[OLPC-SF] New Users Group RE: OLPC-SF Digest, Vol 16, Issue 5
carol @silverlaw.biz
carol at silverlaw.biz
Mon Apr 13 13:37:43 EDT 2009
13 April 2009
RE: NEW USERS GROUP FOR OLPC-SF
Dear Jennie, Sameer, Ed and others:
Rule One in volunteer organizations: Never make a suggestion because you
will immediately be volunteered to fulfill it. So at last Saturday's
meeting of the OLPC-SF users group, Sameer successfully volunteered me to
write a protocol for and organize a NEW USERS GROUP. So here we go:
Plan for the New Users Group:
Assemble one experienced XO user (examples Robert Howard, Joachim
Peterson) who is patient and friendly, for each two or three Newbies
(example me, Jenny), on a Saturday at the SFSU site, for a 2 hour session.
Everyone brings their own XO and power cord.
Willing participants can email me if they will participate,
designating whether they are a Newbie or a Pro. I will be gatekeeper for
the first session to make sure this proportion of new and experienced users
is maintained (and thereafter perhaps someone can make it happen on line?)
This New Users Group could be in conjunction with the OLPC-SF users
group general meeting on the second or third Saturday of the month, perhaps
occupying the slot from 10AM to Noon, with other business taken up 12 to 2
PM.
Because of Jenny's urgent need, however, I would ask if there is
someone willing to jump start this by meeting next Saturday, the 18th of
April. (I am assuming that we can get the SFSU site, even though Sameer
cannot be present because of his family obligations, but if not, we can
relocate.)
So in summary:
Who: Newbies and pros, on a 1 to 2 or 1 to 3 ratio.
What: OLPC-SF New Users Group
Where: SFSU 5th & Market if Sameer can obtain use of the same room we have
used before, and if not, elsewhere as arranged.
When: Saturday at 10:00 AM as arranged, monthly, with possible earlier
emergency session for Jenny.
Why: To help new holders of the XO make it function for them.
Best regards,
Carol Ruth Silver
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: New Users Support -- OLPC-SF Digest, Vol 16, Issue 1
(J Nauss)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2009 07:57:53 -0700
From: J Nauss <jnauss at lwhs.org>
Subject: Re: [OLPC-SF] New Users Support -- OLPC-SF Digest, Vol 16,
Issue 1
To: "carol @silverlaw.biz" <carol at silverlaw.biz>
Cc: olpc-sf at lists.laptop.org
Message-ID: <8FB719B7-3A7A-49A5-9222-997D45EDB060 at lwhs.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
Ed and Sameer,
Given that Carol and I have some of the same issues (although I was
able to rely on our IT director here at school to deal with the
internet connection issues) around not begin able to sort out many of
the Activities as there aren't any instructions, would it be possible
for one of you to work with us for an hour or so? I feel like it is
what I need to really sort out the OLPC before I have to start
training our kids on it in two weeks. The basic Activities like
measuring and such are self-explanatory (although it doesn't really
seem to work correctly), but I can't figure out the more complicated
of the TamTam/music activities and I think they would be good to know.
I'm also interested, if you know, how teachers are using the writing
activity in their classrooms abroad. While I am seeing pictures of
students using the laptops, there appears to be a lack of actual
curriculum and I am going to need to write it and have it translated
before leaving in June.
Also, do you have any idea of ways to get around the dying battery
issue in classrooms that don't have electricity? This will be an issue
for us in Keur Sadaro.
Thank you,
Jenny Nauss
On Apr 3, 2009, at 6:15 PM, carol @silverlaw.biz wrote:
> 3 April 2009
>
> Dear Jenny, Sameer, and Ed:
>
> If there is going to be a New Users Support session, please may I be
> included?
>
> Last month a kind OLPC user helped me out a lot, but even
> downloading and
> reading the FLOSS manuals, as instructed, I still
> (a) cannot get onto the Internet even on my own wireless unlocked
> modem,
> (b) cannot figure out how to use the music apps, or other
> educational apps,
> and (c) have a lot of trouble navigating with the mouse.
>
> My interest is in deployment of OLPC laptops in rural areas of
> Afghanistan
> where there are no schools or teachers. We have been offered enough
> laptops
> for a pilot project by OLPC-Afghanistan, which itself has an
> agreement with
> the Afghan government to deploy only in schools.
>
> We are presently preparing a proposal, budget and seeking the funds
> to make
> it happen. Being able to make presentations on the XO would be
> extremely
> important!
>
> Thanks for your consideration.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Carol Ruth Silver
> ________________________
> Law Offices of
> Carol Ruth Silver
> 68 Ramona Av. San Francisco 94103
> 415-861-5802 Fx: 415-522-1933
> carol at silverlaw.biz
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: olpc-sf-bounces at lists.laptop.org
> [mailto:olpc-sf-bounces at lists.laptop.org] On Behalf Of
> olpc-sf-request at lists.laptop.org
> Sent: Friday, April 03, 2009 9:00 AM
> To: olpc-sf at lists.laptop.org
> Subject: OLPC-SF Digest, Vol 16, Issue 1
>
> Send OLPC-SF mailing list submissions to
> olpc-sf at lists.laptop.org
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-sf
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
> olpc-sf-request at lists.laptop.org
>
> You can reach the person managing the list at
> olpc-sf-owner at lists.laptop.org
>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of OLPC-SF digest..."
>
>
> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. New user support request (J Nauss)
> 2. Re: New user support request (Sameer Verma)
> 3. Re: New user support request (Edward Cherlin)
> 4. Re: [FM Discuss] New user support request (Sean DALY)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 2 Apr 2009 09:57:18 -0700
> From: J Nauss <jnauss at lwhs.org>
> Subject: [OLPC-SF] New user support request
> To: olpc-sf at lists.laptop.org
> Message-ID: <A5C7BCC2-9B15-46C4-86D5-8A030A638CF4 at lwhs.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>
> Hello, I am a high school teacher and new user to the OLPC and will be
> helping to lead a student project in Keur Sadaro, Senegal in June
> (short notice, I know). There were 25 OLPCs brought over last year
> that are not in use but will be this summer when the wireless mesh
> network is completed. We will bring an additional 20 or so OLPCs.
>
> Due to a pre-scheduled vacation, I am unable to attend the April SF
> meeting, but I was wondering if there is anyone with time and energy
> to help me get started. While I am able to sort out the basics, I am
> finding that most of the Activities do not have instructions, or the
> instructions explain what the program does but not how to do it. One
> even says, "If you are computer savvy and play with it long enough,
> you can figure it out." This won't be useful in Senegal.
>
> More specifically:
> 1. Are there actual instructions for some of the more complex
> activities?
> 2. Are there lesson plans/unit plans?
> 3. I have downloaded the user manual - is it available in other
> languages?
> 4. Are there new user training sessions offered other than the one
> Saturday each month?
>
> Thank you!
> Jenny Nauss
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Thu, 2 Apr 2009 14:54:46 -0700
> From: Sameer Verma <sverma at sfsu.edu>
> Subject: Re: [OLPC-SF] New user support request
> To: J Nauss <jnauss at lwhs.org>
> Cc: olpc-sf at lists.laptop.org
> Message-ID:
> <5fb387c70904021454i37325do8fc401fe77013d88 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 9:57 AM, J Nauss <jnauss at lwhs.org> wrote:
>> Hello, I am a high school teacher and new user to the OLPC and will
>> be
>> helping to lead a student project in Keur Sadaro, Senegal in June
>> (short notice, I know). There were 25 OLPCs brought over last year
>> that are not in use but will be this summer when the wireless mesh
>> network is completed. We will bring an additional 20 or so OLPCs.
>>
>> Due to a pre-scheduled vacation, I am unable to attend the April SF
>> meeting, but I was wondering if there is anyone with time and energy
>> to help me get started. While I am able to sort out the basics, I am
>> finding that most of the Activities do not have instructions, or the
>> instructions explain what the program does but not how to do it. One
>> even says, "If you are computer savvy and play with it long enough,
>> you can figure it out." This won't be useful in Senegal.
>>
>> More specifically:
>> 1. Are there actual instructions for some of the more complex
>> activities?
>> 2. Are there lesson plans/unit plans?
>> 3. I have downloaded the user manual - is it available in other
>> languages?
>> 4. Are there new user training sessions offered other than the one
>> Saturday each month?
>>
>> Thank you!
>> Jenny Nauss
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> OLPC-SF mailing list
>> OLPC-SF at lists.laptop.org
>> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-sf
>>
>
> Hi Jenny,
>
> Not too many answers, but more questions :-)
>
> The April meeting may get moved to the following week...I'll confirm
> in a day or two. Hopefully you can attend.
>
> Are you still in touch with Bruce Baikie, who I believe was part of
> the original effort?
>
> Given that there are a lot of activities, its hard to assess
> documentation for all of them. Can you short-list the list of
> activities you are looking at? I presume you are looking for English
> documentation? If not, what languages would you need these in
> (French?)
>
> There are some lesson plans being used by other deployments. You may
> have some luck re-using those. Here are links to project
> reports/guides from:
>
> 1) Mali: http://www.olpcmali.org/Files/OLPC-Mali-SCP-Final-Report.pdf
> (English)
> 2) Gabon: Guide to XO
> http://collabo.fse.ulaval.ca/olpc/GuideXOGabon.pdf (French)
> 3) FLOSS Manuals:
> http://olpc-france.org/wiki/index.php?title=Localisation#Le_manuel_FLOSS
> (French)
> 4) FLOSS Manuals: OLPC XO manual: http://en.flossmanuals.net/xo
> 5) FLOSS Manuals: Sugar manual: http://en.flossmanuals.net/sugar
>
> cheers,
> Sameer
> --
> Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor of Information Systems
> San Francisco State University
> San Francisco CA 94132 USA
> http://verma.sfsu.edu/
> http://opensource.sfsu.edu/
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Thu, 2 Apr 2009 16:01:40 -0700
> From: Edward Cherlin <echerlin at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [OLPC-SF] New user support request
> To: J Nauss <jnauss at lwhs.org>
> Cc: FM Discuss <discuss at lists.flossmanuals.net>,
> olpc-sf at lists.laptop.org
> Message-ID:
> <e574f6eb0904021601j29490a3ax2c3a3909f9c33f82 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 9:57 AM, J Nauss <jnauss at lwhs.org> wrote:
>> Hello, I am a high school teacher and new user to the OLPC and will
>> be
>> helping to lead a student project in Keur Sadaro, Senegal in June
>> (short notice, I know). There were 25 OLPCs brought over last year
>> that are not in use but will be this summer when the wireless mesh
>> network is completed. We will bring an additional 20 or so OLPCs.
>
> Excellent.
>
>> Due to a pre-scheduled vacation, I am unable to attend the April SF
>> meeting, but I was wondering if there is anyone with time and energy
>> to help me get started.
>
> Yes, I can.
>
>> While I am able to sort out the basics, I am
>> finding that most of the Activities do not have instructions, or the
>> instructions explain what the program does but not how to do it. One
>> even says, "If you are computer savvy and play with it long enough,
>> you can figure it out." This won't be useful in Senegal.
>
> Which Activities do you need help with?
>
>> More specifically:
>> 1. Are there actual instructions for some of the more complex
>> activities?
>
> See the Sugar activity guides at http://www.flossmanuals.net/, and let
> us know what else you need.
>
>> 2. Are there lesson plans/unit plans?
>
> Not a lot, but yes, some. I assume that you need all subjects. I
> recommend that you join some of the mailing lists at
>
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/
> http://lists.laptop.org/
>
> that match your needs, such as Content, Grassroots, and IAEP (It's An
> Education Project). You can browse the archives to see if they suit
> you. I suggest that you introduce yourself and your project, then in a
> separate message for each, ask your questions with appropriate subject
> lines.
>
>> 3. I have downloaded the user manual - is it available in other
>> languages?
>
> I don't see any, but there are plans for them. Which languages do you
> need? Wait, ethnologue.org...Senegal...National or official languages:
> Balanta-Ganja, Hassaniyya, Jola-Fonyi, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya,
> Noon, Pulaar, Serer-Sine, Soninke, Wolof, French. I have an idea how
> we can get them all in French, since FLOSS Manuals has resources in
> France. For the others, it depends on recruiting local talent. Is
> French the language of instruction?
>
>> 4. Are there new user training sessions offered other than the one
>> Saturday each month?
>
> Not around here.
>
>> Thank you!
>> Jenny Nauss
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> OLPC-SF mailing list
>> OLPC-SF at lists.laptop.org
>> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-sf
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Silent Thunder (??/???????????????/????????????? ?) is my name
> And Children are my nation.
> The Cosmos is my dwelling place, The Truth my destination.
> http://earthtreasury.net/ (Edward Mokurai Cherlin)
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Fri, 3 Apr 2009 09:58:13 +0200
> From: Sean DALY <sdaly.be at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [OLPC-SF] [FM Discuss] New user support request
> To: J Nauss <jnauss at lwhs.org>, discuss at lists.flossmanuals.net
> Cc: olpc-sf at lists.laptop.org
> Message-ID:
> <378b2b050904030058j23d872d3if5f87eabdaf43b at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> Greetings Jenny,
>
> You may want to look at this document, in French, written by
> teachers in
> Gabon:
>
>
http://collabo.fse.ulaval.ca/olpc/index.php?2009/02/13/13-redaction-d-un-gui
> de-pedagogique-du-xo-par-une-communaute-d-apprenants
>
> Sean
>
>
> On Fri, Apr 3, 2009 at 1:01 AM, Edward Cherlin <echerlin at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 9:57 AM, J Nauss <jnauss at lwhs.org> wrote:
>>> Hello, I am a high school teacher and new user to the OLPC and
>>> will be
>>> helping to lead a student project in Keur Sadaro, Senegal in June
>>> (short notice, I know). There were 25 OLPCs brought over last year
>>> that are not in use but will be this summer when the wireless mesh
>>> network is completed. We will bring an additional 20 or so OLPCs.
>>
>> Excellent.
>>
>>> Due to a pre-scheduled vacation, I am unable to attend the April SF
>>> meeting, but I was wondering if there is anyone with time and energy
>>> to help me get started.
>>
>> Yes, I can.
>>
>>> While I am able to sort out the basics, I am
>>> finding that most of the Activities do not have instructions, or the
>>> instructions explain what the program does but not how to do it. One
>>> even says, "If you are computer savvy and play with it long enough,
>>> you can figure it out." This won't be useful in Senegal.
>>
>> Which Activities do you need help with?
>>
>>> More specifically:
>>> 1. Are there actual instructions for some of the more complex
>>> activities?
>>
>> See the Sugar activity guides at http://www.flossmanuals.net/, and
>> let
>> us know what else you need.
>>
>>> 2. Are there lesson plans/unit plans?
>>
>> Not a lot, but yes, some. I assume that you need all subjects. I
>> recommend that you join some of the mailing lists at
>>
>> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/
>> http://lists.laptop.org/
>>
>> that match your needs, such as Content, Grassroots, and IAEP (It's An
>> Education Project). You can browse the archives to see if they suit
>> you. I suggest that you introduce yourself and your project, then
>> in a
>> separate message for each, ask your questions with appropriate
>> subject
>> lines.
>>
>>> 3. I have downloaded the user manual - is it available in other
>>> languages?
>>
>> I don't see any, but there are plans for them. Which languages do you
>> need? Wait, ethnologue.org...Senegal...National or official
>> languages:
>> Balanta-Ganja, Hassaniyya, Jola-Fonyi, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya,
>> Noon, Pulaar, Serer-Sine, Soninke, Wolof, French. I have an idea how
>> we can get them all in French, since FLOSS Manuals has resources in
>> France. For the others, it depends on recruiting local talent. Is
>> French the language of instruction?
>>
>>> 4. Are there new user training sessions offered other than the one
>>> Saturday each month?
>>
>> Not around here.
>>
>>> Thank you!
>>> Jenny Nauss
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> OLPC-SF mailing list
>>> OLPC-SF at lists.laptop.org
>>> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-sf
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Silent Thunder (??/???????????????/????????????? ?) is my name
>> And Children are my nation.
>> The Cosmos is my dwelling place, The Truth my destination.
>> http://earthtreasury.net/ (Edward Mokurai Cherlin)
>> _______________________________________________
>> Discuss mailing list
>> Discuss at lists.flossmanuals.net
>> http://lists.flossmanuals.net/listinfo.cgi/discuss-flossmanuals.net
>>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> OLPC-SF mailing list
> OLPC-SF at lists.laptop.org
> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-sf
>
>
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