OLPC Human Interface Guidelines: Difference between revisions
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===Collaboration=== |
===Collaboration=== |
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Collaborative learning provides a powerful tool in the educational environment, allowing children to take responsibility for one another's learning as well as their own. OLPC hopes to encourage this type of interaction with the laptops. Studies have shown the positive effects of collaborative activity on development, indicating that the exchange of ideas amongst peers can both make the learning process more engaging and also stimulates critical thinking skills. |
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In order to facilitate this type of collaborative learning environment, the laptops employ a mesh network system which connects all laptops within range without need for internet access. This implicit connectivity alters the traditional computer metaphor, since every activity ''is'' a networked activity. As such a fundamental element of the laptop, OLPC not only encourages but insists that all activities should take advantage of it, and any activity that can't should perhaps be rethought. |
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As an example, consider the Web activity bundled with the laptop distribution. Normally one browses independently, perhaps sending a friend a favorite link now and then. On the laptops, however, link sharing features integrated into the activity transform the individual act of web-surfing into a collaborate way to explore the Internet. Where possible, all activities should embrace the mesh and place strong focus on facilitating the collaborative process. |
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===Emphasis on Creation=== |
===Emphasis on Creation=== |
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===Journaling=== |
===Journaling=== |
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Revision as of 14:06, 25 October 2006
The Core Ideas
Activities, Not Applications
Though it might take a little while to get used to, there are no applications on the laptop, and no application developers making them. Instead, the user experience on the laptop focuses around activities. At OLPC we see this as much more than a semantic difference in the naming convention; it represents an intrinsic quality of the types of things that are going to make the laptops work, which the following points should elucidate. As such, please familiarize yourself with the terminology and take it seriously during development and anytime you talk about the activities you create.
Collaboration
Collaborative learning provides a powerful tool in the educational environment, allowing children to take responsibility for one another's learning as well as their own. OLPC hopes to encourage this type of interaction with the laptops. Studies have shown the positive effects of collaborative activity on development, indicating that the exchange of ideas amongst peers can both make the learning process more engaging and also stimulates critical thinking skills.
In order to facilitate this type of collaborative learning environment, the laptops employ a mesh network system which connects all laptops within range without need for internet access. This implicit connectivity alters the traditional computer metaphor, since every activity is a networked activity. As such a fundamental element of the laptop, OLPC not only encourages but insists that all activities should take advantage of it, and any activity that can't should perhaps be rethought.
As an example, consider the Web activity bundled with the laptop distribution. Normally one browses independently, perhaps sending a friend a favorite link now and then. On the laptops, however, link sharing features integrated into the activity transform the individual act of web-surfing into a collaborate way to explore the Internet. Where possible, all activities should embrace the mesh and place strong focus on facilitating the collaborative process.