olpc summer newsletter

SUMMER 2012, OLPC ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

Dear Friends, The past few months have been very produc-tive and rewarding for One Laptop per Child. As you will see in this newsletter, we are continu-ing to expand around the world. Recently, we have experienced wonderful progress in Asia. In particular, thanks to the hard work of OLPC Australia and two very supportive MPs, the gov-

ernment of Australia has allocated $11.7 million to fund the ex-pansion of OLPC throughout the continent. OLPC’s “One Educa-tion” initiative is an innovative approach that proves it is possible to distribute technology for social change by placing complete ownership with those most responsible for its success –teach-ers, children and the community. We also bring you success stories from Afghanistan and Arme-nia in Central Asia. In Armenia, 3,300 XO laptops have been dis-tributed to children and teachers in 16 schools. In Afghanistan, OLPC’s equal opportunity mission has overcome cultural bound-aries in areas where gender gaps remain prominent. If they are allowed to attend school at all, many girls in conservative regions must study in segregated “girls only” educational environments. To address such a constraint, we made better use of existing female teachers and delivered interactive training materials to rural educators. Our laptops have also allowed young girls to participate in learning by enabling them to study together in their homes or communities. OLPC’s programs in both Armenia and Afghanistan simultaneously engage and empower students, al-lowing them to build a better future for themselves, their families and their communities. Without the ability to offer educational content in different languages and to adjust programs for vari-ous cultures, we would not be able to bring such opportunities to a majority of children worldwide.While OLPC is delivering more XO laptops around the world, we are also working on providing more content on those laptops. To that end, we have formed a partnership with Sesame Work-shop, the nonprofit educational organization that revolutionized children’s television programming with the landmark Sesame Street. The Workshop produces local Sesame Street programs, seen in over 150 countries. We have also teamed with Little Pim, an award-winning language program for young children. In other news, through July 29, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art will feature an exhibition on the XO laptop and OLPC’s programs in Rwanda, Afghanistan, Uruguay and Peru.We are also happy to announce that Dr. Michele Borba has joined our team as Goodwill Ambassador. Dr. Borba is an inter-nationally recognized author, speaker, and educator on parent-ing, character education and bullying prevention. In the months ahead, we look forward to announcing strategic alliances with other leading makers of children’s software and content and with multi-lateral educational organizations.As always, thank you for your ongoing support of One Laptop per Child.Sincerely,

Rodrigo Arboleda Chairman and CEOOne Laptop per ChildAssociation

EDITORIAL

Note from the CEO

Note from the CEO

OLPC and Sesame Workshop Join Forces to Deliver Children a Love for Learning

The XO is Equipped with New Language Learning Program

Becoming a Digital Citizen

Principle Walker’s Reaction to OLPC at Miami Holmes Elementary School

Upgrade Skype and upgrade a child’s education

How will you Change the World?

The Hult Global Case Challenge

One Laptop Per Child launches new XO-1.75 model

Around the world

The Americas

Asia

Australia

Beacon Council Honors OLPC with Special Judges’ Award

OLPC Featured in Oliver Stone’s 2012 Film, SAVAGES

OLPC Featured in the SFMoMA Exhibition

How OLPC Is Impacting Their Lives and Offering Hope By Dr. Michele Borba

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I N T H I S I S S U E

2 SUMMER 2012, OLPC ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

3SUMMER 2012, OLPC ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

OLPC and Sesame Workshop Join Forcesto Deliver Children a Love for Learning

Sesame Workshop is a non-profit organization that has a mission to provide children with access to new channels of learning, sharing and self-expression. The Workshop is the producer of Sesame Street, the revolutionary television program that creatively engages children in learn-ing. Sesame Street programs are lo-cally adapted and available in over 150 plus countries. The Workshop has also produced other well-know shows, such as The Electric Com-pany, that help young children and families develop critical literacy skills.

Sesame Street content will be pre-loaded on XOs in Latin America and South Africa, with plans to distribute to additional international territories. The educational packages loaded on laptops will include, Plaza Sésa-mo and Takalani Sesame, which are adaptations of Sesame Street for the respective areas. Plaza Sésamo is Sesame Street’s Latin American se-

The fun and engaging programs included on XO laptops will feature the Sesame Street Muppet™ charac-ters in games, e-books, video clips, character photos, and printable ac-tivities such as coloring sheets. Chil-dren in need will be able to play with the Muppets, while developing a love for learning through otherwise inac-cessible technology.

© 2011 Sesame Workshop. All Rights Reserved.

© 2011 Sesame Workshop. All Rights Reserved.

“We are very pleased to partner with the like-minded organization, One Laptop per Child. As joint forces, we can reach the children who most need our help.”

- H. Melvin Ming, President and CEO of Sesame Workshop.

ries that is one of the longest running children’s shows in Mexico—having a 98 percent approval rate by moth-ers. Takalani Sesame has seen simi-lar success in South Africa, while it features a unique local interpretation of the program. The show has a spe-cial focus on HIV/AIDS that seeks to educate about safety, tolerance and the presence of stigmas.

OLPC has teamed with Sesame Workshop to provide disadvantaged children worldwide with the chance to learn, create, and play with Sesa-me Street content. The partnership is a product of both OLPC’s and Sesa-me Workshop’s mutual belief in the educational power of media to help all children reach their highest poten-tials.


Learning English on the XO just got eas-ier for elementary students around the world. OLPC has part-nered with Little Pim, an award winning foreign language ed-ucation program for young children, to make learning Eng-lish a simple and en-joyable experience. Adding Little Pim con-tent to the XO laptop will help millions of students excel in Eng-lish, even as a second language.

Little Pim’s success can be credited to its unique Entertainment Immersion Method, which engages a child’s natural love of play and learning through repetition. The program is led by a fun character, “Little Pim the Panda,” who

The XO is Equipped with New Language Learning Program

Becoming a Digital CitizenOLPC Partners with Common Sense Media

“I believe that the overall experience with OLPC has been a positive and re-freshing addition to the curriculum pro-gram at Holmes. The program has impacted the school community by pro-viding each student with access to tech-nology that extends their learning beyond the classroom. I see that the children are enjoying their ma-chines and use them within small group

P r i n c i p l e W a l k e r ’ s R e a c t i o n t o O L P C a t M i a m i H o l m e s E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l

immerses children in different languages through a series of activities. Little Pim helps children retain new vocabulary, while enhancing analytical memory and concen-tration skills.

OLPC and Little Pim share the belief that learning should be a joyful process. Rodrigo Arboleda, Chairman and CEO of OLPC, commented of the partnership: “We are delighted to join forces with Little Pim to

make learning lan-guage more fun for children. OLPC and Little Pim share a com-mon philosophy that children learn best when learning and play are seamless ac-tivities.” Julia Pimsleur Levine, CEO of Little Pim, stated: “We are thrilled to partner with OLPC and help bring Little Pim content to millions of bright young minds around the world.”

instruction, in the cafeteria (with ex-tension activities) and some grade levels take them home and return them on a dai-ly basis. Parents and grandparents of the community have responded with a lot of inter-est and excitement in the program and have told me that their children are privileged to be able to par-ticipate in OLPC”.


OLPC’s latest XO soft-

ware will include Digital

Passport, a program

designed by Com-

mon Sense Media that

teaches educators and

children the basics of

digital citizenship.

Common Sense Me-

dia is an independent

nonprofit that provides

parents and educators

with the guidance that

they need to help to-

day’s children thrive in

a world of media and

technology. The orga-

nization has numer-

ous partnerships with

companies such as

Comcast, AT&T, Direc-

TV, NBCUniversal, Time

Warner Cable and Netf-

lix—allowing it to reach

100 million homes

worldwide. Moreover,

its free digital literacy

and citizenship curricu-

lar programs are used

in over 30,000 schools

in the United States.

Designed for students

in grades 3 through 5

who are beginning to

use media and tech-

nology independently,

Digital Passport pro-

vides a series of engag-

ing videos and games

that address topics

ranging from online pri-

vacy, appropriate shar-

ing, and respectful cell

phone use, to name

a few. Through these

programs, children part

of OLPC projects will

be able to learn how

to safely and respon-

sibly access the digital

world.

Jorge Martinez- KF David Lawrence - The Children’s Movement Carlos Ibarguen - KF president Atunya Walker - Holmes principal A l b e r t o C a r v a l h o - M i a m i D a d e S u p e r i n t e n d e n t R o d r i g o A r b o l e d a - C E O O L P C J o r g e A r r i z u r i e t a

How will you Change the World?2 0 1 2 H u l t G l o b a l C a s e C h a l l e n g e C o m p e t i t i o n

One Laptop per Child was one of three NGOS to partic-ipate in the 2012 Hult Inter-national Business School’s Global Case Challenge, the world’s largest crowdsourc-ing platform for social good. In the third annual event, thousands of students from 130 countries competed in one of three challenge tracks – Education, Energy and Housing.

After a preliminary round in February, the finalists pre-sented their innovative so-lutions at the grand finale, which took place on April 26, 2012, at the New York City Public Library. Rodrigo Ar-boleda, Chairman and CEO of the One Laptop per Child Association, and Charles Kane, OLPCA Board Director, took part in the judging for the Education track, which selected a team from Carn-egie Mellon University as its global winner.

President Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States, honored the win-ning teams from all three tracks. Other distinguished guests included: Muham-mad Yunus, Founder of the Grameen Bank and Nobel Peace Prize Recipient; Mi-chael Treschow, Chairman, Unilever; Mario Cuomo, 54th Governor of New York;

Jonathan Reckford, CEO, Habitat for Humanity; Steve Andrews, CEO, SolarAid; Darell Hammond, Founder and CEO, KaBOOM!

Members of the Carnegie

Mellon team had previous-ly spent time volunteering at an OLPC deployment in Rwanda. The team’s solution identified three key areas of focus for OLPC: 1) strategi-

cally selecting countries to target; 2) ensuring stream-lined laptop deployment; 3) creating a global brand for Sugar, adding value to the existing XO hardware.

“On Nov 29th, we heard about the Hult Global Case Challenge through an email that our teammate re-ceived from Ahmad Ashkar, CEO of the competition. The competition sounded intriguing, and after con-firming that non-MBA schools could apply, our team (which was formed as part of a class project) decided to apply. We submitted our applica-tion the night of the deadline, Nov 30th, which was an essay describ-ing why we, as a team, should be chosen. Below is that essay:

Every group that calls itself a team obviously shares a high level of trust and camaraderie amongst team-mates, but one thing distinguishes our team from the rest. It is what makes a good team great— a high level of emotional intelligence. It is the confidence that all our individu-al skills and knowledge, along with our passion to make a difference in the lives of others, creates a positive synergy that is more effective as a whole than as the sum of its parts. Having worked together in several group projects, we have realized the significance of respecting each other’s opinion as well as encour-aging constructive feedback, thus creating a pro-active team environ-ment. We believe that innovation is a by-product of curiosity of the mind, freedom of expression and healthy conflict.

We make a great addition to the Hult Challenge both as a team and individually, bringing together a set of strengths and experiences that complement one another. Our team is: Elizabeth “Beth” Cullinan, Reginald “Reggie” Cox, Ketaki De-sai and Tim Kelly. Beth, a former WV Army National Guard and for-mer President of “Engineers with-out Borders” (Pittsburgh), believes in overcoming adversity by using a logical approach to challenging is-sues. Reggie mentors adolescent groups from the Pittsburgh Public Schools as a Program Director for a non-profit organization, and has an innate propensity to engage and interact with large groups of people. Ketaki, who was the former President for the Network of Indian Professionals (Pittsburgh) believes in leading by example, and raised $2,500 for the organization “Associ-ation for India’s Development” run-ning the Pittsburgh Half Marathon. Tim is a graphic and web designer for the Institute of Complex Engi-neered System—Carnegie Mellon University, volunteers for the “Hall of Heroes—United States Armed Services” and is currently creating a website that honors the soldiers lost in the line of duty during the war on terror.

As students of the Masters in Public Management Program at Carnegie Mellon University -Heinz College, we embody the willingness and desire to utilize our education in a collaborative spirit to solving world problems. As professionals from interdisciplinary fields—edu-cation, healthcare, graphic design, and engineering—we bring a dif-ferent perspective based on our re-spective experiences. As a culturally


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deep IDLE screen

new “grid membrane” keyboard

light sensor and accelerometer

One Laptop Per Child has intro-duced a new version of its familiar green machine with a consider-ably better battery life, at a re-duced base price of $185 per unit. Underscoring OLPC’s leadership

in low-cost, innovative technol-ogy, the X0-1.75 also features an automatic backlight dimmer, an improved grid keyboard, and a three-axis accelerometer, which has translated into a new “Etch-

a-Sketch” program in Turtle. The lengthened battery life comes from the introduction of a Mar-vell Armada PXA618 processor, which reduces power consump-tion roughly by half. The XO-1.75

will ship for $185 and up, and will be available with 4GB or 8GB of flash storage. Over 75,000 units of the XO-1.75 have already been or-dered by OLPC projects in Uruguay and Nicaragua.

O n e L a p t o p P e r C h i l dlaunches new XO-1 .75 mode l

This July, the Fedora Project is of-fering over 200 open hardware devices including the OLPC 1.75 in their ‘Summer of Open Hardware and Fun’ initative. Applicants must be active Fedora Project communi-ty members and will need to sub-mit a brief summary of how they will use the hardware.

Red Hat is providing free shipping for all random drawing winners; applications will be accepted until July 31, 2012. Apply at fedoraproject.org/openhw2012.

9SUMMER 2012, OLPC ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTERSUMMER 2012, OLPC ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

J A M A I C A

C A N A D A

P E R U

A r o u n d tt h i n


h e W o r l d

PHIL IPPINES

k g l o b a l l y, a c t d i g i t a l l yAFGHANISTAN

NAGORNO-KARABAKH

AUSTRALIA


An old saying goes, “Tall oaks from little acorns grow.” Such is the case with One Laptop per Child in Jamaica. It is not a huge deployment in terms of number of XO laptops but in terms of local enthusiasm it is off the charts.

The OLPC project in Jamaica origi-nated in September 2008 with the donation of 10 XOs and the establish-ment of a Centre for Excellence at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica. In 2009 the UWI team dem-onstrated the XO and Sugar activities to primary school teacher trainees at Moneague College.

At the end of 2009 PACE (Project for Advancement of Child-hood Education) Cana-da, a federally chartered non-profit organization founded in 1987 to sup-port Jamaican primary school education, fund-ed two small XO pilots at Providence Methodist Basic School and August Town Primary School. Other supporting partners included: LIME, the Caribbean’s leading com-munications company; the University of West Indies Township Project, which fosters collaboration with members of the community, the private sector and other stakeholders; the Early Child-hood Commission, the government

organization responsible for early childhood education in Jamaica; and San Francisco State University, provid-ing general support to the Jamaican OLPC initiative.

After a week of teacher training, 115 XO-1.5s were distributed to chil-dren in early 2011. The 5 and 6 year olds had no trouble picking up how to use the laptops, learning quickly from each other in a viral manner. In a short time, the kids became avid us-ers of TuxMath, an application that lets them hone their arithmetic skills while they defend penguins from incoming comets or offers them a chance to ex-

plore the asteroid belt with only their factoring abilities to bring them through safely.

A recent Jamaican as-sessment showed that the Grade 4 children in 2010 had scored 47% on a basic numeracy test, and that the scores of the Grade 4 children in 2011

who had received the laptops jumped up to 61% – a 14-point improvement – and the highest average score that the school has ever seen.

These early results have been very encouraging to all participants in the project – teachers, parents, the chil-dren, their communities and partners.

A n e v o l v i n g s t o r y : O L P C J a m a i c a

Canada is one of the most economi-cally developed and socially progres-sive countries in the world, however the welfare of Canada’s Aboriginal population of nearly 1.2 million people lags behind the rest of Canada. The Aboriginal peoples – comprised of First Nations, Inuit and Metis – are the country’s fastest growing demograph-ic, and face lower life expectancy,

educational levels and incomes than other Canadians. Education has been identified as the most important factor for bridging this gap.

OLPC Canada was launched in Sep-tember 2010 as a core program of The Belinda Stronach Foundation (TBSF). With sponsorship from Vale (the world’s leading nickel producer), BMO (Bank of Montreal) Financial Group

Canada reaches abor ig ina l communit ies

13 SCHOOLS — 7 PROVINCES — 3 TERRITORIES2295 STUDENTS — 282 TEACHERS

OLPC CANADA SCHOOLS

NUNAVUT

and the Government of Ontario, OLPC Canada’s mission is to empower Aboriginal youth to play an active role in their own education through access to learning-centered tech-nology.

OLPC Canada collabo-rated with Aboriginal students, education spe-cialists and social organi-zations to develop eight customized programs. Designed to advance a child’s interest in learning, these programs address challenges facing Aborigi-nal students such as liter-acy, physical and mental health.

In late 2011 Jennifer Martino was hired as Director of OLPC Canada to work with the communities, teachers and students to integrate the XO laptops into local curricula. Ac-cording to Martino, the OLPC project in Canada is as diverse and challenging as in any developing country. Schools are located in rural and remote areas, each facing unique social and eco-

nomic circumstances. Martino recalls a 6th grade student

named Alex in his first year of school. Alex had previously lived in a home off the highway without electricity or running water. Upon enrolling in school and receiving his laptop, Alex applied his knowledge of gears and began to do amazing things with the Physics activity on the XO. By adding squares, circles, triangles and other shapes and seeing them come to life, Physics helps children experiment with forces of gravity, friction, inertia, magnetism, etc. Martino was also im-pressed by Alex’s willingness to teach other students how to create complex tricks with this unique program. The laptop has given Alex something in common with other students and has opened avenues of creative collabo-ration. Other stories of collective and individual achievement are featured on the OLPC Canada blog at www.olpccanada.com/blog.

To date, 2,600 XO laptops have been distributed to Aboriginal chil-dren, ages 6-12, in 13 sites across 7 provinces and 2 territories. An addi-tional 900 laptops are on the way for a total of 3,500 laptops.

H o w t h e X O s a r e c h a n g i n g c o m m u n i t i e s i n t h e i s l a n d

12

“With the XO, the children get to go places and explore, and they don’t have to be i n a c l a s s -r o o m s e t t i n g . ”


Peru: Digitizing the Amazonian Communities

From the very beginning, Peru has been a major supporter of the One Laptop per Child program. Thanks to the leadership of former President Alan García Pérez, nearly 1 million chil-dren in Peru currently have XO laptops – a major step toward social inclusion across a very diverse country.

In the next phase of the project, the federal government is encouraging Peru’s 25 regional governments to take greater initiative and ownership of the program. Under Proyecto Iver-sion, each regional government must establish its own OLPC plan that speci-fies project goals, required resources, training plans and measurement methodologies.

Recently, the federal government approved the OLPC project plan of the Amazonas region in northern Peru. The plan put a heavy emphasis on teacher training, which was delivered during the first week of June.

Other regional governments are ex-pected to follow the example estab-lished by the Amazonas region and will soon present their OLPC plans to the federal government.

Peru is a country characterized by varying terrains. High mountains, des-erts and jungle all exist and challenge the population and the government on a daily basis. Overcoming the lo-gistics and distribution challenges in Peru logically led the Peruvian govern-ment to a phased approach to their OLPC project. With a strong focus on social inclusion, the first laptops were deployed in the most remote regions. In some cases it took nine days from Lima’s port of Callao for laptops to reach remote villages. These remote locations also presented consider-able challenges in providing Inter-net connectivity and electricity for the children’s laptops. Over the last three years the government has made a concerted effort to overcome the chal-lenges and create a successful de-ployment. While early evaluation re-sults could perhaps be characterized as mixed, it is documented that the children have shown a marked im-provement in cognitive skills, perhaps the highest form of learning. For this the credit goes to President Garcia for his visionary belief in the OLPC project and to all the Peruvian government


e.Studyante: A new OLPC and connectivity program i n t h e P h i l i p p i n e sSchool children in the Philippines face many challenges. Even a simple walk to school can be an arduous journey. In some parts of the country, the children must cross mountain peaks, wade rivers and trudge along muddy roads to get to school. Whey they finally do arrive, they are faced with scarce resources – over-crowded classrooms, outdated books and lack of school supplies. It is hardly an environment conducive to learning.

Several OLPC projects are underway in the Philippines to help make learning more fun and con-nected to the world. eKindling is a nonprofit dedicated to creating meaningful learning experienc-es by bringing technology-based, educa-tional innovations to children, classrooms and communities across the country. This group has been working on the Lubang pilot in the province of Occidental Mind-oro for several years. Based on that suc-cess, the provincial governor expanded the initiative to four schools in the south-ern part of the island.

At the end of 2011, P&G (Procter & Gamble) Philippines, along with Smart

officials and teachers who made it hap-pen. It is an unprecedented accomplish-ment to distribute over 900,000 laptops in three years in some of the toughest conditions imaginable.

In late 2011 President Humala was elected and he adopted a de-centralized approach to education. Rather than fol-lowing the philosophy of his predecessor he delegated responsibility and author-ity to each of the regional governments. This approach, which has been used in Brazil for over 100 years, permits a more localized strategy to better match local requirements. Given the diversity of cul-tures and languages in Peru, a more lo-calized approach should further improve results in the OLPC project and continue the improvement in cognitive skills. To support the local governments OLPC is fi-nalizing Aymara and Quechua language versions of the laptop using a combined OLPC-local team. After completing these two primary indigenous languages, OLPC plans to develop additional languages. These indigenous languages are also spoken in Ecuador and Bolivia and will

support OLPC expansion efforts there.In June OLPC will begin a training pro-

gram for 13,000 new laptops for the Am-azonas region, the first region to order laptops under the new President. This program will include technical, teacher training and community development support through a team of four OLPC staff. This team will be supplemented by a team of Peruvians paid by OLPC who will serve as the training staff for future regional programs. This training will also be made available to previous recipients of 24,000 XOs who the Amazonas has determined would benefit from addition-al training.

Peru is now the largest OLPC project in the world. The capabilities OLPC is build-ing to support regional governments will hopefully enable the project across Peru to improve student learning outcomes, teacher participation and motivation and Government involvement. The lessons learned at the local level will be shared with other deployments around the world.

Communications (providing Internet con-nectivity) and the Synergeia Foundation, launched the e.Studyante program at the Manuel L. Quezon Elementary School in Tondo, Manila.

The e.Studyante program focuses on using technology to help make educa-tion more engaging. It distributes XOs to students, provides other tools and train-ing for teachers, and evaluates and up-dates educational software and materi-

als. On launch day at the Ma-nila school, P&G employees helped children experience the excitement of receiving their very first email ever from Presi-dent Benigno

Aquino III and then sending a reply back to the President.

According to Chad Sotelo, P&G Coun-try Marketing Manager, the program’s ultimate goal is to provide 1 million lap-tops by the company’s 100th anniver-sary in the Philippines in 2035. P&G is encouraging all Filipinos to support the e.Studyante program by buying P&G promotional packages and spreading the word about the program to their families and friends.

“Education is the key to unlocking inter-generational deprivation, as it offers the knowledge people need to live healthy, happy lives.”


May 24, 2012 (Takhar, Afghanistan) – The 406 children and teachers in Abdul-ur-Rahman experimental Mid-dle School grade five today will re-ceive an XO laptop as a gateway to new modern educational system. The project is designed to use technology to overcome educational challenges and improve results and opportunities for children and teachers. It is already actively used by over 4,800 children in Afghanistan and more than 2.4 million worldwide.

Already completely translated into Dari and Pashto, the XO laptops pro-vide access to a digital library in the school with thousands of pages of content. The laptop is specially de-signed for a rugged environment for children, using three times less elec-tricity than normal laptops; the built in sealed dust free system is well suited to the Afghan environment. It can thus help overcome difficulties with lack of

time or guidance as teachers work in shifts by providing quizzes, simulators and feedback to children-extending learning time and providing access to more content than ever before.

“The main goal of this project is to

improve the teaching and learning environment in the school while giv-ing students the opportunity to further their educational experience at home using the XO laptops. Children that have access to this type of tool can

further their education and be active-ly engaged in their own study. They learn, share, create and have the op-portunity to collaborate with their fel-low students. They become connect-ed to each other, to the world and to a brighter future.”

Said Salim Hayran Afghanistan OLPC Program Director and Informa-tion Communication Director at the Ministry of Education

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Education and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology are the gov-ernment institutions tasked with im-proving education and the information technology sectors. They work to col-lectively embed communication tech-nology and standardizing technology in the education sectors and establish platforms to transform Afghan society and government institution into an in-formation based society and gover-nance.

Earlier this year the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has launched the deployment stage of its New Educational Strategy (NUR) with the dis-tribution of 3,300 XO laptop computers to children and teachers in 16 schools in Step-anakert, Shushi and Karin Tak.

Prime Minister Ara Harutunyan, Minis-ter of Education and Science Vladik Kha-chatryan, NUR Proj-ect Manager Sebas-tian Arias Duval, and Ashot Ghazaryan, Chairman of the Ar-menian representa-tion council of AGBU, presided over an April launch event at the Ashot Ghulyan (Bekor) general education school in Stepanakert.

Welcoming the project or-ganizer and benefactors, Vladik Khachatryan said, “This program will improve the quality of education of elementary school students

Nagorno-Karabakh deploys 3,300 OLPCs to connec ted schoo ls

Afghanistan expands its coverage

The unrecognized territory is looking at the future by investing in its children’s education

in the NKR, and more impor-tantly it will make information available to them and their families. Today, unfortunately, not all districts of NKR have Internet access. The process has started and I am sure that within a short period of time we will be able to establish

equal educational opportuni-ties in all NKR.”

NUR Project Manager Se-bastian Arias Duval said that the program’s objective is to provide a better level of edu-cation to future generations in NKR. “With this powerful tool the students will have the

“This program will improve the quality of education of elemen-tary school students in the NKR, and what is more important, will make more information avail-able to them and their families.”

opportunity to forge a bet-ter future for themselves and their country. The happiness expressed by these children’s faces confirms what Eduardo Eurnekian, the driving force behind NUR, has noted many times. The world commu-nity sees Nagorno-Karabakh

within the context of war and regional conflict. People fail to take note of the chil-dren who are born and live there. These children are entitled to the universal right of education and ac-cess to information.”

This is the end of Phase I of the proj-ect. Upon conclusion

of Phase II, all cities and stu-dents in grades 1-4 of NKR will be included in the program.

Currently, all schools where the NUR program is to be im-plemented have been provid-ed with a Wi-Fi network with Internet access.



A u

s t

r a

l i

a

OLPC Australia began in 2008 as the idea of Ran-gan Srikhanta, founder and CEO. Today the organization continues its mission of de-livering 500,000 XOs to pri-mary-school-aged children across the continent. On May 8, 2012, the government of Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that its next bud-get would include $11.7 mil-lion to fund further expan-sion of OLPC in Australia. This government grant will enable the delivery of an additional 50,000 laptops along with

associated training, software development, and support for teachers, students and their communities.

According to Srikhanta, the government’s contribution will support the “One Educa-tion” initiative. OLPC Austra-lia’s One Education program, a culmination of years of research and development, expands the power of the XO by making teacher support an intrinsic part of its pro-gram.

Using the Little Green Ma-chine, One Education’s “Seed

and Grow” plan strives to create local sustainability one classroom at a time. In order for students to receive laptops teachers must com-plete 15 hours of online train-ing to become XO Certified. Additional training turns edu-cators into XO Experts, which qualifies them to instruct others to become certified. XO Certified teachers then engage students by helping them become XO Champi-ons or XO Mechanics. XO Champions are proficient in basic software support, and

XO Mechanics are able to re-pair the laptops. As a result of this approach, the children gain a comprehensive un-derstanding of the XO and play a major part in the roll out of the program.

One Education proves that it is possible to distribute technology for social change by placing complete owner-ship with those most respon-sible for its success. Through the initiative teachers, chil-dren, and the community are engaged in an eco-system of learning.


On April 25, OLPC received

a special judges’ honor at

the 10th Annual Beacon

Awards. The Beacon Coun-

cil, Miami-Dade County’s

official development part-

ner, recognized OLPC for

its digital literacy effort at

Holmes Elementary School.

The honor acknowledges

organizations for outstand-

ing contributions to the lo-

cal economy in terms of job

creation, business expan-

sion, corporate citizenship

and industry leadership.

The award, sponsored

by Baptist Health Systems,

was received at a gala cel-

ebration at Marlins Park

that included nearly 1,000

business, civic and govern-

ment leaders.

Beacon Council Honors OLPC with Special Judges’ Award

“In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportuni-ty – it is a pre-requisite.”

President Barack Obama

50,000 laptops will reach Australia

O L P C F e a t u r e d i n O l i v e r S t o n e ’ s 2 0 1 2 F i l m , S A V A G E S

Through July 29, OLPC will be fea-tured in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art exhibition, The Uto-pian Impulse: Buckminster Fuller and the Bay Area. The collection features over 60 works that rep-resent Fuller’s most iconic ideas, as well as projects inspired by his thinking.

Fuller, a 20th century inventor, was interested in meeting the de-mands of an expanding civiliza-tion. His concern in bettering life for humanity influenced Yves Behar, founder of Fuseproject and creator of the XO laptop. Behar, a world-wide renowned designer, entre-preneur and sustainability advo-

URUGUAYSpanish where internet connectivity is provided both at schools and in the

community The distribution of laptops provided a method of documenting and identifying children throughout the country 99% of students have access to the internet

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

PROGRAM STATSSCHOOLCHILDREN 650,000

NUMBER OF LAPTOPS 650,000

DEPLOYMENT DATE Dec 2007

SATURATION PERCENTAGE100%

OF ALL SCHOOL CHILDREN HAVE A LAPTOP THROUGH THE OLPC PROGRAM

100%:

PERUSpanish / Quechua rates of poverty, illiteracy, social exclusion Peru is the largest OLPC

deployment to date The Ministry of Education has trained more than 115,000 teachers using the XO

IMPROVEMENT IN READING COMPREHENSION50% IMPROVEMENT

IN TEXTUAL AND MATH ANALYSIS60%

9002EROEB9002EROFEB

%

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

PROGRAM STATSSCHOOLCHILDREN 3,400,000



SATURATION PERCENTAGE23%

AFGHANISTANFarsi / Pashto / English

The Afghani XO model only uses about 25% of the power usage of a regular laptop Due to the lack of connectivity in rural areas, a foot petal was developed that can fully power the laptop while in use In addition to educational tools for children, the Afghani XO includes information on family health and economic development for parents

OF THE OLPC SCHOOLS IN AFGHANISTAN ARE FOR GIRLS50%

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS




SATURATION PERCENTAGE.1%

=

RWANDAKinyarwanda / English

By 2017, Rwanda intends to have distributed 500,000 laptops to primary school students As part of the government’s commitment to equality and social inclusion, schools for children with disabilities are also included the OLPC program When students receive their laptops in first grade, they transition from learning in French to English

LAPTOPS DONATED THROUGH GIVE ONE GET ONE KICKSTARTED THE RWANDA OLPC PROGRAM

10,000

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS




SATURATION PERCENTAGE9% 212222222211111222222111100000000000000,,,,000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000,,,

LAPTOPS DISTRIBUTED

OLPC Featured in theS F M o M A E x h i b i t i o n

-YVES BEHARFounder of fuseproject

LIFEBRINGS STORIESTO DESIGN

TM

DESIGNBRINGS STORIESTO LIFE

TM

cate, is the curator of OLPC’s SFMoMA exhibition.

OLPC’s overall program is spotlight-ed for its innovative approach to edu-cation, its creation of socially respon-sible products and environments, and its overarching goal of improving lives. The XO machine communicates Behar’s interest in products that con-nect with human emotions and en-able self-expression. The green ma-chine is an example of the utopian impulse that drove Fuller and later Behar, and reflects the lasting impact of the two men on society.

The exhibition currently features OLPC’s projects in Rwanda, Afghani-stan, Uruguay and Peru.

On July 6, Americans will get a glimpse of OLPC’s XO laptops in Oliver Stone’s film, Savages. The movie includes several short clips of Balinese chil-dren using our little green machines. Produced by Universal Pictures, the film features an ensemble of cast that includes Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Blake Lively, Salma Hayek, Benicio Del Toro and John Travolta. The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Don Winslow and fea-tures Lively, the girlfriend of marijuana dealers, being kidnapped by Heyek’s and Del Toro’s Mexican drug cartel.


How OLPC Is Impacting Their Lives and Offering HopeBy Dr. Michele Borba Parenting, Child & Teen expert.

L e s s o n s I L e a r n e d f r o m K i d sLESSON 1: Never underestimate k ids ’ abi l i ty to be the master of thei r own learningMy first Rwandan visit was to the Murambi School in Kigali for deaf and mute children. In addition to being handicapped and destitute, many were also orphans. I walked into the first classroom with low ex-pectations, and was mesmerized. The room was bare–no books or school supplies could be found. I saw only old wooden desks, one blackboard, a cement floor and a teacher, but I also noted that each child was working intently on an XO laptop.

Here were kids with limited language skills and no verbal abilities, who were engrossed in learning and their excitement was contagious.

I knelt to see what they were do-ing on those laptops, and got the surprise of my life: these nine and ten-year olds were programming! Any doubts that I’d ever had about the impact computers can have on impoverished kids died on the spot. I saw that specially-designed computers can support a child’s learning and thinking, and when a child cannot talk-or hear–he still is not limited. These children were clearly learning to “talk” to their XO computers in their own way. They also confirmed Seymour Papert’s brilliant words from long ago: “If we really look at the ‘child as the builder’ we are on our way to an answer.” The kids confirmed how we could close the achievement gap in third world countries.

LESSON 2: The “right” technology can make kids excited about education and their future.My experience with OLPC in Rwanda was extraordinary, but I had to see more. Will the effect of these XO laptops impact children living in other cultures or regions? So I visited a Title 1 school in an im-poverished area outside Miami, flew to Managua, Nicaragua and ferried my way to a remote island called Ometepe, and even inter-viewed scientists who invented the XO laptop at the MIT Media Lab at Cambridge. Everywhere I heard two common themes: “Stu-dents are far more engaged in their learning after receiving XO laptops.” And: “Parents report that their kids are using the computers to learn at home.” What’s more, kids in my travels verified those opinions.

Nidia Raquel Morales Alvarez, a long name for a precocious ten-year old I met in Managua, told me that her XO computer “greatly advanced my learning.” When I probed for details she explained: “Yesterday I learned about indus-trial agriculture. Tomorrow I’ll be giving a presentation in my class-room about farming techniques.” She added that her favorite laptop activity at home is doing research on Wikipedia. Her goal, she said, is to become an engineer. I have

no doubt that she will. Seven-year old Lidia, also from Nica-

ragua, said that her XO is helping her as well as her family learn. Her mother and father now know how to use the comput-er, because she is teaching them. “All kids should have a computer like me, so they can learn,” Lidia told me adamantly.

But kids in Rwanda had echoed those same sentiments.

Jean Luc, a young boy from Rwanda, admitted that his computer is his ‘new life.’ “I always make sure my XO is charged be-fore I take it home, and then I work on it all night. Right now I’m composing music. Do you want to hear my song?” he asked. “Would I ever!” And so my new friend shared his composition--and memo to Bono: Watch out, your competition is com-ing up! This kid is talented. Jean Luc also divulged that his secret hope is to grow up and become a musical programmer. It’s my hope for him as well.

LESSON 3: Computers can increase-not reduce-student collaboration.

Another concern is that computer use will make kids more self-focused and squelch

their abilities to become collaborative learners. But in dozens of OLPC obser-vations I found the opposite: in class-rooms enriched with technology-and ones in which teachers are trained in best practices–there is more-not less-socialization amongst students. Edu-cator training in collaborative instruc-tional strategies certainly helps, and teachers that I observed were not only trained by OLPC trainers but continued learning ways to utilize technology in monthly staff development trainings and I saw the benefits.

Nicaragua is one of the most im-poverished countries in the western hemisphere. One in three Nicaraguan children are chronically malnourished. OLPC has delivered hundreds of XO laptops to classrooms. I observed a number of classrooms and saw a va-riety of cooperative classroom lessons in schools who had used XOs com-puters for a few months: sixth graders working in base teams learning how to mind-map different types of calendars (Mayan, Greco, Julian); third graders paired with partners and identifying

bird species; first graders learning how to use the XO drawing program and discovering beginning programming skills with their “learning buddies;” fourth graders who were mentoring younger students who needed “catch-ing up” on computer skills. “We help each other,” one boy explained.

I also saw the same collaborative spirit in OLPC classrooms in Liberty City, Miami. I watched a young girl having trouble navigating between pro-grams. She turned to a classmate for help, and within seconds the boy was by her side teaching her basic computer skills. The same coopera-tive spirit happened in Managua as kids sat beneath mango trees with XOs in their laps helping their class-mates learn new computer skills.

Classrooms with computers came alive as children worked, shared and created together on their lap-tops. Each click of the mouse was helping them become more con-nected both to the world and to a brighter future. XO computers can support collaborative learning

I’ve been a teacher, writer and researcher for over thirty years and like many, I’m haunted knowing that millions of children on our planet will never receive an education or ever walk into a classroom. Imagine! I’ve pon-dered again and again how we can give poverty-stricken kids-especially those living in remote areas where teach-ers, textbooks, classrooms or even running water don’t exist-a chance to learn. I did find the answer, and ironi-

cally, it came from children far from home who provided it.

It all began with a most un-expected phone call. General Mills contacted me to ask if I’d like to be a spokesperson for its “Win & Give” campaign where U.S. kids had the op-portunity to win an XO laptop from One Laptop per Child (OLPC) and trigger a dona-tion of the same laptop to kids in Africa. Would I be will-ing to travel to Rwanda to visit schools and help deliver the laptops? Well, I jumped

at the chance! I knew that these were no ordinary lap-tops. The XO laptop is made from durable plastic so that it can withstand tough weath-er conditions (think Africa or the Sahara Desert), is child-proof, even looks like a toy and has instant connectivity. It comes fully equipped with curriculum in a child’s na-tive language (29 languages and counting now), retails for $185, is designed by some of the world’s most brilliant minds at MIT Media Lab and

was developed based on sound theory that supports how kids learn best.

So three weeks later I found myself flying to the small East African nation that had expe-rienced unspeakable horrors of genocide. Within 24 hours of landing a few extraordi-nary children taught me valu-able lessons on how to close the achievement gap and educate impoverished kids on our globe. Here are those lessons.


Courtesy of Joe Dickie

practices and increase, not reduce-student interaction. “We teach each other!” a young Nicaraguan boy told me, but I was already convinced. LESSON 4: Technology Can Inspire Teachers

In my visits I’ve seen the impact that XO laptops have on children’s education, but I’ve also witnessed how those computers enhance a powerful concept called, “Teacher pride.” In every classroom and in every country I saw educators ex-cited about teaching.

A teacher at Holmes Elementa-ry, a Title 1 school in Liberty City, Miami, had tears in her eyes as she described how the laptops af-fected her teaching: “I can’t wait to come to school now. My students are so exciting about learning! You can’t believe what a differ-ence those laptops have made on my children’s lives.” I can also vali-date that impact. Holmes was in danger of being closed due to dis-mal test scores. Within two years, its “D” school rating is now at a “B” level-and rising. Inspired teachers, a powerful principal, and the right curriculum can make all the differ-ence.

Gloria, a sixth grade teacher in Managua, was exuberant about the OLPC project. “I’ve taught for twenty years,” she said, “but I’ve never seen anything that has helped my students or my own teaching better than these lap-tops. In just one week, the children learned not only how to use them, but how to teach themselves. I can’t keep up!”

A teacher in Rwanda admitted that her initial hesitancy about computers. “I didn’t know how to use them,” she said. “But my stu-

dents told me not to worry. They taught me!” Then she smiled and said, “The laptops have changed my teaching!”

One of the teacher’s students was listening in at the door. “So is it true?” I asked. “Did you all help your teacher learn to use the com-puter?” He looked up with a huge grin and nodded. “She likes the computers now just like us,” he said.

It can’t get much better than that! LESSON 5: Kids want to learn and parents are grateful when their children are given the opportunity.

My last day in Africa I visited the most memorable school. There was no running water, toilets were primitive makeshift outhouses, school supplies were scarce, play equipment consist-ed of tattered jump ropes and maybe a few cans or balls to kick. The village was poor, but the place was buzz-ing with excitement. This was the day OLPC would deploy 300 XO laptops to their students. The whole community-parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, storeowners, clergy, and even the mayor-had walked miles to the school to witness the momentous oc-casion. Drums were beating, students were dancing, teachers were ecstatic, and parents were literally beaming. I saw what was clearly “joy and hope” on the faces of these moms and dads. They knew that their children would shortly be receiving an extraordinary gift: the chance for an education.

The students lined up to receive their green and white XO comput-ers, and were literally shaking from excitement. I can’t begin to describe how thrilling it felt to give kids those laptops. Each child waited for what must have seemed like an eternity,

and when their turn finally came they would take the computer oh so care-fully, utter words of thanks, and then this look of absolute elation would emerge. Pride? Hope? Wonder? Awe? I’m not quite sure, but it was priceless. I’ve never experienced anything so riveting.

I watched one boy staring at his computer with a look of almost disbe-lief. “This is really mine?” he seemed to be thinking. Then he turned, walked back to me and pointed to a small pin that I was wearing that bore the initials, “XO.” He then tapped the same letters engraved on the top of his computer. “Yes,” I said as if to let him know that the XO laptop and I were somehow connected. The child grasped his new laptop closely to his chest, and then suddenly tears started to flow down his face. That did it-it was impossible to contain my emotions, and the tears started. We sat down on the grass with his lap-top between us, hugging and crying. Believe me, we made quite a sight.

Somehow-despite our differences-we understood the enormous significance of that day. The moment reminded me that best lessons often come from a child’s “silent” words. Making the Easiest Decis ion of My L i fe

That was the day I became con-vinced that the answer to providing education and hope to children in third world countries is the One Lap-top Per Child (OLPC) project. I told the OLPC members who were with me I would do anything I could to support their mission. So when the One Lap-top Per Child project asked if I’d serve as their Goodwill Ambassador, it was the quickest decision I’ve ever made: a resounding “yes!” My next stop for OLPC is delivering laptops to children in Armenia who are not even recog-nized by the United Nations.

Children–all of our children-deserve an education, and a chance for hope. Extraordinary kids living in remote, im-poverished areas of the globe taught me that hope is possible.

diverse team, in terms of gen-der as well as ethnicity, we truly represent the global out-look that is required to mak-ing a change in the world.

Choose us—not because we claim to be better than any of the other amazing teams participating in the Hult Global Case Challenge, but because we promise to commit our time and effort towards an idea that will be a significant step forward for “One Laptop per Child” to reach its goal – of empower-ing the world’s poorest chil-dren through education.

“It is amazing how much people can get done if they do not worry about who gets the credit.” ~ Sandra Swinney

On Jan 9th, we learned that our team was selected for the regional round in Boston. We selected the Education track to compete in (our choices were Education, Housing, or Energy), which meant that we would get the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) case study. We chose Education because we had experience in this field,

some of us having previously worked with students in the United States as well as inter-nationally. The best and bright-est MBA teams from over 130 countries competed (including the US Ivy leagues like HBS, Yale, Columbia, MIT Sloan, Wharton, etc) to build a sustain-able solution for OLPC to scale their current model. Our goal was to distribute laptops, and hence education, to 10 million children in 5 years.

The competition started with over 4,000 applications, of which approximately 60 teams were selected to compete in each of the 5 cities hosting the regional round of competi-tion—Boston, San Fransisco, London, Dubai and Shanghai. On Feb 25th, each team pre-sented to a panel of judges and two teams were chosen to present to an audience of over 400. Then, one team was declared the Regional Finalist and selected to move to the Global Finals in New York City on April 26th. In New York, six teams were first judged by the OLPC C-level team during

a 45 minute presentation. The final presentations were in the New York Public Library with all the fanfare of the Academy Awards. Two teams from each track were called out to pres-ent to a final panel of judges including: Dr. Muhammad Yu-nus (Nobel Peace Prize win-ner and Founder of Grameen Bank), Governor Mario Cumo (New York), Michael Treschow (Chairman of Unilever), Jona-than Reckford (CEO, Habitat for Humanity), Steve Andrews (CEO, SolarAid), Rodrigo Ar-boleda Halaby (Chairman and CEO, One Laptop per Child) and Darell Hammond (Found-er and CEO, KaBOOM!). After much trepidation, and over 4 months of intense preparation, finally, President Bill Clinton an-nounced our win!

Our solution is based on the experiences of Carnegie Mel-lon students who worked with One Laptop Per Child in Kigali, Rwanda, as well as discussions with several grassroots volun-teers. Our team identified three key areas of focus for OLPC moving forward: (1) strategically

selecting countries to target, (2) ensuring streamlined laptop deployment, and (3) creating a global brand for the open-source XO software, adding value to the existing hardware.

Our solution incorporates data on basic human needs, as well GDP, to develop a strat-egy that will allow us to reach countries worldwide. Once on the ground, we will build on established partnerships with nonprofits to ensure that the communities receiving the lap-tops feel a strong sense of own-ership. On the software side, we will crowd source educa-tional applications to develop-ers around the world, adding value to the existing programs created by Sugar Labs. Finally, we will create an online com-munity for students to interact globally and rate these appli-cations.

This not only advances OLPC’s mission of providing education to the world’s poor-est children, but also delivers it to those children in the de-veloped world who will greatly benefit from the XO laptop.

Our solution will revolutionize how children worldwide can connect and create an ever-evolving network for education and learning. The computers will supplement teachers’ ef-forts by encouraging students to actively learn in and out of the classroom, regardless of the technology available to them at home. Our next step is to start implementing our ideas in the form of a Benefit Corporation LLC. in Pittsburgh.

“You don’t have to change the world by yourself,” is our advice to anyone interested in champi-oning a social cause, as a take-away from our experience with the Hult Global Case Challenge. Connect with others, learn from what they have already accom-plished, and share your talents to work together toward achiev-ing a common goal. These are daunting issues, and we are confronted with an enormous number of hurdles along the road to success. The only way we are going to get there is by putting in our best efforts, shar-ing resources and not worrying who gets the credit.”

19by Carnegie Mellon University Team


20

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