If OLPC started today... JSConf.is

IF ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD STARTED TODAY

how JavaScript-y would it be?!Retrospective and Forecast!

Nick Doiron — @mapmeld (Twitter && GitHub)

WHAT HAPPENED TO OLPC?

THE YEAR: 2005

KOFI ANNAN | MIT MEDIA LAB

A LAPTOP FOR KIDS?

LeapPad, 2005

ZDNet: average laptop dropped

to $1,081

IS IT COST-EFFECTIVE?

edu/$ is already well-studied

people have technology

people want to learn more

HARDWARE

1GB solid state (SD card)

hybrid e-Ink screen

toss-able

water-resistant (USB and SD card inputs only)

low-cost sourcing of pieces

MESH NETWORK

Works in small clusters in surprising ways (teachers have never used Google Docs)

Tedious, breaks down with lots of machines

Disabled by Plan Ceibal

Red Hook Mesh Network

OPERATING SYSTEM

Sugar

Linux / Fedora- with Red Hat help

Still new releases

Android is featurephone OS

THE MIT VISION

Outdoor schools, sub-Saharan AfricaAfghanistanLibya, India

Illiteracy target

100 books x 100 laptops

Danish Qureshi, Asia Despatch

THE ACTUAL USERS

Latin America — Plan Ceibal in Uruguay, MoE in Peru

SOFTWARE

Python

Zipped app folder (.xo) on an Activities App Store

OGG, not Flash/MP3 (dawn of YouTube)

Office apps

THE FIVE PRINCIPLES

Child ownership

Low ages

Saturation (1:1 ratio)

Connection

Free and open source

Keepod.com ^^

Computer labs redux (using live USBs)

FOSS IN 2005-08

MIT SICPScheme —> Python

Google hired Guido van Rossum (2005)

focus on a project wiki

git / gitorious

SCALING UP AND DOWN

Small school pilot projects are impractical

Regional / national programs are political handouts

THE ACTUAL INTERNET

target countries changed

3G moved FAST

Khan Academy, India

REALIGNMENT

Sugarizer

remaking the OS asweb / embedded JS

TurtleArt: Python —> web

Scratch: Java —> web

JS MAKES SENSE

JS follows the web and the browser

If you can continuously, silently update the browser, the device is secure the lessons can be cross-platform

WHAT NEXT, THEN?

Libraries of resources

Portable servers for videos, maps, quick collaboration

Provide a path for people to learn to code on their devices

PATHS TO CODING

I get this question a lot

we might not be the ones to fix thisbecause we’re here

open source onboarding is still hard

OLPC CODING SOLUTIONS

TurtleArt (Logo)

eToys (Squeak)

Scratch

Pippy (Python)

PATHS TO CODING

block-based (intro or infinite?)

games

Maker Movement / physical blocks

reactive environment

BLOCKS, NOT JUST FOR TURTLES

Potaka.io

Qalb قلب

SCRATCH AND GOOGLEMAKING INTERESTING MOVES

CODECOMBAT

SWIFT PLAYGROUNDS

ROBOTS AND PHYSICAL THINGS

BaoBot (from 2012 AFRON $10 robot challenge)

Pocky / Coding Blocks / Arduino

REACTIVE

KhanAcademy.org/cs | Bret Victor, Eve

RISK FACTORS

JavaScript usurped by some language TBD

JavaScript divides into warring factions

Machine learning redefines role of the developer (both what we’re writing and how we write it)

MACHINE LEARNINGIt’s replacing humans in OpenStreetMap

A NEW LANDSCAPEHardware and browser from local / aid sources

Education libraries which work anywhere (Khan Academy, Library for All)

Adoptable by formal US Edu, translators, etc

Books are still hard (good content, local languages, reading that kids like)

Make it available on portable server / offline apps

CS edu. that works both at school and self-serve

EDU METRICS AND SENSORS

“Just the sight of the device reminds me to use full sentences and talk more frequently, instead of using short sentences or just facial expressions.”

THANKS!

One Laptop per Child

Nick DoironAny questions / stories@mapmeld on Twitter and GitHub