XO-1 in the CLIS Mornant: an update on testing
The project for a French class is less exotic than that of Nosy Komba, Madagascar ... But it can, again, a glimpse of the contributions and challenges arising from the use of the XO in a real class.
In the classroom, the XO has become a companion for students. It is light, agile and strong.
Computers are self-service. Each pair of students organized as he wants. We must manage the times when both want to use it. Especially since there are a failure and it is then necessary to accommodate other requests for use.
-
- Two students working on an XO.
This will make six months that the students in CLIS using XOs. They control more and more basic functions (managing files in the Journal, use different commands and views of Sugar ...) and Current Activities:
http://clismornant.free.fr/spip.php?article557
With very little guidance from me.
They use to play and go freely on the Internet (to update the site of the class and look for information). Internet connection of the school is filtered by the Academy, but in addition, I teach them to be responsible for their requests (clicks on links pre-defined, or with my approval, after a questioning of their journey and their request). I tell them regularly that the XO is a tool that can help them learn better, even with the very entertaining activities. By cons, we do not forget to do things in real life (manipulation of objects, games ...): Children, especially those in difficulty, need also to confront the subject and objects.
The most widely used software: Navigate, Save (with creative exercises), Physics, speak, write and Save (photos and videos), FotoToon, GCompris, Maze, Implode, Clock (and GCompris Clockgame) TamTamMini ...
-
- FotoToon: 2 photos annotated with bubbles. A student has a story, from photos of XO. He could not correct the text in the bubbles.
Sometimes I make them use the same activity at the same time to show them new features.
Some download directly from new activities. By cons, they are not doing a full test and do not persevere in their trial and error discovery. The teacher can then accompany them to go further (although it should include the operation ...).
They readily share their new knowledge and happy to help reluctant students or solve common problems.
During the holidays or extended weekends, some were able to take home (with a document signed by the parents, to help take care with safety). The "tricks" basic troubleshooting were acquired: 1) the 4 keys to press to set the cursor "crazy", 2) the forced restart, in case of lock: off by pressing the power button until the extinction of lights ..
They were proud to show the XO to their surroundings and become the expert who made demonstrations and teaches others.
But the pleasure of the user is sometimes marred by technical problems:
- Difficulty connecting to the Internet, sharing activities (antagonism with the Internet connection and mesh networks).
- Difficult to take pictures (Record): in addition to the lack of viewfinder, trigger delay and static picture does not match what is recorded. So a lot of pictures missed.
- No audio correct, with the microphone: a student can not save a text he reads against the XO.
- Records that are not found or can not be opened again (eg creation of Save). Beware when you resume a former text: missing passages.
- The cursor goes crazy. Easy to find with the use of four buttons at the corners of the keyboard for recalibration. You can also use a USB mouse without problems.
- When the battery is empty, the XO turns off without warning. You can not save work in progress before the sudden extinction.
- Some lack of French translation for certain activities, but it's not too embarrassing. Anyway, my students are not yet real readers and they are doing.
- Memory too tight: you have to regularly delete log entries and save the photos on a memory stick. This limits the download of new activities.
- The qwerty keyboard is fine and accented letters are found, although they should be reworked on a PC or a Mac to transform them into true accented letters, recognized by spell checkers.
- We had a hardware issue: an XO (on loan from 6 OLPC-France) is awaiting repair because it does not light up.
Tasks of the teacher:
I spend a lot of time trying to solve technical problems. I show it to be patient and try again many times maneuvering ...
But I can not control everything: I am a "simple" teacher, not a computer.
So it's not as simple as in the "pub"!
The members of OLPC-France can easily and effectively answer questions, despite the distance. But I miss a meeting with other teachers for discovery / exchanges to pool use and know the basics of an unsophisticated Activities: the series of activities and the Programmable TamtTam: Turtle art, Pippy, Scratch, Etoys ...
And training for troubleshooting: I removed an XO and tried to use a "Serial Adapter", but he was recognized by the type of PC used in school ...
In a deployment in a southern country, or even in our country already very helpful, we must provide an effective and permanent technical support for teachers.
In the coming weeks, we will explore some possibilities of programming (Turtle art), to work logic. We will also attempt to use the XO drive (PDF, ePub) with existing files or created.
I'm always excited in the classroom use of this tool, despite its imperfections present.
Antoine Michelot
