[OLPC-Philippines] questions

[Jerome Gotangco]

Hi Rick,

Thanks for the email. I'll split my replies in chunks. Let's see if we
can start something from here.

On Mon, May 11, 2009 at 8:43 PM, Hendricks, Rick
<Rick.Hendricks at rcsdk12.org> wrote:
> I have had roughly the same questions for some time now and I think we have spent too much time on internal organization and not enough on developing a working pilot.  I am both a teacher and engineer.  School dynamics are unpredictable each school has it own paradigm.   I think would help us to have a pilot created somewhere - anywhere! Doing something - anything! onto which we can expand and build.
> This would allow organizations such as Janet's to see the type of laptop, how it is used and what its capabilities are.
>
> If we don't have a working unit to give them, I need to know why not.  I'll buy one for this purpose.  In fact I'd buy more if I knew what they would be used for.

The first thing is that we're a loose group of enthusiasts at the
start, and perhaps the most vocal (at least on this list) are the
technically-inclined people, hence there are a lot of discussion on
the technical merits rather than the more salient points that needs to
be discussed. This is not the fault of the list per se, it just
evolved as it is. Lately, we've been getting a good number of emails
asking about OLPC as an organization, how it works, how is it
happening locally, which we always say that its currently an interest
group and I don't see anything wrong with that.

But I think that's one reason why a local pilot isn't happening
locally is that we haven't gone beyond that "interest group" mindset.
Perhaps not everyone though, but the list in general. This is perhaps
a valid reason why having local access to an XO-1 unit is like digging
for gold in the desert.

A few weeks ago me and Ryan met up at the mall to discuss stuff
regarding this and one of the things he said to me was that he's just
sad to see his XO-1 unit not doing anything. This is true, because the
laptop is pretty much useless by itself and is only useful in a
classroom. On my part, I only had access to an XO-1 production unit
last year c/o Rowen and most of the stuff I did was either a) show it
to someone how sturdy it is by dropping it intentionally and b)
experimenting with alternative operating system setups that benefit
primarily the hacker community.

So I guess that shows where I am coming from with regards to the whole
project in general. I know very well enough of the technology of the
platform but I can guarantee I can say less than 20% of the
educational aspect in terms of methodology and practice. And I'm more
than happy to have people who can fill up that 80% of knowledge to
help out.

> As a teacher I am quite anxious to develop animations, video and benchmark lessons to supplement the 40 year old textbooks I saw in the classes in the provinces.  The schools in Manila have a bit more resources but most are pitiful.  We Throw Out 8 truck loads of book a year.  All of which are far more modern than the ones I saw there.  After trying to figure out for some time now how to ship those to Philippines, I realize the Holy Grail would be digital.  I can send this stuff for virtually nothing  and provide them with copyright free material in the venue of choice.  That is my interest in this project.


> Lets' start by asking Janet where she would like to see the project work.  Lets get her and her boss a laptop - at my expense if necessary.  Lets get that school a class set and see what we can do to meet their needs.  Don't make the mistake of telling them what it can do, Ask them what they need it to do.  I know what I need it to do, but I won't speak for the school.  Lets ask the developers to make the software needed to display video, flash animations, textbooks or other materials.   Network them to internet so they can use it to see the rest of the world or allow teachers like me to send to them what they request.

This is actually what I wanted to ask specifically to Janet but you
beat me to it :-)

> Even the provinces have microwave based broad band receivers.  In Manila I can get moderate speed out of a P999 Smart bro transmitter and I would not hesititate to ask SmartBro for a school based connect at discount or free.  I have a soft spot for Liloan in Southern Leyte because of my relatives there.  I have spoken with the principals there about what they have now and I would be willing to build a working pilot there.   I would evaluate the program based on teacher and students feedback.  Again my purpose was to replace 40year biology text that students were copying onto paper so that they didn't damage them.  They had no idea what the book said but the students were copying them because the teacher told them to.  As a teacher I can tell you that this means the teacher doesn't know what the book says either.  I found this at virtually all levels including junior college.  We need to change all that.

Unfortunately, rote learning seems to be path when the system is
degrading. I must admit, I am not an educator by profession (I am
primarily a software developer) and my interest lies between cutting
edge technology and pragmatic technology for teaching and where both
could play (if possible) in a local setting.

> Where the pilot is located is not so relevant as to get one going.  I know this is contrary to developer thought patterns because you like to see planning and structure - no single point of failure,etc.  When you work with children and schools, things will go wrong.  You can't plan for all of them and you shouldn't try.  The power is in now.  Lets trust a good reliable principal in a needy district to provide us with the feedback we need to continue and lets document what has been done and how so that we can answer more requests like the one from Janet.

I agree on these points fully.

> My question Immediately for Janet is : do you have a school in mind already?  My questions for  Jerome are: 1) how much for a class set of  20?  and 2) How long will it take to get Janet's organization one to evaluate?  (assume I will pay for it)

Currently OLPC has no program for small deployments like these if we
look at http://laptop.org/en/participate/ways-to-give.shtml but I'm
sure we can find a way to get those laptops from other sources. This
list has enough people upstream that can give info. But a small pilot
like 20 would be ideal for a purely volunteer-driven effort.

> I know that not everyone in the organization can get to the Philippines often.  But some are there and I get there every 3 months or so.  Lets get going on this.  In prior discussions, I think we are too concerned about legally structuring the group.  I think this is cart before horse.  Lets get the pilot and evaluate the program.   I have a lawyer there to handle any legal issues but its a donation to a school so I don't see much.

Yeah I agree. I've told a lot off-list that I have very little
interest in formalizing a group at the start if there is nothing to
present at all. But I guess having a formal group has its benefits but
I'll leave that to the legal people to check.

Jerome