[Scale-planning] Open Source in Education Track (was Re: About the Open Data Track)

Thu Aug 11 03:18:15 UTC 2016

Caryl, Very good LA CUE resource.

On that page I see: http://ca.gafesummit.com/westla

It seems like we need to come up with OSSIE resources to use for marketing
and to build a track.

i am inspired to move more towards:
https://www.redhat.com/en/explore/the-open-organization-book

maybe Red Hat would sponsor OSSIE if we could get the scale to approached
them with a reference to:

https://www.redhat.com/en/explore/the-open-organization-book

and

https://opensource.com/life/16/7/future-education-open?sc_cid=701600000011jJVAAY

and

https://opensource.org/node/832

a couple other references to programs and people that may work for OSSIE are:

http://simschool.org/ for teacher training

and

http://nextgenlearning.org/grantee/association-advancement-computing-education

which both (above) being links from:
http://nextgenlearning.org/assessment-learning-project

<quote who="Caryl Bigenho">
OK. Try this link for the CUE-LA newsletter! http://bit.ly/2ah2Qdp  Sorry
I messed up the first one, my 5-year-old granddaughter was rushing me …
"hurry up, Grandma…."
Caryl

Good idea, Joe….
I also mentioned parents in my earlier post. Many of the regular attendees
(and their spouses) are parents and would probably enjoy some breaks from
the "heavier stuff" (that is not to say that education is "lighter stuff")
to learn about OSSIE resources they could use with their family.
I know we don't have a budget, but since Kenneth mentioned STEM/STEAM I
looked at some possibilities. Wouldn't it be great if we could get this
couple from Nebraska to come to SCaLE and talk about their 3-D printed
violin? They are hoping to do other instruments so schools can use them.
The problem is, it costs $450* to buy the printed parts or $600 for the
whole violin. But… it only costs about $70 for materials to print it and
the design is open source and is, of course… free. They say it can be done
on a desktop 3-D printer!
https://opensource.com/life/16/5/hovalin
Also, CUE-LA has several upcoming events. We can see what they are doing
for those to get some ideas. I got an email from them today and will
forward a link to their newsletter. Many of their interests are in
propriatory software, but there are many good things we could introduce
them to that are open source. Here is a link to the newsletter:
CUELA August Events & Updates http://bit.ly/2ah2Qdp http://bit.ly/2ah2Qdp
http://bit.ly/2ah2Qdp
Caryl
* You can buy several good Chinese-made traditional wood violins for that
price so it isn't feasable for schools… but the $70 one is.

From: joerenzullo at gmail.com
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2016 13:56:26 -0700
To: scale-planning at lists.linuxfests.org
Subject: Re: [Scale-planning] Open Source in Education Track (was Re:
About the Open Data Track)

Jumping in on this conversation - I'd be interested in proposing a talk
for this track!

This summer, I taught 60 students (ages 8-14) in a summer enrichment
program how to program using Minecraft and Python. We ran code on
Raspberry Pi systems, used Linux hosts for class-wide servers for the
students to collaborate, and demonstrated how to interact with the game
world and generate large structures by defining the basic geometric solids
as functions that the students could use via a simple API.

It was hugely successful, and I am working on curriculum based on it that
I am in talks with my university (UNM in Albuquerque) to roll out to our
CS4All teacher-training program.

I can also inquire as to the (very good!) idea of getting teacher credits
approved for conference attendance/participation. Several of my family
members work in the Pasadena Unified School District, and I imagine that
this would draw a great deal of interest from middle and high school
teachers at the campuses which have STEM/STEAM programs.

I also very much like the idea of broadening this to parents who are
interested in resources for working with their own kids - about 10 of the
families whose students I taught this summer have followed up with me
post-program to ask for more information and "next steps" they can take
with their kids.

-Joe Renzullo
PhD Student, Computer Science, University of New Mexico
Software Engineer (Academic Part Time), JPL

On Tue, Aug 2, 2016 at 1:36 PM, Ilan Rabinovitch <ilan at linuxfests.org>
wrote:
I don't know if we'll have space for multiple rooms. Let's focus on
defining what we want this track to cover and where it compliments other
tracks like SCALE TNG.

On Aug 2, 2016 1:16 PM, "Kenneth Wyrick" <kmw at caltek.net> wrote:
I like both of those suggestions. maybe 2 1/2 days and label it Open

Source STEM/STEAM Education then maybe we could come up with some

sub-categories i.e. project based, linked learning, etc.

<quote who="Mx Siltanen">

If teachers are unwilling to take a day off, and unwilling to burn a

weekend day,

How about a 1/2 day track on a Thur which runs late? It doesn't need to
be

a large room?

Or perhaps we can rebrand the track and call it a Open Source STEM/STEAM

education track for a day?

On Tue, Aug 2, 2016 at 1:30 AM, Ilan Rabinovitch
<ilan at socallinuxexpo.org>

wrote:

> (FYI: Bala is traveling this week, so he might be delayed in replying
> to

> this with his feedback on numbers and experience the past few years.  I

> imagine he'll reply in a few days when he's back)

>

> Happy to see Caryl and Kennth both excited about keeping the OSSIE
> track

> alive. If those interested in OSSIE want to come back with a proposal
> on

> what the track should look like moving forward and how best to fill the

> both the program and the seats in the room I'm sure we could get behind

> having it again.

>

> I do like the the idea of finding a way to offer continuing education

> credits for teachers, as that would likely draw them in similar to how

> we've done this for the legal track.

>

> For context/background, the original mission of OSSIE was to help

> Educators find ways to use OpenSource in the classroom, specifically in

> K-12 environments but occasionally we covered high education.  This was

> from around the time all the CA schools had vouchers for use in

> purchasing

> tech as part of the Microsoft Law suits, while at the same time having

> reduced budgets due to cuts.  Our vision at the time had been to send

> teachers back to school with lesson plans they could use in their class

> rooms as a way to drive free software use in schools, and get students

> involved early.

>

> In terms of specific numbers:

>

> * OSSIE has always been a 1 day track. Depending on the year the day
> has

> varied between either Friday, or the weekend days.

>

> * Attendees.  I'd need to dig  to find specific number of attendees the

> past few years. Shyam or Bala who are on list might have it handy.  I

> think

> a reasonable goal would be to have 30-40 attendees in the track.  Our

> smallest room is 60~ theater style, most rooms hold 150+ theater style.

>

> * # of submissions by year:

>

> 2016 - 4

> 2015 - 4

> 2014 - 7

> 2013 - 3

>

> Some initial questions I can think of for us to discuss are:

>

> * Where does OSSIE fit with regards to SCALE TNG? They're likely

> complimentary and can support each other in someway.

>

> * Is our goal to reach educators, students, parents or some combination

> there of?

>

> * What day is best for each of the mentioned audiences? (teachers vs

> parents vs students)

>

> * If we want educators, how can we better reach them and encourage them

> to

> attend? Happy to share what we've done in the past.

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Ilan Rabinovitch

> Conference Chair

> Southern California Linux Expo

> 877-831-2569 x110 Voice

> 818-442-1865 Mobile

> ilan at linuxfests.org Email

>

> ---

> Ask me about sponsorship and speaking opportunities at LinuxFests.org's

> upcoming events:

> DevOps Days SV -  June 24-25, 2016 - Mountain View, CA

> Texas Linux Fest - July 8-9, 2016, Austin TX

> SCALE 15x - March 2-5, 2017 - Pasadena, CA

>

> On Mon, Aug 1, 2016 at 9:40 PM, Caryl Bigenho <cbigenho at hotmail.com>

> wrote:

>

>> Hi Ilan,

>>

>> Why don't you let Kenneth Wyrick and I see if we can get this going?

>> You

>> have given us a list of things to work on below and we can get started

>> right away with such things as whether Friday or Saturday would work

>> best

>> and how to get more educators to attend.* As I see it, an OSSIE track

>> shouldn't be just for educators. With so many parents getting involved

>> in

>> the technology side of their children's education, things like the
>> Khan

>> Academy videos, Hour of Code and Scratch/ScratchJr are things that
>> will

>> have a wider audience than just professional educators.

>>

>> Caryl

>>

>> * Maybe we could get  a unit of college credit for folks who attend
>> the

>> entire OSSIE day and pay a small fee. Teachers can use this type of

>> credit

>> for professional development and, often, it can count toward increases

>> in

>> salary.

>>

>> ------------------------------

>> From: ilan at socallinuxexpo.org

>> Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2016 14:45:05 -0700

>> To: scale-planning at lists.linuxfests.org; bala at socallinuxexpo.org

>> Subject: [Scale-planning] Open Source in Education Track (was Re:
>> About

>> the Open Data Track)

>>

>>

>> We haven't yet made a decision around OSSIE for this year, but as a

>> track

>> it has seen reduced attendance and submissions over the past few
>> years.

>> If

>> we can come up with some concrete plans around what we'd want it to

>> look

>> like and discuss how we can get teachers to attend I'm sure we'd be

>> happy

>> to arrange space again.

>>

>> Another thing to keep in mind is we've gotten mixed feedback from

>> teachers on what day to hold OSSIE on if we continue to do so. On the

>> one

>> hand we hear from many teachers they can't attend during the weekend
>> as

>> they have trouble getting the school district to give them a day off

>> for

>> the conference.  On the other hand, we also hear from them that they

>> prefer

>> to keep their weekends to themselves rather than for training.

>>

>>

>>

>> -Ilan

>>

>

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