DFWXO

XO-3

2010-01-04T16:21:00.000-06:00

I hope to see this product rather soon. I am sure Apple's tablet will impact the future design of the market very soon :-)

See the full article on the new XO-3 concept here.

Of Obama's and XOs

2009-04-07T23:29:00.003-05:00

In a surprise move, Obama has endorsed XO for US schools with a new twist. OLPC will collaborate with DELL and Intel using Atom processor.

http://www.olpcnews.com/countries/usa/obama_to_olpc_american_schools.html

Irving Art festival

2009-04-07T23:05:00.013-05:00

Irving ISD exhibited XO laptops in Irving Art festival in March of 2009. This exhibit focused on Music and Mathematics using TamTamMini and TurtleArts Thanks to Bob Harmon, Marilyn Keith, and Karen Lowman.

Composing on TamTam MINI

Even a two year old could not resist the XOs

Math is beautiful

Emulate XO on you Windows computer

2009-03-04T17:28:00.005-06:00

While still contemplating jumping on the Give-One-Get-One v2.0 (G1G1 v2.0) band wagon, let's wet your appetite with the free XO emulator. This will give you a chance to:
emulate the XO laptop and load it on your existing computer
add the software
then take it for a test drive. Here is the link: http://sites.google.com/site/olpcqemu/

Google map of contributors

2008-11-21T10:02:00.002-06:00

There are almost 100,000 community members with XOs around the world. See where other XOs and user groups are, and list yourself on our Google map of contributors.

G1G1 version 2

2008-09-09T10:53:00.004-05:00

OLPC Founder, Dr. Nicholas Negroponte has confirmed that Amazon.com will be the distributor for the "give a laptop, get a laptop (G1G1) starting on November 17. It will retail for $399.
link: www.amazon.com/xo

Dr. Negroponte also indicated that:
“It will not be dual boot (Windows and Linux), but may have a Linux standard desktop as well as Sugar.” This decision is not yet finalized. He also revealed that the first 100,000 or 150,000 customers participate in the program will get the XO system right away.

Read more details

Need a part for your XO?

2008-09-09T10:41:00.005-05:00

Here is the site you should consider for XO Accessories, or replacement parts.

http://www.ilovemyxo.com/

Low-Cost Laptop Experiment Under Way in Birmingham, Alabama

2008-08-20T10:37:00.006-05:00

(eSchool News) Ask Amicah Bitten about her home life, and what she likes to do outside of school, and the 9-year-old is cagey, doling out only small details: she reads the J.C. Penney catalog, she likes to swim sometimes, and she knows someone who does drugs, and she hates that.

But ask the Birmingham, Ala., girl about her computer, and Bitten opens up, smiling brightly and chatting easily as she taps the machine's tiny green keys and shows off what she can do and what's possible with this machine, a small and ultra-light laptop known as the XO.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=54904;_hbguid=6572ae33-137a-4f52-959c-4f276d350f94

XO's at NECC 2008 Conference in San Antonio, TX

2008-07-02T01:22:00.003-05:00

The XOs where an exciting addition to the NECC Conference this year in San Antonio Texas. See the link across for more details:

XO Writing Assignment at Barton Elementary

2008-06-13T17:25:00.009-05:00

Fourth grade bilingual students at Barton Elementary School in Irving, Texas, were led in a writing assignment by their teacher Ed Salamanca and campus technology specialist Gae Poulsen. The students were using the XO laptops in their classroom and loved them. The students told the teacher they wanted MORE of the XO's in school, so they decided it would help if they wrote and told people about how they were using the XO's and how the XO improved their learning experience. The teacher assumed the students would write to the district technology leaders Dr. Alice Owen and Sam Farsaii, but the students thought they should write to the consortium that makes the XO's and let them know that they should make more of the XO's available to students in the US.

Attached below are three examples of the letters produced by the students.

2008-06-13T16:49:00.003-05:00

Aways looking to the future ... attached is a video from OLPC showing the next generation concept for future XO laptops. The concepts are AMAZING ... but can they become reality?

Check it out ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nbpk03QyBY

Windows XP on the XO Laptop

2008-06-13T16:43:00.006-05:00

A video explaning how Windows XP can run on the XO laptop.
Bohdan Raciborski
Group Program Manager
Microsoft

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbmoZagAvtM

2008-06-09T15:35:00.020-05:00

Marilyn Keith's GT students won an Irving ISD grant this spring to use six of the XO laptop computers purchased by the Irving ISD. Their goal for the project was to use the inquiry method for Geometry and problem solving using Pippy and Turtle Art relating it to logical and reasonable conclusions for math and language arts.

Student are shown below creating programs in Turtle Art with Marilyn Keith instructing and Mary Surber assisting. These activities were directly related to their grade level Mathematics TEKS: analyze and describe patterns and relationships; identify right, obtuse, and acute angles; and problem-solving with strategies or technology. (This is a group of 3rd and 4th grade GT students.)

2008-06-03T14:49:00.008-05:00

For the end of the Spring semester teachers in Irving ISD were able to submit proposals how they would like to implement the use of some of the 33 XO laptops purchased by the district. One of the classrooms proposals that was awarded the use of the XO's was Amy Walkers 1st grade classroom at Thomas Haley Elementary School. The photos below are from the opening activity of these students where they were told to "explore, play and think for yourself." The students were trying all kinds of activities and you can see the excitement as they learned about the XO on their faces.

Techwatch Video from eSchool News

2008-06-03T14:16:00.004-05:00

Video from eSchool News with an update about the XO Laptop and the Windows operating system.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/video-center/esn-techwatch/index.cfm?i=53995;_hbguid=3395f9c6-0645-40d6-9a47-4939ad67fd26

XO Field Trip

2008-04-23T15:51:00.010-05:00

Fifth grade students from Barton Elementary School in Irving, Texas, went on a field trip to the Lake Lewisville Environmental Learning Area. They used the XO laptops while on the field trip to take notes and collect data for their science experience. Both the students and teachers enjoyed the experience.

Next Meeting

2008-04-23T15:48:00.004-05:00

Currently we don't have a next meeting scheduled.

Next Meeting April 11

2008-03-27T21:54:00.003-05:00

In order to redistribute the laptops and finalize Irving grants, our next meetings is scheduled for April 11th. we will not meet on March 28th. Teachers, please bring back any XO units still in your possession to technology dept. ASAP.
Thanks,

Sam

Next meeting - March 28 4-5 pm

2008-03-13T16:27:00.003-05:00

Next week we will be on springbreak. So, our next meeting is scheduled for March 28, 4-5 pm in Training room 1.

Parents, teachers, students, and community members are welcome to participate, learn and share:

2621 W. Airport FWY
Irving, TX 75062

4th XO Users Group Meeting Held

2008-03-12T17:34:00.009-05:00

Our fourth XO users group meeting was held on March 7th and many different exciting topics were discussed.

Mikie Kindsfather talked about introducing students to programming with Pippy. Pippy is a simple and fun programming language application on the XO that is both easy AND dynamic (a version of the Python programming language). As demonstrated this is an excellent programming language for young learns to explore syntax and experiment with logical processes. For more information see: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Talk:Pippy

Jerram Froese demonstrated using SimCity on the XO. SimCity is a great simulation program on the web where students can explore creating their own city. Student would be responsible for developing utilities, services, and pollution control. Each decision they make effects the city they are building. They would need to develop a plan for future city expansion to handle population growth and the drain on utilities & the environment.

Stephanie Gelber joined us and talked about installed activities, finding and installing new activities, E-Book Reader, and cleaning up the journal.

Brian Edomm talked about setting up a Jabber server. Jabber is an open source protocol for near real time instant messaging and communication across a network. The protocol is built to be extendable to other feature such as voice over IP and file transfer. Unlike most instant messaging protocols, jabber is an open system where anyone who has a domain name and a suitable Internet connection can run their own Jabber server and talk to users on other servers.

Because of Spring Break coming up next week, our next meeting is re-scheduled for Friday, April 11th at 4:00 pm in the Irving ISD Administration Building (2621 Airport Freeway, Irving, Texas).

Elementary Students with XO Laptops

2008-03-07T15:39:00.006-06:00

This week at Thomas Haley Elementary School students used the XO Laptop to explore taking digital pictures and video in preparation for a writing assignment. Lorie Squalls, the campus Instructional Technology Specialist, sent us these photos to show how involved the students were with the XO laptop.

They LOVED the activity!

Taking Apart the XO

2008-03-07T14:45:00.004-06:00

Its amazing what you can find on YouTube.com. Below are videos of a group in Irving ISD who decided to take apart their XO laptop (Ok, we know YOU wanted to do the same.) The Irving group did have the excuse that their wirless was not working ... but I believe they just thought it would be cool to see how they were built!

And their comments? They decided the XO Laptop was "Very cool, very well designed." And the wireless? Yes, they did fix it!

Video Part I:

Video Part II:

Part I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLr-NGCCVlM
Part II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93eFnq54xAc

Third Users Group Meeting Held

2008-03-05T09:48:00.021-06:00

Our third XO users group meeting was held on February 29th. At this time Sam Farsaii shared that we now have a link to NYC XO laptop project and hope to build more collaborative efforts with them.

Jerram Froese then demonstrated how easy it is to re-image an XO that is not functioning well by using a USB-Flash-Drive (also called a thumb drive or pen drive). The process was as simple as downloading your XO image files onto any thumb drive. If you have any problems in the future, then plug in the thumb drive with your backup image and reboot the XO. Two minutes later you have a newly imaged laptop.

While the XO was going through its re-imaging process, Sam demonstrated leveraging web 2.0 resources by bookmarking favorite websites on del.icio.us. This way not only you have your favorite sites anytime, anywhere, on any computer, but also you can share your favorites with others at the same time.

Stephanie Gelber next demonstrated Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org), a library of 20,000 free ebooks whose copyright has expired in the USA. This includes over 100,000 book listings, search engines, newsletters, articles, and titles provided through partners, affiliates and volunteers.

Last, Sam Farsaii demonstrated how we to take pictures using the “Record” activity (applications in XO are known as activities). Participants then shared pictures and explored other capabilities of the XO such as chatting with other users.

UMPC

2008-03-05T08:43:00.004-06:00

Last Thursday, Sam presented Ultra Mobile PC options available today to Dallas County Directors of Technology and invited them to participate in DFWXO learning community. This presentation focused on the strength and weaknesses of each units, and how to best leverage each in appropriate school settings.

2008-02-26T22:46:00.040-06:00

This past Friday we had our 2^nd XO meeting in Irving (Dallas / FortWorth) area. Here is what we learned:

Sam Farsaii shared a video from OLPC.TV captured from India, titled: Khairat Village Kids Show Off Their XO Laptops. It is nice to see what other kids are doing with these units across the world, very inspiring. Then we looked at our counter parts OLPC in NYC and their XO implementation. We create a link to their usersgroup to keep in touch. Sam then demonstrated where in Irving we have access to free WIFI, thanks to postings by our folks at The Academy of Irving on Google Maps. Next he demonstrated NewsReader on XO differentiating between pull vs push technology.

Jerram Froese then demonstrated managing content online using Google reader. News and information do not have to reside on your laptop. Given the memory limitation of the XO, users should be encouraged to shift content storage from XO to online resources.

Marilyn who had earlier shared some of her Logo, notes demonstrated more concepts in Turtle Arts including “loops”.

Lastly, Mikie Kindsfather demonstrated ePals on the XO. The ePals activity allows teachers and students to communicate with the ePals Global Community of learners from around the world. Tim Discipio would have been proud.

YES!!, we have a new record. He setup the XO for the first time in just a couple of seconds!!And he was our most intent listener.

First Grade Students Experience the XO

2008-02-20T16:12:00.052-06:00

Today, Amy Walker, 1st grade teacher in Irving Texas, gave her students the XO laptops with the following directions:

This is an XO laptop (outlining the X and O).
Your job is to figure out how to open it.
You can touch it, feel it, and talk about it with each other as you try to open it.

What we noticed…

Boys jumped in more aggressively (not afraid of breaking it).
Half the students were ready to follow the teacher’s directions instead of problem solve.
No students got frustrated with the task. They were very motivated to discover. You could “see” their thinking.
Students were not afraid of failure (risk-free environment).
One team discovered how to completely remove the battery.
Students were looking for parts that would move or parts they could push (XO symbol).
Students were asking questions in their head and to their partners, “Is that it?”, “Will that work?”, and “Will this move?”

This was such a simple task, but so exciting and revealing about student’s thinking process and problem solving skills.
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DFW-XO Meet up was a big hit!!

2008-02-15T20:00:00.043-06:00

Over twenty people joined-in to learn more about the XO laptops in Irving ISD. This included teachers, students, principals, and technology support staff. Sam Farsaii started up the conversation with Seymour Parert's vision as stated in his book: Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas ..., Dr. Papert talks about the need to create an environment to "learn how to learn", a microworld for kids to think with. Sam then distributed XO laptops among participants to explore and discover in pairs.

The first activity of course is the classic "how to open the laptop for the first time." A required experience for every first-time user ;-)

He then introduced the sugar OS interface basics and turned it over to different folks within our learning community to share their experiences.

Darrell Vaughn talked about Analyze, network neighborhood, wireless network, access points, and security in Irving ISD. He demonstrated wired and wireless connectivity, how the IP addresses are displayed on the XO, and what Mac Addresses represent.

Dr. Alice Owen, then shared her experience with TamTamMini and her two year old grand child. Mia is an expert in making TamTam Mini Meow to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Next thing you know, the room became a music studio! We need headphones for next meeting for sure!

Next, Brian Edomm shared his talent with TurtleArt. We drew a square, to make a house. We then had to figure out what angles to use for the triangle on top (the roof). What a great opportunity for kids to practice their geometry. Give it a shot see if you can draw the roof angles right the first time, (hint: it is not 60 degrees!!) Brian helped everyone hypothesize what the angles should be before they were drawn. Think first, then apply. Re-examine the results, and try again.

That's how babies discover their world, but somehow we loose the "discovery learning" as an opportunity to expand our knowledge in school. What Seymour Papert refers to as every mistake is an opportunity to learn. Unlike schooling today where we punish a child for making a mistake. What Dr. Mitchel Resnick, of MIT Media Lab calls, the circle of learning: Imagine, Create, play, share, reflect, and Imagine again... We'll learn more about Mitchel Resnick's project Scratch, further down the road.

Mikie Kindsfather introduced Etoys. She demonstrated how to deconstruct the car, to change the tasks, experiment with objects, and modify their characteristics. She shared the relationship between Etoys, Scratch and Squeak. Etoys is a constructivist's dream come true. Piaget would have been proud of Mikie!!!

Then Chris Drennon joined us with his XO from Bedford. We quickly put him to work!! He demonstrated how to download Opera, his favorite browser for XO. People were impressed with the ease of download and installation. He also shared his QEMU emulation on his other laptop. We'll need a lesson on that next time. He is very talented and we are glad he is on our team :-)

Sam next demonstrated how to use the Acoustic Tape Measure. In this exercise we learned that if multiple people try this as the same time, it can produce unexpected results. I guess the sound application of the Acoustic Tape Measure is intended for point to point, not multi-point to multi-point. Sound doesn't care where it is generated from. ;-)

Last we learned how to share a Write activity among groups. A simple example would be a creative writing activity I would call "circles and cycles" or "pass the sentence". Start the first line of a story, (the stranger, the better), then pass it to the next person to come up with the next sentence and so on.

Thanks to all, it was a very successful day indeed. In fact the group checked out all XOs until our next meeting (sorry Candy). I am excited that the group wishes to continue to meet every week to feel more comfortable with the XOs. So we'll see you next Friday, February 22, at 4:00 pm in Training Room 1. For those in the Dallas Fort Worth community who missed it: Come join us, teach a few, learn a few. That's what learning communities are all about.

Location:
Irving ISD
2621 W. Airport FWY
Irving, TX 75062

email me if you need further assistance, or if you wish to present something at our next meeting: Sam Farsaii, sfarsaii@irvingisd.net

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T14:43:00.001-06:00

Did you hug your XO today?

DFW-XO Dallas FortWorth XO users group

2008-02-09T13:54:00.000-06:00

To help our teachers/students and share the knowledge in this community, I am forming the Dallas/FortWorth XO users group. (DFW-XO). Come join us:

Friday February 15, at 5:00 pm.

Location:

Irving ISD Administration Building
Training Room 1 (2nd Floor)

2621 W. Airport FWY

Irving, TX 75062

Here is the Map

Please let us know in advance if you would join us so we can plan accordingly.

Email: Sam Farsaii, sfarsaii@irvingisd.net

2008-02-09T13:45:00.000-06:00

Irving ISD has been issuing 1:1 (one laptop per child) for the past seven years. All of our high school students receive a laptop thanks to a community funded bond support to make this a reality. The belief is in the ever flat world one must evolve or perish. However, the prohibitive cost of laptops limit our ability to expand these into elementary and middle schools. So, a pilot would allow us to experiment with these units in different settings to see the potential impact.

2008-02-09T13:30:00.000-06:00

I think these constructivist learning tools are the catalysts in changing the focus on learning; Seymour Papert’s dream coming true. Now the challenge is to work with our teachers to believe in the same by helping kids create new knowledge rather than just memorize trivial facts. Information literacy, Learning to be global citizens, think critically, is what 21st century learning is all about. After careful review, I have purchased a class set (23 units) to pilot in our schools in Irving, Texas (home of Dallas Cowboys football team). The XO units arrived last week. What a joy!!

My First XO

2008-02-09T13:20:00.001-06:00

Eagerly following-up for more than two years, I got my XO laptop before Christmas!! What a treat for the first day buyers (picture in Dallas Airport sitting under the G1G1 Advertisement with XO in hand.

Sam