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The Chicago Interest Group is a way for people in the Chicagoland area to talk about and work together on OLPC. We aren't necessarily interested just in trying to bring OLPC into classrooms in Illinois; we're also interested in volunteering/contributing to the project.
The Chicago Interest Group is a way for people in the Chicagoland area to talk about and work together on OLPC. We aren't necessarily interested just in trying to bring OLPC into classrooms in Illinois; we're also interested in volunteering/contributing to the project.


== Mailing List ==
=== OLPC Chicago IS ===


# a nucleation point for exchange between local groups, towards the OLPC Boston office and back, and with other groups worldwide
We have most of our discussions on the [http://mailman.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-chicago mailing list]. If you are interested, please subscribe.
# helping in organizing XOs for the local groups
# working with the [[Illinois]] Legislature and Governor Pat Quinn's staff on [http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=&SessionId=51&GA=95&DocTypeId=HB&DocNum=5000&GAID=9&LegID=35963&SpecSess=0&Session=0 HB5000, the Children's Low-Cost Laptop Act]
# supporting and cherishing the autonomy of local groups
# focusing on rough consensus, grassroots involvement, and working projects


== Future Activities ==
=== OLPC Chicago IS NOT ===
# going to do a local pilot in your school (although we'll encourage and support you if ''you'' want to do one yourself)
# going to tell you what you are and aren't allowed to do (although we're always up for idea-bouncing and brainstorms)


(Thanks to [[OLPC Europe]], from which the above lists are adapted.)
=== Jan. 22 Meetup ===


== Contact and chapters ==
The first COGG (Chicago-OLPC Grassroots Group) meeting is Jan 22, 2008 at Google Chicago (20 West Kinzie St, Chicago IL). This being Google, snacks and drinks will be provided. Thanks to Jon and Fitz from Google and Ian from OpenPlans for setting this up!


=== Mailing list ===
Doors open at 6:30, meeting starts at 6:45 and runs 'till 8:30. Everyone is welcome, including kids, teachers, coders, students, engineers, artists, parents, interested people from around the neighborhood - no experience required. Part of this meeting is so everyone can meet each other and learn how to get involved as well as share and collaborate on existing projects.


We have most of our Chicago-wide, intra-chapter discussions on the [http://mailman.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-chicago mailing list]. If you are interested, please subscribe.
rough agenda (feel free to add):
* very brief overview of OLPC and how you can get involved
* Project show-and-tell
** students from the [[Illinois Math and Science Academy Chapter]] will give rocket-pitch overviews of their projects
** anyone else?
* upcoming events / help wanted
** Chris Brown looking for OLPC presenters in Wilmette for Feb. 5 to demo/explain the program at a teachers' tech conference. More details [[OLPC Chicago/Help wanted|here]].
** OLPC at [http://us.pycon.org/2008/tutorials/SugarFletcher/ PyCon 2008] in March; attend, network, present, hack?
** full-time OLPC-Chicago office-hub and repair/service center opening this summer - volunteers welcome
* project brainstorming / hacking time


=== Flickr Group ===
Contact mel at laptop dot org to RSVP by Friday, Jan. 18 at noon CST. We need a roster in advance to let everyone into the building.
'''The deadline for RSVPing has passed. We are trying to accommodate late responders - probably until sometime Monday afternoon - please continue to contact Mel if you want to come.'''


OLPC Chicago has a [http://www.flickr.com/groups/olpc_chicago/ OLPC_Chicago Flickr] group for photos of meetups, pictures of modifications to our XOs, etc. Please join!
=== Jan. 25 Meetup ===


=== ILXO ===
There is also a meetup at [http://olpcnews.com/forum/index.php?topic=1040.0 Moraine Valley Community College] (MVCC) later in the week.

[[ILXO]] is an independent grassroots office present in Chicago for the summer of 2008; its mission is to catalyze and support independent OLPC grassroots groups in Illinois as well as projects and collaborations involving them. ''ILXO is not an official OLPC endeavor.''

=== IMSA chapter ===

[[IMSA]] is a public high school in Aurora.

=== MVCC chapter ===

[[MVCC]] is a community college in Palos Hills.

=== OLPC Chicago Jabber server ===

[[OLPC Chicago/JabberServer | OLPC Chicago Jabber Server]] is jabber.olpchacks.org.

To setup your XO, open the terminal activity and type:

% sugar-control-panel -s jabber jabber.olpchacks.org

Restart Sugar/X (ctrl-alt-erase) and you will connect to the jabber server.

== Future Activities ==

* August 8-10, 2008 - [[Game Jam Chicago]]


== Past activities ==
== Past activities ==


also see [[/Archive]] for old info that has been moved off this page.
There's interest in a Sugar/XO/OLPC sprint/hackathon, scheduled for [http://mailman.laptop.org/pipermail/olpc-chicago/2007-May/000031.html June 2] at the offices of [http://www.skinnycorp.com skinnyCorp] (4043 N. Ravenswood ave, suite 106) around 10am. We'd get together for a day and work on the project. This would help people become familiar with the environment and share their experience.

* July 29 2008 - [[Teacher Jam Chicago]]
* Mar 29 2008 - Tentatively, [[MVCC]] will have another informal meetup. Anyone is welcome - an invitation will be broadcast to the OLPC-Chicago group and MVCC faculty and staff. At this meet we met an incredibly technologically savvy teen who typed up a detailed walkthrough on everything he does to customize his XO. There is lots of useful guides all in one place at [[Ben Rothman's XO Setup]].
* The Illinois School for the Deaf and their XO pilot (in Jacksonville, IL) was featured on myjournalcourier - read the [http://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/jacksonville_17737___article.html/students_computer.html article] and see some [http://myjournalcourier.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=477694 photos] of the children with their laptops.
* March 6 2008 - The technology committee of the IL House of Representatives ''unanimously'' passed the [[/IL Children's Low Cost Laptop Fund]], which is now moving to the House and Senate for review. See the page for a first-hand account by Larry Langellier.
* Feb 16 2008 - There was a meetup at [[MVCC]] to explore the XO more deeply, specifically the mesh capability. Seven adults and nine children were present. Highlights included introductions to OLPC and the XO for newcomers, an introduction to Scratch and the community site at scratch.mit.edu, and some of the children in attendance showed us how to use the mesh for Chat and Connect.
* [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Chicago/Help_wanted Feb 5 2008] - Meetup at Marie Murphy School. [http://beckersmith.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/02/this-laptop-is.html Karen's blog writeup] and [http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/blog/2008/02/06/xo’s/ Joe's blog post]
* [[/Jan 26 2008]] - There was a meetup at [[MVCC]] to introduce the project, play with laptops, and come up with ideas for things the MVCC chapter could work on. Highlights included TamTam demos by an 8-year-old and Record demos by a 10-year-old, as well as a kid-run laptop disassembly session.
* [[/Jan 22 2008]]- The first COGG (Chicago-OLPC Grassroots Group) meeting was Jan 22, 2008 at Google Chicago. [[IMSA]] students and others presented their projects, connections were made, and small interest groups were formed. For more information, including notes and blogs from the meeting, click [[/Jan 22 2008|here.]]
* [[/Jun 02 2007]] - Hackathon at SkinnyCorp.

== Project ideas ==

* We're thinking about working on [[Choose Your Own Adventure]].
* [[TinyLanguage]] is a comprehension-based language learning tool.






There will be pizza. There we be several XO laptops, but you should bring your own laptop as well.


== Software ==


== Resources for OLPC_Chicago ==
We're thinking about working on [[Choose Your Own Adventure]].


* [[OLPC_Chicago Resources]] - Karen Smith's note of 2/14/08 with a summary of online resources for OLPC Chicago and other tips and tricks, collected from available resources. Please add to this list!
[[Category:XO User Group]]
*[[Ben Rothman's XO Setup]] is a teens detailed list of everything he does to customize his XO from the beginning. It is a great resource for saving time by conveniently containing setup of Flash, Opera, and getting rid of some core programs that just get in the way. He will also be updating it as soon as we figure out how to get java working on the XO.

Latest revision as of 17:00, 8 August 2010

About

The Chicago Interest Group is a way for people in the Chicagoland area to talk about and work together on OLPC. We aren't necessarily interested just in trying to bring OLPC into classrooms in Illinois; we're also interested in volunteering/contributing to the project.

OLPC Chicago IS

  1. a nucleation point for exchange between local groups, towards the OLPC Boston office and back, and with other groups worldwide
  2. helping in organizing XOs for the local groups
  3. working with the Illinois Legislature and Governor Pat Quinn's staff on HB5000, the Children's Low-Cost Laptop Act
  4. supporting and cherishing the autonomy of local groups
  5. focusing on rough consensus, grassroots involvement, and working projects

OLPC Chicago IS NOT

  1. going to do a local pilot in your school (although we'll encourage and support you if you want to do one yourself)
  2. going to tell you what you are and aren't allowed to do (although we're always up for idea-bouncing and brainstorms)

(Thanks to OLPC Europe, from which the above lists are adapted.)

Contact and chapters

Mailing list

We have most of our Chicago-wide, intra-chapter discussions on the mailing list. If you are interested, please subscribe.

Flickr Group

OLPC Chicago has a OLPC_Chicago Flickr group for photos of meetups, pictures of modifications to our XOs, etc. Please join!

ILXO

ILXO is an independent grassroots office present in Chicago for the summer of 2008; its mission is to catalyze and support independent OLPC grassroots groups in Illinois as well as projects and collaborations involving them. ILXO is not an official OLPC endeavor.

IMSA chapter

IMSA is a public high school in Aurora.

MVCC chapter

MVCC is a community college in Palos Hills.

OLPC Chicago Jabber server

OLPC Chicago Jabber Server is jabber.olpchacks.org.

To setup your XO, open the terminal activity and type:

  % sugar-control-panel -s jabber jabber.olpchacks.org

Restart Sugar/X (ctrl-alt-erase) and you will connect to the jabber server.

Future Activities

Past activities

also see /Archive for old info that has been moved off this page.

  • July 29 2008 - Teacher Jam Chicago
  • Mar 29 2008 - Tentatively, MVCC will have another informal meetup. Anyone is welcome - an invitation will be broadcast to the OLPC-Chicago group and MVCC faculty and staff. At this meet we met an incredibly technologically savvy teen who typed up a detailed walkthrough on everything he does to customize his XO. There is lots of useful guides all in one place at Ben Rothman's XO Setup.
  • The Illinois School for the Deaf and their XO pilot (in Jacksonville, IL) was featured on myjournalcourier - read the article and see some photos of the children with their laptops.
  • March 6 2008 - The technology committee of the IL House of Representatives unanimously passed the /IL Children's Low Cost Laptop Fund, which is now moving to the House and Senate for review. See the page for a first-hand account by Larry Langellier.
  • Feb 16 2008 - There was a meetup at MVCC to explore the XO more deeply, specifically the mesh capability. Seven adults and nine children were present. Highlights included introductions to OLPC and the XO for newcomers, an introduction to Scratch and the community site at scratch.mit.edu, and some of the children in attendance showed us how to use the mesh for Chat and Connect.
  • Feb 5 2008 - Meetup at Marie Murphy School. Karen's blog writeup and Joe's blog post
  • /Jan 26 2008 - There was a meetup at MVCC to introduce the project, play with laptops, and come up with ideas for things the MVCC chapter could work on. Highlights included TamTam demos by an 8-year-old and Record demos by a 10-year-old, as well as a kid-run laptop disassembly session.
  • /Jan 22 2008- The first COGG (Chicago-OLPC Grassroots Group) meeting was Jan 22, 2008 at Google Chicago. IMSA students and others presented their projects, connections were made, and small interest groups were formed. For more information, including notes and blogs from the meeting, click here.
  • /Jun 02 2007 - Hackathon at SkinnyCorp.

Project ideas




Resources for OLPC_Chicago

  • OLPC_Chicago Resources - Karen Smith's note of 2/14/08 with a summary of online resources for OLPC Chicago and other tips and tricks, collected from available resources. Please add to this list!
  • Ben Rothman's XO Setup is a teens detailed list of everything he does to customize his XO from the beginning. It is a great resource for saving time by conveniently containing setup of Flash, Opera, and getting rid of some core programs that just get in the way. He will also be updating it as soon as we figure out how to get java working on the XO.