Re: [Cctools-cchost] K-12 Spanish program seeks joomla plug

[Kevin D. <dri...@gm...>]

Hi Benjamin,

This sounds like an incredible project!  I especially like the idea of
parents learning alongside their children.

I'm working on a curriculum sharing project titled TeachForward
(teachforward.org) and we are engaged with some similar challenges as
are you.  Combining logins the way you describe is going to be a
difficult task because a user's identity on the site winds its way
into every slice of functionality.

My recommendation is to determine which project is closest to meeting
your needs and then focus your efforts on developing the missing
parts.

I would love to keep in touch as your project unfolds.  This is
turning out to be the year of open-education initiatives!

Kevin


On 9/13/06, Benjamin Lowenstein <Ben...@ob...> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I am working with a new K-12 bilingual educational program called
> S.I.T.E.S (Spanish In the Elementary Schools) from Oberlin, OH, that is
> trying to provide free K-12 Spanish instruction to the Oberlin city K-12
> public school system. Please view our (new and under heavy development)
> website at www.colingo.org/sites/joomla.
>
> I think you have done amazing things with ccHost and would like to apply
> it to allow us in S.I.T.E.S to create and maintain a cc-licensed
> language-teaching curriculum, complete with lesson plans, class
> worksheets/homework, tests, and multimedia. Ideally the site would have
> multiple functions:
> 1) To allow kids to play on the site on school computers and increase
> their overall exposure to Spanish language materials. This requires a
> seriously simple interface, my friends, as some of these children (the
> kindergarden crowd, at least) don't even learn how to use glue until
> next week.
>
> 2)To coordinate project volunteers and allow them to create and share
> lesson plans amongst themselves and the greater language-teaching
> community (which for the most part has NOT yet caught up to the new
> internet and is stuck somewhere between the dark ages and the early 20th
> century, using textbooks that smell like mildew)
>
> 3)To involve parents: I want to let them learn the lesson of the day (on
> an RSS-feed) as their children learn the same lesson, so parents are
> motivated to learn with their child.
>
> 4)To help elementary school teachers communicate with volunteers and
> work the Spanish material easily into their curriculums (the teachers
> only get 20 minutes 2X weekly instruction, so their support is essential.)
>
> 5)So that the general public is encouraged to come to the site to create
> ideas for lesson plans and use existing plans. The site will also
> function as a public newsletter and try to function as an easily
> replicable model for other public school districts.
>
> I am currently running joomla and need an interface that smooth, at
> least on the backend. i am fairly nimble at most basic linux tasks (i
> run ubuntu64) but do not have experience coding. obviously i can follow
> instructions, i just can't necessarily understand them :) But morever I
> am trying to set up a system that teachers and administrators with no
> real computer knowledge can learn to use with some basic training, and I
> think joomla has done an excellent job with that.
>
> However, I love the easy-licensing features and email notifications of
> ccHost and it is essential for my project. (Can someone tell me how to
> add public domain to the options???) But I need the inline text editor
> and seamlessness of joomla....
>
> ...can anyone help make a joomla plug-in for ccHost??
>
> specifically i need: the cc-easy-licencing script, email notifications,
> .doc (and openoffice) support, easy document management (ie: I create a
> lesson plan, someone changes it, I get emailed, I can go to a website
> and see my origonal lesson plan and all its derivations in an
> easy-to-understand fashion. ideally i could have the same usernames/pwds
> for my joomla install and ccHost.
>
> I understand I'm asking a lot! (C'mon, just a little challenge to some
> talented developers...)
> I just want to throw feature requests out there. I think what you are
> doing is really relevent and important now and I want to help develop
> the idea. (Maybe I'll help translate to Spanish?)
>
> I am also trying to get this site up and running ASAP so it can be
> helpful immediately, as the program is growing very quickly and needs
> organization.
>
> Please contact me if you are interested in this or other educational
> applications of ccHost.
>
> Email (blo...@ob...) or IRC (i'm on #cc as 'blo.') would be great.
>
> Peace, thanks and respect,
> Benjamin Lowenstein
> Techie, S.I.T.E.S.
> Oberlin, Ohio USA
>
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