<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 9.00.8112.16421">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV>Laptops to Lesotho Inc., a U.S.-based nonprofit organization
established<BR>in 2009, distributes refurbished G1G1 XO-1 laptops purchased on
ebay.com<BR>to children in remote mountain villages in Lesotho. We are
using what we<BR>think is a rather unique approach to setting up a computer
program in a<BR>developing nation, and we would like to find a research person
or group to<BR>do an in-depth, long-term evaluation of the efficacy of our
project.<BR><BR>The first thing we did differently was we took 1-1/2 years to
establish a<BR>grassroots organization in the local community before we
distributed a<BR>large number of computers. We started with just two
Windows-based<BR>computers and two XO-1 laptops. With the help of a Peace
Corps Volunteer<BR>living in the community, we put two local educators in charge
of the<BR>project at the very onset. We mentored them, trained them, and
made them<BR>responsible for all major decisions. From the onset, we let
them know<BR>that our role was merely as facilitator to get them started and
that,<BR>within a matter of a few years, they would be solely responsible for
the<BR>project.<BR><BR>As we guided these two project leaders, we had a series
of bench marks,<BR>unbeknownst to them, that they had to achieve before we moved
to the next<BR>step. It wasn't until they reached the point where they had
enough<BR>computer skills to supervise the project, where they were
communicating<BR>regularly with us by email, where they had shown a serious
sustained<BR>commitment to the project, and where the community had shown
full<BR>investment in the project that we began delivering
laptops.<BR><BR>Another thing we are doing is moving at a pace of change that
the<BR>community can fully absorb without disruption. Our first deployment
in<BR>2010 consisted of 50 laptops. Our second deployment with a similar
number<BR>of laptops will be a full year later.<BR><BR>During the first
deployment, we met separately with all the teachers,<BR>parents/guardians,
students, community leaders, religious leaders,<BR>government officials, and
local police. After those meetings, we spent ten<BR>days helping the project
leaders and school staff work out rules and<BR>regulations to govern the
project. These rules try to address every<BR>possible scenario we could
foresee and establish a procedure to deal with<BR>situations we couldn't
foresee. From this, the school staff developed<BR>contracts for each
student, parent/guardian, and educator to sign in order<BR>to participate in the
project.<BR><BR>The regulations and contracts clearly define responsibilities,
benefits,<BR>and penalties for all parties involved. Penalties for
violating the<BR>contract can be paid in cash or worked off by doing community
service.<BR>(The English version of the Rules and Regulations, Contracts, and
Fine<BR>Schedules is posted on our blog at<BR><A
href="http://olpc2010-lesotho.blogspot.com/p/2011-rules-regulations-contracts-fee.html">http://olpc2010-lesotho.blogspot.com/p/2011-rules-regulations-contracts-fee.html</A>)<BR><BR>Originally,
we based our project on the OLPC philosophy and guidelines.<BR>However, the
leaders, educators, and community members felt that one<BR>aspect, child
ownership, didn't fit well with their situation and the<BR>number of laptops we
were providing. They changed that to school<BR>ownership with a system
that allows the children and teachers to check the<BR>laptops out like a library
book.<BR><BR>As part of this system, a student must earn the right to check out
a<BR>laptop. First, both the student and their parents/guardian must all
sign<BR>contracts agreeing to abide by the Rules and Regulations. Then,
the<BR>student and parents/guardian must learn how to properly care for
the<BR>laptop and display that knowledge to the satisfaction of the
student's<BR>classroom teacher. Lastly, the student must earn a set number
of points,<BR>via a clearly defined point system, based on the student's
behavior at<BR>school and at home.<BR><BR>During the first deployment we spent
three weeks at the end of the school<BR>year giving all the teachers at the
school and a principal from another<BR>school in the area intensive training on
how to use the XO laptop, how to<BR>charge and repair the laptops, how to teach
with laptops in the classroom,<BR>and how to develop lessons with the laptops to
supplement the curriculum.<BR><BR>Then we left. Three months later, one of
the project leaders, who is the<BR>school principal, was brought to the U.S. for
a professional and cultural<BR>exchange. During that time, he had the
opportunity to visit a number of<BR>schools, observe classes, and talk to
principals, teachers, students, and<BR>school board members to learn about the
U.S. education system. (The trip<BR>was paid for by FIPE, the Foundation
for International Professional<BR>Exchange.) He returned to his school
with a new perspective and new<BR>ideas.<BR><BR>Laptops to Lesotho volunteers
will return to the village in December 2011.<BR> In the interim, the school
staff is running the program. So far, the<BR>laptops are being used
several times a week in grades 4-7 and periodically<BR>in the lower
grades. Most of the teachers are using them in their<BR>classrooms, though
two are not yet comfortable teaching with them. In<BR>order that all the
students get a chance to use the laptops, those<BR>teachers switch with other
teachers for some lessons. A larger solar<BR>power system is being
installed this month that will enable the teachers<BR>to charge more laptops at
one time and that will allow them to use the<BR>laptops even more frequently in
the classroom.<BR><BR>It is too early to tell what significant long-term changes
this project<BR>will make, but in the short-term it has been very successful.
Some of the<BR>short-term changes we have documented at this early stage include
a 20%<BR>increase in enrollment at the school and a drop in chronic absenteeism
to<BR>nearly zero. Empirical evidence shows a vast improvement in
student<BR>behavior and an increased rate of improvement in math and English
skills.<BR><BR>The project has also gotten the parents/guardians more actively
involved<BR>in the school and has brought the community more closely
together. They<BR>have decided to start an annual cultural celebration, a
tradition that had<BR>been lost prior to this project. They will use the
celebration, along<BR>with other community activities, to help raise funds for
the project.<BR><BR>The school staff selected two dozen students from grades 5-7
to serve as<BR>student leaders for the project. The staff has already begun to
evaluate<BR>schools and school staff members in surrounding villages to
determine the<BR>next candidate for expansion of the project. They have
also decided to<BR>spend part of the project funds to attend a grant-writing and
fundraising<BR>workshop.<BR><BR>We think that our process could be replicated
successfully elsewhere.<BR>But, before we get too much farther down the road, we
would like to<BR>establish a strict scientifically-based hypothesis testing
research<BR>project to evaluate this technique both in short-term and long-term
gains.<BR><BR>If you are interested in helping to set up this evaluation
research, or<BR>know of someone who might be, please let me
know.<BR><BR>Thanks,<BR>Janissa Balcomb</DIV>
<DIV><A href="mailto:janissa@silverstar.com">janissa@silverstar.com</A> <BR><A
href="mailto:jbalcomb@laptopstolesotho.org">jbalcomb@laptopstolesotho.org</A><BR><A
href="http://www.laptopstolesotho.org">www.laptopstolesotho.org</A><BR><BR><BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>