Category Archives: OLPC

Uruguayan Youth Shines as Programmer Distinguished by Google

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BY GIOVANNA FLEITAS

AFP

MONTEVIDEO — Agustin Zubiaga, a 15 year old Uruguayan, recently won a content sponsored by Google, thus becoming one of twenty teenagers from around the world to be recognized for his programming skills.

“When I was 12 years old, a teacher taught me to program. The rest I learned on the internet. I have been around computers as long as I can remember, as my mother is a professor of computer science. I love what I do, I think it’s my calling,” Zubiaga told AFP from his home in the department of San José in southwestern Uruguay.

His love of programming led him to volunteer with Sugar Labs, the organization devoted to developing free software. Sugar Labs created a learning platform written and maintained by volunteers around the world. Zubiaga uses his One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) laptop to support the Sugar Labs initiative.

Zubiaga also benefited from the  local OLPC project, called Plan Ceibal. The project began in 2006. To date, the Plan Ceibal has distributed more than 500,000 computers to students throughout Uruguay.

Zubiaga, who recently graduated from San Jose Rafael Perazza public school, said “I can be on the computer only for 4 hours per day, as that is the time that my parents allow me to use the computer. If it were up to me, I would spend much more time on the computer, because I never get bored of programming. ”

Among the Applications that Zubiaga presented to enter the competition, one was an app to create custom wallpapers on computers that use the Sugar operating system. Zubiaga’s application was awarded the highest score.

“The news gives us great joy. Augustin’s overall performance is excellent. In addition, his willingness to collaborate with others within the school shows a great spirit of cooperation” stated Veronica Massa, Director of San Jose Rafael Perazza public school.

His father, Nestor Zubiaga, said that the key is that his son “loves” what he does. “The prize took us by surprise, and it is clear that he has great ability,” he added.

The passion for programming and dedication transformed Agustin into one of the 20 young people from around the world selected by Google. Zubiaga was selected from a total of 334 participants from 26 countries. Zubiaga and another teenager from Argentina, were the only two Latin American representatives among the winners.

As a reward, in April he will travel to Mountain View, California, to visit Google’s headquarters.

Watch a video of Agustin being interviewed here (Spanish)

Students of Manitoba reach 2nd place in Nationwide Mathematics competition

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Grade 3 Teacher Nathan Lang is inspired by the way technology has enhanced his students’ passion for mathematics. Last year, students of Otetiskiwin Kiskinwamahtowekamik School in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (Nelson House, Manitoba) received personal laptop through the OLPC Canada program.

Continue reading this post here.

One Laptop per Child Launch Event at Druid Hills Academy

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Your presence is requested…
One Laptop per Child Launch Event at Druid Hills Academy

On February 26, more than 2,000 laptops will be distributed to students in the Project L.I.F.T. zone through the One Laptop per Child initiative, which is funded by the Knight Foundation. This initiative seeks to provide students with access to new channels of learning, sharing and self-expression.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013
10:30 a.m.
Druid Hills Academy Cafetorium
2801 Lucena Street Charlotte, NC 28206

Using digital tools, literacy to reshape – Charlotte

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Inside a bright sunlit classroom, students hunch over their laptops. They’re laughing and smiling as they create an interactive story with images, sounds and text. One girl happily helps a friend take a digital photo of himself for the multimedia timeline.

Knight active grants portfolio: 12 projects totaling $18,113,00

It’s a typical college scene. But this isn’t a college. It’s a second-grade classroom at Druid Hills Elementary School in Charlotte, N.C. The students are inventing their own digital version of Little Red Riding Hood. They’re seven years old.

The elementary school is one of nine in a West Charlotte initiative called Project L.I.F.T. The five-year, $55 million public-private initiative is designed to speed student progress in some of city’s lowest-performing schools. Knight Foundation announced $4 million in support last fall. Part of the foundation’s funding will provide laptops to all Kindergarten-through-fifth grade students in the Project L.I.F.T schools.

The students making themselves the heroes in Little Red Riding Hood — and the teachers who plan the lessons that turn computers into teaching tools — are the pioneers. Most of the 3,200 laptops will come in late February and “the excitement is contagious,” said One Laptop Per Child project manager David Jessup, who is overseeing their introduction.

Continue reading the original post from the Knight Foundation Blog here.

Related post: Charlotte leaders share path to increasing student achievement

Marshall Islands launches national OLPC program

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by OLPC Oceania

Hundreds of students, parents, educators and officials gathered today in Majuro, remote capital of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), to formally launch the One Laptop per Child program in the developing Pacific nation. The launch was the culmination of more than 18 months of cooperation and planning between the Marshallese people, their national government, and their development partners: the United States, the University of the South Pacific (USP), and OLPC Oceania.
In attendance at Majuro’s Delap Elementary School were RMI’s President, His Excellency Christopher J Loeak, the Minister for Education, Dr. Hilda Heine, and the US Ambassador to RMI, the Hon. Thomas Armbruster.

Delap is the first school in RMI to provide laptops for its students. 320 laptops were distributed to every student and teacher in grades 4,5 and 6. The school has full wifi coverage and the laptops connect to a high-speed optic fibre internet connection through an XS School Server loaded with many useful digital resources appropriate for Pacific learning and RMI’s curriculum.
Addressing the event, Minister Heine thanked the US government for funding the project through its continued support of the Ministry of Education, and acknowledged the supporting role of USP and OLPC Oceania in bringing the project to fruition. The Minister emphasized the extensive training of teachers, the importance of e-Learning to the government’s vision for education, and the MOE’s plans to connect  all schools on Majuro to the internet. There are already 12 solar powered VSAT ICT centres scattered across its far flung outer islands and atolls.
Ambassador Armbruster made a strong speech, engaging the children directly in his address. Producing his own “technology” – an abacus – the Ambassador noted while we have always had tools to assist our learning, the most important tool is the brain. Asking how many kids had pets, he noted that just like pets, their new laptops need to be looked after.
He then recommitted the United States’ ongoing support for OLPC in RMI, where there is a school-age population of about 10,000 kids. It is in the so-called “compact” nations of the mid-Pacific — the Marshalls and the Federated States of Micronesia — that the US government is making its only direct commitment to support national OLPC programmes.
Delap’s Grade 6 kids performed two songs for the occasion, one especially composed for OLPC. Singing in Marshallese, it was easy for non-native speakers to understand when the children held up their new laptops shouting O-L-P-C. The launch attracted national media coverage, was broadcast live over local radio and was the topic of several speeches in the national Parliament.
Veteran Pacific OLPC expert, Mr Ian Thomson, now E-Learning Fellow at the University of South Pacific, has travelled to Majuro several times for USP in the past year to advise the RMI Government on deployment and to conduct teacher training workshops ahead of today’s handover. USP signed an MOU with OLPC Oceania to support Pacific deployments in 2010. USP has been assisted by OLPC volunteerNicholas Dorian, who has been in the country for several months.
As part of OLPC Oceania’s community inclusion approach, Mr Thomson conducted a community briefing last week attended by several hundred parents and community members.
“They asked some very good questions as well,” said Mr Thomson. “We are now planning another session on XO basics. The next phase of the project is to launch the project in two more Majuro schools in coming months and then to five outer island schools over the second half of 2013.”
Students sing at launch of OLPC Marshall Islands in Delap, Majuro Atoll:
http://youtu.be/T4zhEijRgmk