On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 11:09, Tom Hoffman <tom.hoffman at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 1:46 AM, Don Davis <dondavis at reglue.org> wrote:
>
>> I thought of this because I was contemplating how easy it might be to code a
>> FOSS program for communication with special needs students.
>>
>> In special education, there is a program that uses simple stick figures to
>> communicate with special needs students. Each license is $400-$800.
>> Rewriting a FOSS implementation of this should not be hard. The largest yet
>> easiest part would be creating a large library of copyleft images available
>> for use in the program. 12 year olds on Gimp could do this. A group of 12-15
>> teenagers could crank out a lot of images in a one week half day summer
>> school project. (The images could also be used in ESL classrooms.)
>
> Random observation:  This topic -- software for communication with
> special needs students -- comes up with some regularity on lists
> regarding FOSS in schools.  On more than one occasion I've followed up
> with a response that says "OK, well, first can you tell us exactly
> what this software needs to do?"  And I can't recall ever getting a
> useful response.

Teachers in Uruguay, the first to give a computer to every child in
school, cannot yet believe that we in the OLPC movement want to hear
from them. A persistent relic of colonialism and of similar
post-colonial ills, as far as I can tell. Cambodia is the worst I have
dealt with personally, presumably as a result of Pol Pot.

> Just a reminder of how collaboration between teachers and developers
> is hard, if you don't start with someone who already understands the
> problem and the means of getting to a solution.

The OLPC contribution to a long-term solution is to integrate
collaboration throughout the Sugar software with mesh networking, so
that children can work on homework together from their separate homes.

> --Tom
>
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Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation.
The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination.
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