[OLPC-Jamaica] Wanting to do research on the XO or on OLPC

[Sameer Verma]

On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 12:17 PM, Kojo Nyame <kojo.nyame at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
> I am a masters student, at the University of Manchester, UK. I am a Jamaican
> and I would like to do my dissertation on either the XO or the OLPC. I am
> interested in knowing if there are any research topics that anyone on this
> list is interested in or knows about. I do have constraints of being in the
> UK and having a short time to complete the study.
> For myself I am interested in how the XO is being used as an aid to
> pedagogy. How has it influenced the pedagogy of teachers who teach
> particular subjects?
> How do teachers use the XO to teach English as a second language?
> How has the collaborative process improve or not motivation to do a
> particular subject?
>
> How is the collaborative process being managed to provide particular
> outcomes?
> My research model will be qualitative in approach but will, as this model
> affords, allow for change in the design based on what is discovered in the
> field. That said, I am open to using quantitative a quantitative model.
> The data collection will be restricted to e-mail interviews or where
> possible interview via Instant messaging with member checking being done by
> follow up electronic questionnaire. As can be seen I have not fully thought
> it out but one has to start somewhere.
> Any suggestions are welcomed.
> Kojo Nyame
>

Hi Kojo,

Your dissertation sounds interesting. The OLPC implementation in
Jamaica is starting with a deployment in AugustTown, which is next to
the UWI campus in Mona. The plan is to get XOs in the hands of
children by September 2009. We are currently in the budgeting stages.
So, to answer most of your questions, since the deployment hasn't
happened, we really don't have concrete answers. I'm not sure what
your time frame is, but such as study would prove very valuable.

cheers,
Sameer
-- 
Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Information Systems
San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA 94132 USA
http://verma.sfsu.edu/
http://opensource.sfsu.edu/