This document provides an overview and introduction to the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project from the perspective of Sameer Verma, an Associate Professor at San Francisco State University. The summary includes: 1) An outline of the presentation which covers topics like education, the laptop, community involvement, and Sugar software. 2) Details about the OLPC laptop including its low-power design, mesh networking capabilities, and use of free and open source software. 3) An emphasis on OLPC's educational goals and the Sugar interface which focuses on activities rather than applications to encourage collaboration and expression.

1. One Laptop Per Child
Exploring, Sharing, Reflecting, Learning
Sameer Verma, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Presentation:
Information Systems
Department
Jamaica Linux Users Group
San Francisco State University http://www.jalug.org/
San Francisco, CA 94132 USA

2. Outline
Introduction Education Laptop Community

3. About myself

4. San Francisco State University
● Part of the California State University
system
– 23 campuses, 450,000+ students, 24,000+
faculty
● San Francisco State University
– 8 colleges
– 30,000+ students
– Undergraduate: 24,000 +
– Graduate: 6,000 +
– Faculty: 1,800 +

5. Disclaimer
● I do not work for OLPC!
● Volunteer, enthusiast, researcher,
developer
– Interests
● Free and Open Source Software and Content
● Internationalization/Localization
● User Interface Design
● Networks
● IT Sustainability

6. Disruptive
● OLPC: Excellent example of disruptive
technology innovation
– Education: learning is student-driven
– Hardware: sustainable computing at its best
– Software: power of Free and Open Source at
work
– Content: a public commons of content

7. Somebody is finally
thinking of the
children!

8. Education
● Its an education project, not a laptop
project.
– Nicholas Negroponte, Founder - OLPC
● OLPC's Goal:
– To provide children around the world with
new opportunities to explore, experiment and
express themselves.

9. A different generation...

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

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

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

13. Sugar: a different interface

14. http://laptopgiving.org/en/software-and-interface.php

16. Sugar
● Focus on activities, not applications
– “Write” a letter vs. “use” Microsoft Word
– Educational vs. Vocational
● Run your own Sugar environment!
– Download ISO image at
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/LiveCD
– Burn to CD.
– Boot computer with CD. No installation
required!

17. Activities
● Write
– A simple word processor
● Chat
– XMPP based. Same as Google Talk
● Browse
– Firefox-based + flash + AJAX
● Record
– stills and video
More activities... http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Activities

18. One forward, One right
An interesting way to
draw a circle in TurtleArt
One step forward,
wait for one second,
one degree to the right,
repeat 360 times
The wait allows you
to see the turtle draw
the circle slowly
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Turtle_Art

19. the XO laptop

20. Laptop
● 7.5 inch diagonal screen at 1200x900
(200 dpi)
– Sunlight readable!
● Wi-Fi, USB, microphone, speakers,
camera, SD card slot
● Screen rotates to tablet mode
● Water resistant keyboard
● Dust resistant design

21. More laptop
● Laptop, turned on its head
– All electronics are in the upper section,
except the keyboard.
– Easy to replace components
– Carry handle also acts as base stabilizer
– Wi-Fi rabbit ears double up as latches and
increase range
– Any 11 to 24 volt power supply will do
● wall charger, car battery, crank/yoyo power, solar
panel

22. Yo Yo Charger
http://www.potenco.com/products

23. Hand Crank Charger
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Peripherals/Hand_Crank

24. Solar Panel
5 Watt/14Volt panel
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Product_News#Solar_Panels

25. Green
● Looks green, works
green
– Fully recyclable
● 5 year life span
– Idle power
consumption
● Desktop – 80 watts
● Laptop – 25 to 60 watts
● OLPC – 1 to 8 watts

26. Power
● Batteries that last 4x longer
– Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4)
– Currently at ~ 5hrs, final goal ~10 hrs
● 0.1 watt in sunlight readable mode
● Running at full blast
– Wi-Fi, full backlight, camera, microphone,
speakers
– 7 to 8 watts

27. Mesh Networking
● Mesh does not require central hub-like
infrastructure
● Wireless mesh works even when the CPU
powers off

28. No moving parts
● No fans, no hard drive, nothing spins.
– 1GB Flash + 256 MB RAM
– USB storage
– SD slot
● AMD Geode processor runs cool.
– Does not need a fan to cool it off
– No air slots or ducts

29. Linux in the box

30. 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

31. Sugar Guidelines
How to build for Sugar
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Human_Interface_Guidelines

32. Activities, Not Applications
● There are no software applications. The
laptop focuses children around
quot;activities.quot;
● Activities are distinct from applications in
their focus —collaboration and expression
– Abiword becomes Write
– Firefox/Gecko becomes Browse

33. Presence
● Everyone has the potential for being both
a learner and a teacher.
● Employs a mesh network that
interconnects all laptops within range.
– Telepathy framework
● Telepathy-gabble for using a Jabber server across
the Internet
– http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Telepathy_Gabble
● Telepathy-salut for p2p/mesh collaboration
– http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Telepathy-salut

34. Tools of Expression
● The laptop is a quot;thing to think withquot;
● Principle of quot;learning through doingquot;
● Constructivist learning
– http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Constructivism

35. Journaling
● The concept of the Journal, a written
documentation of everyday events,
● Journal metaphor for the filesystem as our
basic approach to file organization.
– http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Journal

36. No XO?
● Sugar has packages for most popular
distros
● Sugar Build System
– jhbuild:
http://sugarlabs.org/go/DevelopmentTeam/Jhbuild

37. How can you help?
● Educators
– http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Educators
● Translators
– http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Localization
– http://opensource.sfsu.edu/node/452
● Developers
– http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Developer
● Getting involved
– http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Getting_involved_in_OLPC
● Sugar
– http://sugarlabs.org

38. Contributor Program
● OLPC Contributor Program is designed to
get you a XO laptop in exchange for
contribution. The info you will need for
applying:
● Project
● Propose
Apply at:
● Other contributors http://projectdb.olpc.at/
● Audience or impact
● Brief description
● Relevant experience & other projects
● Contact information
● # of XOs needed, and their use

39. SugarLabs
● http://sugarlabs.org/
● An effort to take Sugar to a wider
audience
● PCs
● School labs
● Laptops
● Netbooks
http://flickr.com/photos/48600098314@N01/1949245574

40. Mailing lists
● Educators
– http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/educators
● Software Developers
– General development
●http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
– Sugar UI
● http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/sugar
All mailing lists are at http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/

41. Community lists
● Everyone
– http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/grassroots
– http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-open
● OLPC Jamaica
– http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-jamaica

42. OLPC and the community
● Why community matters
– Local interest group
● UWI, Utech and around
– Volunteers
● Staff, students and private citizens
– Ownership
● Points of Focus
● Technology (Hardware, Software, Networks)
● Outreach (Community, Universities,Private
citizens)
● Education (Schools, Publishers, etc.)

43. OLPC Jamaica
● Mailing list
– http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-jamaica
● Wiki
– http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Jamaica