[IAEP] IAEP Digest, Vol 57, Issue 17

[Tony Anderson]

Hello,

I am working as a volunteer at a school in Rwanda. This subject is a 
part of the curriculum in Rwanda. Primary science education in Rwanda is 
mostly rote learning. One reason is that primary schools have no budget 
to acquire anything beyond a few wall posters to support science 
instruction.

My sense is that the OLPC laptops can server as a virtual alternative to 
the science lab through interactive simulations, good graphics, 
interactive experiments as you describe.

While there is much material available, it is proprietary and/or only 
available on the internet. In Rwanda and many developing countries, 
usable internet access is not available to the schools (even electricity 
is a major problem).

This means whatever is developed should be designed for local hosting. 
The available storage capacity of the original XO is 1GB, more recent 
models have 4GB. I believe a school server is the solution for hosting 
this content. Servers with Atom or Arm technology configured with 4GB 
memory and 2TB storage are available for under $500.

OLPC has based their educational strategy on Python (a reasonable 
choice). However, going forward, I expect web technology to be 
emphasized more (webkit, html5 animation).

Another major concern is that anything developed be made available as an 
open resource (Creative Commons for information or comparable license 
for source code). If there is a cost for use in a school, it is beyond 
the means of the school itself. If the school has to go to higher levels 
for funding, the bureaucracy will make it impossible or so difficult 
that no one will try. Open educational resources make it possible for 
the science teacher at an OLPC deployment to use them in her class on 
her own initiative.

Finally, some design consideration for supporting multiple languages is 
important.

What you are suggesting is vitally needed.

Tony

On 12/18/2012 06:53 AM, iaep-request at lists.sugarlabs.org wrote:
> Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 23:19:16 -0500
> From:andrycaa at gmail.com
> To:olpc-open at lists.laptop.org
> Subject: [Olpc-open] Healthcare - Potential Opportunity
>
> Hello, I'm new to this venue but am looking to contribute and/or determine if I might have some material that would benefit the community.  I work for a healthcare company that specializes in vision and was wondering if there was any need for material on healthy vision or perhaps an interactive eye model to teach children about the different parts of the eye.  It could be anything in this realm really - the sky is the limit.
>
> My company is constantly looking for ways to give back and if there was some interest in this I'd look to build a more robust case and inquire more deeply into whether the company would be willing to put some resources behind this.
>
> Is there anyone on this distribution list that would be able to point me in the right direction?