A Letter to the Advisors of Project TLC
I hope you had the chance to read the "open letter" which described Project TLC at its outset several months ago. I've tried to focus and adapt the Project in many ways based on your feedback. Here's a capsule summary of where we are, as of September 1994:
Project TLC: The eLectronic Commons
September 1994
------------ Conceptual ------------Project TLC "The eLectronic Commons" is dedicated to creating communities, and to developing new environments for learning, sharing and co-construction which inspire communities to emerge and grow into their own local forms.
If a familir metaphor is needed, then we can say that pTLC is the soul of a new museum -- a project to create a new species of "museums" which spring up locally and interact worldwide.
The major theme of pTLC community-building is: Re-casting informal education into the realm of modern technology based on a culture of learning, teaching, caring, generosity, and co-operation.
* Informal education: is the learning that people do on their own initiative. It is episodic; people do it when they have the time, they do it when they can find environments which inspire it and support it. Museums, zoos, gardens, chess clubs, quilt guilds, learning and singing popular songs, trying recipes, juggling, crossword puzzles, and doodling are all valuable and familiar models of informal learning.
* Modern technology: has reached a new stage within the last two or three years. The phenomenon which has emerged is worldwide, interactive, grassroots, multimedia networking. All four aspects of this phenomenon are significant:
------------ Physical ------------Creating Project TLC is a process much like planting seeds or suspending a speck of dust in a supersaturated solution. We are proceeding by creating in a very small but conscious way some physical and social conditions for the new museums -- providing the "seeds" and "seed crystals" and place them and adapt them to unique local situations.
It seems important to begin with the physical resources which are ready to hand. We have not chosen the path of polemics and fundraising followed by doing. Let's start by doing what we can, evolve and enhance the physical resources when/as we are able. The construction and its evolution will be the polemic. We shall then see what becomes of this, in Ghandi's terms "experiment with truth."
Here's the story so far: Rummaging through the "ski shack" at the Solana Beach Boys and Girls Club turned up (parts of) 6 computers. These machines are old PS/II's which were donated by the Bank of America some time ago during a B of A upgrade to newer equipment. There are a lot of these machines put to good use in various places in the Boys and Girls Clubs; the ones in the ski shack were "left over" for some reason, many did not work at all at first. Mixing and matching parts from the ski shack resulted in 5 working machines, though some don't have keyboards/monitors.
A variety of posters/graphics in large size, color prints were made. "Project TLC" "The eLectronic Commons" "Taller eLectronico de Comunidades" (Communities' Electronic Workshop) "What will _you_ bring to the Commons? Who will you meet there?" etc. (Let's hear if you have further ideas for posters.)
The posters are variations on this theme, with places for the participants to write if they care to, etc. I have printed copies of them 11x17 in color. (Just let me know if you want one. Or if you can handle GIF files, I'll send the files and you can print your own copies.)
The pTLC Kiosk: Based on these resources, the primitive pTLC proto-museum is a KIOSK. A computer screen in some social setting shows images, scenes, and animations which are designed to inspire interest, curiosity, discussion, contributions, modification, and other social activities among all the people who see the kiosk. Posters and other graphic materials which describe Project TLC are also part of the "installation." Of course the p TLC KIOSK is not an installation (like a dishwasher or an art exhibit), but it's a seed crystal, a "pebble in the pond" which is meant to cause ripples which widen out, reflect, interact, and return with new effects which will also appear on the kiosk screen.
First locations (September 1994):
Encinitas BGC:The kiosk is inside a small office, with the screens showing out into a very large recreation area in the center of the building, in front of the registration desk. There are actually two screens there now, showing a "film loop" of video material, from local sources and from the web. (More details about the "film loop" below.) Directly across from the kiosk is a similar, larger area with facing windows -- the Arts and Crafts/Shop area.
Del Mar BGC:The kiosk is on the registration desk at the club, surrounded by the posters. La Clase Magica: The kiosk "greets" you when you enter the classroom, and is on a cabinet beneath a large bulletin board.
------------ Social ------------We have been officially adopted by UCSD and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, San Dieguito Region. Project TLC at UCSD is sponsored by the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition, directed by Michael Cole. Extraordinary funds to support Project TLC for an initial three-year incubation period, based on Mike's initial contact and continuing support, were provided by UCSD Chancellor Richard Atkinson.
At the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Duncan Smith has been the original mover and shaker behind getting pTLC started at all, suggesting the connection with LCHC, and so on. Duncan is the Director of Program for the Boys and Girls Clubs, San Dieguito. The Boys and Girls Clubs are a wonderfully congenial environment for hatching pTLC and connecting it with people in the community of all ages. Many talented and caring people have already become involved to make pTLC appear in reality. Our most intense activity so far has been with La Clase Magica, because of the interest and hospitality which Olga Vasquez and Yolanda James have shown and their obvious care to make _every_ resource of the community available to their "clase." (La Clase Magica is an after school group which meets MWF at St. Leo's, directed primarily to Spanish speaking children. La Clase Magica is a part of the larger Fifth Dimension project directed by Mike Cole and sponsored by the Mellon Foundation.) The kiosks at EBGC and Del Mar exist because of the interest of Leane Marchese and Bill Burk respectively. Many boys and girls club members have offered ideas and exhibits (Cesar, Angel, Nancy, Ricardo, and more whose names and faces I'm still learning ...) Groups of "curators" at each site are forming. Our first "curators meeting" on the porch at Del Mar was attended by Josh,Kris, Deep, Joel, David, Libby, Gabe, and Forrest. Libby came up with the idea of the "dolphins and horses" nature pictures for the kiosk, which we got from WWW and which have been universally popular. There's more of course. Some things I've forgotten. Many people have helped and didn't get noticed. Perhaps they aren't interested in being noticed. Some things belong to October.
------------ And You? ------------Send cash contributions, old computers, or anything else we can lash together to make seed crystals to:
Project TLC San Dieguito Boys and Girls Clubs of America P.O. Box 615 Solana Beach CA 92075 attn: Mr. Duncan SmithYou may well be short on cash or old computers and haven't thought of the appropriate generous acquaintances to fill in for you in that regard. No problem; keep thinking. Nothing bothers rich people more than realizing how useless their money is.
Anyway we haven't really picked the advisors by sizing them and their friends as cash cows. You're all models in some way; tough on you. So if you want to help -- in any way that's important and practical for you -- I encourage you wholeheartedly. This is an open project. I'll ship you the files and you can start a site outside your office, if you're so inclined.
If you can't be an advisor, or shouldn't be _listed_ as an advisor, just let me know and I'll remove your name. We'll still be friends; you just won't hear from me as often, which may suit you. I'd be glad to hear from you.
Joe
------------------------ Advisors and Interests (alphabetical, partial list) ------------------------Dr. Richard Atkinson
Professor Alan Cline
University of Texas at Austin
Author of FITPACK software, Natural Sciences Honors Classes, Faculty Senate
Professor Michael Cole
University of California, San Diego
Creator of the Fifth Dimension Project at UCSD/Boys and Girls Clubs, author
Dr. Joseph Deken
LCHC, SDSC & CRCA, UCSD
hatcher/Director of pTLC
Dr. Joel Kabakov
Yamaha Corporation of America Director of Institutional
Development,
Composer
Professor Gian-Carlo Rota
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Editor: Encyclopedia of Mathematics, Advances in Mathematics
Professor Thomas Sager
University of Texas, Austin
Creator of outstanding statistics courses; entrepreneur; expert chess player
Mr. Duncan Smith
Boys and Girls Clubs of America, San Dieguito Region
Director of Program
Dr. Allan Wilks
AT&T Bell Laboratories
Co-Author of the S language; Board of Governors NSF Geometry
Center U. Minn.
Dr. Bob Willey
Out of the Blue Productions
Musician, Social Activist, Research Associate CRCA/UCSD
Dr. John Wooley
Deputy Associate Director, Health and Environmental Research D.O.E.
Architect for Government Computational Biology Initiatives