Data Collection for XO Laptop Project

is done! It was a grueling year with surveying 1600+ 4th and 5th graders twice (before they received their XO laptops) and then at the end of the school year. And, my graduate students just completed in-depth interviews with 20 of the students (10 high tech and 10 low tech).

Now, the survey coding and data entry, as well as interview transcription, begins and/or continues. I can't wait to see the data! This is the largest study of the kind focusing on the XO laptops in the US and perhaps the world.

Here's to lots of interesting results to come!

Catching Up

It seems like my blogging is taking a backseat to other things of late -- the holidays, some health issues, travels, etc. And, I've also been spending more time on facebook and twitter than on my blog it seems. Not sure why I haven't been as into blogging as much lately, compared to the other technology applications. I'm hoping to have some time this weekend to upload some pix and do some updates.

On a side note, Callen's speech structure and the logic of her thinking have been progressing so fast lately it seems! She is a smart little girl and constantly amazes us with her development.

Unfortunately she's been saying off and on the last few weeks that she doesn't like school. She wants to go to work with mommy. I think her preference is always to spend as much time with us. She has a good time at school but she has been so clingy lately and I've even had to leave her crying several times when dropping her off. Oh, how that breaks my heart! I hope this is just a phase she's going through - for all our sakes!

New School

Callen started her new school this week. Although she's been a little clingy in the mornings (as she was last week at her daycare), she seems to be thriving. I really like that she's among kids more her own age (as opposed to several who were quite a bit younger at her old daycare).

Monday they had live music with someone playing the guitar. Yesterday, they sang with Elvis! They learn Spanish and computer skills. What would we have been like with all these experiences as a kid?

A really cool thing about her new school is that they have live video feeds from the classrooms, so I can log in and watch her periodically during the day. How cool is that? I love logging on and seeing what she's doing during the day! A very neat application of technology.

Here's to many more good days at Callen's new school!