[OLPC-Oceania] Activities for unique Oceania XO's

Fri Mar 11 06:20:28 EST 2011

Hi Sean

A glimpse of what you are looking for may be found on the olpc wiki. Start
here - http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Oceania - and then check out the pages
for each country.
There has been some action on wiki educator too but the links are not
obvious so here are some to get you started -
http://wikieducator.org/OLPC_Oceania
<http://wikieducator.org/OLPC_Oceania%20>
http://wikieducator.org/Category:OLPC_Tuvalu
<http://wikieducator.org/Category:OLPC_Tuvalu%20>
http://wikieducator.org/OLPC_Oceania/Training/Lesson_Plans/Introducing_the_XO

What is your background Sean? Are you an educator that could help with
curriculum integration? Are you a python programmer that could adapt
activities for Oceania deployments? Are you a researcher that would like to
study a deployment? Can you speak any other languages and are you able to
translate Sugar and its activities? Knowing more about you helps us know how
to answer your questions, guide you to useful resources, and get you started
if you are interested in becoming a volunteer.

So you know who I am - I am in New Zealand and am an eLearning specialist in
tertiary. I have consulted for a Moodle partner since 2003 (I think) so can
help with Moodle on the olpc School Server. I have been testing Sugar
activities since mid 2008 and put a lot of energy into encouraging a testing
community to grow in New Zealand (we now have olpc volunteers meeting in
Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch). I have volunteered at the Samoan
deployments, installing servers with my partner and helping the teachers and
students learn how to use the XOs in the classroom. I think my main
contribution to olpc is that I am a vocal advocate, presenting on olpc at
conferences and getting the XOs in front of people at every opportunity.
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/User:Tabitha

Kind regards
Tabitha Roder
eLearning specialist and olpc volunteer
Cell +64 21 482229
tabitha at tabitha.net.nz
http://tabitharoder.wordpress.com/
Winner: NZ Open Source Contributor Award 2010

On 4 March 2011 08:43, Sean Linton <sean at lpnz.org> wrote:

> Hi Ian,
>
> Thanks for getting in touch, yes I appreciate the scale of the operation in
> this part of the world. Do you think you could tell me briefly about the
> ways projects you have been involved with adapt the OLPC to their culture?
>
> Sean
>
>
> On 3 March 2011 15:30, Ian Thomson <ithomson.nz at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Sean,
>>
>> Sorry for not responding earlier, but the reality of OLPC Oceania is that
>> we are struggling just to get programs up and running with limited
>> resources.
>>
>> We do appreciate your input and agree in principle,  but we just don't
>> have the people to put into such activities. The Drumbeats activity is
>> great. What we need is a Pacific equivalent of a volunteer like Buffy.(or
>> better still, a hundred Buffy's)
>>
>> Many of the projects we have started do in their own way, adapt the OLPC
>> to their culture, while also adopting a large chunk of the embedded western
>> culture.
>>
>> Please keep up the input and if you can encourage volunteers to get
>> engaged.
>>
>> Ian
>>
>>
>>
>> On 3 March 2011 09:56, Sean Linton <sean at lpnz.org> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Perhaps I am wrong to assume the statement of monoculture in the email
>>> below, when in many cases the opposite may be the reality, maybe it is not
>>> monoculture but disconnection that is the real danger?
>>>
>>>
>>> On 3 February 2011 22:26, Sean Linton <sean at lpnz.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi again:
>>>>
>>>> One of the things I would like to know is that even at the current level
>>>> of deployment the OLPC project doesn't get attacked for eroding the
>>>> indigenous cultures of places when with some careful planning and insight it
>>>> could contribute to the opposite. The sort of thing I am thinking about is
>>>> for example where you have the TamTam activities, which have a pretty good
>>>> representation of instruments from around the world built in to the activity
>>>> already, but at this stage are not tailored to different regional
>>>> environments. I am thinking about the difference in using that program for a
>>>> child whose local music culture is represented by the program, and a child
>>>> whose musical instruments are not included in that program.
>>>>
>>>> I have to say at one level the activity is useful for either child - the
>>>> first can see that his or her culture is part of this world wide project and
>>>> that is really neat, and the second child is at least given the opportunity
>>>> to see what other instruments from around the world are like. So either way
>>>> it is an education for who ever is using it, but with out that renewal of
>>>> the traditional instruments and the unique backgrounds (culture) being
>>>> brought into the light of this empowering technology I feel there is a
>>>> danger that the result is a monoculture. To counter this one other thing
>>>> that I can see being accomplished with the OLPC project is the ability to
>>>> create audio content, and distribute it locally. In this situation although
>>>> we don't have 'place specific instruments' loaded as a part of the music
>>>> iconography of the OLPC, we at least have the ability to couple with
>>>> community radio, or other audio frameworks to promote locally generated
>>>> content.
>>>>
>>>> One thing I have heard is that OLPC, in a way, creates this situation of
>>>> the 'haves' and the 'have nots'. Maybe you have heard this too? I think as
>>>> long as a focus of the project is making a contribution to building
>>>> communities through learning and networking the technology itself is less
>>>> like a piece of the pie and more like mixing dish.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> It would be great to see the Canadian 'drumbeats<http://www.olpccanada.com/content.php?id=12>'
>>>> activity ported to all the places where the computers are, and that all of
>>>> those places could create their own version of that interface, drawing on
>>>> indigenous knowledge and experience of sound. However if for example
>>>> 'drumbeats' is what makes OLPC in Canada unique, and that unique identity is
>>>> being expressed through this activity then it makes less sense to try and do
>>>> it in other places because that would be back to creating a sameness which
>>>> is contrary to the aim of renewal of indigenous music, which is possible. My
>>>> feeling is that the identity created by 'drumbeats' is in the content and
>>>> not in the fact that it is unique to Canadian machines, and for that reason
>>>> think it would be great to see some more discussion on how to better equip
>>>> this technology to provide insights into more specific / less generic
>>>> backgrounds.
>>>>
>>>> It would be good to establish some more contacts who are on the same
>>>> page with this, I have also heard similar thoughts expressed by someone in
>>>> Nepal.
>>>>
>>>> all the best,
>>>>
>>>> Sean
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> OLPC-Oceania mailing list
>>> OLPC-Oceania at lists.laptop.org
>>> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-oceania
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Ian Thomson
>> At SPC in New Caledonia
>>
>
>
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>
>
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