[OLPC India] Ruby Python.. does anyone have experience with it? Can it be useful on OLPC?

[Saurabh Adhikari]

Just got this email to check out Rubypython. Does anyone on this list have any experience with it? 



Do take a look at rubypython.railsplayground.net -- this is a platform

for open source software development and deployment for children

called skid (special kid).



The idea is to see if this is a way to get kids with difficulty in

communicating through speech, to start communicating in other

ways.This software seeks to address the pressing communication needs

of children, particularly those with mental challenges by finding an

answer to the questions:

1. how does one take advantage of the unique combination of desires,

abilities and disabilities each child possesses, which change with

age?

2. how do we bring the disabled and their caregivers into the software

development process?

3. how do we make this a focus for volunteer activity?



The software is envisioned as consisting of a large number of tiny

modules, that are intelligently grouped and combined to solve specific

tasks. Each module performs a simple task, that is easy to comprehend,

such as cropping images, or browsing wikpedia. You can operate it in

many different ways, all involving a small number of inputs, unlike

the 100+ keys of a traditional keyboard.



You don't have to install all these modules on your computer. They are

available to you via the Internet, so you could be using anything that

runs a web browser to run each module as soon as it is developed. Each

module is only a couple of dozen lines of code (on top of a framework

I have written using Ruby on Rails), so even relative beginners in

programming should feel comfortable adding new modules or editing

existing ones, with our help, of course.



I would love to see small, rugged laptops installed on the wheelchairs

of kids with cerebral palsy, and in the hands of the autistic,

converting text to speech at their command, as Stephen Hawking is

doing.



How do we go about exploring the use of the skid software on an XO, by

disabled kids who are very keen to learn how to use computers?

Sincerely,

S Adhikari


 		 	   		  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/india/attachments/20100625/d8993873/attachment.html