Presentation by Michael Hutak, OLPC Oceania Director, at the South Pacific ICT Expo, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji, July 21, 2011 on the occasion of a signed MOU between OLPC and USP See: http://bit.ly/rrMeLn

1. One Laptop per Pacific Child
Promoting access to ICT
in Basic Education
in Oceania
Michael Hutak,
Regional Director, Oceania
One Laptop per Child Foundation
SPICTEX -- ICT Expo
21-23 July 2011,
University of the South Pacific
Suva, Fiji

2. Context

3. “As the world grows smaller,
our common humanity
will reveal itself.
Pres. Barack Obama,
Inauguration Speech, 2009

4. Benefits of Investment in Education
• Increases national and lifetime
individual earnings and
productive output
• Less crime, slower population
growth, reduced poverty,
a cleaner environment
• Positive relationships between
education and:
 Health
 health of family members
 schooling of one’s children
 life choices made
 fertility choices
 infant mortality AFGHANISTAN
SOURCE: OECD

5. Benefits of Investment in ICT for Education
• builds income-generating skills
• realises productive potential
• stimulates economic development
(esp. Infrastructure – power, communications , internet)
• fosters the digital economy, e-governance, transparency
• ensures future long-term competitiveness
in an interconnected, globalised world
• SOURCE: OECD

6. Benefits of providing access to the Internet
• growth benefit in developing countries
approx 1.38 % increase in GDP for each
10 % increase in broadband penetration.
• greatest impact in remote areas without
direct access to medical specialists and
qualified teachers.
- World Bank 2009

7. New types of ‘literacy’ in the C21…
Information literacy: skills to search for, organize and analyse
information.
Critical literacy: skills to think critically, and judge the intention,
content and possible effects of written material.
Mobile literacy: skills to use mobile technology, and its non-voice
features.
Cultural literacy: the ability to understand cultural, social and
ideological values in a given context.
Legal literacy: knowledge of basic legal rights, how to protect them.
Visual literacy: interpretation of images, signs, pictures and non-
verbal (body) language.
Using ICT to Develop Literacy, 2006, UNESCO ICT in Education Programme, Bangkok

8. What role can ICT play in promoting literacy?
Using ICT to Develop Literacy, 2006, UNESCO ICT in Education Programme, Bangkok

9. Who is OLPC?

10. “An education project,
not a laptop project…
…children are our mission, not our market.”

11. One Laptop per Child

12. One Laptop per Child
OLPC MISSION:
create educational
opportunities for
the world’s poorest children

13. One Laptop per Child • Global non-profit organisation
• Developed by MIT Media Lab
• First project in Senegal in 1982
• XO laptop launched at WEF in 2006.
• First deployment Feb ‘07
• Mass production Nov ’07
• 2.4m laptops to children & teachers
• Projects in 40 countries
in 19 languages

14. One Laptop per Child OLPC Foundation
• 1-to-1 computing
• constructionist learning approach
• bridging digital divide
• champion for children and joyful learning
OLPC Association
• develops and manufactures the XO
• manages supply chain
• works w/ Govts, MOEs and partners
on deployment

15. Partners
One Laptop per Child • Governments
– Ministries
– Departments
• Development partners
– IGOs
– NGOs
• Private Sector
• Communities, Volunteers
• Academia

16. OLPC global private partners

17. OLPC global public partners

18. 2.4m kids, 40 countries, 19 languages

19. Technology: meet the XO

20. The XO laptop
• Connected, rugged,
low-cost, low-powered,
Indoor/Outdoor screen
readable in sunlight
• E-book reader
• Loaded with content and
software to foster joyful, self-empowered learning
• Created expressly for the world's poorest children,
living in its most remote environments;
• Suitable for all children, with utility for all families, for
all communities

21. The XO 1.5 (from Feb 2010)
Rugged, no moving parts, VIA processor, provides 2x
the speed, 4x DRAM memory and 4x FLASH memory.
Runs both the Linux and Windows OS.
• VIA C7-M 1GHz Ultra Low Voltage Processor
• 1GB DDR2
• 2GB/4GB/8GB NAND Flash Storage
• Compressed JFFS2 file system: ~1GB
• Integrated Wireless
• Audio and Video Support
• USB 2.0 Ports (3)
• SD Card slot
• US$209 unit cost
• US$250 TCO
SIERRA LEONE

22. XO ships with >100 approved applications
19 address literacy
22 address numeracy.
• Documents
• Chat, mail and talk
• Media creation (music,
images, video, audio)
• Programming
• Maths & Science
• Maps & Geography
• Media players
• Games
• Teacher tools
• Collections
Dual boot: Sugar (Linux) and WindowsXP PALESTINE OT

23. Approach and Impact

24. • Children lack opportunity not capability
• Learning to learn; learning by doing
• Inquiry beyond school, school hours
• Reaching the poorest, most isolated kids
• Using ICT to learn, not learning to use ICT!
a child-centred
approach
SOLOMON ISLANDS

25. Pedagogical approach

26. Five core principles
1. child ownership*
2. low ages
3. saturation
4. connection
5. free & open source
* In the Pacific,
child is custodian
SOLOMON ISLANDS

27. Educational impact
PERU
Afghanistan:
across six schools, an
average improvement
of 21.33% in standard
test results after just
2 months classroom
use.
Evaluations to date*:
• Haiti
• Uruguay
• Nepal
• Solomon Islands
• Ethiopia
• Australia
* Evaluations of One Laptop per Child,
OLPC Learning Group, 2010

28. 2
Source: Plan Ceibal – Uruguay deployment 2009; 400,000 students received laptops and took part in survey.

29. 3
Extending the time for learning
Source: Peru deployment of 500,000 laptops to children in Peru; 80% of students included in survey results.

30. Global experiences

31. URUGUAY
•400,000 XOs
•100% saturation
•2nd (and largest)
country in the
world to achieve
OLPC*
• Increased 1st grade registration
levels
• Lower instance of school
violence
• Decreased number of children
sans papiers
• Societal transformation project

32. PERU
800,000 XOs
in primary and
secondary
schools
•Challenging geography with
cultural diversity
• Remote small communities
with no access to electricity

33. RWANDA
120,000 XOs
• Established in 2009 the OLPC
Regional Learning Center
• 'Feed the mind, feed the body' –
partnership with OLPC and
World Food Program to distribute
food and laptops

34. OLPC in Asia
• Afghanistan (4k)
• Cambodia (1k)
• China (1k)
• Indonesia (550)
• Philippines (200)
• Armenia (3.5k)
• India (800)
• Sri Lanka – WB (3.6k)
• Malaysia (100)
• Mongolia (14.5k)
• Nepal – WFP (6k)
• Pakistan (500)
• Philippines (100)
• Thailand (500)
• Kyrgystan (>100)
• Kazakhstan (10k)
SICHUAN, CHINA

35. Pacific action

36. One Laptop per Pacific Child
Regional Partnership
provide every child
with a rugged, low-cost,
low-powered, connected
laptop, loaded with content
and software for collaborative,
self-empowered learning
Target: 700,000 kids
in Basic Education in
22 Pacific island nations.
SOLOMON ISLANDS

37. One Laptop per Pacific Child
• Focus on partnership
• Empowerment of communities
• Country-led national programmes
• Regional coord & tech assistance
• Country-to-country exchange
• Collaborative, inclusive approach
NIUE

38. SOLOMON ISLANDS
OLPC Oceania
• a coalition of global, regional, national, local and individual actors
• governments, donors, civil society, educators, academics and volunteers
• TA to countries to establish 1-to1 computing as a sustainable reality.

39. OLPC requested by the governments of:
• Fiji • Samoa*
• FSM* • Solomon Is.*
• Nauru* • Tokelau
• Niue* • Tonga*
• Palau • Tuvalu*
• PNG* • Vanuatu
• RMI • Fr. Polynesia
• Cook Is.* • Kiribati
• Marshall Is.
• New Caledonia * = active projects
Funds expended to 2010– US$2.5 million:
• OLPC donates 5000 laptops to Pacific worth US$2m
• OLPC and SPC assign resources worth US$500k.
Fiji: 5 year plan, 70k children w/ XO by 2015

40. >6000 XOs in 41 schools in 10 Pacific countries.
Funds expended – US$2.5 million:
OLPC donates 5000 laptops to Pacific worth US$2m
OLPC and SPC assign resources worth US$500k.

41. Pilot Phase: lessons learned
• OLPC adds value for children, communities,
countries
• aligns with Pacific goals and plans, inc. the MDGs
• High country-level demand in the Pacific
• Strong support at both political and community
• Small pilots provide an insufficient evidence base
• M&E integrated at the outset
• Broader-based TA needed to build country capacity
PAPUA NEW GUINEA

42. OLPC Policy touchstones
1990 – Convention on the Rights of the Child
2000 – Dakar Framework on Education for All
2000 – Millennium Development Goals
• MDG 1 – poverty and hunger
• MDG 2 – universal primary education
• MDG 3 – gender equality
• MDG8f – “In cooperation with the private sector,
make available the benefits of new technologies,
especially information and communications.”
2005 – Tunis Commitment to bridge the digital divide,
WSIS

43. OLPC Policy touchstones
2007 – The Pacific Plan, Pacific Islands
Forum
2007 – Pacific Regional Digital Strategy,
Pacific Islands Forum
2009 – Pacific ICT Ministerial Forum
Communique
2010 – Pacific Education Development
Framework
2010 – Framework for Action on ICT for
Development in the Pacific

44. Pacific Education Development
Framework (2009-15)
“Preliminary results from
OLPC trials show Pacific
countries can make a
quantum leap forward in
realising goals of access,
quality and equity in education…”
SOLOMON ISLANDS

45. ‘Every remote
internet site is an
OLPC hub’
• Small 1.8m satellite
dishes and ‘network-
in-a-box’ server
allows Internet
connectivity, WiFi
networking
• Rural Internet
Connectivity
Systems are highly
complementary with
OLPC.
SOLOMON ISLANDS

46. Case Study: OLPC-PACRICS impact on 10,000 remote
rural people in the Solomon Islands
OLPC-PACRICs Site at Patukae College; Marovo Lagoon, Solomon Islands. Provides internet access to 9 Schools ,
1 health clinic, 16 villages; 1 resort; 6 small businesses. OLPC in 3 schools

47. Solomon Islands Govt Independent Evaluation:
Recommendations
1. more teacher training
2. more guidance for parents
and communities
3. adapt curriculum for
digital delivery
4. train local community in
tech support
5. address power solutions
6. provide peripherals:
printers, ‘mice’, servers
7. close involvement MOE
8. sufficient laptops for new
enrolments
9. install M&E at outset;
establish baseline data

48. USP-OLPC Partnership
and MOU
1. OLPC donating at least 15 XO laptops to USP
2. XOs to be housed at Japan-Pacific ICT Centre
at the Laucala Campus, Suva.
3. Access to XOs teaching students and staff
4. Teacher training on 1-to-1 approach
5. Develop content for USP member countries
6. Technical advice on OLPC to USP members
7. Conduct research

49. Country coordination

50. OLPC Pacific deployment model: supporting sustainability
A Develop Community Awareness
•Educate population on program benefits and XO functionality
•Develop social inclusion campaigns to achieve local support
•Launch training programs to promote XO usage, including teachers
B Customize XO platform to address local needs
•Meet with officials from the minister of education to align on curriculum requirements
•Develop customized applications
•Digitize textbooks, perform translations
C Train the core team
•Government to select 'Core Team' for execution of local program (IT expertise, etc)
•Train core team in all learning and technical elements of the product and program
•Train a set of local trainers who will be sent throughout the country
D
Develop infrastructure
•Provide advisory/ support for government in development of infrastructure (Electrical, IT, network mgmt)
•Local capacity building (inventory management, logistics, distribution, maintenance, financial tracking)
•Development of Internet access and connectivity infrastructure
E
Monitoring & Evaluation
•Initial field assessment baseline study
•Monitor initial program roll out; evaluate social, academic impacts annually

51. Coordination Model: National Core Team
Cross-cutting “whole of government” approach
• Cabinet sub-committee, led at Ministerial level
• Reports to National Planning Committee
• Workplan developed at Dept Secretary level
• Five core sub-teams...
Pedagogy Team
Political Team
Logistics Team
Planning Team
Technical Team
Prime Minister Min. Treasury & Min. Education Min. Public Min. National
Finance Services Planning and Rural
Min. National Development
Min. Foreign • teacher training
Affairs Planning & Rural Min. Info and
• content, curricul • Supply chain
Development Communications
Cabinet Min. Community a • shipping,
Development • localisation distribution,
• monitoring & • security, • Deployment
• National
• planning and evaluation • repairs, • Infrastructure
leadership
project maintenance • Power
• Strategy, Policy
management • Sweat Equity • Communications
and Partnerships
• Donor Relations • identifies • Connectivity
schools and
sequence of
roll-out

52. Principles for community inclusion
• The XO Laptop should be deployed through a process of community
consultation; should only proceed with assent of the entire
community, taking account of their needs and concerns; and should be
fully integrated into existing systems and tools
• Without compromising child education, access to the XO Laptop should
be available not just for the child, but the family and the community
• Communities should develop their own principles and guidance for
coordinating communal use of the XO Laptop
• Where appropriate, children should be included and encouraged to
actively participate in using the technology for whole-of-community
actions and projects
• The technology should be available to contribute to community efforts
and solve community problems and not be leveraged for private
personal profit or commercial gain
• Knowledge and data generated with the laptop is in the public
domain, and needs to be freely available and shared

53. Principles for community inclusion (cont)
• Without discouraging community-level market activity which support
sustainability – such as microfinance, technical services, spare parts
repairs and maintenance – communities should put in place
disincentives to the emergence of a secondary commercial market for
the XO.
• Communities should share local knowledge, best practices and lessons
learned with like communities and within their sub-regional, national
and regional contexts.
• Deployment should, wherever possible, proceed in alignment and
harmony with existing regional and national efforts on education for
sustainable development, and should be designed to strengthen and
enhance those efforts.
• An "end of life" program should be put in place to recover derelict
laptops to avoid environmental damage and hazard.
• An Internet Safety program should be established wherever the XO is
deployed.
- Developed for further discussion at OLPC Asia Learning Workshop,
Bangkok and SPC, August 2008

54. Conclusion

55. Better quality, value-adding
• Catalytic effect on governments to deliver better quality education
• (by) creating community demand for better quality
• (while) mobilising resources and partnerships to meet demand
• adds value for children, countries, communities and donors
COOK ISLANDS

56. OLPC adds value – for children
• learning to learn “using ICT to
learn, not learning to use ICT”
• better quality basic
education, better teaching
• access to latest curricula, the
world’s info, and culture
• thousands of books online
• opportunity to contribute
themselves
• skills for lifelong learning
• protection of their own
culture and language
• extension of time spent
learning
• bringing new skills and
knowledge home
SOLOMON ISLANDS

57. OLPC adds value – for communities
In remote communities, OLPC opens access to:
• e-government services
• telemedicine
• health and nutrition info & edu
• microfinance
• markets and market data
• weather info, disaster and emergency
preparedness and response
• will help arrest urbanisation

58. OLPC adds value – for countries
• Unlock human resources the productive capacity;
• Drive dev. of knowledge and skills economy
• stimulate new jobs and markets in hardware and
software support, maintenance, repairs, spare parts
• Catalytic effect on govts to extend power and ICT
infrastructure
• kickstarts e-commerce, e-
government, microfinance, microcredit markets
• support livelihoods w/ new channel for rural and
remote poor to access critical information

59. OLPC adds value – for donors
• Alignment with global,
regional and national
agreements, plans and
strategic frameworks
• Country-led and driven
• More regional cooperation,
integration and thus security

60. Painting created using the XO by 8yo child from Gaire, PNG, 2008.
Painted on the first day the child received his laptop

61. Thank you.
www.laptop.org
http://olpcoceania.blogspot.com