[IAEP] Sugar Digest 2013-02-04

[Walter Bender]

On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 5:30 PM, Steve Thomas <sthomas1 at gosargon.com> wrote:
> On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 11:51 AM, Walter Bender <walter.bender at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> Kim Toufectis commented on my post [1] about online services:
>>
>> :Appreciative of the ideals upon which SugarLabs and OLPC formed, it’s
>> deeply troubling to envision a commercial entity like FaceBook
>> integrated into the Control Panel.
>>
>> :For a system in which a proprietary browser (Opera) or plugin (Adobe
>> Flash) are controversial even as optional add-ons, can we really be
>> headed for integrating a private corporation into the heart of the
>> OS?This is very difficult to understand…
>>
>> My response:
>>
>> There are several issues raised by our proposal (none of this code has
>> yet been reviewed and accepted):
>>
>> (a) Should Sugar facilitate integration with online services?
>
> +1  go to where the kids are.
>
>> (b) If so, should we do it in such a way that is service-provider
>> agnostic?
>
> +1
>
>>
>> (c) Why specifically are we working on a Facebook plugin?
>>
>> There are certainly caveats: First, Facebook is not for children.
>
> Really? I know a lot of children on Facebook.  Also the new Scratch 2.0 is
> going to have a Share to: Facebook and Twitter, along with Youtube uploading
> at some point.  And look at the ages of Scratch users.
> That said as a parents of four young ones (or as our kids call us "Ma and Pa
> Luddite") we did our best to keep them off Facebook as long as possible.
>

We need to tread lightly here. The FB terms of service require 13+
yrs. Our children are younger than that. Maybe the Scratch team thinks
it is OK, but I am uncomfortable with encouraging children to violate
the terms of service. That said, I suspect Facebook will address this
issue at some point. Or some other web service provider.

>>
>> My intention is to provide a mechanism for teachers, not children.
>
> Why not both? Isn't our goal to engage kids? Social networking is where they
> are. Of course once its there its there for both.

Agreed, but see above.

>
>> Second, Facebook does not provide a place for file (project) sharing,
>> just a place for talking about projects. We will need other services
>> for that (dare I say, Google Drive).
>
> File sharing would be wonderful. +2
>
> It would also be nice to be able to "embed" a running project in a web page
> (when we get to the point where the projects can run in a web page :)
>
> Stephen
>
>



-- 
Walter Bender
Sugar Labs
http://www.sugarlabs.org