One Laptop Per Child –Algebra 1 in Simple English Wiki–Textbook/Moodle

• What is the OLPC Laptop Project?

• What is the latest news in the OLPC Laptop Project?

• Who is organizing this project?• Where did this idea come

from?• What is a Wiki-Textbook? • What is a Moodle?• How is this project organized?• How will the project be

improved and evaluated?• What will it look like when

we’re finished?

What I’ve been doing since last year…

• Can a bunch of math teachers really write a whole math textbook?

• Frequently Asked Questions

What is the OLPC Laptop Project?

• Started development in 2000 by Nicolas Negroponte, former head/founder of MIT Media Lab and Wired Magazine (younger brother of John Negroponte)

• Will be mass-produced for approx. $100** for sale to developing world governments for K-12 education

• Current cost approx. US $180

• First mass-produced laptops are being shipped starting Dec 14th

Features:

•Linux operating system (open source)

•wi-fi (mesh network)

•500MHz processor

•128MB DRAM

•500Mb Flash Memory

•Self-powered via crank/pedal

•Can do everything except store massive data

Latest News on the OLPC(X0) Laptop

for sale November 12th • $200 delivers a laptop to a needy student• $400 delivers 2 laptops

– One to a needy student– One to you

• http://www.laptopgiving.org/

OLPC Roll-out Map – New Version

Green – Pilot Countries (first round)

Red – Post-Launch countries (second round)

Orange – Expressed interest at Ministry of Education Level or Higher

Yellow – Seeking government support

Who is organizing this project?

Lisa Gehman Thorne

• Teacher, Math and Computer Applications at West Hollywood Community Day School, LAUSD

• Creator of www.HSTutorials.net

• B.S. Mathematics, UCLA

• M.Ed. Mathematics Education UCLA

What is a Wiki-Textbook?• Wiki is server software that allows users to create and edit the same Web

page from any computer on the Internet.

• Wikipedia is the most famous wiki, but it’s not the only one.

• A Wiki-Textbook uses that technology for a group of people to write a textbook.

• Our textbook will be written using Wiki, but that is not where students will use it. They will use it on a Moodle.

• Our book is currently hosted at en.wikibooks.org , but will be moved to simple.wikibooks.org so that it will be near other projects written in Simple English.

• I will demonstrate how to add content at the end of the presentation.

What is

• Moodle is a free, Open Source course management system (CMS). It can:– Give assignments, – Keep track of student progress, – Facilitate communication between

students and with the teacher, – automatically grades multiple-

choice assignments and tests.

• You can download and use it on any computer (including webhosts)

• It can scale from a single-teacher site to a 50,000-student University.

• All work doesn’t have to be on a computer to use a Moodle. It is an organizational tool.

?

What will our

Non-Hosted Version• Organize the curriculum for

the student• Provide

– problems, – tutorials, and – games to teach the content

• Allow students to correct their work

• Provide self-correcting tests and quizzes

• Provide a curriculum for students whose teachers don’t know how to teach Algebra

Hosted Versions (Phase 3)• Hosted by volunteer

teachers all over the world• Teachers can change the

curriculum order to meet their district guidelines

• Teachers can invite foreign students to join their regular class

• Teachers can host an all-foreign class

eventually do?

Who is going to do What and When? – Phase 1

Everybody and anybody…1. Put word problems and

assemble standard problems into order of difficulty onto the wiki-textbook, concentrating on the first 3 - 4 chapters.

2. Submit suggestions for a domain name.

3. Incorporate all problems for which tutorials have already been published on HSTutorials.net.

4. Pursue grant money/institutional funding for a stand-alone website.

Lisa Thorne and a few volunteers…

1. Decide on a domain name for our project.

2. Once the first 3 - 4 chapters are finished, they will be posted on a Moodle anyone can use.

3. Until we have funding, the domain name will redirect to extra server space for one of my websites (probably www.ThorneSculpture.com) .

4. Pursue grant money/institutional funding for a stand-alone website.

Who is going to do What and When? – Phase 2

Everybody and anybody…

1. Test-drive the Moodle themselves or along with their students.

2. Keep writing word problems and ordering standard problems until we finish the bare-bones version of the textbook.

Lisa Thorne and a few volunteers…

• Post chapters on the Moodle as they are completed.

• Implement a ratings strategy (Read: The Wisdom of Crowds)

– Standard and word problems• Difficulty (low, med, high)• Importance to topic (low, med

high)– Word problems

• Language complexity– Tutorials

• Speech clarity• Language simplicity• Download speed• Helpfulness

Who is going to do What and When? – Phase 3

Everybody and anybody…

1. Rate problems and tutorials on the moodle.

2. Tell their friends and neighbors.

Lisa Thorne and more than a few

volunteers…• Record tutorials• Teach/facilitate an

actual class of international students

What will it look like when we’re finished?

• Here’s the current mock-up of the student/user interface http://www.hstutorials.net/olpc/olpcmathindex.htm

• Here’s an example of a narrated tutorial in simple English http://www.hstutorials.net/olpc/example_tut_1.htm

These links are both at the top of the page of http://www.hstutorials.net/olpcmath.htm

Can a bunch of math teachers really write a whole math textbook?• Sure, why not!?!

– Read The Wisdom Of Crowds by James Surowiecki– It suggests that our book could be significantly better

than any book made by a small group of experts.

• Other scientists routinely collaborate in large numbers on large projects– 450 scientist credited for the top quark theory

• Linux operating system continues to be written by volunteer computer programmers

Can a bunch of math teachers really write a whole math textbook?• Most of us compose example problems for

our classes every day.

• Publishing a textbook is risky, but writing one is not.– Online textbooks are easier to write because

they can always be corrected.

• These students are better off with our imperfect textbook than without.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What does “Simple English” mean?

• How is this project connected to OLPC?

• What about wiki-vandalism?

• What about controversies over curriculum order?

• How do I participate?

• Can I take a leadership role?

What does “Simple English” mean?

• Simple English is also called Basic English• BE850 is a list of the necessary 850 English words for

effective communication. It was developed by Charles Kay Ogden.

• BE1500 is a longer list.• You can enter text at

http://www.online-utility.org/english/simple_basic_helper.jsp and it will automatically place hyperlinks to Wiktionary

• You can practice writing in Simple English by contributing or editing articles in Simple.Wikipedia.org

• You can avoid the issue by just writing math problems without words.

How is this project connected to One Laptop Per Child?

• It’s not. • Its potential is even bigger than that. • Our website is for anyone in the world with a

basic English vocabulary.• It is how I got the idea. At the ISTE conference

in ’05, Negroponte asked for teachers to start developing content.

• It could be used by any school that didn’t want to buy traditional textbooks (even yours!)

What about wiki-vandalism?

• Wiki’s can be vandalized, but administrators can always restore them and lock out URL’s. (Note: Wikipedia cannot be edited from LAUSD schools for this reason.)

• Students will work the course through the Moodle, which is not vulnerable to vandalism.

What about controversies over curriculum order?

• This textbook can easily be turned into several textbooks. For example, we could have:– one that teaches polynomial factoring after graphing

lines (like McDougall/Littel)– and one that teaches polynomial factoring first (like

Dolciani)

• There is no reason to be thrown off course by the small things we disagree about.

How do I participate?

1. Go to http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/OLPC_-_Algebra_1_in_Simple_English

(or link through www.HSTutorials.net)

2. Register (so we can communicate)3. Start adding problems!4. Spread the word

– Blogs– Letters to the editor in education magazines– Department meetings– Math cadre

I will now show you just how easy it is!

Can I take a leadership role?You betcha!

• Make this presentation to other teachers. – This Powerpoint can be downloaded from

http://www.hstutorials.net/olpcmath.htm – Modify the presentation with my blessings!

• Write an article about it for a teaching publication• Talk to teachers in other subject areas about

starting their own Simple English Wiki-Moodle Projects

• Celebrate imperfect progress!• I am specifically looking for people who want to

make this presentation to math teaching organizations in other states.