[IAEP] [sugar] Narrative.

[Mikus Grinbergs]

> Do we have any proposals of changes to Sugar so it better supports
> learning in light of the reflections on "narrative"?

It seems to me that implementation of a Sugar "batch" language would 
address 'providing a "sequence" (or graph) of events'.  I see two 
principal functions that need to be provided:


((1)) Automatically launching an Activity (or Collection).

Currently in Sugar, it takes a "click" by the user to launch 
something.  Sometimes everything is automatic (clicking on an .ogg 
file link in Browse) and sometimes it is not (clicking on a .pdf 
file link in Browse).  There needs to be a facility in Sugar whereby 
one entity (e.g., Browse) can automatically invoke a different 
entity (e.g., Read) without manual intervention.

This automatic invocation needs to carry along with it the necessary 
data references -- for Read to display a .pdf file, it should not be 
necessary to first copy that file to the datastore -- passing the 
URI of the file where it now exists (even if it is on an external 
device) should be enough to allow any invoked entity to access it.


((2)) Allowing launch events to be "batched" in a control sequence.

I'm not familiar with Visual Basic and its like.  But the developer 
(or user) ought to be able to "string together" a sequence (or 
graph) of launch events to create a self-contained "Narrative".  The 
connectors between events should allow for "logic testing", such as 
"skip this next event if the preceding event indicated an error".


Given the ability to construct an automatic sequence of launch 
events (including "packaged" input references), what one gets is a 
'Sugar script' to provide a guided learning experience.


mikus