Sugar on a Stick in Allston, MA
the problem:
We are working in the Gardner Pilot Academy (GPA) in Allston, MA. The GPA's 336 students and their families speak over 13 languages ranging from Spanish to Khmer. Over 85% of the students meet the federal poverty guidelines to participate in the Free or Reduced Price Lunch Program. The majority of GPA's students fall within a group of students considered to be academically at-risk.
Building computer labs and integrating computers into the classroom is expensive. And, most computers are built for downtown offices, not classrooms. Finally, many students at GPA don't have exposure to computers at home. We hope to remedy these issues.
vital stats:
people impacted:
366people involved:
3why it's important:
Sugar is an open source, free operating system developed from ground up to support collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning. First developed by MIT professors, technicians and educators, Sugar is used worldwide by one million children in over forty different countries. Sugar is the operating system that powers One Laptop per Child's XO laptops in some of the poorest countries in the world.
Sugar developed Sugar on a Stick, a USB memory device loaded with the award winning Sugar learning platform. With Sugar on a Stick, children can boot their personal learning environment on any computer without altering the host computer.
We will be using Sugar on a Stick to provide the best computer learning environment for the students at GPA. Sugar provides a learning environment uniquely made for children; there are no files/folders and all work is automatically saved. With Sugar on a Stick, children use an educational computer environment both at home and school. Also, Sugar on a Stick boots on computers that don't have hard drives, which means we can use "old" machines. By getting donations of unused computers, we can bring computers into the classroom at virtually no cost. We can also take these "old" computers and bring them into the homes of children that don't have one.
Also, Sugar has a support system of engineers and computer gurus worldwide, who develop free software for children. This online, grassroots movement has developed hundreds of educational software which is available for download.
the plan of action:
We are already in cooperation with Sugar Labs and are currently integrating Sugar on a Stick in a fourth grade classroom. Last summer, we ran a summer program acclimating the teachers and students with the Sugar learning platform.
Our goal is to fully involve the school and community with Sugar on a Stick. Every child will be given their own Sugar on a Stick. Also, every classroom will be fit with computers that can boot Sugar. Finally, every child who does not have a computer to use at home will be given one to bring home. We will be working with the local PTA, and hope that we can make home visits to help set up the computers and familiarize parents with the educational benefits of Sugar.
The Do Something Grant will be used to purchase necessary hardware - USB sticks ($7-8), network cables, etc.
how you can get involved:
Anyone can help.
Computer people - help with the development of Sugar (this would entail cooperation with Sugar Labs, our partner)
Educators/students - starting pilots in your own schools, volunteering at GPA to work with the students, documentation
