Monique F. Pollock, OLPC Facilitator at Ashley Park K-8

On May 29, 2013 several Charlotte Mecklenburg librarians received a first hand experience with the XO laptop. Due to an emerging partnership with Project L.I.F.T and the West Charlotte branch locations, the librarians are eager to assist elementary XO learners who live in this zone. These library locations include the West Boulevard, Beatties Ford Road and the ImaginOn branches, which are frequented by the students.

Programs are being developed to support learning with technology at these locations.

During the training, the librarians got the full experience of an XO learner in a one to one classroom. From opening the innovative laptop to creating work samples, exploration filled the fun packed hour. The librarians even got a chance to chat with each other with the laptops’ ad hoc networks. Using the Sugar platform exclusive to the XO laptop, communicating and sharing work is an available option to all XO learners.

The staff was also impressed with accessibility options on the laptop including the free applications, multiple languages and the speak function, allowing students to hear words as they type passages. The session also included an introduction to coding, importing and creating media and downloading books to the XO laptop. The librarians are excited to welcome XO learners in the 2013-2014 school year. Plans are underway for workshops and XO dedicated spaces in the select West Charlotte library locations.