• Moved to Sugar Labs
• Dedication
• Introduction
• I discovered this discovery
• Discovery: Preparation
• Discovery: Open your XO
• Discovery: Buttons and bits
• Discovery: Turn XO on, and observe
• Discovery: Turn XO on and start trying things
• Discovery: Button functions
• Discovery: Other bits of the XO
• Discovery: Icon Ring
• Discovery: List view
• Discovery: Help
• Discovery: Frame
• Discovery: Wireless networking
• Discovery: Browse
• Discovery: Good questions
• Discovery: Journal
• Discovery: Record
• Discovery: Paint
• Discovery: Write
• Discovery: Collaboration
• Discovery: Frame Again
• The Undiscoverable: Terminal
• Discovery: Utility Menu
• Pause
• Discovery: More Activities
• Discovery: Puzzles
• Discovery: Games
• Discovery: Turtle Art
• Discovery: Calculate
• Discovery: Measure
• Discovery: Etoys
• Discovery: Music
• What do I want to discover?
• Discovering childhood education
• Discovery: Hints
• Resources
• Discovery: Glossary

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Discovery: Button functions

Now try pushing all of the buttons on the XO. What happens? If some button doesn't do anything in the current view, do you have an idea of when it would do something? As usual, make a list of questions. Your list should be getting much longer now, and for a while yet.

Our schools teach children to be afraid of not knowing the answers to questions. Scientists, explorers, and other discoverers know that long and lengthening lists of questions are a good sign of progress. Staying in the realms where we have (or pretend we have) all of the answers is a guaranteed method for not finding out anything new.

If you are uncomfortable with the list of questions I have been asking you to make, write down how it makes you feel. You can do that any time you are worried about any part of this process.

Some of the button functions are surprising. You won't always know what you are looking at to begin with. Make some guesses. This is also an essential part of discovery, known more formally as making conjectures.

The Undiscoverable: Here are some hints. See if they help, and make notes of discoveries and questions as usual. These hints are not supposed to give you the final answers yet. Anything you can work out is good, and anything that just provokes more questions is also good. I promise that you will understand all of these soon, because we will start using each of them regularly.

Neighborhood View

Friend View

Home View

Last Activity

Frame

Game controls

Did you find them all? Do you know what they do? Do you understand what you are looking at?

If so,
good.
Make notes of your discoveries.

If not,
good.
Make notes of your questions.

You should have some of each.