Re: [IAEP] Introducing kids to Sugar
Hi Bernie, Sorry to be so slow in answering. I suggest trying to find out some of the things that the teacher and school are already focusing on and relate your use of Sugar to those. Often, the teacher, grade or school will have some area of instruction that they are trying to improve. Research shows that schools with instructional coherence perform better then those with lots of interesting programs that don't fit together. Sugar can be used to deepen instruction in almost any area. So many things are sold to schools as stand alone programs that the teachers may be initially confused by this approach but, I've found that once they understand what you are trying to do, they are very interested and receptive. Once you find out what the class is already doing, come back to the list and we can all help you brainstorm some good Sugar activities that will deepen the student's thinking on the topic. You don't want to introduce too many activites at first, but I think you also want teachers to understand that there are many activities available. Good luck! Caroline On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 10:28 AM, Bernie Innocenti ber...@codewiz.orgwrote: There's a possibility for a class of five graders in Florence to pilot SoaS next year. Our friends of OLPC Italia came up with a good question: how would an introductory class for Sugar work in practice? Both teachers and kids will be present to learn simultaneously, which makes things more interesting. Who actually went through such experience already? How was the class organized? What materials were used? And, more importantly, ware there any issues to watch out for? -- // Bernie Innocenti - http://codewiz.org/ \X/ Sugar Labs - http://sugarlabs.org/ ___ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep -- Caroline Meeks Solution Grove carol...@solutiongrove.com 617-500-3488 - Office 505-213-3268 - Fax ___ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
[IAEP] Introducing kids to Sugar
There's a possibility for a class of five graders in Florence to pilot SoaS next year. Our friends of OLPC Italia came up with a good question: how would an introductory class for Sugar work in practice? Both teachers and kids will be present to learn simultaneously, which makes things more interesting. Who actually went through such experience already? How was the class organized? What materials were used? And, more importantly, ware there any issues to watch out for? -- // Bernie Innocenti - http://codewiz.org/ \X/ Sugar Labs - http://sugarlabs.org/ ___ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
Re: [IAEP] Introducing kids to Sugar
On Thu, Jun 04, 2009 at 04:28:27PM +0200, Bernie Innocenti wrote: There's a possibility for a class of fifth graders in Florence to pilot SoaS next year. [...] Who actually went through such experience already? How was the class organized? What materials were used? And, more importantly, ware there any issues to watch out for? We in the UK are in almost exactly the same situation and would love to hear any answers to those questions. Martin pgp2o8oMefPhA.pgp Description: PGP signature ___ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
Re: [IAEP] Introducing kids to Sugar
On Thu, 2009-06-04 at 16:28 +0200, Bernie Innocenti wrote: There's a possibility for a class of five graders in Florence to pilot SoaS next year. Our friends of OLPC Italia came up with a good question: how would an introductory class for Sugar work in practice? Both teachers and kids will be present to learn simultaneously, which makes things more interesting. Who actually went through such experience already? How was the class organized? What materials were used? And, more importantly, ware there any issues to watch out for? 1. Outside a class a introduced XO's a group of 6 kids. I used a freeform (no structure). Kids when to youtube and hyves and both sites did not work. Kids got frustrated of the XO's slowness. 2. I an class with only one XO we told the teacher let kids play as a bonus and ask afterward what they discovered. Here the kid like the XO a lot. My recommondation would are: guide form: - no internet first time - make groups with tasks - let childeren tell their experiance - Let the teacher not to be in charge off the class (take over control) - short time (one hour max) - make clear choise what to discover, - have goals per session (measuring succes) or if use free form: - no internet - limited time - no questions for teacher or guiders. - no active interventions, - no active observation, (do sometime else). - afterwards let kids tell - what not worked - what worked 2ct, Marten -- http://martenvijn.nl Marten Vijn http://martenvijn.nl/trac/wiki/soas Sugar on a Stick http://bsd.wifisoft.org/nek/ The Network Event Kit http://har2009.org 13th-16th August http://opencommunitycamp.org 26th Jul - 2nd August ___ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
Re: [IAEP] Introducing kids to Sugar
On 06/04/09 17:05, Marten Vijn wrote: 1. Outside a class a introduced XO's a group of 6 kids. I used a freeform (no structure). Kids when to youtube and hyves and both sites did not work. Kids got frustrated of the XO's slowness. 2. I an class with only one XO we told the teacher let kids play as a bonus and ask afterward what they discovered. Here the kid like the XO a lot. My recommondation would are: guide form: - no internet first time - make groups with tasks - let childeren tell their experiance - Let the teacher not to be in charge off the class (take over control) - short time (one hour max) - make clear choise what to discover, - have goals per session (measuring succes) or if use free form: - no internet - limited time - no questions for teacher or guiders. - no active interventions, - no active observation, (do sometime else). - afterwards let kids tell - what not worked - what worked Thanks, that's very valuable information. Did in either the kids require any initial training or assistance to get started? How old were they? -- // Bernie Innocenti - http://codewiz.org/ \X/ Sugar Labs - http://sugarlabs.org/ ___ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
Re: [IAEP] Introducing kids to Sugar
Most kids in developed countries know that some computers perform better than others, and use their favorite YouTube video as an informal benchmark. They are also exposed to the gadget culture of cellphones as MP3 players, videogame consoles, GPS car systems, and so on. An XO-1 faces stiff competition. My two older kids (12 and 10 at the time) immediately sussed out the most interesting functions the XO-1 offers: the Record Activity, and Chat over the mesh network. I deliberately kept them off the Internet and was in the room, but not looking over their shoulders. An XO-1 by itself lacks the collaboration aspect so central to the Sugar experience... need at least a pair to show what it can do :-) I showed SoaS to a friend recently, connected to his wireless network and the Neighborhood View filled up with friends from the jabber server. His eyes popped and he got really excited but then asked questions about how that will scale if hundreds/thousands of classrooms start using it ;-) Sean On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 6:07 PM, Bernie Innocenti ber...@codewiz.org wrote: On 06/04/09 17:05, Marten Vijn wrote: 1. Outside a class a introduced XO's a group of 6 kids. I used a freeform (no structure). Kids when to youtube and hyves and both sites did not work. Kids got frustrated of the XO's slowness. 2. I an class with only one XO we told the teacher let kids play as a bonus and ask afterward what they discovered. Here the kid like the XO a lot. My recommondation would are: guide form: - no internet first time - make groups with tasks - let childeren tell their experiance - Let the teacher not to be in charge off the class (take over control) - short time (one hour max) - make clear choise what to discover, - have goals per session (measuring succes) or if use free form: - no internet - limited time - no questions for teacher or guiders. - no active interventions, - no active observation, (do sometime else). - afterwards let kids tell - what not worked - what worked Thanks, that's very valuable information. Did in either the kids require any initial training or assistance to get started? How old were they? -- // Bernie Innocenti - http://codewiz.org/ \X/ Sugar Labs - http://sugarlabs.org/ ___ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep ___ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
Re: [IAEP] Introducing kids to Sugar
On 06/04/09 21:05, Sean DALY wrote: I showed SoaS to a friend recently, connected to his wireless network and the Neighborhood View filled up with friends from the jabber server. His eyes popped and he got really excited but then asked questions about how that will scale if hundreds/thousands of classrooms start using it ;-) Darn engineers! They always have to be so picky and find logic flaws when you tell them about something wonderful like the World Wide Mesh, thus dispelling all the magic you believed in. :-) -- // Bernie Innocenti - http://codewiz.org/ \X/ Sugar Labs - http://sugarlabs.org/ ___ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
Re: [IAEP] Introducing kids to Sugar
Ask the olpc_bos...@lists.laptop.org list - they just did this with 6th graders in Cambridge. If you find me on IRC, I can tell you what I know as well. (Hm. Must prod Harvard students to post more notes about how this went.) --Mel ___ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
