[OLPC-Philippines] A new pilot for Lubang, Mindoro ATBP

Milagros simpson milagros8 at bigpond.com
Fri May 29 18:27:37 EDT 2009


Thank you Charles and Jerome for your comprehensive replies.

I will start gathering information about Lubang.  I will introduce the OLPC concept  to my ex-colleagues from the National Computer Centre.  Our intention is to ask donations from all ex NCC employees all over the world to fund (or help fund) Col Sanchez's IT program.  You may be aware that NCC, formerly based in Camp Aguinaldo , was one of the very first computer Centers which supported the Phil government.  We are doing this as a 'payback' to the boss who have turned us all into successful IT professionals.  

More questions:
- what is the age group that is targeted by the OLPC program?  Jerome mentioned that the laptop is designed for little hands but larger hands can still use it.  But how about the learning benefits, will it suit  high school students ?
- how much it cost to start a project? Have you done estimates for Antipolo?  One time costs such as fitting classrooms with wireless capability, training the trainers/administrators,cost of PC and set-up,  and on-going  costs.  
- Could you give me a contact in OLPC Australia ?  Maybe they could teach me how to secure the required funding.  


Charles, I am so glad you are based in Sydney.  
At the moment, the whole thing seems challenging, but  we will do our best.

With best regards,
Meg Simpson 

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Charles Chen 
  To: olpc-philippines at lists.laptop.org 
  Cc: milagros8 at bigpond.com 
  Sent: Saturday, May 30, 2009 7:05 AM
  Subject: A new pilot for Lubang, Mindoro ATBP


        Hi Everybody,

        Let's welcome Meg's interest to do a project with OLPC and hope we can help her fullfill the dream of her former boss to start a school program in Lubang, Mindoro.

        Meg, I'm Charles Chen and I am also a Filipino based in Sydney. Let me provide you additional information about the OLPC program for the Philippines.

        1. OLPC PH is at the moment an informal group working independently but in support of OLPC Boston to promote online education using the laptop designed by Nicholas Negroponte of MIT. Unlike OLPC Boston which operates as a legal entity and has been the beneficiary of donations from the likes of Google, Ebay and Cisco, the Philippine group is working on the blood, sweat and tears of its many volunteer members. Please see enclosed an Overview of the OLPC program worldwide prepared by OLPC Boston.

        http://www.olpcnews.com/files/One_Laptop_Per_Child_Overview_2009.pdf

        We are working to register as a non-stock, non-profit foundation this year. One of the principal handicaps we have is our inability to raise donations for our program. As a foundation and hopefully once we secured status as a tax exempt institution, we can accept deductions from individuals as well as companies in support of our program and provide them the benefit of treating the donation as a tax deduction.

        Just for the information for the guys in the Philippines, OLPC Australia has started a program which will be sponsored by one of the major banks and the Northern Territory state government to provide over 400,000 XO for remote Australian communities.

        http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/304637/olpc_australia_uses_education_help_remote_communities

        2. OLPC PH Pilot project. One of the first initiatives we will do once we have organised ourselves as a foundation is to do a school pilot. I am currently working on a proposal for the first school pilot to be conducted at an Antipolo (Metro Manila) public school. The pilot will seek to use 150 XOs for Grade V students in one of the city's 31 public elementary school to teach English. We will be using an open source software (Sugar) operating on a wireless environment and a USB flash for an educational supplement for this purpose.

        3. OLPC Boston's Buy 1, Get 1 program. In addition to what Ryan told you, I suggest if you have a desire to start an OLPC project, not to consider using this program. This is because you have no control on which country the donated XO (the name given to the OLPC laptop) will go. Imagine also how many people you will have to approach to do this to get the needed number of XO for your pilot. There is a better way.

        4. OLPC Pilot for Lubang, Mindoro. Once OLPC Foundation is operational, we can help organise an OLPC pilot in partnership with your boss. One of the first things you can do in preparation for this pilot is get the needed local resources for this purpose. Like which school will be do the pilot? What are the current IT resources available to the school? Do the school teachers have computer skills to manage the pilot? Is the school equipt for a wireless PC access? What particular grade, subject and course will you use the laptop for? Moving forward after the pilot is successful, who will continue managing the program? 

        The hardest part would be raising the needed funds for the pilot which will be used to purchase the XO and the costs of training and setting up the wireless environment to deploy this. We can assist you in organise this fund raising activity through the foundation.

        5. XO features and Philippine operational requirements. I don't know whether you already know this but I just want you to put this information in the context of doing this in a public school in the Philippines. The XO is one of the few laptops designed for kids which is loaded with so many kid focused activities and is sturdy enough to survive the tough use of a kid. However, the laptop is best suited to be used wireless so that means the school has to have a wireless connection. The laptop runs on open source software to save on license fees but also requires its users as well as its administrators undergo some training to use it as they may be more comfortable using a laptop operating on Windows software. The ideal context of an OLPC program is the XO is distributed to each student to use in the school as well as bring it home to continue its use for study. In a Philippine context, once the school year has ended, the student will turnover the XO for use of the next incoming class for the grade it will be offerred. The XO will be donated to the school who will be the owner of these assets.The use the XO in a Philippine school has to be in the context of using it as a tool for an educational supplement for an existing DepED subject. For example, use it for practicing speaking English as a supplement to teaching English. 

        5. What is a Green laptop. I assume a laptop is called a green laptop if it has been designed to be environmental friendly as what Apple is promoting its laptops. That means the laptop uses less energy, its parts highly recylable, uses less or no hazardous chemicals, and has a longer battery life which you will purchase less of them compared to traditional laptops. 

        A green laptop would still work like a a regular laptop as it will have to work like one. 

        ATBP/ Other matters.

        Get Together. I will be in Manila from 22 June only for 2 weeks only and will be organising a OLPC Get Together on Sunday, 28 June at Starbucks Greenbelt. This is located at the corner of Paseo De Roxas and Legaspi Street. There are 24 Starbuck stores in Makati so please take note of the address of this. I have enclosed a link below provided by ClickTheCity.Com giving you a map and other information on the store.

        http://food.clickthecity.com/b/uv39d4

        Thanks.

        Charles






        Note: My apologies if I have any grammatical errors in my email. I always proof read my emails before sending but sometimes my thoughts are faster than my fingers. For any urgent clarification please call me on +61 40406 4515. Thank you and have a nice day.




          
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        --- On Sat, 30/5/09, olpc-philippines-request at lists.laptop.org <olpc-philippines-request at lists.laptop.org> wrote:


          From: olpc-philippines-request at lists.laptop.org <olpc-philippines-request at lists.laptop.org>
          Subject: OLPC-Philippines Digest, Vol 19, Issue 13
          To: olpc-philippines at lists.laptop.org
          Received: Saturday, 30 May, 2009, 2:00 AM


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          Today's Topics:

             1. OLPC Pilot Enquiry (Milagros simpson)
             2. Re: OLPC Pilot Enquiry (Ryan Letada)
             3. Re: OLPC Pilot Enquiry (Jerome Gotangco)


          ----------------------------------------------------------------------

          Message: 1
          Date: Thu, 28 May 2009 22:15:21 +1000
          From: "Milagros simpson" <milagros8 at bigpond.com>
          Subject: [OLPC-Philippines] OLPC Pilot Enquiry
          To: <olpc-philippines at lists.laptop.org>
          Message-ID: <FE70DEE56D7F4466B2E700400D236532 at MegiPC>
          Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

          Hello OLPC Philippines,

          I am a retired bank employee in Sydney Australia, I am of Filipino origin.

          I have heard about OLPC on television and I immediately thought that OLPC could make my ex-boss's dreams come true.

          The town mayor of Lubang Mindoro is my former boss in the National Computer Center (NCC) in Camp Aguinaldo , Quezon City, Col. Juan Sanchez.
          Being a technology person, Col Sanchez is embarking on an IT Program for the school children of Lubang, and he had asked helped from us former employees.

          Some former NCC employees from Canada, US and the Philippines are coming over to Sydney for a reunion in September 2009.  I would like to present in the reunion the OLPC scheme, as one of our community service program in the Philippines.
          .
          I have gone through the OLPC site and I have seen the webpage for donation, but  I would like the donation to be treated as a project, not a casual donation.
          This could be one of your pilots, if not the pilot pilot.
          Could you please clarify for me what the give a laptop scheme is (donate 1 , get 1).  This is a bit confusing.  Do we pay $199 for one laptop, then we get one free?
          I saw one page where it said $399 for a pair.
          What is your view on the green laptop, does it work like a 'proper' computer.  Can a child be comfortable to shift from the green laptop to a 'real' laptop?


          Looking forward to your early reply.




          Regards,

          Meg

          Mobile: 0412 180 927
          Home Phone: 02 4998 1142
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          Message: 2
          Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 16:37:51 +0800
          From: Ryan Letada <rletada at gmail.com>
          Subject: Re: [OLPC-Philippines] OLPC Pilot Enquiry
          To: "OLPC Philippines/Pilipinas grassroots"
              <olpc-philippines at lists.laptop.org>
          Message-ID:
              <662737460905290137w66cc8e02wa4cc34ccc2467165 at mail.gmail.com>
          Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"

          Hi Meg!

          Ryan here from OLPC Philippines. Its great what you are doing for your
          ex-boss. Hopefully, we can work together to turn your boss?s dream into
          reality.

          In regards to your question, here are some quick replies:

          1.     Unfortunately, the Give 1 Get 1 program is over. Due to terrible
          sales via Amazon, they opted to end the program. You can still make a direct
          donation, however, you will not receive a laptop. For now, laptops are sold
          on a wholesale basis with a minimum bulk purchase of 100 XO laptops. We are
          in the process of getting financial breakdown/estimates of running pilot
          programs. We are also discussing cost-efficient ways of acquiring our first
          set of laptops, so please give us some time to put all of this together.


          2.     What is your view on the green laptop, does it work like a 'proper'
          computer.  Can a child be comfortable to shift from the green laptop to a
          'real' laptop?



          I can answer this from an educational perspective. However, if you are more
          interested in the technical/technology perspective, I guess Jerome can chime
          in on this.



          I assume you are referring to windows/Mac PCs as the proper and real
          computer/laptops. Although there is a difference in operating system (OS)
          between XO laptop (Sugar) and most computers (windows OS), studies show that
          children transition between the OS easily. However, the question really lies
          on what the computers are really used for?



          Many computer (windows) based initiatives tend to focus on providing
          vocational training in Excel, Microsoft Word, and Powerpoint to prepare
          individuals for the job market. However, most learning activities created to
          compliment the XO laptop focuses on transforming students into 21st century
          learners ? meaning students who are leaders, critical thinkers, digitally
          literate, Web 2.0 savvy, team oriented, etc. These are traits that are
          needed in an increasingly competitive job market, and digital and globalised
          world (Sorry for sounding like an Academic!).



          Lastly, learning activities are very interdisciplinary ? so math, science,
          and reading can be a heavy focus depending on curriculum design.  We
          recently added an education specialist to our core team, whose objectives
          will be to help form our educational approach and philosophy. We will update
          everyone about this soon.



          I hope I was able to answer your questions.  If you are in need of further
          explanation, we can definitely address your questions via email, skype or
          phone. I am sure you will need help preparing your presentation in
          September, I hope we can help you in this as well.

          Sige, ingat!

          Ryan


          On Thu, May 28, 2009 at 8:15 PM, Milagros simpson <milagros8 at bigpond.com>wrote:

          >   Hello OLPC Philippines,
          >
          > I am a retired bank employee in Sydney Australia, I am of Filipino origin.
          >
          >  I have heard about OLPC on television and I immediately thought that OLPC
          > could make my ex-boss's dreams come true.
          >
          > The town mayor of Lubang Mindoro is my former boss in the National Computer
          > Center (NCC) in Camp Aguinaldo , Quezon City, Col. Juan Sanchez.
          > Being a technology person, Col Sanchez is embarking on an IT Program for
          > the school children of Lubang, and he had asked helped from us former
          > employees.
          >
          > Some former NCC employees from Canada, US and the Philippines are coming
          > over to Sydney for a reunion in September 2009.  I would like to present in
          > the reunion the OLPC scheme, as one of our community service program in the
          > Philippines.
          > .
          > I have gone through the OLPC site and I have seen the webpage for donation,
          > but  I would like the donation to be treated as a project, not a casual
          > donation.
          > This could be one of your pilots, if not the pilot pilot.
          > Could you please clarify for me what the give a laptop scheme is (donate 1
          > , get 1).  This is a bit confusing.  Do we pay $199 for one laptop, then we
          > get one free?
          > I saw one page where it said $399 for a pair.
          > What is your view on the green laptop, does it work like a 'proper'
          > computer.  Can a child be comfortable to shift from the green laptop to a
          > 'real' laptop?
          >
          >
          > Looking forward to your early reply.
          >
          >
          >
          >
          > Regards,
          >
          > Meg
          >
          > Mobile: 0412 180 927
          > Home Phone: 02 4998 1142
          >
          > _______________________________________________
          > OLPC-Philippines mailing list
          > OLPC-Philippines at lists.laptop.org
          > http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-philippines
          >
          >
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          ------------------------------

          Message: 3
          Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 17:24:26 +0800
          From: Jerome Gotangco <jgotangco at gmail.com>
          Subject: Re: [OLPC-Philippines] OLPC Pilot Enquiry
          To: "OLPC Philippines/Pilipinas grassroots"
              <olpc-philippines at lists.laptop.org>
          Message-ID:
              <c138e6150905290224q4592da43o13a16234b479dcc9 at mail.gmail.com>
          Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

          On Thu, May 28, 2009 at 8:15 PM, Milagros simpson <milagros8 at bigpond.com> wrote:
          > What is your view on the green laptop, does it work like a 'proper'
          > computer.? Can a child be comfortable to shift from the green laptop to a
          > 'real' laptop?

          Hi,

          I'd like to answer this on a technical point of view.

          The XO-1 laptop is the first generation release of the said machine
          from OLPC. The architecture of this laptop is similar to that of
          conventional laptops with the exception of a few things:

          1. The CPU is x86, meaning that it is similar to most machines running
          an Intel processor. However, the XO-1 device runs at 433MHz which is
          enough to run conventional applications. The unique proposition of
          this processor is the low power requirements.

          2. The laptop has a unique display at a resolution of 1200x900 with
          two modes: A reflective monochrome mode which provides a paper-like
          display when used under direct sunlight; and a backlit color mode.

          3. The XO-1 memory is at 256MB running at 133MHz, and the storage is
          at 1GB NAND flash.

          So looking at this specs, this is comparable to a laptop during the
          late 90s/early 2000, but the thing is that, you don't need Gigahertz
          of power to provide an educational platform at the lowest cost
          possible. The XO-1 was designed for that, along with the Sugar
          interface.

          A few months after the general release of the XO-1 and through the
          G1G1 program, the community were able to provide alternative systems
          to the XO-1 despite its limited hardware. We now have full blown
          operating systems like Ubuntu and Debian running with the use of the
          SD card or USB sticks (3 slots are provided).

          There is an expected hardware "refresh" of laptop, the XO-1.5 by the
          end of the year. This would be the same form factor of the laptop,
          with a more powerful CPU, more generous amount of memory and flash
          storage to enable a full blown operating system to run natively when
          needed. This roadmap provides an opportunity for a student who starts
          with a simple interface (Sugar) to a more complex one (like Gnome)
          when needed (say a student moves from grade school to high school).

          Physically, the laptop was designed for little hands so grown up kids
          to teenagers would most likely have more problems using it than a
          conventional laptop. Although this is a physical limitation of the
          device and not with the software.

          Jerome

          -- 
          Jerome G.

          Pinoy Tech Podcast: http://www.pinoytechpodcast.com
          Blog: http://blog.gotangco.com


          ------------------------------

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          End of OLPC-Philippines Digest, Vol 19, Issue 13
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