[OLPC_Boston] CFS pilot status? (for IL deployment team)

Mel Chua mel at melchua.com
Mon Dec 1 23:59:02 EST 2008


Answers that I can provide:
> a: server
XS setup is the big one - I want to find a local team to take on 
maintenance if possible, but much of this can probably be done remotely. 
I'm not sure how much - whoever on the deployment team is doing XS stuff 
should find out.

A thought for the Harvard loop team: It would be awesome to identify and 
recruit a small group of older students who want to be the "student tech 
team" on-site at CFS - 6th-8th graders that the deployment team can 
teach things like basic laptop repair, XS administration, and the like 
while they're there, so you'll have tech kids "on the ground" to work 
with at all times. Like a junior IT.

> what else? checking to make sure all the laptops work and all that?
See http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Boston_pilots#Needed - Build is going to 
be a big one, and it'd be good to train the teachers on how to 
acceptance-test* builds and Activities, how to create and use 
customization keys, and how to upgrade. (This is the "so what software 
do we run on our XOs?" question.) I'd be happy to teach this if there's 
interest.

*this is the most difficult/involved part of the process - not 
technically difficult, but it takes time for people to figure out what 
their requirements actually are.

There's also...

* helping the kids unpack and reflash their XOs once they arrive (the 
exciting time!)
* cool sugar/xo tricks 101; being general XO buddies
* observing/joining the volunteer (translation, content, curriculum, 
deployment, development, test, support, etc.) communities - for 
teachers, parents, and students. Not every user will become a volunteer, 
but they should all have the ongoing opportunity to do so, know that the 
option exists, and how to take advantage of it if they want.
* teaching the teachers how to use the XS - maybe see if moodle is 
something they want to use/learn.

-Mel


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