Contributors program/October 15, 2010
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[ AGENDA ] * XO-1.5 early production machines available but shipping temporarily delayed this month: 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 3 latest (greatest!) HW/Project Proposals -- please join us advocating for, and/or reviewing shortcomings of these proposals: #1 Testing & Fixing Bugs in Sugar - Purley Surrey, London, England #2 XO laptops as assistive technology - Seattle, Washington #3 Calling San Cristobal Island Community - Galapagos, Ecuador * ndoiron (~80edf708@olpc.osuosl.org) has joined #olpc-meeting <CanoeBerry> Contributors Program meeting starting momentarily now! <CanoeBerry> sandrat: did you have luck mentoring either of those 2 groups we met last week here? <CanoeBerry> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Contributors_program/October_8,_2010 <CanoeBerry> Sorry shipments haven't issued yet, but I'm hoping these will all begin moving early next week. <CanoeBerry> OK, agenda for this week: http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/iaep/2010-October/011804.html <CanoeBerry> Shall we begin? <CanoeBerry> Who's here to review 3 projects quick & vote? <sandrat> I did well with one. The other had trouble with contact info, but will follow up. I will check in with both this afternooo to see where thery are <CanoeBerry> Alrighty, let us plow through approving/reviewing these 3 projects now. * leftStanding has joined #olpc-meeting <CanoeBerry> Hi! <leftStanding> Hi CanoeBerry! How are you? [ PROJECT #1 - Testing & Fixing Bugs in Sugar - Purley Surrey, London, England ] <CanoeBerry> Thank you everyone for please critiquing/mentoring/voting for Project #1 here: <CanoeBerry> Testing & Fixing Bugs in Sugar - Purley Surrey, London, England <CanoeBerry> http://rt.laptop.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=68448 <CanoeBerry> [SPECIFIC SITE NEEDS TO BE POSTED OFF <CanoeBerry> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Projects ] <CanoeBerry> Requests 1 XO over undetermined months <CanoeBerry> Project Background/Objectives: <CanoeBerry> I've join the sugar labs community and I want to help test current and <CanoeBerry> new releases of sugar labs. I asked the question on the sugar irc <CanoeBerry> channel <CanoeBerry> on freenode about obtaining an XO laptop to help with testing. And was <CanoeBerry> suggested I apply with the contributor programme, I also want to write <CanoeBerry> new activties for X-O platform to achieve this I need the use of XO <CanoeBerry> laptop. <CanoeBerry> Shall we? <CanoeBerry> leftStanding: what do you think? <leftStanding> What's her track record with sugar? <leftStanding> Has she fixed bugs before? <CanoeBerry> My question exactly :) <leftStanding> Is there that much difference between the sugar stack and an olpc xo? <CanoeBerry> How so? <leftStanding> The wiki lists steps to create a sugar environment on a regular computer <CanoeBerry> In any case, this project seems to require more prep. <CanoeBerry> Yes, there are many ways to dabble with Sugar: <CanoeBerry> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick <leftStanding> yep, that's pretty cool <CanoeBerry> leftStanding: do you want to engage the above applicant, asking him for more details towards finalizing a more solid proposal? <CanoeBerry> eBay.com is also a possibility. * germanrs has joined #olpc-meeting <CanoeBerry> germanrs: welcome! <leftStanding> sure CanoeBerry, where do i pick up the relevant info? <CanoeBerry> I can give that to you if you agree to OLPC's Privacy Policy, respecting the applicant's private personal info. <CanoeBerry> Email volunteer @ laptop.org including your resume ideally, and I'll get that right to you. <CanoeBerry> Thanks. <CanoeBerry> leftStanding: where are you based? <leftStanding> welcome. i'm in charleston, sc <leftStanding> part of the Summer pyGames project <CanoeBerry> Right! Are you "Liz B$"? <leftStanding> ha no, i'm her good friend and main tech guy <leftStanding> the olpc san fran summit sounds awesome <CanoeBerry> :) <CanoeBerry> Excellent, just zip an email over to volunteer@laptop.org and thanks so much for helping coach this London, UK applicant with me. [ PROJECT #2 - XO laptops as assistive technology - Seattle, Washington ] <CanoeBerry> OK, onto Project #2 now -- please all help critique/mentor/vote for: <CanoeBerry> XO laptops as assistive technology - Seattle, Washington <CanoeBerry> http://rt.laptop.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=68467 <CanoeBerry> http://adhdxo.wordpress.com <CanoeBerry> [SPECIFIC SITE NEEDS TO BE POSTED OFF <CanoeBerry> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Projects ] <CanoeBerry> Requests 7 XOs over 21 months <CanoeBerry> Project Objectives: (IN FULL @ http://adhdxo.wordpress.com) <CanoeBerry> Twenty percent of gifted students are estimated to be <CanoeBerry> "twice-exceptional." <CanoeBerry> http://education.families.com/blog/educating-twice-exceptional-students <CanoeBerry> School system tracking, which assigns high-scoring students to attend <CanoeBerry> certain classes at a certain school, results in a higher-than-average <CanoeBerry> concentration of 2E students in these classes. The 2E diagnosis is <CanoeBerry> used in education to describe people who are gifted academically, but <CanoeBerry> have learning disabilities. These people tend to fall through the <CanoeBerry> cracks in the school system--they are extremely intelligent but tend <CanoeBerry> to not show up on tests because of certain deficiencies in brain <CanoeBerry> development, learning style, behavior, etc. They are often diagnosed <CanoeBerry> with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Asperger's <CanoeBerry> syndrome, and other things along the autism spectrum. Significant <CanoeBerry> among their challenges are dysgraphia (physical problems that impede <CanoeBerry> handwriting), disorganization (including misplacing completed <CanoeBerry> assignments before they can turn them in, losing track of due dates, <CanoeBerry> misfiling their work), short-term memory issues (this most notably <CanoeBerry> shows up in math), and a host of other obstacles... <CanoeBerry> The grades of 2E students trend toward a reverse Bell curve: <CanoeBerry> they get mostly A and F grades. The failing grades are primarily <CanoeBerry> because of things that individual laptops could address: <CanoeBerry> * daily planners are missing entries <CanoeBerry> * daily planners are not legible, and work isn't done <CanoeBerry> * work gets completed but not turned in <CanoeBerry> * work is illegible or misread as being incorrect <CanoeBerry> * homework assignments and/or materials get left at school <CanoeBerry> * attention drifts during class and key concepts are missed <CanoeBerry> We propose to measure the effect on grades and outcomes of the <CanoeBerry> following: <CanoeBerry> * daily planners on computer <CanoeBerry> * teachers simply share out the assignment information instead <CanoeBerry> of relying on each student to write it down <CanoeBerry> * teachers can more easily check the planners for accuracy and <CanoeBerry> completeness <CanoeBerry> * parents have access to complete, current, legible planner <CanoeBerry> * alarms, reminders, etc. are in place so milestones don't <CanoeBerry> pass unnoticed <CanoeBerry> * the rate of completed work not getting turned in should near zero <CanoeBerry> (almost done, last bit coming!) <CanoeBerry> * loose papers will not get misplaced if the work's not on paper <CanoeBerry> * even if it's misfiled on a computer, work can be found via search <CanoeBerry> * undesirable outcomes caused by legibility of handwriting <CanoeBerry> should be improved <CanoeBerry> * the OLPC camera can be used to photograph worksheets, <CanoeBerry> drawings, and other things that are not in electronic form, thus <CanoeBerry> keeping these things from being lost or misplaced <CanoeBerry> * quality of notes should improve since the computer can be <CanoeBerry> used to record vital lectures so they can be checked against the <CanoeBerry> notes, thus helping fill in gaps in notes caused by inattention <CanoeBerry> (grades from notes and grades from tests should improve) <CanoeBerry> OK, sorry that was so long. Full proposal (even longer!) here: <CanoeBerry> http://adhdxo.wordpress.com <CanoeBerry> http://adhdxo.wordpress.com/about/ <leftStanding> what school is this for? public? private? <CanoeBerry> "The school district's current policy outlaws electronic devices <CanoeBerry> by default. If this technology could help this population of students, <CanoeBerry> it must be not only demonstrated that grades can be improved but the <CanoeBerry> devices must be deemed by the school administration to be <CanoeBerry> unthreatening--meaning not causing more problems than they solve, due <CanoeBerry> to distraction, improper use, theft, damage, viruses, etc. <CanoeBerry> Full disclosure: My son is twice-exceptional, so I have a <CanoeBerry> particularly vested interest in this set of challenges." <CanoeBerry> leftStanding: Does that help? <leftStanding> eek, i know in my area school faculty from at least 1 school treated them as virus ridden monsters and never distributed to the students <CanoeBerry> Should we consider sending this applicant one of our "start kits" with 2 refurb'd XO-1s? <ndoiron> is this for elementary level students? <leftStanding> that's better, also get them to form a partnership with the school's tech people <CanoeBerry> ndoiron: another great question -- this application is so long i can't yet find that key fact <CanoeBerry> on the plus side, this applicant is sufficiently loquacious, they will certainly make a great blogger :) * Teachersusan has joined #olpc-meeting <CanoeBerry> Teachersusan: welcome!! <CanoeBerry> Teachersusan: what do you recommend for Project #2 here? <CanoeBerry> http://adhdxo.wordpress.com/about/ <CanoeBerry> We're missing kids' ages and details, but will consider a "starter kit" of 2 refurb'd XO-1s if you/others think this has strong potential? <CanoeBerry> Others votes please? <CanoeBerry> Others' votes please? <Teachersusan> I like the concept of using the XOs to help with more authentic assessment <Teachersusan> Yes I think it has strong potential <leftStanding> does the xo have planners/schedules like the project wants? <CanoeBerry> leftStanding: please explain what you mean by that question exactly? <Teachersusan> They could write them using the free spreadsheet program or import via usb <leftStanding> the project objectives are daily planners, work gets completed but not turned in <ndoiron> leftStanding: I would suggest if they can't go online, try using SocialCalc for spreadsheet, Journal for timeline <leftStanding> ok cool <CanoeBerry> Let's finalize, ok? <CanoeBerry> Motion for 2 XOs shipped to this group. <CanoeBerry> Please vote yes/no <Teachersusan> yes <CanoeBerry> +1 but want more details <ndoiron> +1 yes <leftStanding> +1 <CanoeBerry> Particularly if they deserve the full 7 XOs later. <CanoeBerry> Others please vote now! <CanoeBerry> Calling once.. <CanoeBerry> Calling twice.. <CanoeBerry> Calling thrice.. * bz_g has joined #olpc-meeting <CanoeBerry> APPROVED! for starter kit of 2 semi-refurb'd XO-1s [ PROJECT #3 - alling San Cristobal Island Community - Galapagos, Ecuador ] <CanoeBerry> Onto Project #3 - plz all critique/mentor/vote for: <CanoeBerry> Calling San Cristobal Island Community - Galapagos, Ecuador <CanoeBerry> http://rt.laptop.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=68822 <CanoeBerry> [SPECIFIC SITE NEEDS TO BE POSTED OFF <CanoeBerry> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Projects ] <CanoeBerry> Requests 100 XOs over 12 months <CanoeBerry> Project Objectives: <CanoeBerry> 1. Developing kindergarten children´s use of computers, using existing <CanoeBerry> websites, e.g. BBC, British Council <CanoeBerry> 2. Developing primary and secondary children´s ability to use internet, <CanoeBerry> research topics, prepare blogs, have e-pals and keep in touch <CanoeBerry> with world <CanoeBerry> outside the Galapagos. Raise knowledge of Galapagos fauna and <CanoeBerry> flora in <CanoeBerry> outside world by creating videos of animals on island, e.g. seals and <CanoeBerry> iguanas. Develop resources about history of island by interviewing <CanoeBerry> older people about life in islands in past. <CanoeBerry> Sounds wonderful but premature. <CanoeBerry> How shall we support this applicant? <CanoeBerry> Or defer? <Teachersusan> I really like their ideas. Maybe they could try two to get started and send sample work back to the community <leftStanding> they should name backers <CanoeBerry> Here is their group: http://neweragalapagos.org <leftStanding> like those providing Internet access <CanoeBerry> Here is their group: http://newEraGalapagos.org <CanoeBerry> Teachersusan: sounds good, have you read through their fuller proposal? <Teachersusan> yes <CanoeBerry> Great, sorry to everyone here I forgot to include their blogs -- my mistake: <CanoeBerry> http://handsacrosstheoceans.edublogs.org <CanoeBerry> http://neweragalapagos.blogspot.com <CanoeBerry> http://090ielts.edublogs.org <CanoeBerry> http://161ielts.edublogs.org <Teachersusan> I know the XOs would do all they want them to do <CanoeBerry> Teachersusan: could you provide N.E.G. basic mentoring? <CanoeBerry> If we approve them for 2 XOs here today? <CanoeBerry> (New Era Galapagos) <Teachersusan> yes <CanoeBerry> Great, let's call this to a vote all: <Teachersusan> yes <CanoeBerry> Please vote yes/no for a starter kit of 2 refurb'd XO-1s: <CanoeBerry> +1 from me <leftStanding> +1 <CanoeBerry> ndoiron: environmentalist votes needed ^^^ <CanoeBerry> others please vote now! <ndoiron> galapagos sounds cool, hope they can get it working +1 <CanoeBerry> APPROVED! For 2 XO-1s, thanks to Teachersusan's *very* generous offer to guide them by email over the coming month of [ CLOSING REMARKS ] <CanoeBerry> Thanks All! Meeting Adjourned! See you in SF in exactly 1 week, for OLPC/Sugar's biggest ever contributor/volunteer summit ever!!! <CanoeBerry> http://olpcsSF.org/CommunitySummit2010 <Teachersusan> bye <CanoeBerry> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_SanFranciscoBayArea/Community_Summit_2010 * Teachersusan Quit (Quit: CGI:IRC (EOF)) <leftStanding> awww I wanna go haha <CanoeBerry> leftStanding: not too late.. but your nick makes sense if you do miss out ;) * ndoiron Quit (Quit: CGI:IRC (EOF)) <leftStanding> ha of course