Re: [IAEP] [Sugar-devel] Sugar Digest 2012-10-27
Thanks Walter! +1 To the idea of code-in! 2012/10/27 Walter Bender walter.ben...@gmail.com On the unspoken truth behind the education system Calvin: As you can see, I have memorized this utterly useless piece of information long enough to pass a test question. I now intend to forget it forever. You’ve taught me nothing except how to cynically manipulate the system. Congratulations. -- Bill Watterson == Sugar Digest == 1. Akarsh Sanghi asked me some questions about computing for a survey he is conducting. I thought I would share some of my answers here. ;How do you think future technologies in the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) affect the daily lives of people? [In context of the rapture of interactive and touch based devices like the iPhone iPad]: I think that HCI has little impact. Yes, things arguably get easier to use, but ease of use is not the gating factor in the use of these devices. It is access and utility. Also, it is important to note that very few of the touch-based interfaces represent advances in HCI. These are old ideas (most from the 1970s) that are only finally becoming commercially viable. ;How do you think interactive technologies affect the learning process in primary education? Will these form of technologies help to expand the horizon of a child growing up in practically a virtual world?: Well, somewhat in contradiction to my previous answer, touch does make a difference to very young children, for whom hand-eye coordination is still an issue. As far as learning, I am skeptical of the premise that the virtual world is particularly relevant. I think the character of the tasks the children engage in is far more important than the technology. The advantage of some small subset of the technology is that facilitates engaging children in authentic open-ended problem solving. Making worksheets electronic games is a complete waste of time (although it may help the children pass an exam to measure how quickly they can do worksheets.) ;As a part of the Sugar Labs community, I would like to ask you where does it stand in the future?: Sugar, the learning platform developed and maintained by the Sugar Labs community, is about giving children an opportunity to use technologies to engage in authentic open-ended problem solving. We'll continue down this path, trying to reach more children in more contexts (laptops, desktops, phones, tablets, etc.) ;Sugar Labs and the OLPC projects are primarily targeted towards developing nations and their education system, do you think the education system in a country like America should also be put under consideration and be directed more towards a student’s own creative thought process?: Sugar Labs is trying reach children everywhere: north or south, rich or poor. We have programs in every corner of the globe. ;Every time while discussing OLPC, one hears about Constructionism. Is the Constructionist approach a guiding or necessary aspect of distributing laptops to children for learning? For designing an interface for them? Why or why not?: Constructionism is completely orthogonal to the problem of distributing laptops. But not to the problem of using laptops for learning. (This is where Mr. Negroponte and I differed in our approach.) You can give a child a laptop and they will learn to use it (See my answer to the first question), but will they learn to use it for learning? Not likely unless we craft an environment in which they are encouraged to “imagine and realize, critique and reflect, and iterate.” That is a constructionist environment. ;How do you think Seymour Papert’s theory of constructionism should be applied in the today’s time? Should people be involved in developing tangible objects in the real world to understand concepts or follow experiential learning processes to gain insight into the world around them?: Not sure what you mean by “tangible objects”. I think more in terms of authentic problems. Some of those problems may be tangible. ;How do you think Electronic Publishing is evolving with the rapid development of reading devices like iPad, NOOK, Kindle and the major use of ebooks?: To me, the interesting questions are more along the lines of: Who will write books? What will be the relationship between reading and writing? What is the future of copyright and the commercialization of writing. ;Do you think in the near future this kind of electronic publishing will hamper the growth of children as they will be devoid of physically reading a book and understand the values that come along with it?: I think that the difference is not so much paper vs plastic; but rather, to what extent does an electronic interface afford the freedom to write and share margin notes (or the books themselves) to engage in personal expression, etc. The physicality of electronic media is not the issue. ;In context of the famous phrase by Marshal McLuhan, “medium is the
[IAEP] SugarCamp Sensor Summary
Hi Folks, I thought it would be a good idea to take a few minutes out to recap what we did in the Sensor Workshop on the first day of Sugar Camp in San Francisco. It was a good way for the non-programmers at the SF Community Summit to have a reason to stay over for Sugar Camp and have a chance to relax, visit, and get to know each other a little better while learning more about things that you can do with XOs. We had about a dozen folks interested in making sensors so we pushed tables together so we could work collaboratively. Everyone had a bag of parts and materials to make 3 types of sensors: a light sensor, a temperature sensor, that needs to draw power from the XO via a usb cable, and a generic sensor cable with alligator clips that can be used for a variety of things. We began with the light sensor, and by lunch time almost everyone had a working model and was testing it with the Measure Activity on their XOs. We tried a variety of solutions for putting them together, and, in a few days, I'll put some of them on one of the wikis along with parts lists, sources for parts, and basic instructions. If you have more photos of our project... send them to me in an email and I'll add them to the wiki. To solder or not to solder was the big question of the day. Ed Bigenho was able to help some of the folks learn to solder their parts together. Others decided to just rely on electrical tape. We covered the connections with heat-shrink tubing that we shrank with a small travel hair dryer. It was a noisy fun group… and we all accomplished something… a perfect example of project based, collaborative learning in action! After lunch we tackled the temperature sensor, which is a much more complex project. We had two different, conflicting, sets of instructions… one from the wiki and one from the XO Explosion kit Mike Lee brought. Finally, we found a third one, in Spanish, by Plan Ceibal, also on the wiki. It was a lot easier to understand and the photos were very clear. Someone needs to translate this one. We did get some reaction from the sensor, but it obviously wasn't working right. This one needs more exploration! We didn't get to the generic sensor (out of time), but it is pretty easy and straightforward so anyone who made a light sensor should be able to make the generic as well. In the next week or two I will put a list of parts and instructions for all three sensors on either the OLPC wiki or the Sugar Labs wiki with links from one to the other. I'll send a link when it is done, and I invite everyone who joined in the activity (or didn't but has worked with sensors before) to contribute to the discussion there. If you were part of this fun group and have a little time to spare, you might play around with the temperature sensor and see if you can make it work. Also, try the generic with some of the copper wire in your kit and an ungalvanized nail to make a lemon battery. We will have a discussion place on the wiki where you can report your activities and how they worked… or didn't (failures are important too if they are documented so we can learn from them). What's up for next year's Sugar Camp? Several ideas were tossed around. If you have any suggestions for fun, preferably hands-on, things we can try with the XOs, speak up! Caryl Links to Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/curiouslee/8114170193/in/set-72157631841452526/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/curiouslee/8114329641/in/set-72157631841452526/ ___ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
Re: [IAEP] SugarCamp Sensor Summary
What would be really nice is a compact document that I could include in the Measure activity itself... -walter On Sun, Oct 28, 2012 at 4:20 PM, Caryl Bigenho cbige...@hotmail.com wrote: Hi Folks, I thought it would be a good idea to take a few minutes out to recap what we did in the Sensor Workshop on the first day of Sugar Camp in San Francisco. It was a good way for the non-programmers at the SF Community Summit to have a reason to stay over for Sugar Camp and have a chance to relax, visit, and get to know each other a little better while learning more about things that you can do with XOs. We had about a dozen folks interested in making sensors so we pushed tables together so we could work collaboratively. Everyone had a bag of parts and materials to make 3 types of sensors: a light sensor, a temperature sensor, that needs to draw power from the XO via a usb cable, and a generic sensor cable with alligator clips that can be used for a variety of things. We began with the light sensor, and by lunch time almost everyone had a working model and was testing it with the Measure Activity on their XOs. We tried a variety of solutions for putting them together, and, in a few days, I'll put some of them on one of the wikis along with parts lists, sources for parts, and basic instructions. If you have more photos of our project... send them to me in an email and I'll add them to the wiki. To solder or not to solder was the big question of the day. Ed Bigenho was able to help some of the folks learn to solder their parts together. Others decided to just rely on electrical tape. We covered the connections with heat-shrink tubing that we shrank with a small travel hair dryer. It was a noisy fun group… and we all accomplished something… a perfect example of project based, collaborative learning in action! After lunch we tackled the temperature sensor, which is a much more complex project. We had two different, conflicting, sets of instructions… one from the wiki and one from the XO Explosion kit Mike Lee brought. Finally, we found a third one, in Spanish, by Plan Ceibal, also on the wiki. It was a lot easier to understand and the photos were very clear. Someone needs to translate this one. We did get some reaction from the sensor, but it obviously wasn't working right. This one needs more exploration! We didn't get to the generic sensor (out of time), but it is pretty easy and straightforward so anyone who made a light sensor should be able to make the generic as well. In the next week or two I will put a list of parts and instructions for all three sensors on either the OLPC wiki or the Sugar Labs wiki with links from one to the other. I'll send a link when it is done, and I invite everyone who joined in the activity (or didn't but has worked with sensors before) to contribute to the discussion there. If you were part of this fun group and have a little time to spare, you might play around with the temperature sensor and see if you can make it work. Also, try the generic with some of the copper wire in your kit and an ungalvanized nail to make a lemon battery. We will have a discussion place on the wiki where you can report your activities and how they worked… or didn't (failures are important too if they are documented so we can learn from them). What's up for next year's Sugar Camp? Several ideas were tossed around. If you have any suggestions for fun, preferably hands-on, things we can try with the XOs, speak up! Caryl Links to Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/curiouslee/8114170193/in/set-72157631841452526/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/curiouslee/8114329641/in/set-72157631841452526/ ___ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep -- Walter Bender Sugar Labs http://www.sugarlabs.org ___ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
