User:Ndoiron/Out Of The Box

Concept

What does it mean to teach a laptop class that is Out of the Box?

Workbook Activities

Sugar has programs for basic computer literacy: Browse, Write, WikiBrowse, Paint, and TypingTurtle. Teachers hold classes on these programs with activities which are little different than workbook exercises: read this, write that.

But the laptops have more potential. The students should use activities which enable creating and activities which encourage exploration, disrupting old-fashioned education. Memorize is one of the most popular programs, because students can create their own flashcards. Schools with internet can also teach exploration through Browse, but students may not see the web as participatory (Googling celebrities, for example, instead of looking for pages and resources related to their own community).

The Interactive XO

For computers to take root in students' interests, and to prepare students to control or design future technology, I believe they should have access to advanced applications. In the book The Diamond Age, a computer called the Primer "reacts to its owners' environment and teaches them what they need to know" (CC-BY-SA Wikipedia). With mobile phones spreading to billions worldwide, and the Google CEO being one of many to suggest these mobiles will do everything from offer directions to diagnose patients, the future may be about these sensitive handheld devices.

The XO laptop has the Measure activity, camera, and microphone to sense its immediate environment. The Map activities let students both develop maps, and organize information via a map (their photos written descriptions, and wiki articles in this case). Those activities have a lot of options and potential; what I did in two months at Kasiisi School, Uganda is only one test case, or a framework for setting up your own program.

Try your technology, trust your teachers, and believe in your kids!

Activities connected to your surroundings can make just as much sense, if not more, than abstract office applications.

Map Lessons

Preparation

At Kasiisi, we assembled an Offline Map with satellite photos of the school, the surrounding area, and major cities. For deployments with internet, you can get global imagery and speedy maps through the Map activity.

Kasiisi School was not visible on Google Maps, so we used http://www.terraserver.com/ to buy satellite photos. Remember: this problem can affect you even if you have internet access!

Teachers and students may be unfamiliar with maps. Our students had learned enough to answer exam questions about major cities and geography in their country, but did not know how to find themselves. The first time showing a satellite photo, I had teachers ask for help finding nearby landmarks, major roads, which direction was north, and which direction on the road went toward the city. But several minutes later, I could ask about features and buildings on distant parts of the map and they could identify them.

Lesson Ideas

Zooming the Map

• Have students zoom to see a map of their country
• Ask students where their school is on the map
• Discuss strategies (what part of the country are we in? can we find a major city that is near us?)
• Zoom in until you see the local area; adjust the map to center on the school
• Zoom in until you see school buildings

Finding the School

• Teach how to use Find: (____) to locate the school immediately
• Suggest other locations which students can look for

Photo-Mapping

• Have students take photos, short videos, or audio recordings in Record
• Close/Stop Record (this takes time, but saves RAM)
• Use Find to zoom to the school... at this point, the students should be familiar with this
• Switch to the Edit toolbar
• Click the (+) Add Media button to reveal the Journal
• Click the most recent "Photo by ____" to select this photo
• Use your arrow (now a + target) to select a point on the map
• Click the orange marker which appears, revealing the photo
• Click x to close the window, or use the escape key on the top left of your keyboard