Primary School Laptop Project

My name is Paul Newson. I live in Bath, England. I have been working on the Primary School Laptop Project (PSLP) since its inception in September 2009 on a voluntary basis. I visited seven of the schools involved in the project in the Gamo highland region near Arbaminch in the south of Ethiopia in April 2011. These are my personal observations and suggestions. The Project The project has been funded by the The Christiansen Foundation (TCF) in the form of a grant to the Ethiopian based association Initiative for Living Community Action (ILCA). The objective is to provide X0 Laptops to whole classes in remote schools in poor rural areas and to establish climate change clubs. The X0 Laptop

The X0 Laptop (X0) is supplied by the non profit US organization One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). Superb in all its design features it is robust enough to withstand the rough and tumble of the playground and will run for long periods before recharging. It is the equivalent of giving the pupil a library of books, an encyclopedia, writing paper and pen, email and internet access, games box, scientific equipment, maths tools, canvas and paints, video camera, camera and audio recorder, music workshop, programme writing software and much more.

The X0 is designed to be given to the student at the earliest possible age and to stay with that student through further education and beyond. Although the understanding between OLPC and ILCA is that the X0 is donated to the child (not the school or the education department), this has not been clearly understood by all. It would be inconceivable to wipe out years of work, study papers, creative work, photographs etc. and hand it to another student. It is accepted that is may be a challenge to convince some teachers and department staff that something so valuable be given to a young child, but this must happen. With each new XO comes a standard disclaimer which indicates that the laptop charger should be plugged in under adult supervision. This does not mean that the school needs to keep the charger to comply and this is not what was intended by OLPC. Indeed the project would fail if the students were denied access to the charger during weekends and holiday periods. (The charger is non standard to reduce theft of the laptop). The chargers should be given to the students to take home along with the disclaimer. The initial shipment should have been delivered with an Amharic (the national language) keyboard so that the language of Amharic could be developed as a subject. This was not the case due to a mistake at the factory. Another delivery with the correct keyboards has arrived and will be exchanged shortly. School assembly.

The team. Clockwise from left. Darout, Kantia and Chombe. Darout is the manager of ILCA and is overall responsible for driving the project forward and reporting to the local government and TCF. He is a clear communicator, experienced in the field of education, analytical in his approach, well respected in the local communities and highly motivated. Fast to learn he now has a good basic understanding of overseas dealings and importing. Kantia is assisting in all aspects of the project. As a retired school director he has the respect of other school directors, has a clear understanding of government department requirements, is politically aware and has boundless energy. Chombe has been assisting on an ad hoc basis. He is able to contribute with his wealth of contacts, help on the technical side and has a particular interest in the photographic recording of progress. Getahun (not in photo) has been assigned to the project by the education department as the computer expert. Although intelligent, motivated, a good trainer and computer literate he would benefit from further specific training. In particular he needs time to study the help pages off line and the extensive online support network http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Support which he needs to join. There is no issue that will be encountered that has not been overcome by someone else. He would also benefit from a visit to Menelik II school where they have some experience of X0. Indeed a visit to Sugar Labs in USA (the software development company) would be beneficial for the project, specially when implementing the Ethiopia government OLPC five point plan http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Ethiopia.

The Schools

With the exception of Abaya School all the schools are in rural environments and at altitudes of 1200 to 4014 metres. Many of the students walk surprisingly long distances to attend school. The layout of the schools is similar with classrooms built around an open space with a flag pole in the middle. Some classrooms are Swedish design and are built to good standard others are constructed of timber, mud and tin. They are usually furnished with home made desks and a blackboard. Classrooms do not tend to have electricity. The age range of the students is 7-14 years.

School Ganta Meiche Abaya Gerese Dorze Doko Masho Zada Zozo Totals

Students 1071 2453 2575 1592 2507 1389 705 12292

X0 59 64 54 55 61 46 59 398

Average annual student intake 153 350 367 227 358 198 100 1753

Google eaarth reference

602'10.01" N 3732'58.24" E 614'34.34" N 3734'22.27" E

The first follow-up visit Although close to Arbaminch the difficult roads and tracks meant that a maximum of two schools were visited each day. This visit is the first since the initial training and delivery of the X0s and took place 30 days after delivery. Each visit followed a similar defined format as follows: The school director was informed of the planned meeting in advance. A brief meeting with the school director and teachers directly involved in the project to set out the day's procedure and to discuss the Climate Change Club (CCC). A visit to the classroom to see the X0s in use and to talk to the students. A meeting with all relevant teachers and members of the parents association. The formal collection of data from the school director and his staff. An assembly of the whole school. This was used as an opportunity to explain that the class receiving the X0 was selected randomly based on the student population and that all efforts were being made to provide more units for remaining students.

Feedback from the students.

Excepting one girl who was frightened of her X0 and tried to return it, all the students enjoyed their laptops and found them rewarding and helpful to their studies. Some had experienced software issues, particularly when trying to shut down after taking a photo. These laptops may need to be re-flashed which will take it back to the factory settings and appears to be simple but demands internet access. Each class had discovered different activities and had gone forward in a slightly different direction. The most popular activities that were demonstrated were:

Wikipedia: An off-line encyclopedia Tam Tam: Music making software Maze and Memorise: Games Write Calculate Moon: Study of the Moon and it's phases. Paint Grabar: Audio, photo and video recording

Feedback from the teachers.

With very few exceptions all the teachers were positive about the project. Their comments were fairly consistent and included: The limited number of laptops available for the teachers made it difficult to prepare lessons and meant the teachers could not keep up with the students skill levels. It was thought this number should be increased to one per two teachers at least. Additional laptops would make the teachers feel more in control and engaged. The network became so busy that some students could not log on, restricting their ability to join in. The content of the X0 was to a high enough level to carry the student through university education. The loading of Ministry of Education text books would be beneficial. A class that had been lagging behind had overtaken other streams in the same year in less than one month. The behaviour of the students in the X0 classes had improved in the classrooms and in the playground. Impressive mathematical work has been delivered by the students. Students were becoming more creative in their outlook. Students were gaining more confidence and ambition.

Feedback from the parents.

Without exception the the parents felt their children were gaining from this project. Some comments included: Homework has become a joy My child is opening up like a flower I always believed my daughter could become a doctor, now I can see it happening. The formal collection of information. A device is being used to collect data from the school directors and relevant teachers. This comprises some fifteen questions relating to all aspects of the project including the setting up of the charging room, the scheduling of the X0 in class and the activities being used. Each point was discussed with the staff and marked, the total giving a clear indication of how each school was performing and leaving the school with clear targets of areas to improve.

Climate change club

Most schools have made some kind of an effort to set up a climate change club. In some cases they have structured classes and in others it has been a case of planting indigenous tree seedlings with a view to transplanting them around the school and in the local area. Two schools have expressed a desire to grow herbs used in local remedies and record their growing patterns and how they are used for curing ailments including broken bones. There appears to be many local customs, traditions and food recipes in the wider community that are worth recording before they are lost forever. With the use of the X0 these clubs could prove a good place for building up such a library. In general the climate change clubs are without clear direction or understanding and it is clear there is a need for expert guidance. The project would benefit from appointing a graduate of Environmental Studies to work with the schools for a limited period of perhaps one month. It should be possible to find such a person in UK who will undertake the project as a volunteer.

Future intake.

Challenges Based on the figures for the current schools in the project, finance of around US$ 500,000 a year would be required to provide X0s to every year's student intake. This would only reduce if there was a reduction in intake or if and when the older students passed their X0s to their younger siblings or offspring when they had finished their education. Without complete saturation there would still be significant benefit to the communities as a whole. It is reasonable to expect a number of X0s to fail in each class every month through software or hardware issues. It is essential to put these back on line quickly by reflashing or exchanging failed components.

Suggestions Where students are experience problems joining a network try first asking one student in each corner to join. This may resolve the problem. The parents could be more actively involved is such things as cleaning out the charging rooms, repairing the desks, preparing the land for climate change experiments and watering the growing plants rather than waiting for the rains. The most advanced user in each class could be sent to spend time in other schools to pass on their knowledge and discoveries. These students come from a background of rich culture. It would be an acheivement if elements of this culture could be preserved with the help of these laptops and made available to the any interested parties. An unusual and unique insight into different lives that might include:
Produce a video diary of a day in their life. This could include introducing their family, describing their homes, their animals etc. Produce a written work with photos introducing a local food speciality or herbal remedy used by their family. Show how it is used, produced and prepared. Produce a written work on their family farm showing what food crops are produced and what animals are kept, perhaps with photos and charts. Document a local board game played by the old people. Detail the pieces used, the object and a full set of rules. Produce a list of local sayings and expressions with their meanings explained.

14th May 2011