[ AGENDA ]
* XO-1.5 early production machines now available/shipping:
http://blog.laptop.org/2010/02/25/xo-1-5-early-production-laptops-free-to-contributors-worldwide/
* New projects & libraries -- teaching them Community Outreach:
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XO_Laptop_Lending_Libraries
* Which projects might you enjoy Mentoring below?!
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Projects
http://rt.laptop.org/Search/Results.html?Query=Queue=%27contributors%27
* Fast Review of the 5 latest (greatest!) HW/Project Proposals -- please
join us advocating for, and/or reviewing shortcomings of these proposals:
#1 Benji Smith’s Eagle and Youth Group Project - Jefferson, Maryland
#2 Fedora Security Lab - India, Germany, USA
#3 Lubuto Library Project - Zambian Literacy Programming Project - Silver Spring, Maryland
#4 Language Documentation on Ambrym, Vanuatu - Berlin; Paris
#5 Laptops Uganda
[ PROJECT #1 - Benji Smith’s Eagle and Youth Group Project - Jefferson, Maryland ]
<CanoeBerry> Hi All!
<CanoeBerry> Let's begin soon -- agenda here:
<CanoeBerry> http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/devel/2010-April/028329.html
<CanoeBerry> Welcome all, and please help us critique/mentor/vote for the above 5 projects.
<CanoeBerry> Let's start with Project #1 below here, as sufficient people gather, thanks!
<CanoeBerry> Benji Smith’s Eagle and Youth Group Project - Jefferson, Maryland
<CanoeBerry> http://rt.laptop.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=50626
<CanoeBerry> http://sites.google.com/site/laptopsforthedominican/
<CanoeBerry> Requests 7/10 XOs over undetermined months
<CanoeBerry> Project Objectives:
<CanoeBerry> My project will provide entertainment and a learning experience for the
<CanoeBerry> children of Los Toscones by providing them with basic computers that
<CanoeBerry> can be
<CanoeBerry> used for both fun and educational purposes.
<CanoeBerry> I have created a quick-start guide that can be used on deployments
<CanoeBerry> world-wide. The information being put in it can be found here:
<CanoeBerry> http://sites.google.com/site/laptopsforthedominican/project-updates/moreworkdone.
<CanoeBerry> I have put all of this information into a nice booklet that can be
<CanoeBerry> printed
<CanoeBerry> at someone's own home and can be distributed when they are doing
<CanoeBerry> their own
<CanoeBerry> deployments. It is currently in the process of being translated into
<CanoeBerry> Spanish. Note: this is NOT yet completed. In three weeks after AP
<CanoeBerry> exams, I
<CanoeBerry> will begin doing a LOT of work, I just don't have the time right now.
<CanoeBerry> I have created a quick-start guide that can be used on deployments
<CanoeBerry> world-wide. The information being put in it can be found here:
<CanoeBerry> http://sites.google.com/site/laptopsforthedominican/project-updates/moreworkdone.
<CanoeBerry> I have put all of this information into a nice booklet that can be
<CanoeBerry> printed
<CanoeBerry> at someone's own home and can be distributed when they are doing
<CanoeBerry> their own
<CanoeBerry> deployments. It is currently in the process of being translated into
<CanoeBerry> Spanish. Note: this is NOT yet completed. In three weeks after AP
<CanoeBerry> exams, I
<CanoeBerry> will begin doing a LOT of work, I just don't have the time right now.
<CanoeBerry> You can track the progress of the project using the project updater,
<CanoeBerry> http://sites.google.com/site/laptopsforthedominican/project-updates.
<CanoeBerry> It has
<CanoeBerry> all kinds of information, as does all of the sidebar.
<CanoeBerry> Sorry for the repetition above!
<CanoeBerry> (Please all check it out and let us know what you think)
<Benji_Smith> I'm the head of the project and am available (for now) to answer any questions that any may have on the project!
<SharonE> Benji and I ... his mom... are both here if there's any questions or more info you'd like.
<CanoeBerry> Benji_Smith: great, please introduce us, reviewing your recent progress and where you're going next and this summer.
<Benji_Smith> I am heading down to the Dominican Republic next center for my eagle scout project to do a deployment there along with bringing books and baseball equipment.
<Benji_Smith> I will be staying down there for about a week to teach the kids there how to use the computers.
<CanoeBerry> Understanding that you have to run. Point us in all the right directions so everyone can review the work you've accomplished, and your forthcoming miletones, thanks!
<Benji_Smith> I have created a quickstart guide to be used on deployments, small or large scale, that is written by kids and for kids. A rough and unedited copy can be found here: https://sites.google.com/site/laptopsforthedominican/project-updates/moreworkdone.
<CanoeBerry> Remember the core focus: what are you leaving behind that is genuinely new -- that will be usable by other OLPC/Sugar projects worldwide.
<Benji_Smith> https://sites.google.com/site/laptopsforthedominican/project-updates/moreworkdone sorry, here
<Benji_Smith> This also sets the example for scale scale depoloyments. When people begin to become interested in OLPC, they can download the software but they can't use some of it because they don't know how to. This should help newcomers to the community understand the XO and hopefully keep them active in the community.
<Benji_Smith> for small scale*
<SharonE> Benji's being very humble. He's turned the text in the link above into a really nice "brochure" ... but it's hard to view online since it folds. The kids in his troop spent the past several months working with XOs to learn the software, and have wrriten each of the quick-start guide sections... really was written by kids, for kids.
<CanoeBerry> How can other deployments obtain the brochure? PDF download site?
<SharonE> The guide will be translated to Spanish (by kids, for kids) over the next month. Yes, it can be a PDF - we'll provide printing instructions. It's in full color, really nice.
<CanoeBerry> When will it be posted?
<Benji_Smith> I will attach the PDF in English when it is complete, which will be very soon, and then will attach it in Spanish after it is translated by me/my teacher
<SharonE> A black/white version can also be provided for places without access to a color printer.
<Benji_Smith> I'm thinking within the week.
<CanoeBerry> Will it be ready for the community to review for next Friday's meeting?
* dsaxena_ (~dsaxena@c-24-21-169-81.hsd1.or.comcast.net) Quit (Remote host closed the connection)
<Benji_Smith> Yes, but I would like approval this week so that we can buy plane tickets as soon as possible - we don't want to invest this week to find that we may or may not get the computers
<SharonE> Also - we've worked with the team in the DR and at home to arrange a summer camp. Kids are being identified as the first users to come to the camp, and teachers will attend as well. The school was VERY excited and they're holding some sort of contest to pick the kids to be in the camp.
<CanoeBerry> Is anybody on your team a member of OLPC's Spanish-speaking community mailing list?
<Benji_Smith> I am
<Benji_Smith> OLPC-Sur - I get the emails daily
<CanoeBerry> Is that list useful?
<Benji_Smith> It is, it has kept me updated mostly on the software available but also on the Uruguay project, very interesting stuff and useful.
<Benji_Smith> It saved me from having to write a guide for scratch, it's already been done in English and in Spanish.
<Benji_Smith> I also went to the OLPC Learning Club last weekend... they all saw the panphlet and they LOVED it. I asked them to be on today but I don't know if they are or not.
<CanoeBerry> Important: Don't delay plane ticket purchases on account of this meeting.
<CanoeBerry> Do however post your PDF to olpc-sur@lists.laptop.org within the week.
<CanoeBerry> Thanks.
<Benji_Smith> Will do. In all hope it will be up tomorrow night.
<CanoeBerry> Apologies the crowd is thing today!
<CanoeBerry> *thin
<SharonE> Some additional information ... several other members of the team will be down in the DR in late summer, about 2 months after we run the camp.
<Benji_Smith> It happens, I understand.
<CanoeBerry> We will need more voices to critique and guide this effort -- Spanish is certainly central to so many OLPC deployments, so this should not be hard to get a few reactions to your work in the coming days, thanks!
<CanoeBerry> Clarifications:
<Benji_Smith> OK. So will this meeting have to be postponed until later?
<CanoeBerry> * you received 3 XO-1's and are applying for 7 more, yes?
<Benji_Smith> Yes, I am
<CanoeBerry> * when exactly will this trip likely take place?
<Benji_Smith> This June, around the 20th-30th.
<SharonE> The last week of June is absolute .....
<CanoeBerry> What strategies are you putting in place to provide long-term support for this community?
<Benji_Smith> I don't understand what you're asking - what am I doing to make sure that they get used?
<SharonE> This team visits the DR regularly. Several members will be there late summer to check on progress, and our primary contact with this town, Chris, goes there frequently since he owns a house there (his in-laws live there).
* Benji_Smith (~48ecc0ea@olpc.osuosl.org) Quit (Quit: CGI:IRC (EOF))
* m_anish (~anishmang@59.178.57.106) Quit (Quit: Leaving)
* Benji_Smith (~48ecc0ea@olpc.osuosl.org) has joined #olpc-meeting
<CanoeBerry> What guarantees are you putting place to make sure trainers/teachers/parents/kids will sustain this project month after month after you leave?
<SharonE> Sorry - Benji probably had to leave, he's in school... not sure if he can rejoin. I can stay.
<CanoeBerry> What remote (email/SMS/phone/pen-pal'ing etc) will be offered to make sure this project doesn't shrivel up?
<CanoeBerry> Important things to think about for next week, OK?
<CanoeBerry> Sound good?
<Benji_Smith> the town about 30 minutes away has internet connection to keep in contact with me, and with the constant trips down there I should keep in good contact.
<SharonE> Benji's accidently answered your questions in the HELP tab... hang on.
<Benji_Smith> These computers are cool, very cool. I plan on having what I will call "scratch days" to show the endless possiblities of scratch to help the kids get interested. I have a blast playing on scratch
<Benji_Smith> I'm not used to this format to chat, I have ChatZilla on my laptop so I am so confused...
<CanoeBerry> Great to hear: what is the depth/breadth of your Scratch experience?
<Benji_Smith> I played around with it at the OLPC Learning Club meeting with Mike Lee and some of the other guys there and since then, whenever I'd had an ounce of time (or my little brother has) we boot up the xo and make a short clip.
<Benji_Smith> I will play around with it after May 13th and the AP test.
<Benji_Smith> *I will play around with it more after May 13th and the AP test.
<CanoeBerry> Thanks-- don't miss your school events ongoing as we speak.
<SharonE> so should we re-join next Friday? we'll prepare an FAQ ...
<Benji_Smith> My coach said take as much time as you need, but at around 3 I'll head down regardless of whether thi is over or not.
<Benji_Smith> *this
<CanoeBerry> Thanks-- please showcase any of your Scratch work on your web site or with screenshots in the coming week.
<Benji_Smith> I will try.
<CanoeBerry> Final questions for today?
<Benji_Smith> I don't think so.
<CanoeBerry> Alright: thanks for your ongoing explaining -- and pre-publishing your work on olpc-sur@lists.laptop.org and clearly on your web site in the coming week!
<CanoeBerry> Thanks again for your help-- sorry again we're lacking sufficient feedback to move this project forward at this time, but let's all be hopeful for next week!
* unmadindu is now known as unmad|away
* unmad|away is now known as unmadindu
<Benji_Smith> Ok, I may not be able to get on next week but my mom will be able to.
<Benji_Smith> thanks!
<CanoeBerry> Advance submissions are most important.
<CanoeBerry> Meeting attendance is not required.
<CanoeBerry> Attend if you can of course!
[ PROJECT #2 - Fedora Security Lab - India, Germany, USA ]
<CanoeBerry> Onto Project #2 now.
<Benji_Smith> Meeting attendence doesn't hurt though
<CanoeBerry> Please all critique/mentor/vote for:
* Benji_Smith Quit (Quit: CGI:IRC (EOF))
<CanoeBerry> Fedora Security Lab - India, Germany, USA
<CanoeBerry> http://rt.laptop.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=61414
<CanoeBerry> http://blog.hiemanshu.in
<CanoeBerry> http://planet.laptop.org
<CanoeBerry> [SPECIFIC SITE NEEDS TO BE POSTED OFF
<CanoeBerry> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Projects ]
<CanoeBerry> Requests 2-4 XOs over 6 months
<CanoeBerry> Project Objectives:
<CanoeBerry> We are planning to use the XOs for testing the
<CanoeBerry> Fedora Security Lab which is to be used as a Learning platform for
<CanoeBerry> budding Security Professionals. We would like to test the compatibility
<CanoeBerry> with the laptops and its hardware, and if something does not work right,
<CanoeBerry> we would even be happy to write/make changes to the hardware/software
<CanoeBerry> and contribute it back to the community.
<CanoeBerry> Slow day I know but we need some feedback here!
<CanoeBerry> Critiques of all kind much appreciated!
<CanoeBerry> Hello & thanks!! :)
* SharonE Quit (Quit: CGI:IRC)
<CanoeBerry> No reactions at all means we can defer to next week?
<CanoeBerry> Calling once..
<CanoeBerry> Calling twice..
<CanoeBerry> Calling thrice..
<CanoeBerry> Deferred til next week.
[ PROJECT #3 - Lubuto Library Project - Zambian Literacy Programming Project - Silver Spring, Maryland ]
<CanoeBerry> Onto Project #3 -- plz all critique/mentor/vote for:
<CanoeBerry> Lubuto Library Project - Zambian Literacy Programming Project -
<CanoeBerry> Silver Spring, Maryland
<CanoeBerry> http://rt.laptop.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=61571
<CanoeBerry> http://www.lubuto.org
<CanoeBerry> http://www.olpclearningclub.org
<CanoeBerry> [SPECIFIC SITE NEEDS TO BE POSTED OFF
<CanoeBerry> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Projects ]
<CanoeBerry> Requests 6 XO-1.5s over 24 months
<CanoeBerry> Project Objectives:
<CanoeBerry> There is a critical need for means to teach all Zambian children to
<CanoeBerry> read in their original language that the educational system cannot
<CanoeBerry> meet. Lubuto libraries reach out-of-school children and can help them
<CanoeBerry> toward reading by read-aloud and storytelling programs, but tools for
<CanoeBerry> reading teaching in Zambian languages are not available. Youth who
<CanoeBerry> have been using the One Laptop Per Child XO laptops in Lubuto
<CanoeBerry> libraries and experienced Zambian reading teachers will together be
<CanoeBerry> trained in the OLPC application Etoys and create early reading
<CanoeBerry> programs in Zambian languages. The programs will then be made
<CanoeBerry> available on laptops in the libraries and via the Lubuto.org website
<CanoeBerry> to inspire creation of similar programs in other African countries and
<CanoeBerry> languages.
<CanoeBerry> Being able to approach learning to read in their native tongue will
<CanoeBerry> literally mean development of reading fluency for hundreds of
<CanoeBerry> thousands of out-of-school and vulnerable children and youth who do
<CanoeBerry> not have access to adequate reading education. The Zambian-language
<CanoeBerry> reading programs can be used in under equipped classrooms as well as
<CanoeBerry> in Lubuto and other libraries, and programs can be adapted to
<CanoeBerry> accommodate other African languages of similar structure (primarily
<CanoeBerry> Bantu languages), potentially bringing literacy to millions of
<CanoeBerry> children in Africa. It is also expected that programs to introduce
<CanoeBerry> reading in Zambian languages will inspire more advanced local language
<CanoeBerry> computer content as well as writing of children’s books in Zambian
<CanoeBerry> languages to advance fluency.
<CanoeBerry> There remains no question of the central importance of literacy in
<CanoeBerry> African development and the spread of literacy is considered necessary
<CanoeBerry> to achieving several of the Millennium Development Goals. Illiteracy
<CanoeBerry> in Africa has been shown to underpin extreme poverty, the spread of
<CanoeBerry> disease and the health and safety of girls and women, and endemic
<CanoeBerry> underdevelopment on the continent. The central importance of learning
<CanoeBerry> to read in one’s original language has been long understood, yet
<CanoeBerry> solutions that would make this universally possible have long eluded
<CanoeBerry> Zambian society. The potential social and economic benefits of this
<CanoeBerry> straightforward innovation, then, are profound.
<CanoeBerry> An additional, narrower benefit to the young Zambians who will develop
<CanoeBerry> programming and educational product design skills can be expected to
<CanoeBerry> not only benefit them but may set them on a course to develop more
<CanoeBerry> useful educational tools in Zambian languages.
<CanoeBerry> That's it!
<CanoeBerry> Any reaction to the above wonderfully ambitious work most appreciated.
<CanoeBerry> Spring Silence is OK this week, but next week let's all look deeply into the above carefully researched work plan -- with prestigious initial grant approval already it would appear.
<CanoeBerry> Reactions? Votes?
<CanoeBerry> Calling once..
<CanoeBerry> Calling twice..
<CanoeBerry> Calling thrice..
<CanoeBerry> Deferred til next week!
[ PROJECT #4 - Language Documentation on Ambrym, Vanuatu - Berlin; Paris ]
<CanoeBerry> Let's be quick injecting any thoughts around final Projects #4 and #5 if anybody can.
<CanoeBerry> Plz all/anybody critique/mentor/vote for Project #4 here -- thanks:
<CanoeBerry> Language Documentation on Ambrym, Vanuatu - Berlin; Paris
<CanoeBerry> http://rt.laptop.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=61574
<CanoeBerry> [SPECIFIC SITE NEEDS TO BE POSTED OFF
<CanoeBerry> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Projects ]
<CanoeBerry> Requests 1 XOs over 6-12 months
<CanoeBerry> Project Objectives:
<CanoeBerry> The participants are currently documenting several
<CanoeBerry> languages in the Southwest of the island of Ambrym, Vanuatu. The project
<CanoeBerry> work involves audio and video recordings, which will lead to the
<CanoeBerry> production
<CanoeBerry> of dictionaries, story books and grammars for the previously undocumented
<CanoeBerry> and undescribed languages. Due to the lack of devices with the
<CanoeBerry> capacity to
<CanoeBerry> display accustic and visual information, however, local communities will
<CanoeBerry> hardly have access to the audio and video recordings. Also, the
<CanoeBerry> opportunities for speakers to actively participate in the
<CanoeBerry> documentation of
<CanoeBerry> their languages and traditional knowledge themselves are very
<CanoeBerry> limited.
<CanoeBerry> The
<CanoeBerry> laptops provided by the OLPC project would help to make recordings
<CanoeBerry> accessible to the communities as well as empower the youngest
<CanoeBerry> generations to
<CanoeBerry> use modern technologies to explore and record the traditional knowledge
<CanoeBerry> which is in acute danger of being lost. The objectives of a collaboration
<CanoeBerry> with the OLPC would therefore be the distribution of laptops to local
<CanoeBerry> schools, storing the data collected during the documentation work on the
<CanoeBerry> laptops and training children -- and their teachers -- to use the laptops
<CanoeBerry> for documentation. The country of Vanuatu has already shown interest
<CanoeBerry> in the
<CanoeBerry> OLPC and is very adamant about the importance of language
<CanoeBerry> documentation so
<CanoeBerry> that we expect a collaboration would be welcome.
<CanoeBerry> Interesting to hear to repeat focus on languages this week!
<CanoeBerry> Let's move on if no reflections/mentoring/votes just now?
<CanoeBerry> All thoughts appreciated!
<CanoeBerry> Calling once..
<CanoeBerry> Calling twice..
<CanoeBerry> Calling thrice..
<CanoeBerry> DEFERRED til next week.
[ PROJECT #5 - Laptops Uganda ]
<CanoeBerry> Finally, plz all critique/mentor/vote for Project #5 here:
<CanoeBerry> Laptops Uganda
<CanoeBerry> http://rt.laptop.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=61631
<CanoeBerry> [SPECIFIC SITE NEEDS TO BE POSTED OFF
<CanoeBerry> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Projects ]
<CanoeBerry> Requests 20 XOs over 24 months
<CanoeBerry> Project Objectives:
<CanoeBerry> - Impart computer knowledge to the young. since my country 75% of the
<CanoeBerry> population are the young people
<CanoeBerry> - To bring unity by appreciating diversity, my country has more than 90
<CanoeBerry> tribes, divided into 85 districts and has been affected by wars for the
<CanoeBerry> last 30 years that’s has caused too much tribal difference yet we are
<CanoeBerry> all Africans. So, I bringing kids of different tribes together sharing
<CanoeBerry> the same computers it brings a sense of love and peace through sharing
<CanoeBerry> hence unity.
<CanoeBerry> - To fight computer illiteracy in the youth, many youth in Uganda have
<CanoeBerry> never had an encounter with computers so weather I use an OX laptop or
<CanoeBerry> any other brand of computers it will be the same to them. They need the
<CanoeBerry> skill no matter the type of computers being used.
<CanoeBerry> - Prepare the young for the future ,this 21st century the use of
<CanoeBerry> computerized digital peripherals has became part of life in the world ,
<CanoeBerry> me volunteering to reach out to the kids and the youth am preparing
<CanoeBerry> them
<CanoeBerry> for the future time so as to make the world a global village
<CanoeBerry> Clearly the above needs more structure.
<CanoeBerry> I'd propose this project be deferred until it has much stronger/researched support around how it advances OLPC's mission: http://laptop.org/vision
<CanoeBerry> Without Objections?
<CanoeBerry> Calling once..
<CanoeBerry> Calling twice..
<CanoeBerry> Calling thrice..
<CanoeBerry> MEETING ADJOURNED :)
