User:Vtaylor/OLPC for grownups

Leigh's OLPC experience is somewhat typical, although most of us are not doing this in front of 20 learners, many of whom are themselves teachers.

There is a failure to communicate, which can be overcome with patience and willingness to cooperate - in other words, share and play nicely together.

There are XO / kids activities and grownup functionality. These are different. Assuming that the XO should work just like a "real personal computer" is not helpful. Separating the functions will make life much easier.

Activities


 * what it is, what it is not - XO is a dorky little educational gizmo suitable for kids and young adults to discover a world beyond their limited physical resources. While it can be used for internet browsing and email, those are not its best things. Even kids with previous personal computer experience are going to have to learn new techniques, and that is just the way it is.


 * exploring activities


 * journals


 * don't try this at home - an XO by itself isn't nearly as much fun as a whole bunch of them together. Find a play group. The mesh is a magical feature. Watch  when the XO boots up - it is looking for buddies. Sure it will see every internet connection in an urban neighborhood, but that's secondary to locating and linking to other XOs. XOs can talk to one another between moving subway cars - how cool is that!


 * you have to be a kid (or have a kid's imagination and fearless sense of wonder) to love this -

Grownup functionality


 * internet access - Yes, you can use the XO for email and browsing.

Useful accessories
 * mouse - helpful for doing grownup stuff like browsing and emails
 * USB memory stick - use the browser to read and write files
 * SD card - additional memory/journal option

Learn more...


 * http://www.olpcnews.com/


 * http://www.olpcnews.com/use_cases/community/laptop_applications_adult.html


 * http://www.olpcnews.com/use_cases/community/medical_application_community.html


 * http://dvice.com/archives/2007/12/peer_review_one.php


 * http://www.olpcnews.com/forum/index.php?topic=62.0