Category Archives: OLPC

Mokshith Voodarla, a high school student with a cause @OLPC

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mokshith-1Mokshith Voodarla is a high school student who made a generous donation to OLPC.

Read his thoughts about the impact of technology in his own life and in the world:

 

From a young age, I’ve been amazed by the way technology helps us in our daily lives. It was mind-boggling to me when I saw subtle things like turning on a TV with a remote happen. This led me to the realization that I wanted to build technology that made people’s lives easier. I’ve always liked to see something happen after writing a program. This started off with LEGO Mindstorms but has come all the way to building Android Apps that automatically take notes for you when taking a picture of a textbook. 
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I wanted to benefit as many people as I could with the knowledge I had so I decided to teach kids how to build Android apps. While doing this, I wanted to maximize the benefit of this work, and that’s when I remembered One Laptop Per Child. I’ve always taken for granted the resources I had to do things and I wanted as many people as possible to receive the resources and opportunities to do the same. I realized that by donating to OLPC, my work would help benefit a lot of people. I chose to do just that. 


Working with the kids was great. We started off from them not knowing anything at all to them being able to build a whole calculator all by themselves. We did this over the course of nine weeks. I was happy that I was able to spread that feeling of amazement on many people’s faces when they saw that what they programmed. That kind of feeling is what I live for and I really felt it when I saw those kids experience just that. The feeling itself is indescribable but it’s just amazing. 
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Teaching these students and then being able to donate to OLPC was a very worthwhile experience for me and I would recommend if anyone else can, they should make a donation as well. OLPC does great things in developing countries and is a real reason why the world is accelerating faster and faster all the time. All reasons support helping the OLPC cause.

How Ometepe Became Latin America’s First Digital Island

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Originaly posted BY ON

By Leah Shadle on behalf of One Laptop Per Child

In the heart of Nicaragua lies the largest lake in Central America, Lake Nicaragua. Millions of years ago, a volcanic eruption formed a curious island in this freshwater lake composed of two volcanoes — Concepcion and Maderas — the former of which is still active. Concepcion has an altitude of 1,610 meters, which makes Ometepe the world’s highest island on a lake. Volcanic ash has created an extremely fertile island and the volcanoes are visible everywhere on the island. Ometepe is truly a paradise, with its tropical, lush and magical air and soil.

In addition to the natural brilliance of the island and its volcanoes, Ometepe recently became the first digital island in the Americas. To put that in numbers, 100% of its 5,000 elementary school children and all teachers received a laptop connected to high-speed Internet, as part of the One Laptop Per Child educational initiative. Participating students and teachers receive OLPC laptops and the training and support needed to truly realize the potential of these machines

Continue reading HERE.

Learning from Seymour Papert – #BacktoLearning

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Far beyond the idea of giving computers to children with “an educational purpose”, like if education meant just providing content to be consumed, the origins of the learning philosophy of OLPC has been to provide kids with computers so that they can compute.

 

Seymour Papert believed, supported by decades of research, that by computing (coding, programming), the learner could be empowered to understand, create and think about their own learning, especially at early childhoold.

This panel from the Spring 2014 Member Event at the MIT Media Lab will explore more in detail the learning vision of Papert. Enjoy!

Panelists: Mitch Resnick, Marvin Minsky, Alan Kay, and Nicholas Negroponte.

OLPC Corner Summer Letter

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It is hot season in Rwanda, and international schools are on summer holidays. Governmental schools will soon be on summer break as well.

Many parents are happy but also worried about what their kids will do at home all day. They do not want their children to forget what they have been learning during the school year.

The OLPC corner, located in the kid zone at the in Kigali Public Library, hosts children from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Every child is welcome and it is free of charge.

Children have the opportunity to read, write stories, and play educational games, including typing Turtle, memorize, and maze. Children can also work with simple programming languages like scratch. All of those activities are available in XO Laptop.

Instead of staying at home alone, children can come to the Kigali Library to take advantage of the computer. Any kid is welcome to come.

Thanks to the guidance of Celestine NGARAMBE, OLPC facilitator, they learn, they create, they share, and they explore.

Kids are having fun through learning. We believe that holidays are not meant to be spent sleeping and watching movies; rather, holidays here mean to change the situation you’ve been living in to experience another opportunity.

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Switched-on youth – CASE STUDY: @OLPC

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Technology plays a momentous role in shaping the future of our societies and ensuring that the next generation is prepared to cope with the burdens – and embrace the opportunities – to come. So, how exactly are we enabling our youth to contribute in this digital era?

Read this article by Stephanie Spurr posted at International Innovation where

Mariana Ludmila Cortés, VP of Business Development at OLPC, explains how the non-profit organization is enabling children in developing countries to access educational devices for self-empowered learning.

You can download the PDF here.

3 Becas 75% para maestría en Innovación Educativa – Universidad ORT

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ortbeca

La Universidad ORT México es una institución de educación superior dedicada a impulsar y fortalecer al sector social a través de la formación de profesionales comprometidos y competentes en áreas de Responsabilidad, Emprendimiento y Liderazgo Social.

Derivado del Convenio OLPC – ORT, ofrecemos 3 becas del 75% para la Maestría en Innovación Educativa, para las primeras tres personas que concluyan el proceso de admisión.
OFERTA ACADÉMICA
Licenciatura en Administración y Responsabilidad Social* (EN LÍNEA)
Especialidad en Ética y Sociedad RVOE SEP 20150321
Maestría en Administración y Emprendimiento Social RVOE SEP 20150324
Maestría en Innovación Educativa RVOE SEP 20150323
Maestría en Educación Ambiental RVOE SEP 20150322
Maestría en Orientación Educativa para la Prevención de Adicciones*

SOLICITA INFORMACIÓN:

www.ort.edu.mx

*La Licenciatura en Administración y Responsabilidad Social y la Maestría en Orientación Educativa para la Prevención de Adicciones, se encuentran en trámite para obtener el Reconocimiento de Validez Oficial ante la SEP.