[Olpc-indonesia] My investigations into the XO laptop in Indonesia
Dennis N. Raymond
dennisnr at comcast.net
Sun Apr 27 00:05:31 EDT 2008
Hi Gede:
Good hearing back from you. I'm posting this to the OLPC-Indonesia blog in
the interests of sharing my findings here in Indonesia since arriving in
December 2007 with an XO laptop in hand.
Unlike you I have not had a response from OLPC. Repeated emails and phone
calls have gone nowhere as far as I can tell. I understand they are
overwhelmed with inquiries from all over the world, and that they are
working with limited resources. If you know contacts within OLPC that have
your attention please forward this message to them.
I might have mentioned that I work as a business analyst in technology in my
home city of Seattle, USA. Like many I have heard news of the XO laptop for
some time, and eagerly awaited its appearance. I acquired one at the time of
the "Give One, Get One" promotion at the end of 2007, and was eager to test
the laptop in the school environment within Indonesia. I've been recording
the responses to the laptop, and would like to share some of the details
herein
So far I've put the laptop in front of the following schools and
organizations on Bali:
* Suta Sharma School: This is a private school for local children in
the Ubud area. This eleven year old school encompasses grades kindergarten
through six, with class size averaging 20+. There are about 350 children in
the school. Approximately 30% of the children are on scholarship paid for
by local supporters or Westerners like me. The school has a rudimentary
computer lab consisting of about 13 PC's. There is no internet access at
the school, although DSL has recently become available within the Ubud area.
Every time I've visited the computer lab the children are playing
shoot-'em-up games on the PC, usually two to three students per computer.
The computer teacher explains that this is a way to teach the children how
to use the mouse. I believe this is happening because the school
administration has handed off the curriculum and learning goals to this
teacher, and there is no one else monitoring the overall goals or results. I
have countered that, in the West, computer games are not part of the school
curriculum and that, in fact, this has been demonstrated to be counter to
the learning process. As proof of this I lent the XO Computer to a family
whose daughter I support in the Suta Dharma School. After a week her
parents reported that she was bored with it because there were no games.
The computer teacher is Balinese and your typical IT guy: introverted,
cerebral, deploying old school learning models. I lent him the XO Computer
for one week with no orientation or instruction, and he liked it. Suddenly
there was a spark of enlightenment as he spoke of having many laptops
scattered throughout all the classrooms in the school, not just the IT
class. I thought that was fairly forward thinking.
* Campuan College: This small Ubud-based college was established a
few years back by Wayan Rustiasa, the owner of the best computer shop here
called Mega Systems. Technology transformed Wayan's life and he is driven
to share this opportunity with other local people. The College holds a
variety of courses in everything from Excel and Word to authoring HTML, all
for about Rp 500,000 per quarter. Wayan has also developed a management
course where perhaps one dozen Balinese youth were awarded scholarships
(including room and board) for the two year program. In this course the
students learn how to apply management skills to real life community
projects of their own choosing. A requirement of graduation is the
completion of these projects per the identified goals. This is extremely
forward thinking for Bali, and such project management skills (outside the
hospitality industry) are much needed. Anyway, in the early stages of this
program the management students spend two Sundays a month doing outreach to
poor rural communities in Bali. Twice I have accompanied them to the
Jatalewi area where they meet with the local school children to teach
English, cooperative games and motivation skills. Add to that technology as
the XO computer was shown there to great effect. Of course we only have one
XO Computer on hand, so we would drawn off 3 or 4 students at a time from
the larger group and, with minimal instruction, give them 20+ minutes to
play with Memorize, TamTam and other OLPC-specific applications. I've
attached some photos of these sessions, and I believe the reactions on the
children's faces says it all. There is no WiFi in the mountainous region of
Jatalewi, so the Internet remained unseen to this group. In many ways
Campuan College and its founder, Wayan Rustiasa, are in the best position to
qualify potential candidate schools for XO Computer distribution. With the
management team he has in place Wayan can execute on all the details that
could make OLPC a success here in Bali- identifying the needs, distribution
to the field in Bali, training and monitoring the project. Wayan Rustiasa
can be reached at +62 81 2365-9773 or rustiasa at hotmail.com. Apart from the
business enterprise, Campuan College, Wayan does his good works through the
foundation Yayasan Karuna Bali.
* Green School: In September of this year jewelry baron John Hardy
will open his ambitious new school called Green School. Although the target
market is beyond what any poor Indonesian family might afford (approximately
USD $9,000 per year) there was interest from school director Brad Choyt in
seeing the XO laptop for consideration at the school. After Brad and his
team spent several days looking at it he suggested becoming a part of a
buying group for 40+ units. OLPC promotes a sales plan at $299 per unit
with a minimum order of 100. The idea is to find other schools that could
afford to purchase in a lot of 100. So far no one else I have talked with
has this kind of capitol to invest.
* Bali International School: I investigated receptivity to the XO
Computer at BIS even through the school, like Green School, is not within
the target audience of OLPC for XO laptop distribution. My hope was that
the BIS administration would consider the idea of helping to pay for
computers that would go to disadvantaged local children. But this was not
well received and, as far as I can tell, BIS students are a privileged lot
that are isolated from the local cultural environment. The IT teacher
there, Stephen, showed the laptop to students and they expressed a mild
curiosity for something different from the Windows mono-culture. If BIS is
likely to go in any direction it would be in favor of the Intel/Window
Classmate.
* Local Government Schools: Thus far I have not looked into local
government schools. This seems a daunting task, fraught with landmines. A
better approach would be top down, starting with the Minister of Education,
Bapak Bambang Sudibyo. I have met him in the past, and have been looking
for an opportunity to gain an audience with him again. This is best
achieved through internal contacts here on the island. I have been told that
Pak Sudibyo recently committed to bringing technology into the Indonesian
school system including internet connectivity. Of course this has not
manifested anywhere and, in the Indonesian way, I'm told we must be patient.
Another interesting note: Indonesia, along with African nations, was high on
the list for distribution of the XO Computer in the first wave. What
happened? The Department of Education neglected to complete the necessary
paperwork on time. Apparently Indonesia will see the XO laptop seeded into
the school system at a later date.
* Some additional thoughts:
o One-on-one distribution vs. school ownership: OLPC quickly learned
a lesson in African. The very concept of one laptop distributed to each
child goes counter to the cultural traditions within these nations. Within
poor rural communities individual ownership can contribute to jealousy and
strife. The entire idea behind OLPC is that the child can take the laptop
home where the knowledge is shared with the family members. But, as in
Africa, individual ownership may not play here. OLPC might create greater
cohesion if the laptops are "owned" by the school system, kept in the
classroom, and/or lent out to students as requested.
o Teacher training required: In order for the OLPC program to gain
the support of schools the teachers must be provided with adequate training
on the XO Computer in advance of the students. I realize that this flies in
the face of the OLPC philosophy of letting the child play with the laptop
and discover for themselves. However, the Indonesian educational system
would never allow this. What's more, if the teachers felt that the children
were learning beyond them they likely would sabotage the use of the XO
laptop in the school. These patterns of educational hierarchy are
intractable, traceable back through colonialism and the systems of royal
kingdoms and Sultans where information is held close.
o Reaching the poorest: An essential issue here has to do with
targeting the right population for distribution. The wider outside
perception, both within Indonesia and outside, is that Bali is rich. It's
true, Bali is the cash cow for Jakarta due to tourism, but there are many
pockets of desperation in the rural areas to the East and elsewhere.
Forward plan for equitable distribution must take into account the entire
nation- that is, the outlying islands beyond Bali and Java. I've traveled
throughout Nusa Tenggara, into Kalimantan and deep into Papua. Now, these
are places and lives where the XO laptop could make a difference, places
where a solar recharger would be essential. Common sense would say to leave
this kind of remote distribution to the Department of Education. However,
common sense doesn't often apply to government officials here. One would be
advised to investigate other independent distribution channels in order to
reach the poorest of the poor. These channels exist through local
Indonesian foundations (yayasans) that have established networks within
remote areas that are traditionally not the recipients of NGO aid. One such
group is Yayasan Pecinta Budaya Bebali. For over 10 years YPBB has been
working with rural communities within the Indonesian archipelago to support
and promote the traditional textiles arts through weaver communities. YPBB
goes deep into these traditional communities, affecting incomes, education
and resource sustainability. The founding members, Jean Howe and William
Ingram, have viewed the XO laptop and see it as a potential positive
extension of their work in these islands. In brief, there is a ready-made
network for distribution in place, where trust and relationships are
well-established. Of course, it would have to be mounted as a special
project with a project manager in place to navigate the details. You can
view the YPBB/Threads of Life website at http://www.threadsoflife.com
<http://www.threadsoflife.com/>
I hope this is helpful, and welcome expanding the discussion to OLPC and
other interested parties. Naivety is not an obstacle, and eagerness is
required all around. It was great hearing from you. I remain in Bali until
the end of May.
Warm regards,
Dennis N. Raymond
<mailto:dennisnr at comcast.net> dennisnr at comcast.net
+62 087 8610-40100 phone in Bali
(206) 329-9387 phone in Seattle, WA USA
_____
From: Gede Suparsa [mailto:gede.suparsa at gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 5:59 AM
To: Dennis N. Raymond
Cc: olpc-indonesia at lists.laptop.org; jakartadean at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [Olpc-indonesia] Anyone still active on OLPC Indonesia?
Hi Dennis!
I should probably introduce my self properly. You can probably tell by my
name I'm Indonesian but actually I'm really an Aussie. I did however grow up
in Bali but have spend most of my life in Australia. My mum's Balinese and
hence my name and yes I have a LOT of cousins. As a consequence I have more
conversational Indonesian but willing to give a shot at doing translations
(of course with a lot of helps from friends). I also work in IT working for
a consulting company - hence my personal interest in the OLPC project and
especially for Indonesia.
Wow that's great you've been around communities with the XO (and
particularly around Bali - a very nice place to go but I guessed I'm
biased). I'd like to know how people were receptive to the cost of the
laptop? Or did you concentrate more on the features of the laptop and the
software and how it could be used for learning?
Certainly 100,000 would be a challenge - this obviously means getting either
a large corporation, foundation or the government to fit the bill initially.
However I just see that as a high hurdle that we need to meet and it just
may take a lot more to get there... I know I'm young at heart, probably
naive and definitely eager :)
Yes I've seen that there's been a bit of fallout after OLPC split with Intel
over their two PCs. Essentially their goals are the same and I think the
laptop is here to stay. As for articles in the Jakarta Post touting the
Intel version - I have no doubt it's marketing from the Intel camp
masquerading as news.
I've actually had quite a good response from the OLPC foundation. Maybe I
can forward your queries via my channel?
As I said I'm based in Australia but have family in Bali. So my ability to
get things done on the ground are limited at best. What I'd like to do
though is get the support material and even translations done. My view is
that to make this really successful you need someone actually there in the
community to get the program up and running - like a teach who is passionate
about getting the laptop to their school. So what is needed is the support
to get that teacher's project up and running.
That's my 2 cents.
Great to hear from others!
-gede
On Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 6:59 AM, Dennis N. Raymond <dennisnr at comcast.net>
wrote:
Hello Gede & Dean:
Yes, I am on the OLPC list serve as well, and am happy to hear from you. I
have been in Bali with an XO laptop since December 2007. During that time
I've been demonstrating the laptop to various Yayasans and schools. My
objective has been to foster grassroots support and carry that information
to OLPC for the purposes of seeding the units to appropriate institutions
here in Indonesia. It's been a valuable experience for me as I've met many
people in the small educational communities that could benefit from the XO
laptop. During this time I've also seen OLPC change their strategy. From
the website it seems they are only interested in selling the units in lots
of no less than 10,000. This is a change from previous tactics where units
could be purchased in lots of 300. Phone calls and emails to the Cambridge
offices of OLPC go unreturned, and it's apparent the enterprise is under
duress as they struggle to find their place in the world. All the while
Intel's Classmate laptop (with Windows XP) seems to be gaining visibility.
A recent article in the Jakarta Post focused on the Classmate while barely
mentioning OLPC.
About me, I am a 57-year-old technology worker from Seattle, Washington in
the US. I have been coming to Indonesia for 15 years, the first time under
sponsorship of my city government. I've been active in a Sister City
Association between Seattle and Surabaya, and have a small US-based
foundation that identifies and supports small projects within Indonesia. We
are not an NGO and, no, we don't have money. But we have the energy and
ingenuity to identify communities of need and, I hope, advise OLPC of these
needs.
I'd like to know more about your interests in this program, and explore how
and if we might work together to forward this invaluable project within
Indonesia. I am here until the end of May, and then return to my home in
Seattle.
Warm regards,
Dennis N. Raymond
<mailto:dennisnr at comcast.net> dennisnr at comcast.net
+62 087 8610-40100 phone
_____
From: Gede Suparsa [mailto:gede.suparsa at gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 5:23 AM
To: olpc-indonesia at lists.laptop.org
Subject: Re: [Olpc-indonesia] Anyone still active on OLPC Indonesia?
Well Dean it looks like just you and me on this list.
I think what might be a good start would be translating some of the existing
material into Bahasa.
On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 11:10 AM, Dean Boulding < > wrote:
I joined a few months ago and yours is the first message I've seen!
I'd be interested in helping out, but I don't have the time to take on
a leadership role at this time. Anybody else out there?
Dean
On Tue, Apr 8, 2008 at 6:56 PM, Gede Suparsa <gede.suparsa at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi There,
>
> Is anyone still active on this list contributing to the OLPC project?
>
> I'm new and would like to know what's happening and where I can help out?
>
> -Gede
> ps: That's right, my name is Gede - anaknya Bali.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Olpc-indonesia mailing list
> Olpc-indonesia at lists.laptop.org
> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-indonesia
>
>
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