[IAEP] The eBook "ah ha" moment for Sugar on a Stick

[Gary C Martin]

On 12 May 2009, at 19:42, Carol Farlow Lerche wrote:

> This issue was discussed at length about a week ago, and James  
> Simmons and Alexei (I think) were discussing the provision of a  
> library activity.  Until that happens, I think James' reader  
> activity and Sayamendu's fbreader activity should be packaged for  
> SOAS to allow epub, comic format and text formats to be read  
> conveniently in SOAS.
>
> http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/search?q=newbery&cat=all
>
> is a package on aslo of all the free Newbery honor books by women  
> authors as a .xol package.  The texts themselves are epub format. I  
> wish someone would reinstate the ability to access .xol files in SOAS.

I still see little reason why .xol files are a benefit, seemed like a  
novel but largely irreverent and high maintenance idea considering  
almost all the old .xol content ended up being pdf, html, image, or  
audio content, and can simply be downloaded and accessed directly from  
the Journal (it used to cause a fair amount of UI friction with folks  
having to switch between browse <-> journal_detail_view <->  
some_activity <-> and_often_back_again;  often ending up with multiple  
duplicate copies junking up the journal, and causing low memory  
situations on XO-1s).

Just opened a related Soas ticket, with the suggestion that we  
initially cherry pick some of the useful .xol items and pre-populate a  
few good examples so that Soas has some initial journal entries to get  
folks rolling in the right direction. Other old .xol content, if folks  
still find them useful and are keen, can just be un-bundled and placed  
on a web page, Moodle lesson, for normal download:

	http://dev.sugarlabs.org/ticket/840

Regards,
--Gary

> On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 11:31 AM, Caroline Meeks <caroline at solutiongrove.com 
> > wrote:
>
>
> On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 2:17 PM, Edward Cherlin <echerlin at gmail.com>  
> wrote:
> Add the Bible and Qur'an reader programs?
>
> Those should at least be on the activity portal.  Can you see if you  
> can get in touch with the maintainers?
>
> Thanks,
> Caroline
>
>
> On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 10:37 AM, Caroline Meeks
> <caroline at solutiongrove.com> wrote:
> > For the next SoaS Beta I'd like to help users trying out Sugar,  
> especially
> > educators, have an "ah ha" moment about how Sugar on a Stick can  
> open a huge
> > world of books for their students.
> >
> > The US elementary schools I visit have a computer lab and they  
> have books.
> > But they certainly don't have the budget to get as many copies of  
> as many
> > different books as they would like.
> >
> > Maybe our new users will know that there are free books on the  
> internet.
> > Good chance they have never actually tried it themselves.  Plus,  
> having a
> > book on the internet doesn't help their students if they get one  
> hour of
> > computer time in the lab.
> >
> > But having a book on your Sugar Stick and being able to read it in  
> multiple
> > locations is actually very useful!
> >
> > This is one of the many things I want educators to discover as  
> they play
> > with their Sugar Sticks.
> >
> > I know we have wonderful library apps coming down the pike. What I'm
> > interested in right now is what is the art of the possible for the  
> next Beta
> > in June?
> >
> > Suggestions so far:
> >
> > - Include the FLOSS Sugar manual in the SoaS Image
> > - Add a link to one or more free book sites in the startup page on  
> Browse
> > - Include a kids book in the SoaS Image.
> >
> > Other ideas?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Caroline
> >
> > --
> > Caroline Meeks
> > Solution Grove
> > Caroline at SolutionGrove.com
> >
> > 617-500-3488 - Office
> > 505-213-3268 - Fax
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> > IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
> > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Silent Thunder (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/ 
> دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) is my name
> And Children are my nation.
> The Cosmos is my dwelling place, The Truth my destination.
> http://earthtreasury.org/worknet (Edward Mokurai Cherlin)
>
>
>
> -- 
> Caroline Meeks
> Solution Grove
> Caroline at SolutionGrove.com
>
> 617-500-3488 - Office
> 505-213-3268 - Fax
>
> _______________________________________________
> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
> _______________________________________________
> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep