[OLPC-Chicago] New member

[Andrew Harrington]

Intriguing.  I do not have the data that you point out is needed to
proceed, nor resources personally.  Since the conference fills a
weekend, and we probably do not want a direct competition, that means
it needs to be on a weekday.  I'm not sure how much the need to make
it into school field trips will hamper things.

I definitely like the publicity that Python is not just for old folks
and that XO's are cool.

Andy

On Wed, Mar 26, 2008 at 8:25 PM, Edward Cherlin <echerlin at gmail.com> wrote:
> Now that I am on staff for PyCon 2009, and planning events that will
>  include the local community, I joined this list. My mother's family is
>  from Chicago, and I was born there when my father was in the Navy.
>
>  The idea for next year's PyCon is to organize a room full of children
>  doing Python on One Laptop Per Child XOs. Some people assume that it
>  means teaching children Python, but my real idea is to have the
>  children learn Python ahead of time, starting with the Pippy activity
>  on the laptop, and then be able to show adults or other children how
>  it all works and how one learns on the laptop. We should rotate in
>  groups of children of different ages, some to teach Python and the XO,
>  and some to show how children learn Python.
>
>  So the first question is, how many children do we know who have XOs,
>  and can we organize something so they can work on Python together?
>  Along with everything else. Would anybody like to host a children's XO
>  hacking meetup? Is there a school or museum or library where we can
>  meet? Are there any schools that would consider this PyCon session for
>  a field trip? What NGOs in Chicago have operations in OLPC target
>  countries, present (Peru, Uruguay, Haiti, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Cambodia,
>  Afghanistan, Mongolia, Mexico, and within the US, in Mongomery,
>  Alabama), or prospective
>  (http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Status_by_Country, not entirely
>  up-to-date).
>
>  Second, whom else can we bring into our fold. I looked around on the
>  Net, and found a number of substantial African communities in Chicago,
>  including Kenyans, Rwandans, and Ethiopians, and I have no doubt that
>  there are many others. My interest in these three groups is that there
>  are more than 10,000 XOs each going to Rwanda and Ethiopia, and if we
>  can get Kenyans involved, we have an even stronger basis for inviting
>  Barack Obama to PyCon 2009 for a short speech and photo op. I suppose
>  we are more likely to get him if Hillary becomes President somehow,
>  but it never hurts to ask.
>
>  What do you think, Sirs?
>
>  --
>  Edward Cherlin
>  End Poverty at a Profit by teaching children business
>  http://www.EarthTreasury.org/
>  "The best way to predict the future is to invent it."--Alan Kay
>  _______________________________________________
>  OLPC-Chicago mailing list
>  OLPC-Chicago at lists.laptop.org
>  http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-chicago
>



-- 
Andrew N. Harrington
 Director of Academic Programs
 Computer Science Department
 Loyola University Chicago
 512B Lewis Towers (office)
 Snail mail to Lewis Towers 416
 820 North Michigan Avenue
 Chicago, Illinois 60611

http://www.cs.luc.edu/~anh
Phone: 312-915-7982
Fax: 312-915-7998
gdp at cs.luc.edu for graduate administration
upd at cs.luc.edu for undergrad administration
aharrin at luc.edu as professor