Author Archives: giulia

Tech the Halls: DJ showdown to support OLPC work with disabled children

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No, this isn’t the brainchild of DJ XO… he’s not even eligible to compete.

This is a virtual DJ battle hosted by turntable.fm as a benefit event for OLPC, with donations accepted through crowdrise.

The contenders will be tech media figures (and amateur DJs) still to be named — though a few have already started tweeting about it!  The matchups will be posted next week and they will face off on December 16, from 1-5pm EST.  Money raised through the event will be donated to OLPC in the name of the winner, and will support getting XOs to disabled children in the US.


Uruguay’s Plan Ceibal has already made great strides in XO accessibility for the disabled, and we are beginning to build on their work with children in the US; this funddrive will provide laptops for the first group of children.

So mark your calendars, come enjoy the virtual turntables and support your favorite DJ on December 16! Thanks to the Horn Group and ttfm for making this happen.


US survey finds support for 1:1 computer programs among school admins

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A recent study by edutech research firm Interactive Educational Systems Design (IESD), funded by 1:1 curriculum provider Time To Know, asked school administrators how they felt about classroom technology.   Hundreds of superintendants and principals across the US, drawn from districts with more than 2,500 students, were polled.

Details of the study have not been made available, but the results of four questions were published in edtech magazine  The Journal:

When asked their preference for a comprehensive curriculum if cost were not a factor, 80 percent of respondents indicated a preference for a comprehensive curriculum program with 1:1 computer access and an interactive whiteboard in combination with some print or printable electronic materials.

We need educational studies to start sharing their underlying data — something we should remember to ask our partners to do as well when they evaluate OLPC projects.

Game design contest for students focuses on math and science games

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The STEM Challenge is an annual game contest organized by E-Line Media, and sponsored by the AMD Foundation, Xbox, PBS, and the Entertainment Software Association.  It invites students from middle school to university to design games focused on math, science, engineering and other technology.

Games can be built on most any open platform, and can be submitted from now until March 12, 2012.

 

OLPC Asia team visits Sichuan school, updates their XOs

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Last week twenty volunteers joined the OLPC Asia team to return to the OLPC pilot school in Sichuan.  OLPC donated 1000 XOs to children and teachers at the school, which supports students whose schools were destroyed by the 2008 earthquake.  The visitors spent a few days at the school, meeting with the school community and helping them update and repair their machines. Here’s a snapshot of them at work:

 

Paraguay Vice President hands out awards to OLPC students

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Paraguay’s vice president, Federico Franco, recently presented an award to Giulianna Pozzoli, the recent winner of the Nickelodeon-OLPC Scratch animation contest, and other student leaders. This was held Caacupé, home to the country’s first large deployment of children’s laptops.

At 0:39 you can see one of the children in the audience filming his speech on her XO; another is typing as he talks. Others have hand cameras. He talks briefly about how everyone needs to work together to help improve children’s education, for a better future – and this an essential part of it.

Amazing photos and update from the Philippines

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The eKindling grassroots group gave a lovely update of their work in the Philippines, last month in San Francisco.  They have been working with the province of Occidental Mindoro for some years. This began with the Lubang pilot, spearheaded by Mayor Juan Sanchez and financed by his friends from National Computer Center Community Outreach, Metrobank, and  many other anonymous donors. eKindling’s counterpart contribution in this pilot was the education programming and training of teachers, students, parents, and local support team.

More recently, Governor Ramirez-Sato has begun an expanded initiative on Mindoro Island.  Elementary schools of the four southern municipalities,  San Jose, Calintaan, Magsaysay, and Rizal, will be receiving another 550 XOs later this year.  With Lubang in the north and these four in the south, can the rest of the province be far behind?



The Occidental Mindoro team conducted a baseline readiness survey in March, visiting some of the schools.  This was the children’s first chance to use the laptops.  Since then, there have been two training sessions with teachers from all involved schools, in June and October, and a training session with champion students from all schools in June.

They took  photos of their visit to the San Jose Pilot Elementary school.  Two of my favorites:


Photos by Ideals.ph

The new pilots are being advised (kindled!) by eKindling and managed by the local school system, an excellent example of government/grassroots collaboration.  Thanks to both groups for capturing this day in the life of the schools, and for making it possible.