A few weeks ago the kids and I went for a walk downtown after their Saturday morning art lessons at the Two Rivers Gallery and spotted a small poster in the window of a pawn shop. It was a photo of an alien head with the words RETRO emblazoned across the top. It advertised retro books, games, movies, and toys - how could we resist!
In Retro Rentals we discovered a club/collective that offers not only a pretty fantastic scifi/fantasy film club, and an impressive collection of vintage toys, but discovered an incredible treasure trove of DIY synths constructed by PG’s best kept secret - Oro ( found online here and here )
Oro produces some DIY circuit bending treasures of the highest order. Not only are the boxes and circuits he builds highly unique, but he really encourages people to play and explore with electronics. As Gabriel strapped on a set of headphones and began flicking switches and twirling dials a broad grin swept across his face. We spent over an hour playing with the synth boxes while Oro enthusiastically explained the design and how they work. We were all smitten with the circuit bending bug and have already put the wheels in motion to build our own synth box as an intro electronics project.
Seeing the enthusiasm and wonder expressed by Gabriel as he explored the workings of these synthboxes brought to mind John Seely Brown’s insights on tinkering as a mode of knowledge production in the digital age. More on circuit bending as our project unfolds - looking forward to the new discoveries of sound as well as introducing the kids to the wonders of hobby electronics through tinkering.
As my son’s interest in computing grows, so do his requests for new applications and functions. Although Sugar, the default desktop environment for the OLPC, is great both in its design and function - the time required to customize .xo activities for Gabriel soon became a near impossible task.
After some digging I found a great project that tailors Ubuntu 8.10 for the OLPC. All you need is:
* an OLPC developer key ( just need to request one via the OLPC browser activity )
* the .bz2 archive of the customized Ubuntu files ( .torrent of file found here )
* a 2 GB USB key
* a 2 GB SD Card
A group of fantastic folks put some great work into this port and it works like a charm. They have outlined the installation and technical docs at the project wiki. If you have an OLPC kicking around gathering dust, this will inject some new fun and life into the machine. Once installed, you can use the Synaptic package manager to easily install new apps.
I installed Pidgin ( multi client IM app ) so my son and I can IM over GTalk and also installed Ekiga so we can make video conference calls. Both of these apps worked flawlessly with the integrated OLPC hardware.
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Image via infomo@flickr
By far the coolest new functionality now present in my son’s OLPC is its new function as eComic Reader. With some keybinding tweaks to open source app Comix, the OLPC now functions as a very slick Comic reader. The keybindings in Comix 4 allow Gabriel to use the gamepad buttons on the sides of the OLPC screen to ‘turn the pages’ without using the keyboard - so he can use it as a full screen eBook reader. For the uninitiated, digital comics are basically high res scans of book pages that are sequenced & archived in .cbr and .cbz files. The Comix reader will index imported files and allows users to tag and organize their comic collections. There are scores of fantastic sites that offer .cbr and .cbz files for download - among my favorites is the Comic Books Archive which offers up scores of Golden Age classics.
This Christmas was kind to the Potter kiddies and brought some fantastic loot - among this loot were some particularly interesting edtechie toys that I thought would be just the thing to blow the dust of ye olde blog. So, inspired in part by the epic toy blogging brought forth by the Bava I give you both the Jedi Force Trainer and the Discovery Night Vision Camcorder.
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The Night Vision Camcorder packs a 3 megapixel camera and night vision sensor into a small package that withstood the battery of tests my son and I put it through. From front sled-cam duties to closet Blair Witch sequels - this little toy packs lots of fun into a $40 package. Submit for your approval - this pretty spooky monster story told in a dark bedroom and captured with night vision magic.
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The Jedi Force Trainer takes the science kit to the next level with wireless brain monitoring and coaching from no other than Yoda himself. The wireless headset features dry EEG sensors that detect your alpha and beta brainwaves. Fluctuations in signals are then translated to a fan in a column. Depending on the degree and direction of your concentration, you are able to control the fan and movement of the ball. I am happy to report that I am at level 6, but Yoda and I have met an impasse. I keep feeling like I need to flee my training to find my friends in need of my help …
Just back from three great days at the Canandian eLearning Conference where post-secondary educators from across Canada gathered to share educational technology projects, products, and directions. I enjoyed many sessions but a few stood out for me:
Ron Evans and Albert Balbon from North Island College illustrated how the Remote Science Lab mixed technologies to create a unique application for distributed learning. With some creative customization, the lab allows students to remotely control lab equipment by robotic arm. Sensors in the remote lab equipment can be calibrated using an embedded Flash application with resultant data retrieved within the same application. We were treated to an impressive live demo of the lab in action but what impressed me most was the presenters’ sense of enthusiasm and spirit of exploration when discussing both the development and future plans for the project. Although the equipment being leveraged in the project is quite costly, the methods and software driving the project are being offered by NIC to all BC post-secondary institutions who wish to explore a similiar project. Although I don’t see a robotics project on my horizon, I certainly came away from the session energized by the team’s DIY ethos and courage in taking on such an ambitious project.
A well researched application of serious gaming challenging students to gain an understanding of how difficult and disorienting it was for aboriginal children to attend residential schools. Topics such as language barrier, isolation from family, and cultural displacement are explored through use of cinematic sequences, role play simulations, and links to articles, audio, and video, among which are a collection of first-person testimonies. I lived in Aklavik, NWT for 4 years where I worked as a teacher and school administrator. Aklavik had 2 residential schools that left a legacy of painful memories for many aboriginal people in the Northwestern Arctic. This project resonated with me and is a resource that would be a very valuable use in Arctic public schools as a way to effectively communicate to northern aboriginal youth the endurance and courage of elders who surived these trials.
Just Plain Fun
I had the good fortune to jam with Scott Leslie and Brian Lamb in two Wordpress workshops - one intro session and another on aspects of using Wordpress in Education. From my perspective, there appears to be a rising interest in supporting more open forms of student discourse in higher ed. If the feedback immediately following the session is any indication, I think we will be seeing more WordPress fuelled creativity in the coming year(s). Major props to Novak, Enej, Andre, and all the UBC Wordpress crew who shine a bright light for other BC institutions leveraging Wordpress for education within their own contexts.
As always, getting together with ETUG folks is just plain fun. This gathering was particularly fun as it was the 15 year anniversary of ETUG. I am grateful to be working with such a creative group of people who encourage and support me as I experiment with my crayons ( tip of the hat to Barbara Ganley for the metaphor ). For some literal digital crayons check out Brian and I having some crayon fun on the Wii-hacked surface Shauna, Jeff, and I managed to get rolling during lunchtime in the ETUG party room.
Thought I would take some time today to try out Smoothboard and Spore in the family room with the kids. A little reconfiguration of the home media centre, along with some calibration and screen resolution tweaks and we were gaming surface style. Another game that worked really well was World of Goo. Next up - Edusim.
