One Laptop Per Child - Meeting 4, 27th May 2009

Four meetings already! So, what's been happening?

Well, we were in nice plush offices this time, rather than a pub!

Daniel Drake from OLPC Boston discussed his experience of deployments in Ethiopia and Paraguay. Then there was a report from Warren Pimm on the progress of the OLPC-UK pilot.

Daniel related some of the difficulties and rewards of working in the field: from getting teachers trained in the use of the XO laptop, to electricity issues (particularly acute in Ethiopia, where a class' worth of machines were being charged from one electrical outlet!). What shone through was the true 'grassroots' nature of the OLPC effort, involving young people in the front line of deployments, working in challenging conditions. At its heart is the vision of sharing an educational platform with its unprecedented access to knowledge and learning, with children, parents and teachers in some of the most deprived areas of the world.

There was an interesting contrast between Ethiopia, where some teachers were reluctant to become involved after having been exposed to previous interventionist attempts from international organisations, and Paraguay, where the deployment became a national news item, with the Minister for Education and other luminaries proudly involved.

Daniel's presentation slides are available from: http://www.reactivated.net/talks/2009/olpc-uk-deployments.pdf

Warren updated the group on the status of the OLPC pilot. We now have a school scheduled for a September deployment, with another nearby school carrying it on next January. Stephen Boatright, Headmaster for St Cuthberts & St Matthias Primary CE school, introduced himself to the group's regular members and our visitors.

The meeting then ended with an open discussion. As usual, the two hours planned for from the start passed all too quickly, and we vacated the offices shortly after nine. All in all, a very productive evening!

More information about the OLPC-UK group and the pilot project is at: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_UK/Pilots/London2009