[Olpc-open] [OLPC library] Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn on HB5000

[Edward Cherlin]

On Tue, Apr 8, 2008 at 7:59 PM, Jameson Chema Quinn
<jquinn at cs.oberlin.edu> wrote:
> This is fascinating. I would say that the first triaging you should do to
> make this a reality for September is to reduce the number of grade levels
> you target to an absolute minimum. More than 3 would be crazy, two is
> better.

This is presently set up to be the choice of the schools or school
districts. But we can of course inform them of the resources currently
available, and what might become available.

> Possibilities:
>  6/7: pros: 2/3 of the students in a junior high, yet you can count on
> having most of them there for 2 or 3 years. cons: late grade = lots of
> testing; jealous 8th graders.
>
> 3/4 or 4/5 : good ages, but not good saturation.
>
> 3/6 : good variety, more logistics.
>
> Once you decide this, a lot more will follow.

I want to do K-2. The laptop works well for illiterate users. It has a
minimum of text and a maximum of icons in the Sugar User Interface,
and we will have literacy software built in. I also want to do 3-5,
the ages where we know we can have the maximum impact with programming
in Smalltalk. We will have to have the whole discussion, and not try
to optimize beforehand.

"Premature optimization is the root of all evil."--Donald Knuth,
quoting C. A. R. Hoare

> Also I had a link for you: http://www.ck12.org/ <-- just starting up but has
> some funding and possibly an inside track to getting more, trying to make
> open-source textbooks attractive to public schools, worth giving them a call
> to see if they are interested in (ready to) collaborating with you. Illinois
> would definitely be a feather in their cap. You need all the help you can
> get with can get with content.

Excellent. They are just up the road from me. I'll go see them right away.

> Good luck!
>
> Jameson
>
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 8, 2008 at 4:49 PM, Edward Cherlin <echerlin at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > I talked with Ryan Croke of Illinois Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn's
> > office today. They are keen on this project, and would like to arrange
> > for us to assist in getting the program designed for the best possible
> > outcome. HB5000 is moving rapidly through the House, and will then go
> > to the Senate, which is likely to turn it over to the Education
> > Committee for public hearings. We should organize to bring our XOs and
> > our children to Springfield for the hearings.
> >
> > Among the questions:
> >
> > Schools will be allowed to choose from among the available laptops.
> > The program should capture the differences in outcomes between schools
> > using different hardware and software, using appropriate measures LG
> > Quinn's office agrees. Nicholas Negroponte is strongly opposed to
> > "bake-offs", but the world doesn't work the way he wants.
> >
> > We need to work with the legislature, the Education authority, and
> > with schools on appropriate integration of laptops into curricula, and
> > provide at least draft versions of electronic textbooks on all
> > requested subjects. Much of what we want to do has yet to be designed.
> > In fact, the software that we want to build the textbooks on has in
> > some major cases yet to be designed. How much can we promise for the
> > start of the next school year in September? That depends very strongly
> > on who steps up to do it.
> >
> > It is very important in pilot projects to do good experimental design
> > before hand so that the results contain usable information, not merely
> > data. We need to talk to people who know something about these issues,
> > who also understand what we are trying to measure.
> >
> > What training can be put together for the summer before? We need to
> > demonstrate the meaning and value of learning by doing through
> > collaborative discovery, aka Constructionism. Then we need to provide
> > the toolkit for teachers to apply it, and provide feedback mechanisms
> > so that their experience and insights steadily improve the process.
> >
> > This program requires dedicated resources, and management, on our side
> > and several others. That means that we need to look for funding.
> > Anybody know a good grant writer?
> >
> > No Child Left Behind creates perverse incentives that can interfere
> > with the program. Can we get waivers from the Federal Government for
> > the trials?
> >
> > --
> >
> >
> >
> > 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
> > _______________________________________________
> > Library mailing list
> > Library at lists.laptop.org
> > http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/library
> >
>
>



-- 
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