[OLPC library] Laptop per child for Cambodia

[Edward Cherlin]

On Feb 19, 2008 5:29 PM, Thomas Wanhoff <thomas.wanhoff at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Edward, I got your address through the Cambodian Blogger Summit
> Group. You were asking for help regarding the One Laptop per Child for
> Cambodia.

Thank you.

> I am just a foreigner in this country, working as an employee for a
> Cambodian company (I am the manager of Monument Toys). But I have some
> experience in human ressources now. The main problem in this country
> is that the most Cambodians do not have a wide knowledge. We have a
> lot of primary schools here, and its always nice to see children
> smiling, but when they grown up, there is nothing left.
>
> Yes, of course they need to learn writing and reading in Khmer, but
> English too, and this means on a higher level then before. And they
> need something like Wikipedia on DVD, because they do not learn in
> school the basics about the world (not only the western, the whole
> world I mean.)

These are issues that One Laptop Per Child has thought about
seriously, and addressed. OLPC XO laptops for Cambodia will include
both Khmer and English. School servers in areas without Internet will
have a large part of Wikipedia on their hard drives, in both Khmer and
English.

> It would be fine if the laptops do not only offer the basics. Check
> out KhmerOS, they translated even Open Office.

See http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Activities for a list of XO software,
current and in development. OpenOffice would not fit on the XO, but it
includes a version of AbiWord. We intend to mine KhmerOS for
translations and computer vocabulary that we can use in XO software.
Any bilingual Cambodians who would like to help can join our
localization list at http://lists.laptop.org. We are setting up a
Khmer language project at http://dev.laptop.org/translate. We also
need Khmer and Pali literature and textbooks (public domain or under
Free license), and assistance setting up text-to-speech conversion in
Khmer.

> But keep in mind, that the total level of education is very low,
> although we have so many NGOs here. But nobody takes really care about
> the knowledge level of the young people from 20 up. But thats the next
> generation in charge.

The plan is to support not just the traditional curriculum, but
teaching children how to learn new subjects on their own, using
collaborative discovery. The first experiments that led to the One
Laptop Per Child program were done in Cambodia.
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Constructionism

Then Earth Treasury intends to teach students with computer skills,
learning skills, and other skills and knowledge how to go into
sustainable international business together.

> Just my 20 cents
>
> Greetings from Phnom Penh
> Thomas
> --
> mobil: +855 12598370
> skype: thomaswanhoff
> Blog: http://wanhoffs-cambodia.blogspot.com (english)
> Blog: http://weblog.wanhoff.de (german)
>
> Podcast: Wanhoffs Wunderbare Welt der Wissenschaft
> (http://wissenschaft.wanhoff.de)

May we package your science podcasts for the XO, and translate them
into other languages?

-- 
Edward Cherlin
End Poverty at a Profit by teaching children business
http://www.EarthTreasury.org/
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."--Alan Kay