OLPC trial
One of the schools in Mekelle, in fact it’s not far from my house, has just started a trial of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project. Apparently, it’s the first trial for OLPC in this region (Tigray), but trials are already underway in other regions of Ethiopia. The laptops have been funded by Italians (not sure if this means an Italian foundation, or the Italian government) and have just been given out to the pupils – all their parents had to come in a couple of days ago to sign for them.
I’m hoping to be able to pay them a visit, to see how the teachers and pupils are making use of the laptops. I know some of you reading this might be interested in how it’s going, so I’ll post again once I’ve visited, but if you have anything specific that you’d like to know or me to ask then please drop me a line or leave a comment below.
Hi Alex!
Saw one of these for the first time at a talk the other day and had a chance to have a go on one. The Sugar user interface is really quite a radical departure from traditional user interfaces so I was wondering how the teachers, pupils and the parents find it to use and what they think of it?
My question relates to the teachers, and how they will instruct the users to make use of the device – have they got any plans? Importantly, what are their attitudes towards these devices?
hi Alex – keep me posted on how the students get on with the OLPC trial. Interested to know how much support the students get or whether the laptops are just dumped on the students and teachers and they are left to get on with it and see how they get on.
Will also hunt down this email server program for your friend! still on my to do list…
mark
Alex,
Those of is who follow the OLPC program closely would love to know what is happening at the pilot school. Any chance you might wander over, have a look, and let us know your impressions? We’d love to have a first-hand view as a Guest Post for OLPC News.