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Hi, Sean <br>
<br>
I think we are on the same page. The model of deployments (outside
of those nationally sponsored) has been a sponsor in the developed
world has supplied laptops to a school in the developing world.
Sugar must grow in the developed world market to continue the flow
of sponsors which are needed if those on the other side can maintain
some semblence of progress. <br>
<br>
The G1G1 concept was far more clever than the creators suspected.
The Get1 folks learned what the laptops could do and that they were
needed on the other side of the digital divide.<br>
<br>
Mike Dawson is right, the current model is the feature phone with
those with more assets wishing for a smartphone. What is important
is that experience with using electronic devices with computing
capability is diffusing rapidly. <br>
<br>
However, I am not so hopeful of rapid spread of broadband internet
at an affordable price. I was an accidental attendant at a meeting
of staff from a local high school who are contemplating getting
computers (Apple). They said the Department of Education will supply
48000 pesos per year to offset internet charges ($1000). In South
Africa and many other areas, the usage plans charge for the amount
of data transfered. This would very hard on schools which allow some
50 concurrent users to surf freely. <br>
<br>
The norm in the secondary schools is a computer lab. Some schools
reuse old desktops (with CRT monitors) as 'thin clients'. The idea
is to share one computer with multiple monitor-keyboard-mouse
workstations (the thin clients). The problem with the Raspberry Pi
is that it does not have a monitor (keyboard and mouse are easy - a
touch-screen monitor may eliminate the need for a mouse). However,
monitors remain very expensive, often cheaper when wrapped in an
Android device.<br>
My sense is that we could attach the RPi to a school server and the
students could work with it through the school server using their
own XO screens as the RPi monitor. This would be very useful to
support a science lab with a school kit of sensors, robots and so
on.<br>
<br>
So where we are in clear agreement, success and acceptance of the
Sugar initiative in the developed world is essential to keep the
pool of sponsors we need for the other side of the divide. At the
same time, I think we need to develop a proof of concept that shows
that students can show significant improvements in learning by using
Sugar - the point you are making with the Journalist. <br>
<br>
I asked the principal of the school at the meeting what was the
educational objective of the program. The answer was each school was
to figure that out on their own.<br>
Apple seems to have adopted the Negroponte model, buy them and
students will learn (worked in Field of Dreams).<br>
<br>
Tony<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 03/19/2015 04:43 PM, Sean DALY
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CANnY+GN=euD=MckmZQXz=Dt6et5xO8PSzgu07d_XBWS73eeMVw@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>Hi Tony,<br>
<br>
</div>
I for one certainly don't feel Sugar is only for children in
developed countries. I believe Sugar offers benefits for all
children. I do think that widespread use of Sugar in developed
countries would encourage its use in the developing world, for
several reasons. One of these is the opportunity for major
donors, journalists, and influential educators - who could
make a difference in developing world projects - to experience
Sugar directly, something they have never been able to do
without difficulty. I remember a testy exchange with a
journalist who described the XO (which he had never seen) in
his article as "a laptop running Linux". I told him that was
reductionist, like calling an iPhone "a FreeBSD terminal", and
explained that Sugar is an environment specifically designed
for children. His position was that the XO was challenging the
market position of Windows - childrens' learning or the
digital divide weren't the angles.<br>
<br>
</div>
In the past few years we've seen enormous changes, in particular
the rise of handheld tactile devices
(smartphones/tablets/"phablets"), which seem to offer advantages
for schools (rugged, light, many fewer moving parts, software
keyboard easy to localize) but which are better suited to
consuming content rather than creating it. And in the developing
world, the incredible rise of mobile, a large percentage of
which are Internet-connected smartphones (see the Pew report of
a year ago: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/02/13/emerging-nations-embrace-internet-mobile-technology">http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/02/13/emerging-nations-embrace-internet-mobile-technology</a>).
<br>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I have been astonished at learnings from the Nosy Komba
(Madagascar) "micro-deployment" managed by the OLPC France
association (not affiliated with OLPC). There was no Internet
on the island, but highspeed xDSL was available in the port on
the mainland a few kilometers over open water. OLPC France
volunteers designed and installed a wifi link (this involved
climbing the island's volcano to set up an antenna) after
initial resistance from the local telco provider. When the
island's villages learned that the school had not only
computers for the children, but limited Internet access, the
school's attendance jumped (a dormitory had to be built as a
result). And the island's fishermen wanted to learn how to
obtain weather and tides information. My point is that even in
remote areas, people know that the Internet exists and that
children need computers and connectivity to develop
opportunities - there will be fewer and fewer schools which
are completely off-grid. I agree that the children in those
schools need help the most, that with no connectivity a local
device (or device+server) is all-important, and that the XO is
best-suited as that device. However Sugar offers the
possibility of using a different device if XOs become
unavailable. It's not farfetched to imagine a hardware/Sugar
education project based on a RPi or other Single Board
Computer (SBC), perhaps with an internal battery, used for
example with shared keyboards and screens at school connected
to a school server, maybe with satellite tablet screen for
outside school...<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>To me, the goal of Sugar Labs is to offer its benefits to
all children, not just those lucky enough to have access to an
XO. This can certainly include children in developing
countries - witness Sugar's support for indigenous languages,
always a step ahead of commercial offerings, yet of only
limited interest in developed countries.<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Sean.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 1:40 AM, Tony
Anderson <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:tony_anderson@usa.net" target="_blank">tony_anderson@usa.net</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Sean,<br>
<br>
I think you are getting at what I consider the heart of the
problem. SugarLabs sees Sugar as an alternative GUI for any
computing device with primary efficacy in the developed,
internet-connected world. This goal is understandable since
the XOs have a limited life and so Sugar must be operable on
currently marketed devices.<br>
<br>
The project I signed up for is to place computers in the
hands of every child at a community school in the developing
world where electricity is an issue, the internet is
unavailable, and teachers as well as students have no prior
experience with computing. The goal of the project is to
enhance the educational opportunities of these students
through the use of Sugar as well as access to information
others on the right side of the digital divide get from the
internet.<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br>
<br>
Tony<br>
</font></span></blockquote>
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<br>
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