<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Apr 12, 2009 at 2:09 PM, Mark Ahlness <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mahlness@halcyon.com">mahlness@halcyon.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
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<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;">Caroline, thanks once again for getting
back to me. I definitely have thoughts and feedback to offer, but I’ve
not said anything on the list because I’m worried about 1) sounding like
an uninformed idiot, or 2) sounding like a know it all and offending everybody –
both real possibilities! I’ll float a couple thoughts by you…</span></font></p></div></div></blockquote><div><br>This email is excellent in my opinion! Thank you!<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div link="blue" vlink="blue" lang="EN-US"><div><p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;"></span></font></p>
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<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;">Where is the XO in this process? My hope
would be for a SoaS that could be used on an XO and a PC, and yes, even a MAC </span></font><font color="blue" face="Wingdings"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; color: blue;">J</span></font><font color="blue" face="Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana; color: blue;"> My
experience has indicated that once a stick has booted on an XO or PC, it will
not boot on the other platform. I understand part of the technical hurdles, but
has this just been given up on, or it is a priority at all? I know there was a
falling out with sugar and olpc, and I’m really hoping they do not both
lose as a result… from where I sit, it does not look good.</span></font></p></div></div></blockquote><div><br>This is our vision too and there are definitely people actively working on how to support the XO using SoaS. However, I've just talked to Walter on IRC and he says some of the problems are pretty complex, like power management, and its possible they will not all be solved for 6 months when the next version of Fedora (F12) becomes available. People are thinking about it and sometimes people come up with good ideas and things are fixed quicker then expected.<br>
<br> Macs are also extremely important to us. In the Gardner my pilot school, all the teachers have macs and they just got 60 mac laptops for carts. I think about 2 months for the mac. Maybe less. We are working on a bunch of ideas.<br>
</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div link="blue" vlink="blue" lang="EN-US"><div><p><font color="blue" face="Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana; color: blue;"></span></font></p>
<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;">I sit in a classroom with 17 PC’s
and 5 XO’s, and I kind of see that as a microcosm of a larger world, with
different opportunities, challenges, and tools. I would like my kids to be able
to move between those two worlds within our classroom, as the educational
opportunities inherent would be incredible. When I showed my third grade class SoaS
on an XO, the first question one girl asked was if she could put that stick in
her computer at home… They are ready, if the technology is ready.</span></font></p></div></div></blockquote><div><br>Yes, I agree. This is the world I see and your student totally gets my vision.<br><br>Speed bumps I see right now:<br>
<br>1. Its only going to work for her if she has a PC at home.<br>2. If she loses the stick, or it goes bad, she has lost all her work.<br>3. She really ought to be able to see in her neighborhood just her class (or maybe the whole school, that should be something you, the teache,r control), whether she is at home or at school.<br>
4. Next week there will be a new version with bug fixes she will want and we don't yet have a way to update her stick without losing her work.<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
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<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;">It’s tough finding enough time in
class, with all the regular curriculum demands, to let the kids really explore
with SoaS. The most stable XO version has been soas1. SoaS beta is a step
backwards for the XO, with browser shutdown on most web pages, which means I’ve
been unable to add new activities. So I’ll continue to use the earlier
version. Once the kids get the idea they can load a different identity, they
are quickly on to what can they do now….. They miss record, speak, pacman
(and a coupla other little activities), web pages w/sound – and the loss
of navigation buttons. Not being able to get current battery status is a very
real issue, as 2 of our xo’s are solar powered, and the kids keep an eye
on how much time is left on them.</span></font></p></div></div></blockquote><div><br>Yes, I understand about time. That is why its so important to me to create something that the kids can take home and to thier afterschool program. It takes time to explore and you don't have that in your official school day.<br>
</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div link="blue" vlink="blue" lang="EN-US"><div><p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;"></span></font></p>
<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;">One of my supply list requirements to
start the school year for my class, besides the usual pencils and folders –
was a flash drive. Most kids have them, and are ready to go. If there’s a
stable release I can load on them, it could be very exciting! I would hope of
course that version could run on XO’s and other computers…. </span></font></p></div></div></blockquote><div><br>I'm interested in which of the speedbumps I listed and bugs you listed are must fixes before your kids load up their sticks. Our goal is to fix all of them, but clearly some are harder then others.<br>
<br>When you do send kids home with sticks I recommend also sending home a boot helper CD. My guess is that will increase the success rate quite a bit. Field data on this will be much appreciated.<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
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<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;">Thanks again for listening. If you think
this would be ok to post to the list, feel free to send on – or I could send
it. On teachers contributing to the list, I really don’t know what to
say, except that it’s a pretty active list right now, and too many new
voices might become a volume issue, and if those conversations went in other
directions, hmmm... But I have always leaned toward inclusion, so I’d
suggest keeping one list and hopefully it will find a stable mix of
contributors/listeners. Might take a while to level off, but growth is good,
right? </span></font><font color="blue" face="Wingdings"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; color: blue;">J</span></font><font color="blue" face="Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana; color: blue;"> Plus, I do believe teachers and
programmers can, and should, communicate and learn from each other.</span></font></p></div></div></blockquote><div><br>Thanks! I am forwarding to IAEP <br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
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<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;">I appreciate your feedback and
conversation. Despite my reservations about the XO side of things, I’m
still very excited about what you all are doing! All the best - Mark</span></font></p>
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<p><b><font size="2" face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: bold;">From:</span></font></b><font size="2" face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;">
<a href="mailto:solutiongrove@gmail.com" target="_blank">solutiongrove@gmail.com</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:solutiongrove@gmail.com" target="_blank">solutiongrove@gmail.com</a>] <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">On Behalf Of </span></b>Caroline Meeks<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Sunday, April 12, 2009 5:48
AM<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> Mark Ahlness<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: Hi from Caroline of
Sugar Labs</div></div></span></font></p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Hi Mark,<br>
<br>
Thanks for the great report! The most recent version is SoaS-Beta. The Beta is
F11 based so its in the SoaS2 family. The most recent one seems to have
some sound but I just talked to Sebastian and he doesn't think Record works
yet. I put in a ticket. <a href="http://dev.sugarlabs.org/ticket/740" target="_blank">http://dev.sugarlabs.org/ticket/740</a><br>
<br>
We definitely want field testing. Long term we care intensely about how Sugar
can be used to support your curriculum, engagement and learning in your
classroom. We would love blog posts on Sugar by either you or your kid.<br>
<br>
Short term, we are in the middle of making huge strides in terms of getting it
to actually work across a wide variety of platforms. You can do a
lot of good by just being a visible teacher trying things. For instance,
the fact that your kids really want Record to work is powerful timely feedback.
I can pass it on to the volunteer team but if they heard it directly from you
or even from your kids via the mailing list that would be a very strong
motivator. If they succeed in getting it to work a thank you note using
Record would be wonderful. Everyone is a volunteer right now and everyone has
competing, often paying, jobs so direct immediate evidence that kids benefit is
extremely powerful at this stage.<br>
<br>
I'd like your advice, should I be encouraging teachers like you to post to IAEP
mailing list or should I be encouraging teachers to join a separate Moodle
Class just for SoaS testing?<br>
<br>
Thank you!<br>
<br>
Caroline </span></font></p>
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<p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">On Sat, Apr 11, 2009 at 4:49 PM, Mark Ahlness <<a href="mailto:mahlness@halcyon.com" target="_blank">mahlness@halcyon.com</a>> wrote:</span></font></p>
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<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;">Hi Caroline,</span></font></p>
<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;">Have tried soas (2, I think) on one of the
Dells in my classroom at Arbor Heights Elementary School,
in Seattle. It
worked great – AND connected amazingly well through the district Internet
gateway. I was on a screamin’ Sugar computer </span></font><font color="blue" face="Wingdings"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; color: blue;">J</span></font><font color="blue" face="Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana; color: blue;">
Actually played a Connect Four Game with somebody on an XO in my classroom,
connected via the <a href="http://xo1share.org" target="_blank">xo1share.org</a>
jabber server (I lost, speed is not everything). Anyway, it was very
encouraging. <a href="http://www.halcyon.com/arborhts/mahlness/2009/04/it-makes-you-think.html" target="_blank">http://www.halcyon.com/arborhts/mahlness/2009/04/it-makes-you-think.html</a>
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<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;">If you are looking for a field testing of some
of your sticks in a regular classroom setting, I’d be very interested in
trying them out, especially now knowing they’ll run on my computers and
can negotiate Internet access. For third graders, my kids are pretty tech
savvy, and they DO get the idea, are comfortable with USB sticks, etc. Just let
me know.</span></font></p>
<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="blue" size="3" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana; color: blue;">Congrats on the great demo Friday! (I’m following
the conversations on the IAEP list). Best of luck - Mark </span></font></p>
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<p><b><font size="2" face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: bold;">From:</span></font></b><font size="2" face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;"> Mark Ahlness [mailto:<a href="mailto:mahlness@halcyon.com" target="_blank">mahlness@halcyon.com</a>] <br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Saturday, April 04, 2009
8:18 PM<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> 'Caroline Meeks'<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cc:</span></b> 'Mark Ahlness'<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> RE: Hi from Caroline of
Sugar Labs</span></font></p>
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-- <br>
Caroline Meeks<br>
Solution Grove<br>
Caroline@SolutionGrove.com<br>
<br>
617-500-3488 - Office<br>
505-213-3268 - Fax</span></font></p>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Caroline Meeks<br>Solution Grove<br>Caroline@SolutionGrove.com<br><br>617-500-3488 - Office<br>505-213-3268 - Fax<br>