Hi Robert --
At 07:41 AM 8/16/2006, Robert Staudinger wrote:
On 8/9/06, Alan Kay <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Don't we really want the children to collaborate at higher levels than
individual apps? And to integrate media at a higher level than word
processors, chat UIs, etc.?
Alan, quite frankly, your messages are slightly confusing me every now
and then. We want to create a "word processing activity" (in whatever
incarnation) that fits the requirements as good as possible (and time
permitting).
If you have ideas how to improve collaboration we'd certainly be most
interested and also willing to prototype stuff. If the word processing
is just a part in that higher level system we'd like to have it fit
that bill.
Has any work been done yet towards higher level integration? Is there
any writeup, API or code to look at?
There are several issues here. The first is the integration of media. A
good old model that would be great for children is Hypercard (and to a
lesser extent Logo Microworlds). Hypercard was a mini authoring system for
many kinds of media, including text, pictures, presentations, scripted
applications, etc. A few additions would allow it to also do email, screen
sharing, web pages and wikis, etc. Examples of this in a more modern form
are the Squeak Etoys, which was heavily inspired by the directions
Hypercard was pointing. Several white papers on the educational approach
and the media approach are:
http://www.squeakland.org/pdf/etoys_n_learning.pdf ,
http://www.squeakland.org/pdf/etoys_n_authoring.pdf .
For many reasons, I think the "integration of media objects in a unified
media approach with scripting" is a better way to go, not just for
children, but for most users. The current alternative is the extreme
stovepiping of separate applications without perfect copying between them:
this leads to a weaker media approach in general and makes things more
difficult than they need to be.
The Squeak Etoys will be included with the $100 laptop, but I have urged
(on this list, in OLPC meetings, to the Ruby folks, and in a keynote at
EuroPython) for something like the Etoys to be done in a more recognizable
open source vernacular (such as Linux + Python). I'm still hoping this will
be done, as it would ensure the strongest integration between media for the
children and the adults who are trying to help them.
The second issue is that of sharing. Again, Squeak Etoys has a number of
methods for deep multiuser collaboration, not just chat but multiple cursor
simultaneous access to shared worlds in both 2D and 3D. I used the 2D
version to give my presentation from Los Angeles to EuroPython at CERN.
Again, I want to urge OLPC to try to deal with the larger issues involved
here, and one of these really requires collaborative sharing of any and all
experiences, not just something specialized to a particular application.
And, again, though this can be done now in Squeak Etoys, I urge OLPC to use
the underlying technological solutions to make a recognizable vernacular
version.
Cheers,
Alan
Thanks,
Rob
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