[IAEP] Possible introductory lab

[Tomeu Vizoso]

On Sun, Aug 23, 2009 at 21:51, David Farning<dfarning at sugarlabs.org> wrote:
> Just want to bring two groups together for a quick idea.
>
> The two groups are Sugar Labs[1] and teaching open source[2].
>
> On the TOS list we have seen a little bit of traffic about a course
> and co-op program the Rochester Institute of Technology offered last
> fall and will offer again this spring.
>
> One of the ideas that I have been trying to wrap my head around is how
> to provide a meaningful experience working with 'the community' in a
> very brief 10 week course.  The first challenge is how to engage the
> students in the community.  This doesn't look too hard.  There appear
> to be several assignments or labs which can break the ice.
>
> The harder challenge is how to engage the community with the students.
>  As a general rule in organizations which are volunteer based, it can
> be hard to get the attention of existing community members until one
> has something useful to offer.  _Many_ newbie questions go unanswered.
>
> I have been looking at bug reporting as the initial communication
> channel.  Once existing community members see a couple of high quality
> bug coming from someone they are much more willing to listen and help.
>  But, filling good bug reports takes skill, practice, and experience.

I think it's also important to note that questions can be well put and
wrongly put. I use to ignore questions that indicates that the person
is not putting as much effort in formulating the question as it
requires for me to answer, because that usually ends up with me losing
lots of time and the other person not getting what expected. Might be
a good idea pointing them to here from the start:

http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

> Since watching a Sugar on a Stick[3] release meeting this morning, I
> have been wondering about using a smoke test[4] as an introduction to
> a specific project.   I am using OLPC and Sugar as examples, but any
> other project would work just as well.  The idea would be for students
> to immerse themselves in a project by running through and reporting on
> a number of standard smoke test.
>
> For example when working with Sugar Labs a student might run through a
> series of tests which include:
> 1. Following a list of steps to create a SoaS USB key.
> 2. Boot their computer from the stick.
> 3. Log into sugar.
> 4. Test one or two activities.
> 5. Connect to server.
> 6. Test collaboration.
> 7. Provide feedback on 1-6
>
> As a result of the session, the student would have a general
> understanding of a particular project, they would have interacted with
> 'the community' via established channels, and they would have started
> building their reputation as contributors.

This sounds like a good idea to me.

Regards,

Tomeu

> david
>
> 1. http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Welcome_to_the_Sugar_Labs_wiki
> 2. http://teachingopensource.org/index.php/Main_Page
> 3. http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick
> 4. http://wiki.laptop.org/go/1_hour_smoke_test
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>



-- 
«Sugar Labs is anyone who participates in improving and using Sugar.
What Sugar Labs does is determined by the participants.» - David
Farning