[IAEP] Which Activities should we promote and create our first trainings on?

[Edward Cherlin]

On Sat, Feb 28, 2009 at 6:33 AM, Caroline Meeks
<caroline at solutiongrove.com> wrote:
> Based on Sean's feedback on the new site, and the work I'm doing with Terri
> trying to create training materials, I'd like to ask for a discussion as to
> which activities we want to put forward and why as we introduce Sugar to
> people.
>
> Currently most of our materials discusses the generalities of the platform.
> But as we extend our target audiances to parents and teachers they just
> don't have the background in what computers can do to be able to grasp the
> generalities. I think we need to build from specific activities, experiences
> using those activities, then guided reflection on those experiences to help
> them understand the general principals.
>
> In simpler terms, what are the activities that best show off Sugar.  What
> should people do with them to "get" how Sugar is different.
>
> The goal will be to create a professional development syllabus.  We will
> probably also create a series of cards on each activity.

This fits well with the Earth Treasury plan to create digital
textbooks on every subject using embedded Sugar software.

> So please voice what Activity you think we should focus on, why, and what
> specific experience we should guide a parent or teacher through.

I am using Turtle Art to teach a variety of math and programming
topics. Alan Kay's VPRI has a lot of teaching materials in Smalltalk
(Squeak, Etoys). We will use Measure and Record in science. The music
and art programs stand on their own merits. Write and Browse are
general-purpose tools. TAPortfolio will be important for classroom
presentations.

The OLE Nepal counting program is credited with bringing children from
2nd grade to 6th grade performance in arithmetic, a remarkable
achievement that shows off more than the current Sugar software.
Actually finding out what the educational deficiencies are in a
system, and building tools to deal with them, is revolutionary stuff.
We can look forward to software to address individual learning issues,
which students will be able to create for each other or themselves.

> My request is that you go for depth, talk about a only a few activities, or
> only one, but really explain how it shows off Sugar and what sort of
> experience with that activity is valuable.

I'm not ready yet, but I should have something to show next month.

> Thanks!
>
> --
> Caroline Meeks
> Solution Grove
> Caroline at SolutionGrove.com
>
> 617-500-3488 - Office
> 505-213-3268 - Fax
>
> _______________________________________________
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>



-- 
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And Children are my nation.
The Cosmos is my dwelling place, The Truth my destination.
http://earthtreasury.net/ (Ed Cherlin)