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20120911<br>
Dear Sameer and all:<br>
Reviewing stuff for the Summit, I am reminded that we must find a
way to have a presentation on the OLPC Helicopter project! This post
by OLPC news is fantastic! <br>
Cheers, Carol Ruth Silver <br>
<br>
-------- Original Message --------
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<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">Subject: </th>
<td>Visiting Negroponte's Helicopter Deployment Pre-Pilot in
Ethiopia</td>
</tr>
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<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">Date: </th>
<td>Mon, 30 Jul 2012 15:16:18 +0000</td>
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<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">From: </th>
<td>One Laptop Per Child News <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:christoph@olpcnews.com"><christoph@olpcnews.com></a></td>
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<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">To: </th>
<td><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:carol@silverlaw.biz">carol@silverlaw.biz</a></td>
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Negroponte's Helicopter Deployment Pre-Pilot in
Ethiopia</a>
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Negroponte's Helicopter Deployment Pre-Pilot in
Ethiopia</a>
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<p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px
0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"><span>Posted:</span>
30 Jul 2012 03:15 AM PDT</p>
<div
style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;">
<p><em>Resumen en español al final del artículo</em></p>
<p>(<strong>Editor's Note:</strong> Thanks to a Google
News Alert I discovered <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://evanszablowski.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/one-laptop-per-child/">this
remarkable blog post</a> by Evan Szablowski. He was
researching another project in Ethiopia when he was
presented with the chance to visit the village where
Nicholas Negroponte's <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.olpcnews.com/people/negroponte/olpc_starts_pre_pilot_for_helicopter_deployments.html">previously
announced</a> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.olpcnews.com/people/negroponte/xo_helicopter_deployments_nich.html"><em>helicopter
deployment</em></a> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.olpcnews.com/people/negroponte/update_on_negropontes_helicopter_deployment_pre_pilot.html">pre-pilot</a>
is taking place. The following text is an excerpt from
Evan Szablowski's original post and is re-published
here with his permission.)</p>
<p>As we got out of the car I was expecting to see a
lively village, perhaps centered around one area with
various people working. However, the "village" was
really just a sparse connection of huts that spread
out forever alongside the mountains. Every hilltop or
small plain just had a simple circular building of
wood and mud with maybe a sheet metal roof. We arrived
at such a site, and it didn't seem particularly
significant except for one rectangular building that
stood out for being slightly too developed. Its walls
and angles were more straight than usual and it was
fitted with windows that could open and close, rare
for most huts in the highlands. As we walked closer
down the mountain we could see solar panels aligned on
top of the roof - technology that seemed completely
out of place in its surroundings. This unique building
was built by MIT as the village's new school house and
storehouse for the precious tablet computers.</p>
<center><img moz-do-not-send="true"
src="http://www.olpcnews.com/images/villageeth.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br>
<em>The beautiful village in the highlands (The school
house is the foremost building)</em></center>
<br>
<p>As we moved down towards the school house people
began materializing out of nowhere, especially the
children. I guess it is a unique day to have a couple
of "Ferengis" (Foreigners) to come visit in the
highlands. This village is not open to tourism, and I
bet we were some of the few white faces that many of
these kids had ever seen. So naturally we were an
attraction as many of the children were just as
fascinated by us as we were by them.</p>
<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;
margin-bottom: 10px;"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://fundacionqt.org/"><img
moz-do-not-send="true"
src="http://olpcnews.com/images/tabletstorage.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);"></a><br>
<span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;">Servers,
power source, and the tablets</span></div>
<p>Michael, who works as a regional representative in
MIT's One Laptop per Child project in Ethiopia, showed
us into the school house, which was quite plain except
for the wires running down from the solar panels to an
enclosed server. On a table lie the pieces of
technology that we came to see: around 20 tablets,
blending right in to the surroundings in their rough
leather covers. As we entered the children came
pouring in behind us, eager to be a part of whatever
was going on. Michael picked out a 6-7 year-old kid
that he labeled as one of the quickest learners and
gave him a tablet. He readily accepted it, and
watching what happened next was one of the most
impactful parts of the entire trip.</p>
<p>Forget the fact that this kid never grew up with
technology. Forget the fact that he may have never
seen an iPhone, or opened Firefox, or had his own
Facebook account. When the tablet was in his hands, it
was natural. As he began to play with it I was blown
away by his ease and intuition with the device; it was
like he grew up with it. It was amazing to see the
working juxtaposition of high technology in his small
village hands. He knew exactly what he was doing. But
even more fascinating than his knowledge of the
technology were the demonstrations of what it had
taught him.</p>
<p>He scrolled through a few apps and picked one of his
favorites - an alphabet game that spoke the name and
sound of a letter when the picture was touched. He
began to show off, naming each letter and sound before
pressing the corresponding picture. He started at "A"
and rushed through the entire alphabet perfectly. He
then proceeded to sing the ABCs, and unexpectedly the
other kids around him joined right in. I was in a tiny
village in the mountains of Ethiopia (where the native
tongue is the Semitic language Amharic), hearing a
chorus of small voices sing the alphabet song. In the
three months with the tablets, they had already
mastered the letters and basic sounds of English.</p>
<center><img moz-do-not-send="true"
src="http://www.olpcnews.com/images/abcgameeth.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br>
<em>Whiz kid showing us his ABCs (With another kid
photobombing)</em></center>
<br>
<p>As Michael begins to hand them out to all the other
children, similar sounds and letter pronunciations
filled the hut. I watched one group of kids gather
around a tablet that was going through simple words in
the English language. The program worked by repeating
phrases with different pictures: "Ahh, Ahh, Apple!" or
"C,C, Cat!" or "D, D, Dog!" I started laughing when it
got to "O, O, Octopus!" These kids might not even
conceptualize what an octopus is, but they sure can
pronounce it!</p>
<p>Although humorous, this is my only place for
critique. These generic apps work amazingly in helping
them learn the alphabet, but they were clearly
designed for an American audience. It would be
incredible to see applications tailored to their own
Ethiopian lives, relating what they learn everyday to
the setting around them. "A, A, Africa!"</p>
<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;
margin-bottom: 10px;"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://fundacionqt.org/"><img
moz-do-not-send="true"
src="http://olpcnews.com/images/girltablet.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);"></a><br>
<span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;">Girl
leading the class through the alphabet</span></div>
<p>But the kids continued to play, and an adult
encouraged one to get up and lead her classmates
through the alphabet again. She stood up in front of
everyone with the tablet and began to point to random
letters, quizzing her classmates who got them all
correct. The tablets are being used in a school
environment and encouraging group participation, not
just individual understanding. It was fascinating to
watch.</p>
<p>As we continued to interact with the kids and watch
them play around on the tablets, this incredible sense
of excitement and hope kept building in me. It's hard
to describe, but when watching these children you
quickly realize that this program is working exactly
the way it is supposed to: These kids are learning
from these devices in ways they wouldn't be able to
before, and they're excited about it. An overwhelming
sense of excitement and optimism overtook us, and we
couldn't stop smiling as we watched. This technology
is empowering them in a direction to change their
lives.</p>
<p>We stayed for well over an hour, hearing Michael talk
about the program and watching the kids learn. We took
dozens of pictures, trying to capture everything going
on around us. The kids were all too shy to ask for
their picture to be taken, but as soon as I pulled my
camera out they flocked to be in the frame. Even as we
said goodbye they ran up the hill with us, some even
running after the cars as we drove away.</p>
<p>That was by far the best day I spent in Africa, and
the best day I've had this summer (barring my 21st
birthday). We left with such a feeling of inspiration
and optimism, amazed at witnessing two completely
different worlds collide. Or not so much "collide,"
but instead we saw a "fusion" with one another,
enabling these kids to learn in imaginative ways
through the technology. My friend Zach said this was
the best thing he has done in a long time, and I
agreed. We hadn't even contributed anything! We were
saying that because what we saw had such an impact on
us, opened our eyes to a bigger picture of the world.</p>
<center><img moz-do-not-send="true"
src="http://www.olpcnews.com/images/groupethiopia.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br>
<em>A group shot with our adviser Dan Evans and
Michael out in front</em></center>
<br>
<p>As we rode away I told Zach "I hope they realize it
someday. I hope that someday one of those kids will
say, 'When I was only 4 years old, the laptop project
from MIT came to my village, and it forever changed my
future.' What an amazing perspective that person will
have. One day they might understand it." This was not
foreign aid, or handouts to their people. This was
education, and just the first step in enabling them.
Enabling the young minds of Africa for brighter
futures. For a brighter nation, and a brighter
continent.</p>
<p><em>Evan Szablowski grew up in Bakersfield,
California and is currently a senior cadet at the
United States Military Academy at West Point. He
majors in mathematics specializing on Data Analytics
and Mass Collaboration, with interest in Network
Science and Social Media applications to the
Military. He shared this experience after witnessing
OLPC's work in Ethiopia.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Resumen en español:</strong> Gracias a una
alerta de Google News descubrí <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://evanszablowski.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/one-laptop-per-child">este
articulo notable</a> por Evan Szablowski. Él estaba
investigando un otro proyecto en Etiopía, cuando se le
presentó la oportunidad de visitar el pueblo donde se
lleva a cabo el <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.olpcnews.com/people/negroponte/olpc_starts_pre_pilot_for_helicopter_deployments.html">previamente
anunciado</a> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.olpcnews.com/people/negroponte/update_on_negropontes_helicopter_deployment_pre_pilot.html">pre-piloto</a>
del <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.olpcnews.com/people/negroponte/xo_helicopter_deployments_nich.html"><em>despliegue
de helicópteros</em></a> de Nicholas Negroponte.
El texto anterior es un extracto del post original de
Evan Szablowski y esta republicado acá con su permiso.</p>
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