measuring the
> Circumference of the Earth
>
> The Goal of the Noon Day Project <http://ciese.org/curriculum/noonday/> is
> to have students measure the circumference of the earth using a method that
> was first used by Eratosthenes over 2000 years ago.
>  Students at various sites around the world will measure shadows cast by a
> meter stick and compare their results.
> From this data students will be able to calculate the circumference of the
> earth. Click here to get to their site and 
> register.<http://ciese.org/curriculum/noonday/>
>
> Watch the Carl Sagan video, <http://youtu.be/0JHEqBLG650> its a treat.
>
> Thanks to Ihor Charischak for pointing this out.
>
> Stephen
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "NaturalMath" group.
> To post to this group, send email to naturalm...@googlegroups.com.
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> naturalmath+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit this group at
> http://groups.google.com/group/naturalmath?hl=en.
>
>
>
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[IAEP] KIds from around the world measuring the Circumference of the Earth

[Steve Thomas]

The Goal of the Noon Day Project  is
to have students measure the circumference of the earth using a method that
was first used by Eratosthenes over 2000 years ago.

Students at various sites around the world will measure shadows cast by a
meter stick and compare their results.

>From this data students will be able to calculate the circumference of the
earth. Click here to get to their site and
register.


Watch the Carl Sagan video,  its a treat.


Thanks to Ihor Charischak for pointing this out.


Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] [Sugar-devel] butiá robot challenges in sumo.uy event

[Steve Thomas]

This is a great use of the XO.  So for comparison, how much would it cost
for an arduino, with video camera, color display, speakers, speech to text
capabilites, wireless internet?

Plus you get programming environments like Scratch, Etoys and Turtle Art.

My guess an XO would win and it does so much more!!!

Stephen


On Thu, Sep 22, 2011 at 5:30 PM, Andres Aguirre  wrote:

> Thank you Kevin!
> There are some more pics in flickr:
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/butiarobot/sets/
> and some videos in http://www.youtube.com/proyectobutia
> cheers
>
> --
> /\ndrés
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 22, 2011 at 7:33 AM, Kevin Mark 
> wrote:
> > On Wed, Sep 21, 2011 at 08:24:50PM -0300, Andres Aguirre wrote:
> >> Hi, I want to share with you what we was doing the last week here in
> Uruguay:
> >>
> >> http://www.fing.edu.uy/inco/proyectos/butia/mediawiki/index.php/Review
> > Hi Andres,
> > this looks like more excellant work about the butiabot. I was showing
> photos of
> > the bot at the Maker Faire NYC 2011 booth to all the kids and parents as
> your
> > project is the one that shows how the kids are learning about robotics,
> > programming and computational thinking. And also how people can derive
> new
> > software and new educational uses with an 'open' approach in a learning
> > environment.
> >
> > --
> > |  .''`.  == Debian GNU/Linux ==.| http://kevix.myopenid.com..|
> > | : :' : The Universal OS| mysite.verizon.net/kevin.mark/.|
> > | `. `'   http://www.debian.org/.| http://counter.li.org [#238656]|
> > |___`-Unless I ask to be CCd,.assume I am subscribed._|
> >
> > The PILLSBURY DOUGHBOY is CRYING for an END to BURT REYNOLDS movies!!
> >
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Re: [IAEP] [squeakland] Why is Scratch more popular than Etoys?

[Steve Thomas]

Thanks to all for an interesting discussion, I would like to review what I
got out of discussion along with some comments and questions:

*On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 11:03 PM, Cherry Withers 
 wrote:
*
>
> When I did my workshop on Etoys in the Philippines back in June, one kid
> did a "draft" of the same project in Scratch first using the pre-installed
> cliparts then did it in Etoys like I asked *For him the pre-installed
> cliparts made it easier for him to jump right into programming rather than
> spend so much time drawing things. However, some kids derived more
> satisfaction in using their own drawings.*

 To me, while it is important for kids to draw, I have seen kids who start
using the clip art in Scratch and then get into the drawing. Also I have had
kids using Etoys who did not feel comfortable with drawing and got "stuck"
trying to do the drawings, until I either told them it was okay to use any
drawing and they could change it later, or showed them how to "import' a
drawing into Etoys, by dragging it in from a browser or Scratch Clip Art
folder.


> *Incidentally, no one taught the child how to use Scratch* and he didn't
> use it fully (never did a project in Scratch) till we got into conditional
> statements in Etoys.

This is perhaps the greatest compliment for the design of the Scratch UI and
a goal (not for all things, but at least for the getting started part).

*He started drawing parallels with Etoys.* On our 2nd and 3rd day, *he would
> always create his draft first on Scratch then do things in Etoys. *It was
> a* lot easier for him to "find" things in Scratch* he says.
>
Love IT!!!  Kids should learn multiple languages and the ability to switch
between two languages is a wonderful skill that should be encouraged and
taught.

*On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 11:31 PM, Hilaire Fernandes <
hilaire.fernan...@gmail.com> wrote:
*
>
> Behing the more eye candy aspect of Scratch,  *Scratch is also
> better ergonomically with a more structured UI helping confort of the kids:
> color scheme, predefined purpose area.*
>
Agreed the use of eye candy (which I take to mean great clip art that is
attractive to the intended audience, in this case kids, but if you had one
for adults, you could have different clip art), color and a more structured
UI (which I take to mean a UI that helps guide the user as to intended use
and understanding) is good.

One thing I think could be improved upon in the Scratch UI is something that
allows for what I will call the "Etoys Challenge" design where a few
scripting tiles are placed on the world for the user to choose from to solve
a particular problem. This helps avoid the too many choices cognitive
overload and gets them to focus on what you want them to learn.

The Etoys Challenge design I think is actually a potential "low floor"
enabler to help kids get up to speed (although I think other ideas like
picking a few tiles for each child to explore and become and expert in so
they can teach the rest of the class, is also a good idea that does not
require interface changes).

However, *Etoys and Scratch are very differents in purpose for me, so
> not really competing*.
>
Agreed and along the lines of the work of Mark Guzdial and the great
Spaghetti Sauce makers (plain, spicy, thick and chunky etc.) we need to have
multiple environments for different learners (no I did not say different
learning styles).

*On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 11:33 PM, Alan Kay  wrote:
*
>
> The original Etoys interface was more like Scratch's (small area for action
> results, most of the screen area used for showing tools, tiles, etc.). The
> first Etoys was aimed at the web (at Disney), and *making the start up
> more obvious and using more screen for it is a good idea I think*.
>
Is there another design/way to help make start up more obvious without using
more screen for it?
So when you say "use more screen for it" I assume you are referring to
Scratch's dedicated scripting area and tile area.
I was thinking along the lines of a set of "Etoys Challenges" and "Etoys
Castle" type projects, where only a limited set of tiles are visible and the
user is asked to use them to solve problems.  Another idea is some kind of
animated Quick Guides which are available from the scripting tiles
themselves via halo, right click like in scratch or on hover a balloon help
displays. Video tutorials (perhaps using Event Theater, which I hope stays
in the next version, although one could argue for screen casting to solve
the problem with that video embedded in the Scratch/Etoy project).


> Personally, I think *the Scratch UI is better for many things than the
> Etoys UI, especially first encounters*, which are so important for so many
> beginners these days.
>
It is also better in the way the tiles snap together, it is a much more
polished and forgiving interface with better visual clues when scripting,


> And I think the *Scratch people have done a fantastic job on their web
> presence, *including their gallery, the emul

[IAEP] Why is Scratch more popular than Etoys?

[Steve Thomas]

I have taught both Scratch and Etoys to kids and hands down most kids prefer
Scratch.  I also prefer Scratch for certain things, but prefer Etoys for
most learning and teaching.

What can we learn from Scratch (and TurtleArt et al) to improve Etoys?  And
vice versa what can be done to improve Scratch?
.
I have ideas, which I will share later, but I am curious to hear the
thoughts of others (as mine add nothing to my current understanding and
repeating them will simply further ingrain incomplete and incorrect
assumptions and prejudices ;)

Stephen
P.S. I fully believe kids should learn multiple languages and am not looking
for the "one ring to rule them all."  Each language/environment has its
advantages and we need multiple.
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Re: [IAEP] food for thought...

[Steve Thomas]

Alan,

Okay, I'll bite, I can see how you believe the "standard curriculum" is way
off, but what part of their proposed solution do you disagree with and where
do you see as the preferred paths?"

In particular in the article they state "*Science and math were originally
discovered together, and they are best learned together now." which I assume
you agree with based on past writings.*

I can see how you might disagree that learning Latin has no value (I have
learned a lot from attempting to learn smalltalk).

My fear in what the authors suggest is that the "real world" problems will
be like what I saw in 1902 textbook Algebra Text by
Milne
  which I found in an ice cream shop on Cape Cod (I only go to the best ice
cream shoppes ;)  The book was filled with "real world" problems (and little
visualizations or age appropriate concrete tasks/objects kids could relate
to) for ex:
[image:
books?id=DhU4MAAJ&pg=PA356&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U1k1CWXvlkhypODoZuTWebG14bH1Q&ci=93%2C458%2C873%2C105&edge=0]

I look forward to your response, the destruction of my existing beliefs and
being freed to learn :)

Stephen

On Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 4:38 PM, Alan Kay  wrote:

> Hi Walter
>
> As with a number of other issues in education, I strongly disagree with
> both of the main opposing sides. Both the standard curriculum, and these
> guys, are way off IMO.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Alan
>
> --
> *From:* Walter Bender 
> *To:* iaep 
> *Sent:* Thursday, August 25, 2011 9:47 AM
> *Subject:* [IAEP] food for thought...
>
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/opinion/how-to-fix-our-math-education.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
>
> -walter
>
> --
> Walter Bender
> Sugar Labs
> http://www.sugarlabs.org
>
>
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>
>
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Re: [IAEP] [support-gang] Quick Question

[Steve Thomas]

Another option is Mark Gudial's IDE
http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu/mediaComp-teach#Python he uses for his media
computation course.

He uses jython instead of python, and he has a Linux version. It is a nice
environment that was designed to teach non CS majors how to program, but I
am not sure if it would run on XO's.

His slides are an excellent source of ideas as well.

Stephen

On Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 8:49 PM, Caryl Bigenho  wrote:

>  *Hi...*
> *
> *
> *I must be doing something wrong:*
> *
> *
> >>> idle
> Traceback (most recent call last):
>   File "", line 1, in 
> NameError: name 'idle' is not defined
> >>>
> *
> *
> *This is where I am in Terminal:*
> *
> *
> Python 2.7.2 (v2.7.2:8527427914a2, Jun 11 2011, 14:13:39)
> [GCC 4.0.1 (Apple Inc. build 5493)] on darwin
> Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>
> *Caryl*
>
> > Date: Sat, 6 Aug 2011 09:34:25 +1000
> > From: qu...@laptop.org
> > To: support-g...@lists.laptop.org
> > CC: iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org
> > Subject: Re: [support-gang] Quick Question
>
> >
> > In Terminal, type idle and press enter. You get Python's own editor,
> > with a Python shell that you can type into as well.
> >
> > --
> > James Cameron
> > http://quozl.linux.org.au/
> > ___
> > support-gang mailing list
> > support-g...@lists.laptop.org
> > http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/support-gang
>
> ___
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>
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[IAEP] Alan's Talk on "Programming and Scaling" at HPI now available online

[Steve Thomas]

Alan Kay's Talks "*Programming and Scaling" *is now available online at:
http://www.tele-task.de/de/archive/lecture/overview/5819/
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[IAEP] Looking for Concrete "Fraction Experiences"

[Steve Thomas]

Looking for ideas on how we can give kids (and adults) concrete experiences
with the concept of fraction.

Special bonus points for anyone who can come up with an example of division
with fractions (ex: 1/3 divided by 1/2)

Thanks,
Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] "Narrative Interfaces" at OLPC

[Steve Thomas]

Enjoyed the talks and discussion, some good questions/comments:

   - How do you make it easy to author?
   - Need to make it as easy as possible to author content, so you can make
   your own representations.
   - Is this a collection of skills someone actually wants to teach a 10
   year old?

*+1* for the achievement (and I assume reporting system for teachers).

Also was fascinating to see a Bert Freudenberg inspired version of Microsoft
Bob make an appearance  ;)

Stephen


On Sat, Jun 18, 2011 at 12:23 AM, Chris Ball  wrote:

> Hi,
>
> On Wed, Jun 15 2011, C. Scott Ananian wrote:
> > I just posted an announcement for some invited talks we're having at
> > OLPC's new offices this Friday:
> >   http://cananian.livejournal.com/64747.html
> > It will all be live-streamed at:
> >   http://www.ustream.tv/channel/cscottnet
>
> We're all done with Narrative Interfaces day now, and I've uploaded
> video from all of the talks.  There's a blog post at:
>
>   http://blog.printf.net/articles/2011/06/18/narrative-interfaces
>
> or if you're super-impatient, you can jump straight to the videos at:
>
>   http://www.dailymotion.com/user/sugarlabs/
>
> Thanks!
>
> - Chris.
> --
> Chris Ball  
> One Laptop Per Child
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>
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[IAEP] A Fraction A Day

[Steve Thomas]

A small group of us are working on an OER for
OLPCand have chosen
the topic; Fractions

Here is where we need your help:

   -
   - Identify Models of Fractions and how we can present these different
   models in concrete forms as a kind of Fraction Exploratorium
   - Identify common mis-conceptions learners have about fractions and using
   them and identify ways of addressing these mis-conceptions.
   - Identify Activities we can use to teach fractions (I spend most of my
   time in Etoys, but we should use Turtle Art, Scratch and others)
   - Identify existing lessons we can refer to or re-render (ex:
   http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?ID=U152)
   - Identify virtual manipulatives needed (I have cuisenaire rods and
   pattern blocks in Etoys, here is a nice one at
Illuminations
   )
   - Identify physical manipulatives that can be used (and id how can be
   easily and cheaply created by kids/teachers)
   - Identify no computer, concrete activities kids can do (ex: 1) Fold a
   paper in half and cut, 2) Label as 1 piece of X needed to make a whole
   sheet; repeat)
   - Create/Identify a lesson, manipulative, blog post or video each day.
   Okay ambitious, but do-able (for short sprints). It helps me keep the
   perfect from being the enemy of the good and gets me focused and moving.  I
   look at it as the equivalent of some writers practice of writing something
   every day.


Also am working on creating "A Fraction A
Day"
well  almost everyday, and guest posts/ideas/suggestions for improvement etc
are welcome.

Thanks,
Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] FW: [OLPC Bolivia] No logro aprender Sugar / I cannot learn Sugar why would YOU want to?

[Steve Thomas]

   1. I believe Carlos raises valid points
   2. We need specifics so we can prioritize and address them, So:
  1. Let's stop talking in generalities and about volunteer vs
  corporate, we are what we are, so let's make the best of it
  2. We should work with Carlos (who I find generally very helpful and
  supportive and I firmly believe has a heart to help and that is
why he made
  the criticisms) to get a list of specific issues, so we can identify and
  prioritize solutions.

Stephen

On Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 6:02 PM, Chris Leonard wrote:

> On Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 4:29 PM, Kenneth Wyrick  wrote:
> > Chris,
> >
> > Since this seems to be something you have sincere passion about, would
> you
> > be willing to simply list/summarize specific points that you see that
> > Carlos made so we can talk about them point by point to hopefully arrive
> > at a more succinct overall intention of his communication?
>
>
> Kenneth,
>
> I do have a passion for Sugar / OLPC and perhaps that is why I
> identify with the passion that I see in Carlos' message.  I would
> reprise my comment that the discussion is best carried out *with*
> Carlos and in Spanish on the lists he posted his message, but I will
> give it a shot.  However, I will say that I cannot really speak to
> Carlos concerns, that conversation should happen with Carlos.  I
> intersperse my comments with his paragraphs below (prepending mine
> with "cjl").
>
> Quoting from the English translation at
>
> https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1yBr2G7FF5Jr46ixt_THm1xQh08cyNJXx8KUy-WDZ1Xs
>
> First let's  acknowledge this as a potentially misleading starting
> point as tone can easily be mangled by Google Translate.
>
> "I work since 1983,  using computers as an important tool to earn a
> living.  While working, I had to learn DOS, Windows and Macintosh.  I
> also learned Open Office, Google Docs and Etoys after retiring from
> work."
>
> cjl - It is clear to me from this that Carlos has a lifetime of
> expectations formed by the systems that he grew up using.  It is a
> psychological phenomena that "violation of expectations" leads to
> strong reactions.  I've worked as programmer on and off since the late
> '70's.  Yes, I've booted computers from cassette tape, been paid to
> program on IBM  punch cards, have used Wang 8 inch floppies and know
> what a read-write ring looks like and does.  I know where he is coming
> from.
>
> "I just cannot learn Sugar.  I ask for help when I find problems I
> cannot resolve but I don´t seem to get answers that make any sense."
>
> cjl - In this I read frustration at the comnunications channels,
> I can sympathize with this sentiment and imagine it must be amplified
> for a native Spanish speaker.  In my opinion this is the crux of the
> message that deserves further exploration of the exact issues and
> engagement with a positive tone to seek improvements and where
> possible remedies for the problems that plague Carlos and other users.
>  This is the feedback we've been asking for, it is up to us to take
> him seriously (as he should be) and draw him out on the details.
> Sorry, it isn't filed in a bug-tracker with a patch, it will require a
> conversation.
>
> "From what I hear at meetings, both in Uruguay and overseas, and from
> what I read in lists,  I can assure I am not the only one having this
> problem."
>
> cjl - No question he is right about this.  In fact the lack of
> feedback from deployments is often bemoaned on the IAEP list.  It is
> just a little amusing and slightly sad that when such feedback comes
> (however poorly framed), the first response is to reject it,
>
> "I beg you excuse my ignorance.  If some ignorant like me doesn´t
> speak clearly,  we will continue to waste our time for ever as well as
> waste the precious time of children and adolescents and trying to
> convince teachers they don´t know how to teach."
>
> "If you are ashamed of confessing you don´t know,  continuing in
> ignorance is more of a shame."
>
> cjl - Here Carlos admits his own shortcomings (we all have them)
> and asks for enlightnement.  This to me is a sign of intelligence,
> admitting one's own limitations.
>
> "I said I learned to work with quite diverse computers and operating
> systems and I just cannot get to learn Sugar.  Let´s try to find then,
>  what does Sugar have different from DOS, Windows, Macintosh, Open
> Office, Google Docs and Etoys."
>
> cjl - see earlier comment about "violation of expectations".
>
> "A characteristic common to all the systems I was able to learn and
> use with positive results is they work well.  They work well for
> common people like myself and for most people who need to know the
> basicas to be able to work,  adapting those programs to the specific
> problems of our jobs or further study.  That basic training,  enables
> us to face the challenges the real world presents to all who work
> and/or study."
>
> cjl - Here, I suspect that Carlos

[IAEP] Etoys Video's for Khan Academy

[Steve Thomas]

In the OLPC News article How Khan Academy Can Help
OLPC
it
was stated:

**

*A. In terms of The Basics*

*Khan Academy covers almost every basic academic subject in its videos. In
addition, it has one hundred sets of math exercises. OLPC could either use
the exercises from the website or rewrite the programs to make them work
offline in Sugar. Problem Solved.*

Okay, well how much disk space would that take?

I like the idea of re-writing them. The videos as introduction to concept
via demonstrations, visual models, playthinks and excercise that can (and
should) be done w/o a computer.  For exercises I am working on basic
configuration/generation engines for creating exercises so teachers can
easily generate their own exercises using a set of "playthinks" for
particular concepts.  For example: Cuisenaire Rods (some with vector arrows)
is a great tool for learning.  I built a number line where you can set the
unit to a particular rod and provide a playfield so things snap to grid.
Another example is my OOO tools where you have "operation blocks" that you
can drag numbers or other objects that represent numbers into the operations
and play games/excercies like "How many ways can you name 15.
*


*
*

I could use some help and collaborators as there is a lot to do to create an
OER that is a textbook/workbook replacement.
*


*D. In terms of the Teacher/Developer Communication Dilemma*

I was talking to Bert Freudenberg the other day about developing video
tutorials for eToys, and he said there would need to be about 100 to give a
complete tutorial of the program. Imagine if Khan Academy could help us pull
those videos together. *With video tutorials, developers and teachers
wouldn't have to communicate at all!* I'm sure this a big relief for both
parties. Problem Solved.

Name the 100 topics and I will start making the videos (I already have a
number of "Etoys Minutes")

*B. In terms of Motivation into Exploratory Learning*

In an ideal world, kids would pick up the laptops and go to town on all the
amazing programs available on the XO. But that just isn't how it works,
because there is more immediate gratification to be found in simple games
and Facebook. You and I know that exploring the world of science, art, math,
and literature is much more satisfying than whatever instant satisfaction
Facebook or (non-educational) online games can provide. But kids don't yet,
so we need to get our hooks in first. Khan Academy does this through a
system based on gaming, with badges and rewards, just like Xbox Live or the
PlayStation Network. Problem Solved.

Yes providing game mechanics (like bages and awards) and tracking is a nice
touch and hooking into the Khan Academy system (or Sugar providing its own
system) would be nice. Also I like the idea of "disconnected from the
network" XO so there are less "distractions" (no I am not suggesting that
kids can't access the internet, but as a parent and working with kids,
having no TV/Computers/Electronics time has its advantages.  Perhaps a
"Internet is turned off until you do the following tasks option. For those
who don't like this and think kids should have full access to everything all
the time, think of it as a motivation for hacking and getting peer-to-peer
networking working so they can find other distractions ;)

*C. In terms of the Impending Evaluation and Testing*

The people want proof. If governments or private schools are going to employ
this system, they’re going to want evidence that the program works in some
measurable way. We can talk all day about the evils of evaluation but the
fact is that it exists and we need to deal with if we want this to work.

Testing is already built into the Khan System, so teachers and students can
track their own progress. The system is measured whenever it is employed in
a new school, and the statistics show that it WORKS. Problem Solved.


I agree wholeheartedly with the first comment "people want proof" and yes I
know and agree with the "evils of testing," but we need to deal with the
political realities if we want to have a larger impact.

My question is how exactly do we use/hook into the "Testing" in Khan
Academy?  Should Sugar provide some method of tracking (as anathema as I
imagine this may be to some)?

How do you folks envision working together with Khan Academy? Would they be
open to it?


Stephen
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[IAEP] Bert's Squeakfest 2010 talk available on YouTube

[Steve Thomas]

Bert gave a beautiful demonstration of the power of
Etoysand the ability to
create your own tiles.

My talk  is also
posted (if you only have time for one watch Bert's it's much better).

Hope to post more soon.

Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] SL Dailymotion account

[Steve Thomas]

Chris,

My youtube account all of a sudden said "You can now upload more than 15
minutes" and I was able to upload my Squeakfest talk from 2010 (will be
uploading more soon).  Not sure why, but some others may have this option as
well.  I can upload some, but would be better on an OLPC/SugarLabs channel.

Stephen

On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 5:34 PM, Chris Ball  wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Does anyone have the login info for the sugarlabs dailymotion account?
> I'm trying to work out where the best place to upload ~70GB of video
> from EduJam is.  :)
>
> (Other suggestions are welcome too.  Youtube only allows 15 minute chunks
> unless you're a partner, and Vimeo charges too much for upload bandwidth.)
>
> --
> Chris Ball  
> One Laptop Per Child
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Re: [IAEP] Raspberry Pi

[Steve Thomas]

On Sat, May 7, 2011 at 8:45 PM, Peter Robinson  wrote:

> is pretty useless, and I would argue the same with no
> form of networking.


When I got my first XO for testing I gave it to my kids and went off to
 work.  When I got home, my wife commented she loved it and it was the best
computer yet.  She said this because it had no internet connection and the
kids actually played with the activities on the XO as opposed to
"distracting themselves to death" with mindless games and videos on the
internet.

Stephen
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[IAEP] Timelines in Etoys

[Steve Thomas]

During the Etoys education meeting it was mentioned that the teachers in
Uraguay were looking for a way to create a timeline. So I created in Etoys
here 
and a blog post and Etoys
minute
.

Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] another book

[Steve Thomas]

Thank you.

In your book (Davis chapter) you write:

The following anecdote captures the root of the problem. A teacher who had
taken part in a workshop on "discovery learning" came back almost in tears
complaining that the students had "discovered it wrong." Bob Davis himself
and his virtuoso disciples could work with a class of children, sensitively
guiding the discovery process. In particular, they could pick out the germs
of good insight in what the less understanding teacher saw as simply
"wrong." The problem is deep: People brought up with a view of mathematics
as discrete facts to be mastered do not easily discard this view. The
reformer is faced with the problem:
We cannot tell teachers all they need to know about teaching—we must choose.
Indeed, we must choose not merely content, but also the kind of content, and
in fact even the media by which and form in which this "knowledge" is
presented.
The problem is compounded by what happens in the next year with "untrained"
teachers.


Do you know where I can find copies of the scripts Bob Davis used as part of
the Madison project?
So what is the way out of this problem (that scales)?


Also in your book  (Papert chapter) you write:

Papert pursues such questions as,
*(1)* What experiences and knowledge lead children to change
their theories, and
*(2)* why do they learn some things without formal instruction and not learn
other things despite formal instruction?


I also struggle with the first question a lot.  In my experience the answer
depends a good deal on knowing what theories the child holds, so I guess my
main question is are there any proven techniques to help the child

a) see the hole/problem with their current theories (which to them make
perfect logical sense)

I usually attempt to cause "cognitive dissonance" by finding questions and
examples that do not fit their model as I perceive it, or more easily as
they verbalized it. That can work, but does not scale, also in an OLPC model
where there may be no teacher or no teacher with subject matter expertise,
what do you do?

b) what does research say about proven techniques to help kids change their
mental models once they see the "holes"?

Regarding the 2nd question I would add: "Why do they learn some things
despite formal instruction?"


Also in your book  (Papert chapter) you write:

the process of doing elementary school mathematics so that it draws on
children's intuition and everyday commonsense thinking.
How Papert differs from Suppes, Davis, and Dwyer might be summed up in what
I call the Papert principle: If you want to teach arithmetic to children,
arithmetic might not be the best route into these ideas for an easy
understanding of the topic. What is needed is a way of mathematizing the
child; thereafter particular mathematical topics become easy.


This reminds me of something I heard from Keith Devlin either
here
or
in his Natural Math talk ,
which was:

It comes down to finding new representations of mathematics.

So does anyone have any good examples of new representations?


Lastly, one of the great things from the Madison project is what I
call it "Taking
Tic-Tac-Toe to the next
level",
where the key rule of the game is you can't tell anyone the rules.  Kids
play the game and have to figure out the rules by playing. Kids can learn
about cartesian coordinates, positive and negative numbers and practice "a
number is all the ways you can name it" all without being told what to do or
how to do it.

Stephen
If you give a child an answer,
you solve a problem for the day.
Teach a child to find the answers,
you prepare her for a life.
  - Mr. Steve's Science





On Mon, Apr 25, 2011 at 6:38 AM, Cynthia Solomon wrote:

> I just posted my book, Computer Environments for Children: A Reflection on
> Theories of Learning and Education.
> http://computerenvironments.wikispaces.com
>
> --Cynthia
>
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>
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Re: [IAEP] [Sugar-devel] Exploring Sugar-on-Tablets

[Steve Thomas]

On Wed, Apr 13, 2011 at 4:11 PM, Yoshiki Ohshima  wrote:

>  Hehe, I've meaning to just make an Etoys port to NaCl but have not
> done it yet...  Well, but what about a platform that does not ship
> NaCl.  You still want to have a self-contained system that *can* run
> in NaCl but you cannot take NaCl to be your only environment.


Yes please do.  If you do I will volunteer to translate 20+ activities into
Etoys (a lot of Etoys projects could qualify as activities, plus they are
Etoys projects are easier for kids to extend and they can use the artifacts
they create in those Activities as part of other works they create using
Etoys as a PowerPoint replacement.  And if in Etoys you can run w/o NaCl in
other environments.

Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] First day of Etoys class in Somerville

[Steve Thomas]

Caroline,

Here is a Etoys Minute <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMDYf3_uovk> video
showing how to animate a mouth.
FYI, I created the mouth images with the polygon tool (if you shift click on
a polygon, you can see its "handles") the circles in the handle let you move
vertices and if you click on a green triangle you can add a vertice.  From
the menu in the polygon's Halo you can set the lines to curved.

The project "The Walkers<http://squeakland.org/showcase/project.jsp?id=7698>"
by P. A. Dreyfuss shows a great example of what you can do animating
polygons.  Note: this project uses some extra code in the polygon object,
but it can be done in Etoys by simply placing each "frame" in a holder and
animating that way.  The advantage of using holders IMO is that the kids can
see what's happening more easily.

Also you may want to check
"Morphing<http://www.squeakland.org/showcase/project.jsp?id=7112>"
by Kazuhiro Abe.  I think kids will like this and at the appropriate time,
with the appropriate guidance they could even write the morphing script
themselves. But for now, they could simply re-use the script to create cool
effects.

Stephen

On Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 10:25 PM, Caroline Meeks
wrote:

> Thanks Thomas thats incredibly helpful and I'll try these out tomorrow.
>
>
> On Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 10:22 PM, Steve Thomas wrote:
>
>> Caroline,
>>
>> Your students asked:
>>
>>  Etoys questions include:
>>
>>
>>1. How do we make a mouth that moves?
>>
>> When you first open Etoys click on the "Gallery of Projects" then in the
>> second row, first item from the left is a "Bouncing Ball Animation"
>> basically it behaves like flip animation (where you draw the different
>> positions on the edge of each piece of paper and flip through the pages to
>> animate). Have the kids make different drawings of the mouth and place each
>> one in a Holder. Then open the Holder's viewer go to the collections
>> category and you can iterate through the items in the Holder and set the
>> Mouth graphic to the "Holder's player at cursor graphic" To get the
>> "Holder's player at cursor graphic" tile you need to click on the
>>
>>- How do you control the placement of a speech/thought bubble.  One
>>   girl made a very large heart with a face and the speech bubble appeared
>>   right at the top, it would look much better if it were over on the 
>> side and
>>   closer to the mouth.  But I don’t see how to control how it is 
>> positioned.
>>
>> Unfortunately you can not control the placement. What you could do is grab
>> an image of the speech bubble and move the grabbed image to a different
>> spot.
>>
>>- How do you make moving eyes (from the object catalog)part of an
>>   object so when you move the object with a script the eyes move too?
>>
>> If you place the eyes on top of the object you want to embed them in, then
>> get the halo for the eye and click on the menu icon (top row, second from
>> left), then select "embed" and choose the name of the object you want to
>> embed them in. OR get the Halo of the item to which you want to add eyes
>> then from the menu icon enure "accept drops" is checked. Now anything you
>> place on that object will be embedded in it. NOTE: you may want to turn off
>> "accept drops" once done, also if you move an object (using the move icon,
>> instead of the pick up icon from the Halo, it will not embed).
>>
>>- How do I control when a speech bubble appears and disappears.  I
>>   seemed to be able to get it to appear fairly easily with the various 
>> options
>>   in the script but it then seemed to disappear again immediately.
>>
>> Hmmm, can you share an actual project when this happens? Usually to get a
>> speech bubble to disappear I use the "stop saying or thinking" tile. not
>> sure why it would disappear otherwise.
>>
>>
>> I'll try and post an Etoys minute some time tomorrow night to show how
>> these things can be done.
>>
>> Stephen
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 9:46 PM, Caroline Meeks <
>> carol...@solutiongrove.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Report is here:
>>> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z2wFRkZPOxKpREA6sV1-XVdxjm7bC9jP50KWkdL6d64/edit?authkey=CP7cjcgL&hl=en#
>>>
>>> We are working in a computer lab in a housing project in Somerville run
>>> by the Haitain Coalition of Somerville.  We are using etoys to start with to
>>> help supp

Re: [IAEP] First day of Etoys class in Somerville

[Steve Thomas]

Caroline,

You also mentioned that:

> Etoys on a stick only works when java is installed on the computer.
>  Several of the computers did not have java and no one knows the admin
> password to install it.
>

This seems really strange, are you running Etoys inside a browser?

Stephen

On Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 10:49 PM, Steve Thomas  wrote:

> On Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 10:22 PM, Steve Thomas 
>  wrote:
>
>> Caroline,
>>
>> Your students asked:
>>
>> Etoys questions include:
>>
>>
>>1. How do we make a mouth that moves?
>>
>> When you first open Etoys click on the "Gallery of Projects" then in the
>> second row, first item from the left is a "Bouncing Ball Animation"
>> basically it behaves like flip animation (where you draw the different
>> positions on the edge of each piece of paper and flip through the pages to
>> animate). Have the kids make different drawings of the mouth and place each
>> one in a Holder. Then open the Holder's viewer go to the collections
>> category and you can iterate through the items in the Holder and set the
>> Mouth graphic to the "Holder's player at cursor graphic" To get the
>> "Holder's player at cursor graphic" tile you need to click on the
>>
>
> Sorry, I didn't finish the previous sentence (plus there is a simpler
> method, from the Mouth's viewer, in the graphics category is a scripting
> tile "mouth | looks like | dot"  drag that onto the world to create script,
> the from the Holder's viewer category "collections" drag the "Holder's |
> player at cursor" tile on top of the "dot" in the "mouth | looks like | dot"
>  scripting tile. The scripting tile will then look like "mouth | looks like
> | Holder's player at cursor".  I have been playing with Etoys for a long
> time and this is the first time I noticed this method of setting a player's
> costume.   Learn something new everyday ;)
>
> Stephen
> Etoys Minutes and more info at http://mrstevesscience.blogspot.com/
>
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Re: [IAEP] First day of Etoys class in Somerville

[Steve Thomas]

On Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 10:22 PM, Steve Thomas  wrote:

> Caroline,
>
> Your students asked:
>
> Etoys questions include:
>
>
>1. How do we make a mouth that moves?
>
> When you first open Etoys click on the "Gallery of Projects" then in the
> second row, first item from the left is a "Bouncing Ball Animation"
> basically it behaves like flip animation (where you draw the different
> positions on the edge of each piece of paper and flip through the pages to
> animate). Have the kids make different drawings of the mouth and place each
> one in a Holder. Then open the Holder's viewer go to the collections
> category and you can iterate through the items in the Holder and set the
> Mouth graphic to the "Holder's player at cursor graphic" To get the
> "Holder's player at cursor graphic" tile you need to click on the
>

Sorry, I didn't finish the previous sentence (plus there is a simpler
method, from the Mouth's viewer, in the graphics category is a scripting
tile "mouth | looks like | dot"  drag that onto the world to create script,
the from the Holder's viewer category "collections" drag the "Holder's |
player at cursor" tile on top of the "dot" in the "mouth | looks like | dot"
 scripting tile. The scripting tile will then look like "mouth | looks like
| Holder's player at cursor".  I have been playing with Etoys for a long
time and this is the first time I noticed this method of setting a player's
costume.   Learn something new everyday ;)

Stephen
Etoys Minutes and more info at http://mrstevesscience.blogspot.com/
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Re: [IAEP] First day of Etoys class in Somerville

[Steve Thomas]

Caroline,

Your students asked:

Etoys questions include:


   1. How do we make a mouth that moves?

When you first open Etoys click on the "Gallery of Projects" then in the
second row, first item from the left is a "Bouncing Ball Animation"
basically it behaves like flip animation (where you draw the different
positions on the edge of each piece of paper and flip through the pages to
animate). Have the kids make different drawings of the mouth and place each
one in a Holder. Then open the Holder's viewer go to the collections
category and you can iterate through the items in the Holder and set the
Mouth graphic to the "Holder's player at cursor graphic" To get the "Holder's
player at cursor graphic" tile you need to click on the

   - How do you control the placement of a speech/thought bubble.  One girl
  made a very large heart with a face and the speech bubble
appeared right at
  the top, it would look much better if it were over on the side
and closer to
  the mouth.  But I don’t see how to control how it is positioned.

Unfortunately you can not control the placement. What you could do is grab
an image of the speech bubble and move the grabbed image to a different
spot.

   - How do you make moving eyes (from the object catalog)part of an object
  so when you move the object with a script the eyes move too?

If you place the eyes on top of the object you want to embed them in, then
get the halo for the eye and click on the menu icon (top row, second from
left), then select "embed" and choose the name of the object you want to
embed them in. OR get the Halo of the item to which you want to add eyes
then from the menu icon enure "accept drops" is checked. Now anything you
place on that object will be embedded in it. NOTE: you may want to turn off
"accept drops" once done, also if you move an object (using the move icon,
instead of the pick up icon from the Halo, it will not embed).

   - How do I control when a speech bubble appears and disappears.  I seemed
  to be able to get it to appear fairly easily with the various
options in the
  script but it then seemed to disappear again immediately.

Hmmm, can you share an actual project when this happens? Usually to get a
speech bubble to disappear I use the "stop saying or thinking" tile. not
sure why it would disappear otherwise.


I'll try and post an Etoys minute some time tomorrow night to show how these
things can be done.

Stephen


On Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 9:46 PM, Caroline Meeks
wrote:

> Report is here:
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z2wFRkZPOxKpREA6sV1-XVdxjm7bC9jP50KWkdL6d64/edit?authkey=CP7cjcgL&hl=en#
>
> We are working in a computer lab in a housing project in Somerville run by
> the Haitain Coalition of Somerville.  We are using etoys to start with to
> help support collaboration between Waveplace and the Somerville Haitian
> Coalition.  The students did very impressive work for the first day.
>
> We are using E-toys on a USB stick that works on both PC and Linux and
> hopefully mac in a day or two. The goal is to have it
> also automatically backup to dropbox. This currently works on XP, hopefully
> ubuntu will be next.
>
> We could use help from E-toys users. I have a bunch of how do I do this in
> E-toys questions in the report.
>
> We could use help in writing the backup script for ubuntu.
>
> Check out the report. It has nice screen shots. :)
>
> Thanks,
> Caroline
>
> --
> Caroline Meeks
> Solution Grove
> carol...@solutiongrove.com
>
> 617-500-3488 - Office
> 505-213-3268 - Fax
>
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> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
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[IAEP] Clean Water or Education

[Steve Thomas]

Folks,

With so many needs in Haiti and limited funds, Bill Steltzer asked a mentor
in Haiti if they should be doing a computer program in Haiti when they
really need clean water, food and shelter.

So with limited funds which do you choose? Clean Water or Education?
Why not both?  That is what we are trying to do with lesson plans on Water
and Sanition. They include a lesson and an engineering challenge on building
a Solar Still.

The YouTube video poses the question and shows a powerful Etoys project done
by a girl in Haiti just after the earthquake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OJQzjrSIMM

So please Step Up OLPC and support these fine effortts.
T-Shirts are for
sale.Click
here to
place an order! They cost $20 each plus shipping and handling. A steal when
you realize that ALL proceeds benefit our program

Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] Feedback needed: pippy use cases?

[Steve Thomas]

It would be nice if we could do a similar set of tutorials inside Etoys (and
Scratch) to teach kids Squeak. They would have a set of objects they are
familiar with and that they could extend and learn from.  It would make the
high ceiling easier to reach.

Stephen
http://mrstevesscience.blogspot.com/

On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 12:02 AM, Dr. Gerald Ardito  wrote:

> I wanted to add that I agree with Steve.
> I have been working with 5th-8th graders, many of whom love Turtle Art,
> Scratch, and Etoys. When they get the "bug" from this kind of programming, I
> want to introduce them to Pippy, but, like Steve said, I am not sure what to
> do other than press run.
>
> Gerald
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 4:45 AM, Steve Thomas wrote:
>
>> An interface and examples like: http://tryruby.org/ would be a nice.
>>  It;s a "hand's on tutorial" that walks you through learning ruby step by
>> step and you feel like you are actually doing and learning something.
>>  Ideally you could also build a framework where users could create their own
>> "lesson's" following a similar format.
>>
>> Part of the challenge of the existing Pippy is while it has some nice fun
>> examples they don't "invite you in" to start coding the way tryruby.orgdoes. 
>>  To me when I first saw it I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do
>> other than hit "Run!'.
>>
>> FYI, the "Thanks" program does not work on my XO.
>>
>> Stephen
>> http://mrstevesscience.blogspot.com/
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 11:03 PM, Anish Mangal > > wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> As Pippy maintainer, I'm looking for inputs as to how is Pippy
>>> intended to be used in a classroom environment and how is it currently
>>> used. In particular:
>>>
>>> 1. What grades use Pippy? Could it be used in lower grades with some
>>> changes? If so, what could be the nature of those changes?
>>>
>>> 2. Collaborative code editing? How much is it actually used? What
>>> could be made better?
>>>
>>> 3. Sharing/reviewing of examples by other kids/teachers?
>>>
>>> 4. Would more explanatory code comments in Pippy examples help?
>>>
>>> 5. Would having a central repository of having pippy code examples
>>> help... For example, the ability to download/upload to a url like
>>> pippy.sugarlabs.org?
>>>
>>> 6. Would it help to have the examples in different languages wherever
>>> possible (spanish, for example)?
>>>
>>> Inputs will help guide future releases of Pippy.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Anish
>>> ___
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>>> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
>>> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>>>
>>
>>
>> ___
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>> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>>
>
>
> ___
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>
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Re: [IAEP] Feedback needed: pippy use cases?

[Steve Thomas]

An interface and examples like: http://tryruby.org/ would be a nice.  It;s a
"hand's on tutorial" that walks you through learning ruby step by step and
you feel like you are actually doing and learning something.  Ideally you
could also build a framework where users could create their own "lesson's"
following a similar format.

Part of the challenge of the existing Pippy is while it has some nice fun
examples they don't "invite you in" to start coding the way
tryruby.orgdoes.  To me when I first saw it I wasn't sure what I was
supposed to do
other than hit "Run!'.

FYI, the "Thanks" program does not work on my XO.

Stephen
http://mrstevesscience.blogspot.com/



On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 11:03 PM, Anish Mangal wrote:

> Hi,
>
> As Pippy maintainer, I'm looking for inputs as to how is Pippy
> intended to be used in a classroom environment and how is it currently
> used. In particular:
>
> 1. What grades use Pippy? Could it be used in lower grades with some
> changes? If so, what could be the nature of those changes?
>
> 2. Collaborative code editing? How much is it actually used? What
> could be made better?
>
> 3. Sharing/reviewing of examples by other kids/teachers?
>
> 4. Would more explanatory code comments in Pippy examples help?
>
> 5. Would having a central repository of having pippy code examples
> help... For example, the ability to download/upload to a url like
> pippy.sugarlabs.org?
>
> 6. Would it help to have the examples in different languages wherever
> possible (spanish, for example)?
>
> Inputs will help guide future releases of Pippy.
>
> --
> Anish
> ___
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> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
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Re: [IAEP] What kind of jack can you use for sensors?

[Steve Thomas]

Thanks I will add if testing goes well.  Yes I am using on an XO.

On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 8:11 PM,  wrote:

> > I am working on a project where kids will measure tempature and humidity
> as
> > part of testing and designing solar stills.
> >
> > What kind of jack do I need to connect to my sensors?
> > I assume I plug it into the microphone jack and that should work with the
> > Etoys World Stethescope.
>
> Steve
>
> You need a 3.5mm phono plug to plug into the microphone socket, more detail
> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Activities/TurtleArt/Using_Turtle_Art_Sensors
>
> If you get a humidity probe working please add it to this page
>
> Tony
>
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[IAEP] What kind of jack can you use for sensors?

[Steve Thomas]

I am working on a project where kids will measure tempature and humidity as
part of testing and designing solar stills.

What kind of jack do I need to connect to my sensors?
I assume I plug it into the microphone jack and that should work with the
Etoys World Stethescope.

Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] Another Etoys Question

[Steve Thomas]

Caryl,

>From the supplies bin, drag out a book. Then click on the Triangle in the
upper left corner of the book (when you hover over it it will say "More
Controls".  You will then be able to add pages by clicking on the "+" in the
Book header and you can also duplicate pages from the menu in the header.

More details are in the Etoy floss manual Chapter
5 (search
for "book" within the page).

Stephen

On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 12:54 PM, Caryl Bigenho wrote:

>  OK, so I have watched the tutorials and even looked at 2 books I have
> about Squeak and still haven't found out how to make a multi-page book or
> slide show like we want to do for the Water Lessons.
>
> Innocent that I am, I assumed that clicking on the page symbol (looks like
> a page symbol used in other programs) would give me a new page.  I got what
> I thought was a new page.  Constructed it and saved.  Then I discovered it
> created a new* project*, not a new page!  Rats!
>
> Oh well, the page I lost was just the title page and it will be easy to
> remake it.  However I would like to keep the second page I made, put the
> title page before it and then add several more pages after.
>
> Is there a link to instructions for doing this?  I don't need to learn
> about loops, variables, tiles and stuff like that... already know that and
> can, and have, taught it.
>
> Caryl
>
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Re: [IAEP] Etoys: How do I make an editable chart?

[Steve Thomas]

Caryl,

To create I used a holder and filled it with "Text Box's" (from Object
Catalog, click find and type text).  You need to get the halo for each text
box, then from the menu in the halo check "Translatable".  For the title
above simply use the text from the supplies bin and again check
"Translatable" from the menu in the halo.

You can find an example project
here

Stephen

On Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 3:05 PM, Caryl Bigenho  wrote:

>  Hi...
>
> Working on Water Lesson 5 in Etoys (for Haiti and others).
>
> Is there an easy way to make an editable chart in Etoys? Text should be
> able to be filled in by the user and headings to be translated into other
> languages.
>
> I've attached a copy of a sample of the kind of chart I want to reproduce.
> It was created in Keynote (Mac's version of Powerpoint).  The image is from
> "Grab" and is uneditable as it is a jpg.
>
> Thanks,
> Caryl
>
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Re: [IAEP] Importing Photos to Etoys on Mac or PC, not running Sugar???? How To???

[Steve Thomas]

To import pictures into Etoys from Mac or PC:
On Mac:

   - Drag image file from finder window into Etoys
   - Drag image from Safari browser into Etoys (other browsers May work)

On PC:

   - Drag image file from Windows Explorer window (the one that shows the
   list of files) into Etoys
   - Drag from Internet Explorer into Etoys

Images can be resized within Etoys. Simply get the halo and use the "Change
Size" icon (yellow one in lower right corner of Halo).  To keep the aspect
ratio the same, hold down the  key while dragging.

Regarding image "file size" you do not want to use large high resolution
images as this will increase the size of the Etoys project (which for
deployment to XO's can be problematic).
One solution is to drag in the High Res Image, then

   1. resize it to the size you want
   2. Use the "Grab Patch" tool from the "Supplies Bin" to grab a copy of a
   screen section
   3. Delete the original picture you imported and Empty the Trash.

Video is a problem, right now Etoys only support MPEG (MPEG 1 and possibly 2
I think). There have been issues in trying to post and share projects with
video.

Stephen

On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 9:06 PM, Dr. Gerald Ardito
wrote:

> Caryl,
>
> I am working on a MacBook Pro running OX 10.6.6 and Etoys 4.1.
> Just like in Sugar, I just drag the photo onto Etoys and it is imported.
> I do the same in Windows.
>
> Hope this helps.
> Gerald
>
> On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 8:11 PM, Caryl Bigenho wrote:
>
>>  Hi Folks,
>>
>>
>> What is the method for importing a photo to Etoys when working on a Mac or
>> PC?  I found instructions for doing it in Sugar, but not elsewhere.
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>>
>> Caryl
>>
>> ___
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>>
>
>
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Re: [IAEP] newtechh...@coppell and Etoys info needed

[Steve Thomas]

On Sat, Nov 20, 2010 at 3:19 PM, Caryl Bigenho  wrote:

> they want to create math games for these children to use on the XOs.
>
Wonderful.  Games are a great way to learn.  A couple of games come to mind:

   1. Tic-Tac-Toe
   2. Bingo
   3. Guess my Rule


*Tic-Tac-Toe*

One really good game is tic-tac-toe with some math twists.  This is based on
a teacher warm-up developed by Robert Davis as part of the Madison project.
 First draw a grid of dots 5 x 5.  Break the kids into two teams and have
the kids pick two numbers between 0 and 9 (let's say they pick 2 and 4) you
start at the dot in the lower left and count from 0 to 2 (getting to the
third dot) then count up from 0 getting to the fourth do and place an X.
Then the other team goes and their mark is O. You get the idea, if they go
off the board simply say sorry you moved off the board.  This will teach
them counting and coordinate geometry all without having to explicitely tell
them what they are learning. Part of the key is to NOT explain the rules to
the kids and let them figure it out.  Varying versions of this can be
created in Etoys.  You can then extend the game to include concepts like "a
number is all the ways you can name it" where they pick two numbers and you
apply an operation to those numbers (you could have them guess the operation
as part of the game as well, see guess my rule below).  You can also use it
when introducing negative numbers by moving the origin so that they have to
use negative numbers to win.  Here is a link to a
postI
wrote about the game a while back.

*Bingo*
I got this idea from Avigail Snir, who created a Bingo game for kids where
they are given two or three numbers and asked to apply mathematical
operations to those numbers to come up with a number on their Bingo board.


*Guess my Rule*
*
*
This was another game created by Robert Davis to teach kids about functions.
 The function machine (played by a student or teacher) comes up with a rule
(ex: x +2, x *2, (x + 1) * 2, etc) then the players say a number and the
function machine spits out the answer.  The players have to "guess the
rule".  Eventually this leads to some interesting conversations when some
kid comes up with a rule like (x + 2 - 3 + 4) * 2 / 2.  Then you can have a
good class discussion about functional equivalence. This can be rendered in
Etoys by building a function machine, where a number is dropped into the
machine and out the other end comes the answer.  You could also create a
table of answers and plot the answers, which leads to more interesting
observations and learning.  Part of the key is to make as much of the
invisible visible (through showing the table of answers and the plots).

*
*
*General Comments on games created to "teach math"*
The problem with a lot of games I have seen created by kids (and adults) is
that they are what I will call "teach me to memorize calculation rules" as
opposed to teach me to do the other parts of mathematics (from Wolfram Ted
talk
):

   1. Posing the right questions
   2. Real world -> math formulation (or a Etoys model)
   3. Computation
   4. Math formulation -> real world, verification.  I am purposely avoiding
   terms like "school math" vs "real math" because that is a distinction I
   would like to see erased, and also it can offend and put folks on the
   defensive (the goal is to win the person, not the argument).

One 10 year old I have worked with said he built a math game in Scratch.
When I asked him about it, he described it as "a math that only a parent
could love" because it was about practicing rote calculation.

Another way to think about it is they are creating "playthinks" (objects to
think/play with that embody and/or expose certain powerful ideas).  I got
this term from "The Big Book of Brain
Games"
by Ivan Moscovich.  Cuiesenaire Rods and Pattern Blocks could be used here.

In other emails I wlll send examples of each type of project. Part of the
challenge will be deciding "what should be easy and what should be hard" for
the kids in creating their own games.  The answer to that question will
guide the facilitators in how much they want to show them ready made
projects vs having kids create Etoys projects from "scratch".  Some of the
techniques are not easily discoverable (which is good and bad).

Another thought besides math games is to create "Etoys Challenges" (for an
excellent example try the "Etoys Challenge game" from the "Tutorials and
Demos" section off the Etoys "home page".  The kids could create sample
projects where the students use a set of "pre-selected" tiles to perform a
task or program a car or robot.


Their project director is a math teacher and she wants her students to try
> again this year to create math learning games for the children in the

Re: [IAEP] Dumb Questions... Input Wanted... Please Discuss!

[Steve Thomas]

On Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 6:04 PM, Caryl Bigenho  wrote:

>  Hi...
>
> Now, here is a crazy idea/question: If Etoys can be put on a usb as an
> application and opened with all of these systems, would it be possible to do
> the same with any of the Sugar Activities?
>
Sugar as an application would be great, but my guess not that simple.

>
> BTW, I'm also looking for a "smoke test" for Etoys-to-go on the PowerBook
> so I can ferret out any nasty bugs before passing it on to others.
>
Just go through the applications you plan to demo and/or the tutorials.
Basic test I did was create a new project, add some objects, save it and
open it.

Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] Dumb Questions... Input Wanted... Please Discuss!

[Steve Thomas]

On Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 4:04 PM, Caryl Bigenho  wrote:

>  How do you make the Etoys-to-go usb from a file on a disk? Does it need
> the Live usb Creator?
>
Just download the Etoys to go zip file from
here and
unzip it on your USB drive. You can then run from the USB (which is nice for
kids, because then they can keep their work with them all the time and it
doesn't matter what computer they use, even whether its a Mac or PC) they
always have their projects with them as long as they have the USB.
You could also have a copy of the zip file to place on the teachers
computers.  No Live USB Creator needed.
I just tested by downloading the zip on a Mac copying and unzipping on my
USB and it ran on my Mac and Windows machines :)  Do a test run just in case
and shoot me an email if you have problems.


> Has anyone done an introductory workshop like this for classroom teachers?
>
>
> If so, which Activities worked the best in the workshop?
>
If you demo Etoys, one approach which I always use as my first class is to
have them play with the two tutorials included in Etoys, 1st Etoys Castle,
then Etoys Challenge. With kids I get through these in about 30 minutes.
That said there is more to Sugar than Etoys, and taking up 30 minutes may be
a bit much, but it does make a nice intro and it gives the teachers an
experience they can use in their classrooms with kids.

If you haven't done such a workshop, which Activities do you think I should
> consider including?
>
Ones they can see the use in their classroom right away.  Yes the goal is
constructionist and they create their own models and build things
themselves, but IMNSHOBOWO (In My Not So Humble But Often Wrong Opinion) the
first goal is to get them to use the tools.  You can show them the
Cuisenaire Rod projects and explain how they can be used by kids to explore
fractions and journal about their own understanding. Avigail Snir created a
nice one on fractions of a Circle Game (and their are other good ones as
well, depends on your audience).

Also showing them how they can create a story in Etoys using a book is a
great project as well. At Squeakfest their was a very powerful story created
by a girl in Haiti detailing her ordeal during the earthquake.

The EtoysIllinois folks have some nice examples of projects done by kids as
well (cc'ing Kathleen Harness who can probably give you better suggestions
then I can).

Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] Ideas

[Steve Thomas]

Folks,

The Physical rods are best, but here is a set of virtual rods with direction
arrows <http://www.squeakland.org/showcase/project.jsp?id=10356> with the
ability to change the transparency of all the rods on your playfield in
Etoys (to see how its done, just get the hale for a particular buttion and
from the menu click on "open underlying scriptor"

Actually it would be fairly easy to have kids create thcleir own sets of
Virtual rods in Etoys using polygons (hint: shift click on a polygon to get
its handles). The playfields in the project referenced here can be used you
could have the kids drag out their own playfield then from the menu select
"playfield options ..." and select "grid visible when gridding" and "use
gridding". Then from the same menu select "set grid spacing ..."

Stephen

On Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 8:28 AM, Alan Kay  wrote:

> Hi Folks,
>
> We have used Cuisenaire rods a lot for all grades.
>
> We always take magic markers and draw arrowheads on one end of the rods to
> give a sense of direction to the magnitudes when used in operations.
>
> Vectors are a very powerful way of thinking about numbers and quantity and
> this is a great way to get them started with a measuring and magnitude idea
> that generalizes to more dimensions.
>
> After a while you can start to use slender dowels for 2D calculations, etc.
>
> Etoys objects are actually vectors, and Etoys actually has a "hidden"
> vector vocabulary for doing vector arithmetic in two dimensions.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Alan
>
> --
> *From:* Steve Thomas 
> *To:* Caroline Meeks 
> *Cc:* iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org; Patricia Curtis  >
> *Sent:* Tue, October 26, 2010 9:49:44 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [IAEP] Ideas
>
> On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 12:01 PM, Caroline Meeks <
> carol...@solutiongrove.com> wrote:
>
>> I have had requests for a few things over the years.
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisenaire_rods - these are popular
>> math manipulative and an online version would be cool.
>>
> Here are some Cuisinaire Rods in Etoys (sorry Patricia, I am NOT trying to
> discourage you, just support your request on what is *needed*)
>
> Fraction Bars and Number 
> Lines<http://www.squeakland.org/showcase/project.jsp?id=10355> and
>  Fraction Tools <http://www.squeakland.org/showcase/project.jsp?id=9442> both
> have Cuisenaire Rods built into the projects. The rods can not only be used
> for activities shown in the projects (and other activities and lesson
> plans), but also for kids to journal/describe their understanding of
> fractions and units.
>
> Stephen
>
>
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>
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Re: [IAEP] Ideas

[Steve Thomas]

On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 12:01 PM, Caroline Meeks  wrote:

> I have had requests for a few things over the years.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisenaire_rods - these are popular
> math manipulative and an online version would be cool.
>
Here are some Cuisinaire Rods in Etoys (sorry Patricia, I am NOT trying to
discourage you, just support your request on what is *needed*)

Fraction Bars and Number
Lines and
 Fraction Tools  both
have Cuisenaire Rods built into the projects. The rods can not only be used
for activities shown in the projects (and other activities and lesson
plans), but also for kids to journal/describe their understanding of
fractions and units.

Stephen
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Re: [IAEP] Ideas

[Steve Thomas]

Kellie,

I created a word sort program in Etoys (which is already on the OLPC) here
is a blog entry on the project Etoys Minute - Word
Sorts
the actual project is posted on the Squeakland site
here you
will need Etoys to run which you can download
here

And here is video of the project http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht4-NiB_sfQ

I tried to create the project so it can be easily modified with minimal
knowledge of Etoys, but it can also make a nice entry point for teachers and
kids to create their own Etoys scripts and projects. Any
questions/suggestions/requests for improvements send me an email or send one
to the squeakland mailing list (need to register first
hereto send emails)

Stephen

On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 10:33 AM, Kellie Doty  wrote:

> Patricia,
>
> I would love to see a program for doing word sorts similar to those
> described in the book Words Their Way.  Having sorts categorized by reading
> stage & vowel pattern would be a huge help for English/reading teachers.
>
>
> Kellie
>
> On Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 1:00 PM, Patricia Curtis <
> patricia.cur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi All
>>  I am a developer , and i am looking to start a new OLPC activity, and
>> i would like some ideas of what is *needed *on the OLPC,  rather me
>> spending time writing than just another activity that few would use.
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Trish
>>
>> ___
>> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
>> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
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>>
>
>
>
> --
> Kellie M. Doty
> Harvard Graduate School of Education
> Master's Candidate
> Technology, Innovation, and Education
>
>
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>
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Re: [IAEP] Ideas

[Steve Thomas]

Kellie,

If I understand what you mean by word sorts (a list of words/pictures/sounds
that kids would 'sort' into sets based on specific sounds) this would be
trivial to implement in Etoys.  If you send me a sample I can put together a
sample Etoy project and show how a teacher could easily modify it to
incorporate whatever words/pictures/sounds they want.

Stephen

On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 10:33 AM, Kellie Doty  wrote:

> Patricia,
>
> I would love to see a program for doing word sorts similar to those
> described in the book Words Their Way.  Having sorts categorized by reading
> stage & vowel pattern would be a huge help for English/reading teachers.
>
>
> Kellie
>
> On Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 1:00 PM, Patricia Curtis <
> patricia.cur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi All
>>  I am a developer , and i am looking to start a new OLPC activity, and
>> i would like some ideas of what is *needed *on the OLPC,  rather me
>> spending time writing than just another activity that few would use.
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Trish
>>
>> ___
>> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
>> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
>> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Kellie M. Doty
> Harvard Graduate School of Education
> Master's Candidate
> Technology, Innovation, and Education
>
>
> ___
> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
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Re: [IAEP] Etoys, is it difficult or easy?

[Steve Thomas]

Edward,

Thanks, please send me the outline and what you think needs to be more
"easily discoverable" and I will work on it.

Stephen

On Sat, Sep 25, 2010 at 6:06 PM, Edward Cherlin  wrote:

> It is true that you can do all of these things in EToys, if you know
> where to start. It is also true that the start screen of EToys could
> be improved by providing a path to each of them, and to other
> education modules, and Etoys could be improved with a few more
> introductory modules.
>
> Since children and untrained teachers cannot be expected to discover
> these paths, and paths in other Activities, on their own, I am in the
> middle of writing a guide to Discovery on the XO. The starting point
> is my Wiki page,
>
> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/The_Undiscoverable
>
> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick
> The undiscoverable  is an unofficial FAQ for tips, tricks, and
> solutions to common problems that may otherwise be tricky to find.
> These are being considered for inclusion in the official SoaS
> documentation.
>
> The Etoys section needs vast expansion. I have an outline in mind,
> which I can share with anybody who would like to work on it.
>
> On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 15:59, Tim McNamara 
> wrote:
> > The analogy doesn't quite fit, as it's possible to do complex things in
> all
> > of those tools and it's easy to do simple things in EToys. Each Activity
> can
> > be used in this learning model, e.g. training wheels to motorbike.
> >
> > Tim
> >
> > On 25 September 2010 05:48, Cherry Withers 
> wrote:
> >>
> >> And Scratch? ... don't remember where I read it,  but it sounded logical
> >> to me.
> >> Use progressively difficult tools for progressively difficult tasks.
> >> To confirm this statement,  I add the phrase: "Visible learning,
> invisible
> >> technology".
> >> Children would first learn TurtleArt.
> >> When they outgrow it switch to Scratch.
> >> When all its possibilities are exhausted, continue with eToys.
> >
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> >
>
>
>
> --
> Edward Mokurai (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) Cherlin
> Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation.
> The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination.
> http://www.earthtreasury.org/
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