[Grassroots-l] NOW: OLPC Contributors Program Mtg (on #olpc-meeting, Fri Sep 28, 11:15AM EDT)

Fri Oct 28 11:15:57 EDT 2011

Please all join us now, voting for the latest OLPC/Sugar community
projects over IRC Live Chat, to make the best project allocations &
mentoring relationships--starting right here:

http://forum.laptop.org/chat

Then type at bottom:
/join #olpc-meeting

ASIDE/CLARIF: XO-1.75 prototype laptops will not be the core focus
of today's meeting, as they are being distributed privately on a
case-by-case and ongoing basis, with a few weeks delay typically,
sometimes more.  Thanks to all serious software/hardware
developers for applying here!

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Contributors#FAQ

AGENDA:

* Fast Review of the 6 latest (greatest!) HW/Project Proposals.
   Plz join us advocating for & reviewing shortcomings of these proposals:

   1. OLPC Sarbhan - Gujarat, India
   2. Catalyst for Hope - Kandiyapita Kanishta, Sri Lanka
   3. The Haiti Empowerment Project - Ohio State Univ
   4. NYSAIS OLPC Initiative - New York
   5. XO to Aid Teaching of English/Literacy Skills - Eshibinga, Kenya

* Which projects might you enjoy Mentoring below?!
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Projects
http://rt.laptop.org/Search/Results.html?Query=Queue=%27contributors%27

* New projects & libraries -- teaching them Community Outreach:
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XO_Laptop_Lending_Libraries

1. OLPC Sarbhan - Gujarat, India
    http://rt.laptop.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=90096
    SPECIFIC SITE NEEDS TO BE POSTED OFF http://olpcMAP.net & 
http://j.mp/6UhCtd

    Requests 6 XOs over 7 months

    Project Objectives:
    The goal of this project is to add a "social" aspect to the formal
    education that the children are receiving in India.

    Me and Meenal will start this OLPC project NOT by giving a laptop away
    to each child BUT by having one laptop for a group of 5 children. Our
    idea is to teach the kids how to --

    1. Work in teams.

    2. Teach themselves and teach others (hence develop communication and
       leadership skills over time).

    3. Manage time and resources.

    One of the most unique things that we will be doing is sharing a weekly
    "social responsibility" video with the kids. We will be posting videos
    on Youtube as opposed to using Skype because live streaming in the
    village may not be feasible because of low internet bandwidth. As of now
    we plan on using the Flip video recorder
    (http://www.theflip.com/en-us/), it is high definition and has a lot of
    video capacity.

    We will talk about topics ranging from female infanticide to democracy
    to social entrepreneurship -- talk to them about how they can step 
up and
    use their education for the betterment of those around them.

2. Catalyst for Hope - Kandiyapita Kanishta, Sri Lanka
    http://rt.laptop.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=90371
    http://www.catalystforhope.org/born-free.html
    SPECIFIC SITE NEEDS TO BE POSTED OFF http://olpcMAP.net & 
http://j.mp/6UhCtd

    Requests 10 XOs and indefinitely months
    "We would like to donate $1000 for 5 laptops and seek 5 more laptops"

    Project Objectives:
    Objectives Kandiyapita Kanishta Vidyalaya School Project Background:
    The Kandiyapita village area has elephant encounters from both the
    Udawalawe National Park and the Boghapattiya Elephant Sanctuary. The
    students that attend the Kandiyapita school are the children of farmers
    farming on the land adjacent to these elephant
    habitats. The school serves students from Grades 1-9. This project
    therefore aims to educate the future generation on the coexistence of
    man and wildlife by meeting the needs of the Kandiyapita school whilst
    supporting their community. Provision of running water, teaching
    materials through laptops and books and development of a youth
    leadership program, resources for experimenting with elephant-resistant
    crops, and a sincere interest in the well-being of the students and
    their families will ultimately solidify coexistence in future 
generations.
    Project Objectives: Provide computing resources through donation of
    laptops enabling Support of Science and Math Program Formation and
    development of a 'Youth Leadership Program'
    http://www.catalystforhope.org/born-free.html Dr. Deepani Jayantha has
    been in contact with the school Principal and the English teacher, and
    they are eager to start the Youth Leadership Program as well. Data from
    the investigative part of the project is in. The objectives of the
    educational outreach component of the project for the initial phase is
    to provide easy to use, robust laptops with proven software content such
    as available on OLPC laptops. The staff and students are eager to step
    into this never experienced mode of learning. Our goal is to educate and
    equip the youth, the future leaders of their community, with a global
    perspective on environmental issues starting and acting from their local
    base, their community. The outcomes of this laptop program would be in
    the short-term providing students that otherwise would have no access to
    new ways of learning. Moreover, it would be achieving the long-term goal
    of supporting this community and promoting ecologically sustainable
    development and safeguarding the natural wild-elephant habitat whilst
    simultaneously enabling humans to coexist in this environment. The
    long-term outcome is to have a generation of future leaders that are
    knowledgeable and educated of their role in the community and are
    connected to outside resources and the global citizens. Technology such
    as a laptop can provide a gateway to learning and communication. We are
    welcome to your suggestions on presenting the above elaborated
    objectives on our webpage.

3. The Haiti Empowerment Project - Ohio State Univ
    http://rt.laptop.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=92015
    SPECIFIC SITE NEEDS TO BE POSTED OFF http://olpcMAP.net & 
http://j.mp/6UhCtd

    Requests 1 XO over 12 months

    Project Objectives:
    I will be working with deployments in Haiti, providing experience and
    expertise to development of standards-based instructional materials
    for the XO in primary schools in the area of mathematics and reading.

    There are two primary areas of focus:
    1. Teacher Education: Provide teachers with best practices using the
       XO in their instruction.
    2. Standards-based Activities: Develop, test, and implement
       mathematics and reading lessons and activities.

4. NYSAIS OLPC Initiative - New York
    http://rt.laptop.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=92066
    SPECIFIC SITE NEEDS TO BE POSTED OFF http://olpcMAP.net & 
http://j.mp/6UhCtd

    Requests 2 XOs over 3-5 months

    Project Objectives:
    I. Involve NYSAIS Students in fundraising initiatives for XO laptops,
       Internet Connections and Power
    II. Establishing relationships with a potential OLPC schools in 
person (tech
        liaisons, trips abroad, etc).
    III. Deploy Laptops in OLPC schools
    IV. Train OLPC teachers/leaders on XO use in the classroom
    V. Developing curriculum and project guidelines for class interactions
    VI. Students interacting via video conference for language learning 
purposes 4.
        Plan of Action *Plan and Procedure for Achieving the Stated 
Objectives:*I am
        proposing this OLPC project to a large group of Technologist on 
Nov 9th at a
        conference called NEIT (http://neit.wikispaces.com/ and
        http://www.nysais.org/page.cfm?id=1161&verbose=1596). This is a 
group of
        approximately 250 Technologists in K-12 Education. I will call 
the group to
        action, and ask those interested to meet and discuss how to move 
forward
        with the project. Ultimately each school involved will 
participate in a
        fundraising effort (initial goal of $30,000) through a 
kickstarter campaign
        (http://www.kickstarter.com/). The goal of $30,000 is so that we 
can order
        the minimum order of 100 laptops ($20,000) and then $10,000 for 
shipping,
        power and internet support. This funding does not take into 
consideration
        travel for individuals, who will be required to pay their own 
way. I think
        that the $30,000 goal is very attainable and I think on the low 
end of what
        can be achieved, but I was advised at the OLPC Summit in San 
Francisco to
        start the project small and build it larger as time goes on.
        The specific location of the deployment has not been established 
yet, as I
        would like to find out where NYSAIS schools already have established
        relationships in developing countries. This also was recommended 
at the
        Summit as a best practice.

5. XO to Aid Teaching of English/Literacy Skills - Eshibinga, Kenya
    http://rt.laptop.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=92077
    http://eshibinga.wordpress.com
    SPECIFIC SITE NEEDS TO BE POSTED OFF http://olpcMAP.net & 
http://j.mp/6UhCtd

    Requests ? XOs over 8 months

    Project Objectives:
    Use XO laptops to promote 'Verbal-Linguistic' skills. The learners 
will enjoy
    learning through speaking, writing, reading, and listening, 
researching with
    the XO. The XO will give students an opportunity to express themselves
    creatively with words, capture student voices with audio, text, 
pictures,
    students will create stories, interactive activities related to reading,
    writing, and speaking, students will read stories online, record 
their own
    stories and play literacy games. Our goal is to set a syllabus that
    reinforces and harmonizes well with the Ministry of education English
    curriculum..
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