No subject

>> blog posts it looks like you have some XOs, are you using SoaS on other
>> computers too?
>
> thanks for the mail, Caroline
> one xo
> standard usage is SoaS, for this course
> year 10 approx 15yo

This is the part that excites me the most.  15yos are generally
mischievous to break anything:)  Combine that with a mentor like Bill
Kerr.... I think we need to prepare for a pretty good flow of high
quality feedback.

david

> course outline involves critical evaluation and building some useful
> software
> details:=C2=A0http://xo-whs2009.blogspot.com/2009/07/course-outline.html
>
>>
>> We don't have a system for feedback yet so until people complain about t=
he
>> volume lets talk here on the list.
>>
>> I think feedback falls into 4 categories.
>>
>> Sugar bugs
>> Sugar on a Stick specific bugs and barriers to deployment
>> Activity specific feedback and bugs
>> Curriculum, pedagogy, lesson plans
>>
>> What seems to work best is to post about problems in general then after
>> discussion post a bug in Trac. Sometimes I find that I just don't unders=
tand
>> something or can't find the right button and its not actually a bug.
>
>
>>
>> I have decided that I really want more SoaS pilots so I'm going to focus
>> for a few weeks on problems that are barriers to teachers using SoaS thi=
s
>> fall (#2 above).=C2=A0 I would like your input on this.=C2=A0 My current=
 working
>> document is: http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick/TODO
>
> Just read that, it's a good start, covers a lot of ground
> A few issues (dumb questions, saves time if I put them up here)
> 1) once I have created a stick can I upgrade just one program, such as th=
e
> version of Physics which saves (if so how?), or do I have to wait until t=
hat
> version is officially released and then reformat all the sticks - I suppo=
se
> both are time consuming since I have about 20 sticks to do - but the latt=
er
> involves waiting for the official release
> 2)
> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick/Strawberry#Windows_Users
> For Window User point 5
>
> "Set the=C2=A0Persistent Storage=C2=A0slider to the maximum so you can sa=
ve your Sugar
> work onto the USB device;
> (You may allocate as much storage as there is capacity on your device. Yo=
u
> may allocate less than the maximum, if you want to use some of the device
> storage when not booting Sugar.)"
>
> I ended up setting the Persistent Storage to maximum. Now I'm wondering t=
hat
> if I had allocated less than the maximum then could a student copy a file
> from the journal onto the SoaS (rather than their own USB) and it would s=
ave
> in some of that non allocated storage. This is an issue because not all
> students bring their own USBs to class. Sometimes there is a need to swap=
 in
> and out of the Sugar environment back to the Windows environment (found i=
n
> most schools) so ability to easily save on a USB is an issue. Actually, t=
his
> ended up being the first major thing I taught my students to do.
> 3) the information about failed sticks not rebooting is valuable - some
> sticks have failed for me but I haven't worked out any real pattern yet,
> quite complex to keep track when teaching a class, just tell the kids to =
try
> a different stick and / or different computer - but the sticks are number=
ed
> and now each student uses the same one each lesson so patterns will becom=
e
> clearer soon
> 4) some of my sticks (about half) are card readers 2GB cards, they work f=
ine
> 5) the brand of stick of stick makes a difference, LASERS are very slow (=
and
> cheapest), KINGSTON seem good
> 6) collaboration did not work out of the box - is it meant to? - I have a
> jabber server from last year which I have yet to setup but will do so soo=
n
> 7) Had to type about:config into Browse and muck around with proxy settin=
gs
> to get internet access - I had never done this before and needed assistan=
ce
> http://xo-whs2009.blogspot.com/2009/07/connecting-to-internet-through-soa=
s.html
> 8) I noticed when I loaded Pippy on my dell mini inspiron that the run
> button in the middle of the screen was not visible - ie. does not work wi=
th
> all screen configurations (it looked ok on school machines though)
>
>>
>> Greg Smith is gravitating towards documenting the lesson plans etc and
>> creating, organizing and prioritizing tickets that will help in actual u=
sage
>> based on field experience (#3 above). So coordinate with him on getting =
your
>> lesson plans on the wiki and your bugs filed, categorized etc.
>
> I'm not really developing lesson plans for the xo target age group (6-12 =
yo)
> at the moment, see course outline link above
> Nevertheless, some general curriculum development principles might transf=
er,
> eg. find tasks that reward initiative, independent exploration
>
>>
>> As you've already seen physics has an active following!=C2=A0 I think yo=
ur kids
>> are older then the ones we are working with (7-9) but we will be working
>> with slightly older kids (8-11) and science in the fall so I'll be
>> interested in how we can fit it in with their curriculum.
>
> Tony Forster suggested physics modification and that would be a suitable
> goal for my age group
> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Modifying_Activities#Modifying_Physics
>
> hope that some of this is useful
> cheers
> - Bill
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Caroline
>>
>> --
>> Caroline Meeks
>> Solution Grove
>> Caroline at SolutionGrove.com
>>
>> 617-500-3488 - Office
>> 505-213-3268 - Fax
>
>
>
>
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