[OLPC-SF] Current OLPC Metrics

Mike Dawson mike at paiwastoon.com.af
Wed Jul 14 22:28:55 EDT 2010


Dear Carol,

Thanks for sending that email through - I think they might want to look
at:

http://www.infodev.org/en/Publication.9.html

That's a whole e-book about how to do it...

In short if the country already has standardized testing - then fine...
if not then one has to assume that burden oneself for the group with and
a similar control group / groups without.

If you have a control group with 'no changes' then that gives you a bang
for the buck outcome, if you have a control group with a similar
investment then that compares it to the alternatives, which would be
better.

HTH

Regards,

-Mike

On Wed, 2010-07-14 at 16:21 -0700, Carol Ruth Silver wrote:
> 2010 July 13 Wednesday 
> 
> Mike Dawson
> OLPC Afghanistan
> 
> Dear Mike: 
> 
> I am forwarding a string of emails about the subject of testing before
> deployment of OLPC laptops, which I know you are very interested in.  
> 
> Firstly, has OLPC Afghanistan or the MoE made any further progress in
> this regard, which you can share with the OLPC group here?  And
> Second, please note the references to Christoff's suggestions, in
> Australia and Texas, of possible sources of base-line testing for OLPC
> deployments. 
> 
> Best regards, 
> 
> Carol Ruth Silver    
> ======================
> 
> On 07/14/10 10:49, Cherry Withers wrote: 
> > We are grappling with the same question in the Philippines. 
> > 
> > Our first pilot is good for a three year longitudinal study. One
> > issue is there's only one standardized test that the children take
> > and that is at 6th grade (this serves as a basis for their entry in
> > high schools. No middle schooling). There's one "optional"
> > assessment that they take at 3rd grade, which thankfully this region
> > opted for. However data mining will be a challenge. Still waiting
> > for the results of that test. We are deploying with 4th graders and
> > will be following them throughout 6th grade. 
> > 
> > We are currently seeking a research partner and identified one
> > university that is interested. We are now trying to establish a
> > baseline study before we deploy in September.  Some of the things
> > mentioned by Christoph can be incorporated and will definitely look
> > at TCER (once it's up) and ACER. We are looking beyond social impact
> > because decision makers are very much more interested in 1:1
> > computing increases (surprise surprise) test scores to justify a
> > larger and widespread deployment given the current costs of these
> > things. In short more "bang for the buck". 
> > 
> > I am thankful however that we have a highly supportive pilot
> > community who are more than willing to be our lab for this study. 
> >    
> > Anyways, is there a push for this within the OLPC community? Anyone
> > looking at grant making organizations to start this type of
> > research? 
> > 
> > ---Cherry
> > 
> > On Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 9:45 AM, <akleider at sonic.net> wrote:
> >         
> >         I attempted a follow up with disappointing results.
> >         
> >         At the Australian site I found mention of 'pilot projects'
> >         but no results.
> >         
> >         The Texas site seems to be having a problem with its server.
> >         
> >         The chilling reality is that the honest answer to the
> >         question on the
> >         table seems to be "absolutely none!"
> >         
> >         Please, can someone prove me wrong?
> >         
> >         cheers
> >         ak
> >         
> >         > Hi Grant,
> >         >
> >         > I just spent my morning looking at that very same question
> >         in
> >         > preparation for some afternoon meetings I have with people
> >         here in
> >         > Montevideo who run the OLPC project in Uruguay.
> >         >
> >         > In general there's two dimensions in terms of the impact
> >         of a project
> >         > such as OLPC: educational and social.
> >         >
> >         > In terms of education some of the more popular metrics and
> >         aspects to
> >         > look at apart from attendance rates are
> >         >
> >         > * comparisons of school performance/achievements compared
> >         to control
> >         > groups (though not everyone believes that;-)
> >         > * grade repetition rates
> >         > * student engagement in school
> >         > * time spent on school / education related tasks at home /
> >         outside class
> >         > * knowledge about computers
> >         > * feelings towards technology in general
> >         > * collaboration between students
> >         > * self-confidence of students
> >         > * feelings about school by students
> >         >
> >         > I'm sure I'm forgetting plenty more but if you look at
> >         some of the
> >         > research done by folks like TCER (Texas Center for
> >         Educational Research)
> >         > or ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research)
> >         you'll quickly be
> >         > able to come up with them.
> >         >
> >         > With regard to social impact people are mostly looking at
> >         things such as
> >         > rates of access to the Internet, perceptions of
> >         technology, changing
> >         > roles of children in families and communities, etc.
> >         >
> >         > Hope that helps:-)
> >         >
> >         > Cheers,
> >         > Christoph
> >         >
> >         > Am 14.07.2010 03:56, schrieb Grant Bowman:
> >         >> I gave a "lightning talk" today on the OLPC project at
> >         www.nblug.org
> >         >> <http://www.nblug.org> and was asked about current
> >         metrics. Besides
> >         >> increased student attendance, what are good ways to
> >         respond?
> >         >>
> >         >> Thanks,
> >         >>
> >         >> Grant
> >         >>
> >         >>
> >         >>
> >         >> _______________________________________________
> >         >> OLPC-SF mailing list
> >         >> OLPC-SF at lists.laptop.org
> >         >> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-sf
> >         >
> >         > --
> >         > Christoph Derndorfer
> >         > co-editor, www.olpcnews.com
> >         > e-mail: christoph at olpcnews.com
> >         > _______________________________________________
> >         > OLPC-SF mailing list
> >         > OLPC-SF at lists.laptop.org
> >         > http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-sf
> >         >
> >         >
> >         
> >         
> >         _______________________________________________
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> >         http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-sf
> >         
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
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> >   
> 
> 
> -- 
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