Papyrus News

A provocative report by David Graddol for the British Council on the future of English language use and instruction

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Keiko and I are thrilled to announce the birth of Mika Rachel
Warschauer (girl) and Noah Kaisho Warschauer (boy).  Mika (pronounced
Meeka) was born at 2:37 pm on Thursday, February 9, 2006 and Noah was
born 22 minutes later at 2:59 pm on the same day.  The labor was long,
but the delivery was natural and uncomplicated and both children and
their mother are healthy and happy.

Mika and Noah were born at 34 weeks 2 days gestation, which is a bit
earlier than we were expecting, but they are both in perfect health and
breathing natural air fully on their own.  Mika weighed in at 4 pounds
13 ounces (2198 grams) and measured 18" tall (46 cm.)  Noah weighed in
at 4 pounds 15 ounces (2245 grams) and measured 18.5 inches.  Both are
very well-developed for their age and tall and slender.  Both are also
extremely good-looking, which means, very fortunately, they take after
their mother!  Photos will be posted in a day or so at http://oceanandstars.com.

Noah is a biblical name and Kaisho is a Japanese name meaning
"Soaring over the Ocean".  (Our first son, Mikey, may he rest in peace,
had the Japanese name of Kai, or "Ocean", and our second son, Danny,
has the Japanese name of Kaito, or "Ocean and Stars.")  Mika is a
Japanese/Hebrew name meaning "(s)he who is with God" in Hebrew.  Rachel
is a biblical name.

Keiko is still in the hospital (UCI Medical Center, Orange) and will
be there for a couple of days.  I am traveling back and forth between
the hospital and home.  Mika and Noah will probably be in the hospital
a couple of weeks to fatten up a bit.  Updates will be posted on http://oceanandstars.com.

Welcome, Mika and Noah!

love,
Mark, Keiko, and Danny Warschauer

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Here’s a brief interview I recently had in the Guardian Weekly.

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This is really bizarre! (Free NYT registration required)

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is now available.

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Doug Grimes and I have completed our evaluation of the first-year implementation of the Fullerton School District laptop program.  Though not discussed at length in the report, there are a couple of interesting tensions that are showing up in laptop schools we’ve investigated.  One is the tension between broader learning goals and the drive for increased test scores.  The other is what has been called a "Sesame St. effect," meaning that an innovation targeted at reaching an at-risk population instead benefits as much or more more privileged children who can better leverage their pre-existing strengths (language ability, literacy skills, home resources) to take advantage of the innovation.

More later.

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If the MIT Media lab can develop a $100 laptop for use in the developing world, why can’t somebody else make a great laptop for $300 to $400 for kids in US schools?  I’m convinced if the price dropped to that point you’d see a big expansion of laptop programs in schools.  Any thoughts on what the specs/design would be of a cheaper laptop for kids?

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I’m sure that most of you have heard about the MIT Media Lab’s proposed $100 laptop.  You can now see pictures of it here and here.

Any thoughts?

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As I’ve commented earlier, my family interests often overlap with my professional interests.  Here’s a report on child language development that I just posted on our family blog, Ocean and Stars:

We are teaching Danny to use sign language for three reasons.  First, all children can grasp language before their oral musculature is sufficiently developed to master speech.
Therefore teaching sign language is a way to boost language and
communication skills while speech skills catch up.  Secondly, children
with Down syndrome usually have additional speech delays due to
auditory processing difficulties.  They tend to be better visual
learners than auditory learners, so sign language plays to their
strengths (again, as a bridge to learning speech, rather than as a
permanent substitute for it).  Third, in Danny’s case, we are teaching
him multiple languages (English, Japanese, and Spanish), so signs can
serve as a bridge to help him make links between spoken languages.

We have used signs sporadically since Danny has been about 5-6
months old, but it’s only in the last month (at the age of 14 months)
that he has started to sign himself.  His progress in signing is very
interesting, in that first he starts to imitate a sign sporadically,
and then he starts to use it more frequently and consistently, and then
he shows signs of associating it with either it’s sound or its meaning.
He also sometimes makes slight adjustments to the signs so they are
easier for him to make.  For example, his first sign was for his name,
"Danny," which is a sign invented by our family (people generally
invent signs for names) made by putting the ASL "d" (index finger
extended up from a fist) up to the right side of his head.  Danny
usually makes the sign with a fist, rather than extending the index
finger, though occasionally he extends the finger too.  He also often
makes it with two hands rather than one.  But he is doing more than
imitating; he will sometimes make the sign when we say his name, even
if we don’t make the sign ourselves

Danny has so far made the following signs (in approximate order of learning and frequency):
Danny
more
eat
Daddy
Mommy
music

The last two signs were used for the first time on Wednesday (music)
and Friday (Mommy), so he is learning signs regularly.  Of course he
has not fully mastered these. He uses them sporadically and it’s not
clear how much he understands the meaning of them, but that seems to be
coming gradually.

We are quite excited about continuing to teach him signs and it
gives us a real fun focus for our communication with him.  By the way,
for those of you interested in teaching signs to your baby, the company
Signing Time just came out with a new set of videos and CDs especially
for babies (called Baby Signing Time).  I haven’t seen it yet, but I heard that the product features at least one baby signer with Down syndrome.  The company Sign With Your Baby also makes quality products.

Keiko and I took earlier took some private lessons in Signing Exact
English (SEE), a sign language that bases much of its vocabulary on ESL
but has further developed the vocabulary and altered/expanded the
syntax to develop a signing system that closely parallels English.
However, at least at this stage, that wasn’t really necessary.  We are
just teaching basic signs to Danny, or simple combinations of signs
(e.g., "more eat," "more music"), so ASL signs are fine.  ASL signs
have the additional advantage of being more broadly known and used, so
other adults (therapists, child care workers) are more likely to know
them and they are covered in more common instructional materials (such
as from the two companies listed above.)

Anybody else out there teaching signing to your children?

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The annual Buddy Walk is the main fundraising event of the year to support people with Down syndrome.  Money raised through the Buddy Walk supports research, education, and many other valuable efforts of the National Down Syndrome Society and its local chapters.

This year, Keiko, Danny, and I have formed a special team for the Buddy Walk, called Danny’s Dreamers.  We ask your support for our team and the Buddy Walk in one of two ways.  If you are available, please join the team and walk with us at Anaheim stadium on Sunday, November 13 (it’s a really enjoyable and uplifing event capped by a very easy 1-mile walk).  Or, if you can’t make it that day, you can still make a donation.

To either join the team or make a donation, please visit the Website of Danny’s Dreamers!

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