[OLPC-SF] Current OLPC Metrics

Wed Jul 14 23:37:48 EDT 2010

Thank you Christoph! The link is helpful. Will read up.

---Cherry

On Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 7:40 PM, Christoph Derndorfer <
e0425826 at student.tuwien.ac.at> wrote:

> Am 14.07.2010 14:49, schrieb Cherry Withers:
> > 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,
>
> I think this discussion (and previous ones on other mailing lists,
> including the somewhat forgotten research list at
> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/research) and the efforts on display at
> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_research definitely show that there is an
> interest in this topic, both inside and outside the OLPC community.
>
> Countries such as Uruguay, provinces such as Alabama and organizations
> such as OLE Nepal (and its associated partners) as well as individuals
> such as Walter Bender, Caroline Meeks and others have been working on a
> variety of efforts in this area for quite some time.
>
> However as far as grants are concerned I'm currently not aware of any
> large scale efforts. Walter Bender previously mentioned applying for NSF
> (National Science Foundation) grants in the United States but I don't
> know the details of these proposals or whether any of them went through.
>
> Cheers,
> Christoph
>
> > ---Cherry
> >
> > On Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 9:45 AM, <akleider at sonic.net
> > <mailto: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>
> >     >> <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 <mailto:OLPC-SF at lists.laptop.org>
> >     >> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-sf
> >     >
> >     > --
> >     > Christoph Derndorfer
> >     > co-editor, www.olpcnews.com <http://www.olpcnews.com>
> >     > e-mail: christoph at olpcnews.com <mailto:christoph at olpcnews.com>
> >     > _______________________________________________
> >     > OLPC-SF mailing list
> >     > OLPC-SF at lists.laptop.org <mailto:OLPC-SF at lists.laptop.org>
> >     > http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-sf
> >     >
> >     >
> >
> >
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> >
> >
>
> --
> Christoph Derndorfer
> co-editor, www.olpcnews.com
> e-mail: christoph at olpcnews.com
>
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