Etoys in Space ProjectConference Call

Friday, Jan. 9, 2009, 3pm ESTHosted by Nortel Networks DC

Participating Organizations

• OLPC Learning Club DC• Nortel Networks DC• Arlington Career Center• Gallaudet Research Institute• Viewpoints Research Institute• Waveplace Foundation• NASA• OLPC Support Gang• OLPC News

Informal Agenda for Call

• Call < 60 mins.• Introductions• Etoys in Space Project Background• OLPC Learning Club Jam• Tech Issues & Possible Solutions• Guidance on Future Jams

Where the Learning Club Meets

Arlington Career CenterArlington Career Center

Gallaudet UniversityGallaudet University

Nortel NetworksNortel Networks

Screenshot

Screenshot of Sundial Challenge from XO Laptop

Initial Observations of NASA Squeak Web Activities Running on OLPC XOSugar OS 8.2.1, Etoys 3

• Slow load time on some activities• New Etoys menu bar interferes with activity content

objects• Text in some text blocks overflows• Animation sprites sometimes run slowly• Layouts for 1024x768 now feel cramped• 1024x768 background images repeat• Some pages on NASA Connect web site don’t fit on

XO screen

What is an OLPC Jam?

“An OLPC Jam is a creative event designed to encourage (simultaneously) experimentation and innovation in the field participants are Jamming in and to produce open-license content for the OLPC project in a short amount of time. Experienced, prepared participants work in small teams to collaborate with domain and local experts and produce a concrete product to a pre-specified problem; the creative output of the event is deployed in the field directly after the Jam. It's high-intensity improvisational fun - some participants say they've never created in such a productive development environment before.”

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Jams

Goals of the Etoys in Space Jams

• Near term: Surface issues with running Etoys in Space Activities on the OLPC XO

• Longer term: Repair all the files to be compatible with OLPC XO

• Build interest and excitement in the Learning Club for Jams and Etoys

• Foster understanding of open source concepts in a diverse and inclusive learning club

Etoys in Space Jam Draft Schedule for 1/17/09 at Arlington Career Center

• 10am - 1pm User Group Meeting• 12pm - 1pm Pizza Lunch• 1pm - 2pm Intro to Etoys in Space• 2pm - 5pm Jam Team QA Review of Activity

Files• 5pm - 6pm Team Discussion of Findings• 6pm - 7pm Dinner

Jam-related Takeaways from the Conference Call• Randy Caton says it’s pretty easy to fix the NASA Squeak Web

Activities. He’ll do it based on feedback logged by the Learning Club.

• But he would not only like bugs noted, he also wants suggestions for improving overall usability and the interactive learning experience.

• He also wants ideas on how the lessons can be redesigned for use in the least developed countries (LDCs) where there is much less classroom support.

• He provided a link to a site where the activities had been translated into Spanish.http://www.pcs.cnu.edu/~rcaton/sp/squeakindexSP.html

Links

• Etoys in Space Site Map & Content Inventory http://www.visuallee.com/etoys

• OLPC Learning Club DChttp://www.olpclearningclub.org