[Aslug] Fwd: Python Aboriginal ebooks for 3K OLPC laptops

[ninti at internode.on.net]

I've been thinking all along that web-based systems are easier to distribute, cross-platform etc. 
 
Though the article you pointed to recently talked about remote households often not having phone connections, electricity, etc, so I could see a point for desktop software (which normally gives me the willies). 
 
It seems like there are at least three similar projects in play at the moment, all based around indigenous literacy. Any chance they can be rolled into one somehow? 
 
Mike 
 
 
 On Thu 25/03/10  3:09 PM , "Dennis J" dennisj at fastmail.com.au sent: 
> Hi all, 
>  
> == Background == 
>  
> In the late 1980's (over 20  years ago!) while teaching out at 
> Umpangara(near Papunya) I developed proof of concept demos of interactive 
> language learning software with digital sound, scanned colour photos, 
> and activity scores, etc.  
>  
> The main multimedia machine distributed out in NT schools at that time 
> was the Amiga 500, and that was the platform used. The whole 
> interactivemultimedia show could be run off either 1 or 2 (I can't quite remember) 
> 720k floppy discs.   
>  
> The project was called the Vernacular Spectacular interactive language 
> learning software project, and many of it's aims and ideas parallel 
> those discussed in these recent threads. 
>  
> As well as digitising hard copy vernacular stories into interactive 
> computer format, with attendant language exercises, there was a 
> component which involved producing hard copy stories with barcodes 
> underthe text which could be 'played back' or 'read' by scanning the barcode 
> under the text, etc. 
>  
> == Development method == 
>  
> Given the relatively small market and the nature of the needs that such 
> projects target, I think an open source method of development is the 
> most rational. This allows resources to be focussed on primary needs, 
> not on packaging, marketing, and call centre help desk infrastructure, 
> etc, which all goes along with a commercial development. 
>  
> == Databases and Moodle == 
>  
> For databases to hold student progress information, and other database 
> type info, I think the moodle cms/lms (course management 
> system/learningmanagement system) ( http://moodle.org ) has a lot to offer. All thestudent tracking side of database development is already done, and what 
> would be needed would be to develop a module/plugin ( 
> http://docs.moodle.org/en/Development:Guidelines_for_contribute 
> d_code )that links in with the student tracking system. There is a massive 
> international community involved in moodle development, so there is a 
> lot of active interest in creating language learning resources in 
> moodle, and chances are there are already some modules that come close 
> to many of the needs associated with creating Aboriginal ebooks, etc. 
>  
> == No coding needed == 
>  
> In fact, basic interactive multimedia vernacular language eBooks and 
> language exercises can be created in Moodle right now, out-of-box, no 
> coding needed. All that's needed is to get familiar with the multimedia 
> capabilities of moodle, and to assemble your digital assets and 
> resources. 
>  
> == Flexibility of deployment == 
>  
> Moodle can be run with the learning activities coming off a server on a 
> local area network, or from a server on the internet, or the whole 
> package can be run off 'localhost' on individual machines. (That is, 
> thewhole learning management system can be packaged and run off 
> standalone,individual computers). This provides maximum flexibility in terms of 
> deployment options, as the final product can run on linux, mac, and 
> windows machines, it can can be run over the internet to distributed 
> users with internet access, or it can be run in remote communities that 
> do not have internet access. 
>  
> == Future proofing content == 
>  
> Moodle has a lot of momentum behind it, many very big universities 
> around the world have adopted it, so any work put into it has a higher 
> chance of surviving and still being usable over time as underlying 
> formats and operating systems change. That is, the strength of the 
> moodle community means moodle will be ported to new environments, as 
> they emerge, and the job of moving any content you may have created can 
> 'leverage' all the porting efforts of all the other users and 
> developers. Contrast this with the demise of the Amiga, and all content 
> there, as well as the demise of Hypercard and all language learning 
> content in that format, etc. In this sense, the open standards and open 
> source foundations of (most of) moodle are the best 'future proofing' 
> any language learning project can have. 
>  
> == Proprietary closed source dependencies == 
>  
> Having said that, currently multimedia content in moodle is handled by 
> the "Flash" browser plugin. While the moodle flash applets are 
> 'opensource', the rest of the Flash ecosystem is proprietary. With the 
> adventof html 5 and the 'video' tag, this could change. Though it is early 
> days with regard to html 5. 
>  
> == Brainstorming at a meeting == 
>  
> The original plan I had for the Vernacular Spectacular project was to 
> get all interested parties together for some meetings to brainstorm 
> ideas and thrash out needs. That part of the project never happened, 
> butwe could still try it now, at one of our ASLUG meetings? 
>  
> Dennis 
>  
>  
> ----- Original message ----- 
> From: ninti@ 
> internode.on.netTo: aslu 
> g at lists.linux.org.auDate: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:56:55 +1030 
> Subject: Re: [Aslug] Fwd: Python Aboriginal ebooks for 3K OLPC laptops 
>  
> Mark, you've obviously put a fair bit of time into your project 
> already.Great  
> effort.  
>  
> Some comments:  
>  
> Linux provides a wealth of possibilities for what you're trying to do, 
> in terms  
> of databases, programming languages and other underlying technologies. 
> For  
> example, given the likely size of the datasets, SQLite could be a very 
> good match  
> to your requirements.  
>  
> Another difference with Linux is that not only could your project be 
> freely  
> available, but so could the underlying operating system required to run 
> it.  
> Having a free application that requires an expensive operating system 
> torun on  
> isn't ideal.  
>  
> To get a lot of traction in the Linux community, I think you'd need to 
> consider  
> releasing your project under an open source license and, obviously, use 
> open  
> source technologies. Neither of these preclude using Windows as an 
> underlying  
> operating system, but obviously most Linux users prefer to build things 
> for  
> Linux. Most things built for Linux can be ported to Windows however, 
> butthere is  
> not as much energy around to do so.  
>  
> Making your application open source would mean that any interested 
> person could  
> extend/improve your application, and add content/modules/data to it, on 
> the  
> condition that all improvements and additions were as freely available 
> as the  
> original application. Good open source projects grow exponentially 
> without the  
> restrictions of closed source.  
>  
> Flash plays on Linux but is not 100% kosher as it isn't open source. As 
> far as I  
> know, Flash programs can't actually be created on Linux ... but I could 
> be wrong,  
> as I don't follow that particular technology. In any case, a 
> proprietarysoftware  
> purchase would be involved, which goes against the Linux grain.  
>  
> I guess a pertinent question right now is whether GCompris is a viable 
> option for  
> your purposes.  
>  
> My 2 cents ...  
>  
> Mike  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
> _______________________________________________ 
> aslug mailing list 
> aslu 
> g at lists.linux.org.auhttp://lists.linux.org.au/listinfo/aslug 
>  
>  
>