Sameer Verma, Ph.D.ProfessorInformation Systems DepartmentSan Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco, CA 94132 USAsverma@sfsu.eduhttp://verma.sfsu.edu

Seminar, CB MIS ProgramUniversity of the West Indies, Jamaica

Creative commons licensehttp://creativecommons.org/

One Laptop per Child:
Upsetting the Information Pyramid

hello!

Unless noted otherwise

Classic MIS Pyramid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_systems_%28discipline%29

The Internet

Can information flow like water?

http://ltse.env.duke.edu/files/ltse/images/India%20Persian%20wheel%20irrigation%20Ganges%20Plain.jpg

Power battery

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jommev/393200096/

A water battery

http://www.flickr.com/photos/easyecoblog/4304158871/

Can we build information batteries?

~ 70% unconnected

http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

Viva La Revolucin

Can we spark a paradigm shift by providing equitable access to information all over the world?

Somebody is finally thinking of the children!

To create educational opportunities for the world's poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning. OLPC Mission Statement,It's an education project, not a laptop project. Nicholas Negroponte

Multiple hats...

Disclaimer: I do not work for OLPC. I am only a volunteer!

in the beginning...

Must. Have. Laptop.

(July 2007)

Give 1 Get 1 Nov 2007

Next thing I know...

De facto founder of OLPC San Francisco

http://olpcsf.org

Then I run into this guy...

Click here to learn more...

Next thing I know...

De facto founder of OLPC Jamaica!

http://olpcjamaica.org.jm

A tremendous Thank you! to the UWI community for making this happen.

http://olpcjamaica.org.jm

Providence Basic School, Kingston, Jamaica

August Town Primary School, August Town, Jamaica

OLPC

Mission

OLPC's mission is to empower the world's poorest children through education

We aim to provide each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop. To this end, we have designed hardware, content and software for collaborative, joyful, and self-empowered learning. With access to this type of tool, children are engaged in their own education, and learn, share, and create together. They become connected to each other, to the world and to a brighter future.

Worldwide

40+ countries, 30+ languages, 2.2+ million laptops, 350+ applications

Where no computers have gone before...

School Galadima, Abuja City, Nigeria See http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Galadima

Samkha village located in the suburbs of northern ThailandSee http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Thailand/Ban_Samkha

Khairat school is India's pilot site.See http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_India

Ulaanbaatar, Mongoliahttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/Ulaanbaatar

Ethopiahttp://www.reactivated.net/weblog/archives/2008/10/olpc-ethiopia-updates/

Ghanahttp://www.flickr.com/photos/olpc/2921143251/

Cameroonhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/olpc/3110907018/in/set-72157611290673682/

Afghanistan refugee camp, Pakistan http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Pakistan/Atlas_School

Colombiahttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Colombia

Peruhttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Peru

Rwandahttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Rwanda

Iraqhttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Iraq

Haitihttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/Haiti

Solomon Islandshttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Solomon_Islands

Nepal http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Nepal

Uruguay: Every primary school child has an XO.http://olpc-ceibal.blogspot.com/

postage stamps too!

2.2 million XO laptops and counting See Google Maps

Deployments worldwide

Also see: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Property:Number_of_manufactured_laptops

A glimpse...

Deployments

India

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Khairat_school

Resident artist!

Khairat school is India's first pilot site.See http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_India

Khairat school is India's pilot site.See http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_India

Khairat Photos

http://www.zooomr.com/photos/sameerverma/sets/40064/

Bhagmalpur project

Location:Village: Bhagmalpur

District: Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh

Railway Station: Shahganj

Bus Stop: Banuwadeeh

School: Classes: 1 to 8 class

Children: 1087

Teachers: 11

Internet: none

Computers: none

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Bhagmalpur

What's a laptop?

Under a tree...

Bhagmalpur photos

Bhagmalpur Schoolhttp://www.zooomr.com/photos/sameerverma/sets/40063/

Bhagmalpur Villagehttp://www.zooomr.com/photos/sameerverma/sets/40075/

Jamaica

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Jamaica

Maroantsetra, Madagascar

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Madagascar/Maroantsetra

Kandahar, Afghanistan

Keur Sadaro, Senegal

http://www.extrasleepy.com/keursadaro.html

OLPC Headquarters
1 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Little green machines...

CostElectricityNetworksContentLanguagesPedagogyAgeSecurityTheftAppropriateness...

The challenges

Cost

US $140 at the factoryMy Lenovo Thinkpad cost me > US $2500

Electricity

Non-traditional sources...

Yo Yo Charger

http://www.potenco.com/products

Hand Crank Charger

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Peripherals/Hand_Crank

Pedal power

OLPC Afghanistan http://www.olpc.af/images/HPM/dscf1324.jpg

Solar Panel

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahlness/2850027972/sizes/o/in/set-72157603501402908/

Moo power...

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Cow_Power

Networks

Offline MoodleRise of the SneakernetsWWWOFFLE

Content

Open content standards (SCORM, IMS-CP)

Creative CommonsOffline Wikipedia1.6 million books from the Internet Archive

Language Diversity

India: 28 states and 7 union territoriesThe Constitution of India recognizes 22 languages

1. Assamese2. Bengali3. Bodo4. Dogri5. Gujarati6. Hindi7. Kannada8. Kashmiri

9. Konkani10. Maithili11. Malayalam12. Manipuri13. Marathi14. Nepali15. Oriya16. Punjabi

17. Sanskrit 18. Santhali 19. Sindhi 20. Tamil 21. Telugu 22. Urdu

Languages

Afrikaans, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Arabic (Syrian Arab Republic), Armenian, Aymara, Basque, Bengali, Bengali (India), Bislama, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (China), Chinese (Hong Kong), Chinese (Taiwan), Crioulo, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dari, Dutch, Dzongkha, English, English (South Africa), English (US), English (United Kingdom), Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French, French (Canada), Friulian, Fula, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Igbo, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Khmer, Kinyarwanda, Korean, Kosraean (Kusaiean), Macedonian, Malagasy, Malay, Malayalam, Maltese, Marathi, Marovo, Mongolian, Moorish, Nauruan, Nepali, Norwegian, Norwegian Bokmal, Papiamento, Papua New Guinea Pidgin (Tok Pisin), Pashto, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Punjabi, Quechua, Romanian, Russian, Samoan, Serbian, Sindhi, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Solomon Islands Pidgin, Sotho, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Tongan, Turkish, Tuvaluan, Tzotzil, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uyghur, Vietnamese, Walloon, Wolof, Yoruba

Tutorial:http://opensource.sfsu.edu/node/452

Translate:http://translate.sugarlabs.org/

100+ languages

Pedagogy

Constructivism, Constructionism. Same difference? See http://www.sugarlabs.org/ for more.

FOSS: Free and Open Source

When the project started FOSS was the only option that was flexible enough for this project

No vendor lock-in on formats

No royalties on redistribution

No discrimination based on fields of endeavor

Scalable global model for software and content

Encourages a shared resources approach

Software methodologies lead to collaborative content creation.

Tools of Expression

The laptop is a "thing to think with"

Principle of "learning through doing"

Constructivist learninghttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/Constructivism

Seymour Papert (constructionism)

Lego Mindstroms

http://www.gizmowatch.com/entry/lego-mindstorms-nxt-robot-tailored-to-solve-sudoku-puzzles/

school...to go

Educational device or trojan horse?

Surprise! Its a REAL computer. It can do REAL computer things!

Laptop can also be a:

Phone (Voice over IP)

Healthcare monitor (O2, pulse sensors)

Micro-finance platformRecord yield, income, loans, payments, etc.

Anthropological documentation platformFamily tree

Photos, birth/death records.

http://blog.laptop.org/2009/04/08/low-cost-heart-rate-monitor/

OLPC XO

Speaker

Rotate screen

Keyboard

Mouse pad

Microphone

Antenna

Camera

Gamepad

Power

Battery

USB

water battery

information battery

XS: OLPC School Server

The Internet in a Box

School environment

Manage contentManage accessManage assessment

School Server

http://olpcmap.net

Mailing lists

Educatorshttp://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/educators

Software DevelopersGeneral developmenthttp://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel

Sugar UIhttp://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/sugar

All mailing lists are at http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/

Community lists

Everyonehttp://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/grassroots

http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-open

OLPC San Franciscohttp://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-sf

Slides made with the free stuff

http://libreoffice.org