sylviamartinez – Page 70 – Sylvia Libow Martinez

January 21, 2008

Library of Congress 2.0

Bransby, David,, photographer. Woman aircraft worker, Vega Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, The Library of Congress has a blog. Not only do they have a blog, but actual useful information is posted on it on a regular basis! Amazing!

The latest announcement is that they have added 3,000 images to Flickr, the photo-sharing site. In My Friend Flickr: A Match Made in Photo Heaven, they explain:

“…the project will help address at least two major challenges: how to ensure better and better access to our collections, and how to ensure that we have the best possible information about those collections for the benefit of researchers and posterity.”

Here’s the beauty of this – not only will these images be more available, the global community of viewers can give back to the project by tagging and commenting on the images. In a sense, the Library of Congress is allowing the whole world to be guardians of our shared photographic history.

They are starting small, only 3,000 out of their collection of 14 million prints. But these are from some of the most popular collections and are completely without copyright restriction. It’s a start.

Hopefully they will add more content soon, because even though 3,000 sounds like a lot, you always need a lot of content to make people feel like they will find what they are looking for with one visit. It’s hard to run a limited “pilot test” with things like this, because if the problem is not enough content, that’s the one thing you won’t find out.

Sylvia

January 20, 2008

Nice OLPC Roundup – OLPC Arrives!

David Crossland writes a nice post on the Understanding Limited blog with links to many, many resources and blogs (including my OLPC XO – Top Ten Checklist for G1G1 Reviews post) for people who have an XO. It’s a great reasource, even if you are just a fan of the project. He includes the must read XO community-news mailing list, cheat codes» for booting the XO in special ways, a discussion of why it doesn’t ship with Flash, and much more.

Sylvia

January 14, 2008

Survey shows schools need more tech support

eSchool news (partnered with SchoolDude.com) just released a new survey showing that many schools are working with technology support staffing and budgeting well below standards and are failing to meet goals.

Nearly three out of four school leaders say they don’t have enough IT staff to support their needs effectively, according to the survey. Fifty-five percent of respondents said they can’t maintain their network adequately, 63 percent said they can’t plan for new technologies, and 76 percent said they have trouble implementing new technologies.

This is no surprise – Generation YES has been working with schools for a decade to create innovative models that teach students to help support infrastructure and teachers in their own schools. As we work with schools, I think I’ve heard about every tech support horror story out there.

Forrester Research, an independent market research firm, published a recent report titled “Staffing for Technology Support: The Need May Be Far Greater Than You Think,” which concluded that large corporations typically employ one support person for every 50 PCs, at a cost of $142 per computer, per year. According to this model, a school district with 1,000 PCs would need a staff of 20 and an annual tech-support budget of $1.4 million.

Yet, some larger school districts are approaching a ratio of one IT person for every 1,500 computers or more, says Laurie Keating, vice president of technology, learning, and planning for the Center for Educational Leadership and Technology.

I’ve shown this research to educators in conference sessions and workshops across the U.S. I know I can get a guaranteed laugh from the audience with the “one support person for every 60 PCs” number. I’ve had tech coordinators share their stories – increasing number of computers to support, constantly increasing complexity, and increasing expectations for instant, interconnected systems. And most of the time, a decreasing budget.

So what can you do when faced with this situation? There are only a few solutions:

1. You can reduce the chance of something going wrong by locking down the systems. Teachers look at this solution as a restriction on them or mistrust of their competence. In reality, it’s a lose-lose solution that a desperate tech support department must implement to keep their heads above water. It creates friction and resentment between teachers and IT staff who should be working together to improve education.

2. You redefine your expectations for adequate tech support. Some teachers wait for weeks to get simple problems solved. It’s easy to see why a teacher who constantly has to go to “Plan B” when the hardware doesn’t work just gives up on their technology-infused “Plan A.”

3. People work harder as you try to squeeze blood out of a stone. Educators are notorious for shoestring solutions and working beyond all reason because it’s “for the kids.” However, 80 hour workweeks without proper resources leads to early burnout. Even worse, other teachers see the hard work required to be a tech-using teacher and decide it’s not worth it.

4. Find new resources. While you might be able to find a few volunteer techie parents who will pop in every once in a while, there is actually a HUGE, largely untapped resource already at the school site. This digital generation is quite capable of learning to provide support to teachers integrating technology. Contrary to what many believe, it’s not impossible, not scary, and not a security threat. Students are 92% of the population in most school buildings. It is simply irrational to continue to ignore this resource in the face of this dire situation.

Plus, it’s a win-win situation. Schools get the help they need, and students learn valuable lessons as they troubleshoot and help teachers with the typical simple issues that block classroom use. We help schools see past security fears and use tried and true models that actually reduce student hacking and increase student ownership.

You can read more about the Generation TECH tools and curriculum on our website, or listen to this podcast from my workshop called Student Tech Support – the 21st Century A/V Club. (There are also links to the handouts and slides.)

The hard truth is, any hope for increasing technology use in schools rests on solving this problem. Teachers using technology in innovative ways result in MORE tech support, and tech support that understands education, not just the wires. And let’s face it, no matter what you do, or how much money you pour into tech support, it’s never enough. There is always something more you can do, more you can try, make the systems better, and support teachers better.

There is no other resource in schools that is as ready to help and as underutilized as students. As educators struggle to find solutions, it might help to look up at the faces that sit directly in front of you every day, young people ready, willing and able to help solve this problem.

All we have to do is teach them, guide them, and let them.

Sylvia

January 12, 2008

Webcast Academy – Free lessons in a learning community

Interested in learning how to host and manage live webcasts? Join the Webcast Academy – free lessons and an active community of people interested in producing and hosting their own webcasts.

There is a new series of classes at what they call the “intern” level (free for educators) starting January 13, 2008. (More info here.) There are six weeks of online classes lead by experienced facillitators, and you get a Webcast Academy ‘Certificate of Webcasting Proficiency’ on completion. The class gives you free access to some tools, space to upload projects, and what looks like a very supportive and friendly community of like-minded learners.

Webcasts are great learning experiences for kids and teachers alike! They can connect parents, experts and students together for a vibrant experience that breaks down the walls of the classroom. Learning the tips and tricks from a community might be just the ticket to get you up and running, and past the early hurdles that come up with any new technology.

Note that I have not personally spent enough time in the community to really get a feel if this is 100% appropriate for students, but there seem to be many teachers involved, so that’s always a good sign.

Check it out!

Sylvia

January 11, 2008

Technology should not be transparent

When educators say, “technology should be transparent” – what does this mean?

I fear that it means that:

Cookie a) We believe that people are so scared of it that they need to be fooled. So if we downplay the technology, perhaps they won’t notice and will eventually come to accept it. Sort of like hiding spinach in the chocolate chip cookies.

b) The use of technology just supports the existing paradigm, so of course it’s transparent. It simply makes it easier to follow the same comfortable path.

I know that many people actually advocate hiding spinach in cookies, but I believe that ultimately, deception comes back to haunt you.

What if the technology is so transformative that it can’t be ignored? What if the learning experience could not be achieved without the use of technology? Isn’t that the ultimate goal?

Sylvia

January 7, 2008

Save the date in 2008 – Constructivist Celebration at NECC

Constructivist Celebration logo Mark your calendars – the Second Annual Constructivist Celebration at NECC will take place Sunday June 29, 2008 in San Antonio.

Not a lot of details yet, but the Constructivist Consortium member companies (Generation YES, LCSI, Tech4Learning, Inspiration, Fablevision, and SchoolKit) will host a day of learning and playing with creative software with other like-minded educators. I wrote about the first Constructivist Celebration last June and we are still hearing from attendees about what a great experience it was!

If you are already planning and budgeting for your NECC 2008 travel, be sure to be there for the all-day Sunday event. We’ll wrap up before the NECC opening reception, so you won’t miss a thing!

To find out more, keep an eye on this blog (subscribe) or go to the Constructivist Consortium website and signup to get notified of events by email.

See you in San Antonio!

January 5, 2008May 7, 2017

OLPC XO – Top Ten Checklist for G1G1 Reviews

Many recipients of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Give One, Get One (G1G1) program in the US and Canada are starting to receive their XO laptops. This means people are starting to join forums and write about their experiences. That’s all terrific, but it’s important to remember that the intended 3rd world audience is very different than the lives of most of the G1G1 users. Here’s my public service attempt to create a reminder checklist for potential XO reviewers in the first world.

After the checklist, please enjoy my nomination for The Worst XO Review Ever…

G1G1 XO Top Ten Pre-Review Checklist

1. You aren’t the customer. Remember who this is made for. It’s not you, or even the child you hand it to to “try out.” Check the OLPC Wiki for some of the reports from the field. Try to remember that you and most likely your child have pre-conceived notions and advantages that you don’t realize. You are like a fish trying to ignore water.

2. Keep the stage of the project in mind. Are you used to being on the bleeding edge? Do you download alpha applications and help the developers track bugs? Do you “get under the hood” of your operating system or do any programming? Have you ever participated in an open source community or even edited Wikipedia? If that’s not your typical MO, take a second look before you complain about bugs, features that haven’t been implemented, or features that you think are essential. It’s going to crash, it’s going to have bugs, and you will probably have to do some detective work to figure things out, including how to keep it up to date. Having to go to terminal mode is not a failure of the design; for best results, think of it like a new adventure.

3. It’s not a “cheap” version of your laptop. Low cost was a design driver for the XO, but not the only one. Cheap is expensive if the laptop breaks in harsh conditions.

4. The collaboration features will seem broken and lackluster. It’s like playing volleyball by yourself – don’t be surprised if the ball doesn’t jump back over the net by itself. It doesn’t mean your ball is broken or the game of volleyball is poorly designed. The answer is that it’s not really volleyball without the rest of the team. In your case, the XO may seem as useful as half a zipper without a local community of users.

5. The operating system (OS) is young. The Sugar OS is a custom design that has different goals than Mac, Windows, or even Linux. Sugar was created to support a collaborative, constructive educational environment AND 3rd world conditions AND unique hardware. Decisions were made that may seem odd to you, but potentially make a lot of sense in that context. The OS will evolve. See this Tom Hoffman post for more details.

6. Your in-home wireless network with a fat pipe Internet connection is an anomaly. Let’s not start whining that you can’t stream movies.

7. Your customer support is not a priority. OLPC created the G1G1 opportunity for a limited time with no plans to go into the business of shipping to and supporting individual American customers. If you want great tracking and toll-free support phone lines, call Amazon. It was clear from the G1G1 website that these computers came with NO TECH SUPPORT. I don’t want OLPC to waste their money hiring people to track packages, I would rather that money went to improve delivery to kids in the developing world. Of course you should get what you paid for. But look, if I pledge my local PBS station and get a coffee cup, I don’t expect perfect shipping and tracking either. You got your tax deduction and a cool invention. Enjoy them.

8. Your child is not the intended audience either. Giving the XO to your child and watching them struggle through the interface and applications does not “prove” that the laptop was poorly designed or that the constructivist philosophy of learning is a failure. The XO was built for children in a group, using it day in and day out at home and school, hopefully with adults around who can help guide them in educational pursuits. The concept of “neighborhood” is not a metaphor. Imagine kids sitting next to you, looking at what you do and saying, “hey, that’s cool, how did you do that?” The primary collaboration happens around the computer, not through the computer. It also happens because the use is expected and ubiquitous, not something squeezed in for 15 minutes on a Thursday night between homework, ballet and soccer practice. Your child’s XO experience will likely be lonely and frustrating. However, I predict a handful of kids will take to it like a duck to water. If you have one of these, say hello to your future programmer.

9. The mesh network is trying to do things you don’t need. The innovative mesh networking allows the XO computers to collaborate even when there is no Internet connection, or to share a single connection with others. In your home, it’s primarily going to suck your battery dry. As I used to say a lot when I was a programmer, “it’s a feature, not a bug!”

10. Last but not least – you and 150,000 other people did an amazing, generous thing and should be congratulated. The G1G1 program sent 150,000 laptops to homes in the US and Canada. People paid double to get an untested invention with no promise of any kind of support. As a direct result of this, 150,000 more children around the world got an XO laptop. My checklist may seem overly negative, but it’s only because I’m reacting to some early reports and anticipating others. The conversation around the XO is enhanced by all of our participation, but I hope people give it a fair shake and remember the true purpose of the XO. It’s going to take some time and some pain. It’s not perfect, but it’s a step in the right direction. I hope some of you get inspired to get into the guts of the thing and have some of the fun I used to have in the 70’s building computer kits and programming in octal. It’s the best!

And now, for your enjoyment, the worst XO review ever…

This review from The Economist, One Clunky Laptop Per Child would be laughable if it weren’t being read by “a global audience of senior business, political and financial decision-makers.” Surrounded by ads for first class travel, the article predictably complains about the difficulty of installing Flash to watch YouTube videos and not getting minute by minute shipping status on the package.

The “keys are too small” and don’t feel right. After using it an entire week, the writer experienced “occasional crashes.” And horror of horrors, “A discreet message sometimes flashes when the system boots up, warning of some sort of data-check error.”

The fact that XO has generated competition from other computer manufacturers who have suddenly woken up to the low cost laptop market is listed as a problem. And even stranger, the “hubris” of OLPC developers is mentioned. I guess OLPC developers aren’t supposed to be proud of their innovation or defend their decisions. What silliness.

January 2, 2008

Let them eat cake? No, let them change the world.

John Dvorak (PC Magazine) recently wrote a column called One Laptop per Child Doesn’t Change the World. He asked, “Does anyone but me see the OLPC XO-1 as an insulting “let them eat cake” sort of message to the world’s poor?” He goes on to belittle the computer, calling it “cute” and after citing hunger statistics, drops his sarcastic solution.

“So what to do? Let’s give these kids these little green computers. That will do it! That will solve the poverty problem and everything else, for that matter.”

Well, yes, actually, that’s the point. Maybe it will solve the poverty problem and everything else.

The developed world has tried all sorts of interventions to help developing countries, and from what I can see, most have ended up in failure. Our skewed ideas about how to help have historically ended up with many good intentions gone awry, mired in corruption, or worse.

So how about we give the developing world the gift of the most powerful intellectual tool ever invented. Then, here’s an idea, we let them solve some of their own problems and stop blaming them for being poor. And how about we use a different distribution method than the usual aid.

Using children as the focal point for change is an innovative (and controversial) aspect of OLPC. Some detractors have ridiculed this as meaning that teachers aren’t important or necessary. Yet this is far from true. It’s simply not an either/or situation. In my recent post, The Hole in the Wall, I discussed that fact that there is ample evidence that children figure out how to use computer technology, even without instruction. Years of research also showed that although adults did not need to participate in order for the kids to learn, having caring adults around amplified the impact.

So is the XO project just more imperialist nonsense about encouraging people to pull themselves up with their own bootstraps when they have no boots? No, and the facts are beginning to come in from the pilot projects to prove it.

Consider this Peruvian XO pilot project in Arahuay, a poor, rural town in the Andes. This project was profiled in the Washington Post, Dec. 30, 2007 In Peru, a pint-size ticket to learning. The monthly income for most villagers is less than the cost of one laptop.

Many adults share only weekends with their children, spending the workweek in fields many hours’ walk from town and relying on charities to help keep their families nourished. When they finish school, young people tend to abandon the village.

So did these people sell the XO laptops for food? No. Were they stolen? No. Were the children confused by Slashdot and entangled in email scams (as John Dvorak suggests)? No.

At breakfast, they’re already powering up the combination library/videocamera/audio recorder/musicmaker/drawing kits. At night, they’re dozing off in front of them — if they’ve managed to keep older siblings from waylaying the coveted machines.

Antony, 12, wants to become an accountant. Alex, 7, aspires to be a lawyer. Kevin, 11, wants to play trumpet. Saida, 10, is already a promising videographer, judging from her artful recording of the town’s recent Fiesta de la Virgen.

Today they are drawing pictures, tomorrow they may draw plans for an invention to make farming more productive, and then fabricate it using techniques found online. Maybe they will communicate with a rural Cambodian village that successfully built a wind-powered electrical generator and build one for themselves. One day not far in the future, a ten year old might save his mother’s life with medical information found online. Today Saida is making a video about her village, tomorrow she could be running for public office using video to communicate her message.

Should we helicopter in a few more bags of rice instead?

What these kids are doing is building intellectual prowess that might lift their village out of the unending cycle of rural poverty that is destroying their families and their future. They are seeing a world of opportunity, information and solutions. Maybe, just maybe, this IS the catalyst they need to solve the problems they consider most important, most likely in ways that we could never imagine.

These kids are smart, creative and in the understatement of the century, have a world of authentic problems to solve. Plus, there are caring adults who could help if given the chance. The least the “developed world” can do is give kids, their parents, and teachers access to the most powerful intellectual amplifier ever invented – the computer, and a connection to the world of information and expertise.

And then get out of their way.

Sylvia

PS If you read Spanish, check out this story about the OLPC pilot in Arahuay – Reportaje NAPA 26: OLPC, laptops en Arahuay. There is a great video about the laptops coming to the village, and even if you don’t understand the narration, the pride on the kids’ (and parents’) faces says it all. All the stills in this blog post are clipped from that video.

December 31, 2007

XO laptop and extended networks

I got my G1G1 XO laptop before Xmas but haven’t had much time to do much. Holidays and all!

Today I decided to get more serious. A while back, Tom Hoffman posted about creating a new network so XO users could chat, called XOchat.org. The XO is initially set up to find nearby XOs so you can chat with nearby folks, but there’s nobody here on my block! (The post says not to share this, but later he said it was OK.)

OLPC and Twitter My networks helped me out. I read Tom’s post, and another post on the OLPC News forum. Then my Twitter* network stepped up. Andy Schmitz and Thomas Han were online and wanted to check out XOchat.org too. So we got online and Andy helped us get to the right place. It took a few minutes and voila! tons of new friends.

It needs to be said that I don’t really “know” either Thomas or Andy, they just happened to be on Twitter when I needed them. And as I later wrote this post, I discovered that Andy is a senior in high school, and Thomas works for Apple. Who knew!

Once I redirected the XO to look for XOchat.org as the “Jabber” server, it took a few minutes for my view of my Neighborhood to change from this:

Neighborhood view XO - default

to this:

Neighborhood view XO

I chatted with several folks, found out about some known bugs that will be fixed in the next release, and made some new friends. And I created this blog post.

editing blog post with XO By the way, today is the LAST DAY to get your own XO through the G1G1 program. C’mon, you know you want to!

* If you are wondering what Twitter is – it’s a place where you can chat with people – you decide who you talk to (you “follow” them), but what you say is open to those who choose to follow you. I’ve spent the last 3 months building up a network, and it’s both fun and handy. Today it was indispensible.

December 14, 2007

Knol from Google. Sharing knowledge in an online world.

Google has announced knol (short for a unit of knowledge), a new service in very early testing. It will consist of free articles about any subject, each authored by one person. The tools will allow for community participation in form of ratings, comments, and other social tools.

Like Wikipedia, this is about a world-wide community collaborating to build better access to knowledge.

However, unlike Wikipedia, knol will be about unique authorship. Each author creates and owns a knol page, and can collect ad revenue if he or she wishes. The community aspect comes from how high these pages show up on searches.

Also unlike Wikipedia, knol will be completely open. There will be no editorial committee deciding that your topic is not worthy or your prose too dense. You can write a knol about science, your Aunt Betty, or your explanation of how to change a light bulb. In fact, 70 people can write a knol about how to change a light bulb. The one that “wins” is the one that people rate the best. But even if yours is last on the list, it’s still there.

Google promises that their tool will be fair and free; that you won’t be able to game the system so your knol always comes out on top.

Wikipedia has raised one set of questions for educators working to teach students about quality content and the validity of information sources, and this is going to add a whole other dimension to the discussion.

We live in interesting times, don’t we? What fun!

Sylvia