XO users in Seattle classrooms?

[Mark Ahlness]

Wondered if there are any teachers in Seattle using an XO laptop in their classrooms - or at home for that matter. I've got one going in my classroom of third graders, and it is quite something. Here's the first post, being written in the picture.

I'll share more about this later, but I wanted to mention there is an actual Seattle XO users group(!), with a BLOG, with a meeting this Sunday, January 27th, starting at 2 PM:

Saturday House:
1952 First Ave. S., Suite 5, Seattle
http://www.saturdayhouse.org/
Check the blog for details (like which button to press to get in)

There's so much to learn about this amazing machine, and I know I can learn tons. I'm going to try hard to make it to the gathering. Please spread the word, to any XO owners you know. Thanks! - Mark

[Mark Ahlness]

For those interested in this, I did in fact attend the meeting and blogged about it:

Seattle XO Users , see below...

It has been a while since I've been to a meeting like this. People drawn together by a cause, by their knowledge, and by a need for assistance.

I had asked earlier if there were other educators in Seattle using XO laptops in their classrooms. I was the only teacher at this meeting, for sure. I was very intimidated by the level of expertise surrounding me. People were talking about re-imaging, builds, jabber, and sugar - to name only a few of the words whizzing around that I only knew a little about.

But everyone was so helpful and friendly. Next to me was a dad with his son, trying to get a game downloaded and installed on their XO. A really nice and smart guy named Karl (from the UW, I think) was on my other side, providing tech support for even the silliest question I could offer. He told me how you "save", "open", and "explore" on the little guy.

I took a picture here (with my XO) of folks across the table and put it on a flash drive. If you asked a question, it was as likely somebody across the room would respond as the person next to you. And there were three rooms full of us. I learned that Control-Q will force closed an application. I learned the SD slot (which I had just discovered earlier in the day) supports an unlimited amount of GB. I learned there is another Jabber server set up in Seattle, and I wrote down the location. And so much more.

There was a guy who actually works for OLPC as a kind of regional rep. who spoke with the whole group for a while. That was real cool. People volunteered to start up hardware support regionally. I even spoke with a couple of folks after the official business was over about setting up a Ning for OLPC users.

Tags: olpc xo

[Justin]

Mark, that's great to hear. I hope they open the Give One Get One program again soon - sounds like it was a very successful way to raise funds for the OLPC project. I also think it'll spur more software development, as everyone I know who ordered one is a programmer.