[OLPC-Philippines] Muscovado: Service Learning at its Core

[Cherry Withers]

Last year I posted about a little known project that was started by Asia
Pacific College, one of our education partners, in which Education Kindling
played a very minor role. The project was conceptualized by Director Dennis
Reyes, Prof. Ray Baquirin and Managing Director Teresita Medado. The project
was funded by CHED (Commission of Higher Education) with partnerships from
11 public High Schools and eKindling.

I would describe how the whole thing started but it’s better that you hear
it from Professor Ray Baquirin himself:
http://slightlypre.posterous.com/muscovado-the-start-of-something-sweet
As you can tell, even at its inception the goal is rooted in service.

I’ve been fortunate enough to be one of the judges and had a look at the
projects first hand. I’m amazed at what the kids have accomplished for very
little time and guidance. The projects were done by high school students
(equivalent grade 7-10 in US) on their own, during after school hours and in
a span of about 6-7 months. College professors acted as guides and mentors.
Their main target audience are our pilot kids in Lubang.

There were projects that are clearly still in their rough stages but what a
great beginning! I am proud of how the high school students used their
creativity,logical thinking and independent thinking in creating projects
that try to engage 3rd and 4th graders to learn. They’ve mostly used Scratch
with one Etoys exception.  One of the important things about this endeavor
is how it got those high school students to think about the use of
technology to develop applications/programs to benefit someone else.
Production rather than consumption. A far cry from my high school days in
the Philippines where word processing was considered computer science.

Thank you APC and Muscovado Team!

Project page: http://apc.edu.ph/muscovado_contest

Grateful,
Cherry Withers
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