hi Eric, Nice to meet you. . The Sugar on a Stick project has advantages in places where there is already a computer lab/laptop cart but there isn't one dedicated computer per child. The USB stick holds the student's Sugar system so no matter which computer they sit down at they have all their stuff, their colors, their journal. We are still in Alpha stage, we plan to use it with kids over the summer and pilot in the fall at a Boston School. I don't want to over sell it as totally ready for prime time, but I do want to raise it as an option. Cheers, Caroline <div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> Message: 1 Date: Thu, 2 Apr 2009 10:53:29 -0400 From: Eric Grace <<a href="mailto:ericmgrace@gmail.com">ericmgrace@gmail.com</a>> Subject: Re: [math4] 3. Personal Letter to Educators (Karlie Robinson) To: <a href="mailto:fourthgrademath@lists.sugarlabs.org">fourthgrademath@lists.sugarlabs.org</a> Message-ID: <<a href="mailto:623054230904020753p52615715q4bf5266148037bff@mail.gmail.com">623054230904020753p52615715q4bf5266148037bff@mail.gmail.com</a>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Hello all, I've been reading your posts, but haven't contributed yet so I'll introduce myself. My name is Eric M. Grace and I am co-instructing the RIT OLPC XO/Sugar Development Honors Seminar with Stephen Jacobs. I have a background in teaching and I have a Visual Arts K-12 NYS Certification. I've worked for several years teaching grades 7-12 and developing alternative/outreach/youth employment programs that connect RIT with the Rochester City School District and the City of Rochester. Thank you Karlie for posting your message, it will be helpful for others to follow a similar request/format. I think it is important to start these school district collaborations as soon as possible, the education community will surely have their own opinions and desires for development, and we need their support if XO's are to be used more regularly in the classroom. I will probably be a good resource for advocating and connecting our efforts to local school districts and have been developing some of my contacts in both RCSD, Sodus School District, and local non-profit organizations. We could strategically plan a regional dissemination of OLPC efforts or just shotgun requests and see what takes. Either or both approaches are fine with me to start. Each school district's interests and negotiations will differ, but it would be good to identify our goals, efforts, outcomes, and potential costs involved. We can use the XO's as is & test any new developments we want to get feedback. I see three different models to pitch each with specific/individual Policies, Procedures, & Plan/Framework development needed for: 1. "XO Lab on a Cart" - Facilitator/Teacher/Trainer(s) visit local school districts to run a one day workshop to raise awareness & student/teacher/school district interest. (This XO cart could be a shared resource for the western NY region & signed out?) - Districts may be willing to fund for a simple one time event. 2. "XO Lab After School Program" - This is an easy format for a Facilitator/Teacher/Trainer(s) to be housed in a specific school without curriculum constraints of teaching to a standardized test. This is a great environment for student access & feedback/testing ground (Funding is available for these activities). 3. "XO School Lab" - Similar to any school's computer lab (the XO's could be housed in the same room or different), the school's technology teacher could facilitate XO classes for student access and feedback/testing ground and report back to to the OLPC/Sugar community. (Schools may seek funding to support this, matching grants may support this, or OLPC donations? -all depends on specific situation.) Thoughts & feedback? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <a href="http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/fourthgrademath/attachments/20090402/a3984a8e/attachment-0001.htm" target="_blank">http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/fourthgrademath/attachments/20090402/a3984a8e/attachment-0001.htm</a> ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ FourthGradeMath mailing list <a href="mailto:FourthGradeMath@lists.sugarlabs.org">FourthGradeMath@lists.sugarlabs.org</a> <a href="http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/fourthgrademath" target="_blank">http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/fourthgrademath</a> End of FourthGradeMath Digest, Vol 3, Issue 2 ********************************************* </blockquote></div> -- Caroline Meeks Solution Grove Caroline@SolutionGrove.com 617-500-3488 - Office 505-213-3268 - Fax