A useful distinction. And, many teachers organize tasks for their students in pairs, too.
Sean On Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 3:17 PM, Walter Bender<walter.ben...@gmail.com> wrote: > Maybe "Getting Started" might be a better name? > > Just to complicate things, Nubae and I were discussing collaboration > on IRC. It is another theme people may be interested in searching. > Activities that a whole class can share, e.g., Browse, and activities > that are designed as "duets". > > -walter > > On Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 9:10 AM, Sean DALY<sdaly...@gmail.com> wrote: >> Bert - many thanks, I understand much better now. >> >> We're expecting a traffic peaks at the end of the month with our media >> push, that's why this work on clarity/simplicity is important. >> >> I'm afraid "Fructose" as a left-hand category on ASLO is obscure, it >> really should be "base" or "core" or "base install", this last I like >> best because it's very clear. Note: a search for "Fructose" in ASLO >> returns no results! >> >> I actually don't think it's that hard to set a list; it's really just >> a Get Started list which covers online/offline, younger/older >> Learners, and super-helpful to have even if off-ring (Terminal...). >> >> I agree some deployments will want to zap some Activities, but as long >> as it's clear that there's no technical barrier to doing so we're >> fine. >> >> The list of 13 Fructose Activities at >> http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/fructose/ >> does not match the list of 11 Fructose Activities on ASLO >> (http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/browse/type:1/cat:112?sort=name). >> I imagine Image is off the bus (replaced by Image Viewer), but is the >> omission of Write intentional? I couldn't find it on ASLO at all :-( >> >> (N.B. Write is always the first Activity I choose to demonstrate >> classroom collaboration; people understand collaboration instantly >> when each of two machines can edit the same document live. My kids' >> nanny who is in her early 60s and does not use computers understood >> right away the usefulness of XOs in a classroom when she saw that, she >> got all excited and started asking me questions!) >> >> So I think the ASLO Fructose list, plus Write, can certainly be >> qualified as 12 "base install" Activities: >> >> Browse >> Calculate >> Chat >> Etoys >> ImageViewer >> Jukebox >> Log >> Pippy >> Read >> Terminal >> TurtleArt >> Write >> >> However I think it would be judicious to add Help to this list. Help >> is very reassuring during discovery of the totally unfamiliar >> interface. I'm aware there are issues right now building a new Help >> from the FLOSS Manuals source, but I believe Help aids teachers and >> parents significantly with the Sugar GUI learning curve. >> >> Are there any other candidates today for the Fructose list we should >> consider? Not to open a can of worms - adjusting the pantheon is much >> less urgent than the discoverability/usability issues - but a review >> before each SoaS version seems judicious to me, especially since a >> choice needs to be made about which Activities are in the ring and >> which are off. I would suggest: >> >> Clock >> Help >> Maze >> Memorize >> Moon >> Read ETexts >> Speak >> Tux Paint >> >> I hesitated over: >> * Record which kids adore, but which I understand is iffy due to wide >> hardware variations, also teachers don't seem to like it much :-) >> * the TamTams which would make the list longish... (though my >> four-year-old figured out TamTam Mini in ten seconds the other day and >> loved every second with it) >> * GCompris Chess, since no 2-player yet. >> >> >> Our introduction to Sugar has a page with an attractive smorgasbord of >> Activities >> (http://www.sugarlabs.org/index.php?template=page&page=about_activities), >> and a link to ASLO. We listed the Activities in teacher/parent >> interest order: reassuring basics, net stuff, >> games/language/multimedia, the TamTams, tech/system utilities. Image >> Viewer and Jukebox are missing from this page, I propose to add them >> and two others to the matrix so the complete Fructose set (minus >> Image) is present. The Journal starts the list due to its special >> status, but it really should be broken out as a "special" Activity >> that is always there, saves everything automatically, allows resuming >> of work, etc. ASLO should have a brief mention of the Journal in the >> orientation intro I want to edit; telling inexperienced Sugar >> admins/teachers/parents/Learners that it is always in Sugar and can't >> be installed or uninstalled. This "super-Activity" distinction is >> important because the Journal icon occupies the same spot under the >> central XO avatar as the current Activity. Note that each icon links >> to the OLPC page (the intro site was published on a tight deadline >> just before the March 16th press release :-), I think we can update it >> to link to the ASLO pages now. >> >> Note: we have been doing some "star marketing" of Activities in our >> PR: Write, InfoSlicer, Mindmap, Portfolio. We chose these to appeal to >> teachers; they are differentiators. Some press articles have mentioned >> the star Activities, recognizing that they are interesting and unique >> to Sugar. Library for example is an Activity I'm not quite sure does >> what, but its name and logo will be irresistible to parents and >> teachers. >> >> OLPC has their list (http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Activities/All) and we >> need to get that page to link to ASLO, the information there is uneven >> (contains some stillborn/abandonware). Perhaps the easiest fix would >> be to link from each Activity position on that page to that Activity's >> ASLO page; people searching the Activity population would quickly >> understand the different/parallel nature of the OLPC page and ASLO. As >> far as I know, there aren't any issues with the very latest versions >> running on XO-1s, would I be correct in assuming this? Or does OLPC >> prefer to identify "known good" version, the ones updated through the >> XO Control Panel? >> >> Google search ranks highly this 6-month-old page: >> http://www.spitting-image.com/OLPC/ , an indicator of the need for >> ASLO's rating system. >> >> By "Activity Pack" I mean a set of Activities. >> * Activity Set: clear and concise, but dullish. >> * Activity Pack: implies a "box" containing a bunch of chosen >> Activities; my favorite, because it sounds like you're getting >> something. >> * Activity Group: will be confused with Learners. >> * Activity Bundle: bundle clearly means something already, so that's >> out. I'm afraid I don't know what a "content bundle" is. >> * Activity Hive: fits with honey metaphor, but obscure. >> >> Activity packs can have a very useful role in promoting Sugar, e.g. >> "our updated Multimedia Pack is perfect for budding musicians and >> artists" or "our Games Pack has been specially selected for 2 or more >> player learning fun". As our Activity offer becomes richer, we >> encourage potential installers to jump through the hoops of >> downloading an ISO, installing VirtualBox or loading a USB stick, >> learning the new interface, etc. >> >> Echoing James' mail which started the thread, I agree Featured >> Activities will ideally be: >> >> * non- base install >> * interesting >> * different each month, encouraging return traffic >> >> In short, the place to go for "extras" beyond what you start out with. >> >> The "base install" grouping will be very useful to replace an >> accidentally deleted Activity or offer further information about an >> Activity with a learning curve (link to author's page etc). >> >> A parent or teacher who successfully installs Sugar and then >> successfully upgrades and adds to its Activities will fully understand >> the key advantages of the platform's openness and extensibility. >> >> Does this seem like a good path? >> >> thanks >> >> Sean >> >> >> >> On Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 12:03 PM, Bert Freudenberg<b...@freudenbergs.de> >> wrote: >>> >>> On 11.06.2009, at 09:51, Sean DALY wrote: >>> >>>> ultimately, the question is: are there (or not) Activities common to >>>> every, or nearly every instance of Sugar? >>>> >>>> Browse >>>> Read >>>> Write >>>> etc. >>> >>> >>> At least the Fructose activities should always be there: >>> >>> http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/fructose/ >>> >>> - Bert - >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) >>> i...@lists.sugarlabs.org >>> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> Marketing mailing list >> market...@lists.sugarlabs.org >> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/marketing >> > > > > -- > Walter Bender > Sugar Labs > http://www.sugarlabs.org > _______________________________________________ Sugar-devel mailing list Sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel