Time |
Nick |
Message |
18:29 |
dogi |
OLPC Boston @ Cosi Meeting |
18:50 |
|
presentationstarts soon |
19:12 |
|
http://qik.com/carolinemeeks |
19:13 |
CanoeBerry |
Is the video working for others? |
19:14 |
|
dogi: Stalled for me.. |
19:14 |
dogi |
it was working 2min ago |
19:35 |
CanoeBerry |
O well, video froze..i'll try to transcribe a bit :) |
19:35 |
|
Beth Santos now presenting on Sao Tome deployment... |
19:35 |
|
Arrive Oct 09 til Dec 09 |
19:35 |
|
Needed classroom space! |
19:36 |
|
Started learning TurtleArt etc, teach teachers basics in 3hrs crash course... |
19:36 |
|
Beth is not technical in her schooling, but they learned en route :) |
19:36 |
|
Basic understanding sufficient in a lot of cases, 5 teachers involved with the 100 kids & 100 XOs. |
19:37 |
|
500+ other kids in the school did not get access to the XOs. |
19:37 |
dogi |
:P |
19:37 |
CanoeBerry |
Kids begged to play games after class -- which was permitted. Saturay attendance was extraodinary. |
19:37 |
|
Kids arriving 1hr before the teachers, 8am Saturdays! |
19:38 |
|
Teachers & Beth had long talks, knowing Beth would need to disappear back to the USA in Dec. |
19:39 |
|
Beth pushed teachers to become completely independent week-by-week, not yet knowing Beth will (liekly) return summer 2010. |
19:39 |
|
Meetings w/ teachers early Fri afternoon. |
19:40 |
|
Days when energy works all day... |
19:41 |
|
But often you lose power for 12hrs in a single day, or multiple days on end. |
19:41 |
|
Stops you from using Internet for sure. |
19:41 |
|
But XOs / basic mesh can still work til batteries die. |
19:42 |
|
1st class period was a disaster, lacking power -- kids were asked to charge XOs at homes certain times. |
19:42 |
|
Usually there's electricity at school or home, rarely was there outages across the whole country / island (Sao Tome) |
19:42 |
|
Contructivist idea ;) |
19:43 |
|
Kids great at helping out here / remembering to charge in future! |
19:43 |
|
1st week: basic intro to computer. |
19:43 |
|
After OLPCorps team went home to Illinois in August. |
19:43 |
culseg |
CanoeBerry: ask Beth to generarlize about what kinds of repair issues are most prevalant? |
19:43 |
CanoeBerry |
(Beth arrived in Oct 09, and her "native" Portuguese helped a ton!) |
19:44 |
|
culseg: will do, remind us as we're getting bogged down in questions. |
19:44 |
|
Computers were allocated randomly to the 100 lucky kids -- and not to the 500+ unlucky kids in the school :( |
19:45 |
|
Some kids kept hoping later, but sadly no luck til next year, when the XOs will be reassigned to new kids in/after May 2010. |
19:45 |
|
Kids wrote about their parents/families (class newspaper attempt too..) |
19:46 |
|
Education articles about Malaria, campaign working out very well in Sao Tome (eliminating most all disease in under-5's using mosquito nets etc) |
19:46 |
|
Beth was fixing computers all day, so missed some of the malaria storytelling action,. |
19:46 |
|
Digital stories of kids acting cute, pretending they were their moms sleeping with newborns etc to avoid malaria. |
19:46 |
|
Paint program used... |
19:47 |
|
Write program... |
19:47 |
|
Drawing/writing about their house. |
19:47 |
|
7th week they went to the beach! |
19:47 |
|
Lilke exam week, but no exams. Half days allowed this field trip. |
19:47 |
|
Reporter from Voice of America arrived.. |
19:47 |
|
Piece about kids preparing for Christmas? |
19:48 |
|
But all the kids would talk about was their computers :) |
19:48 |
|
Hoe this has/will be broadcast. |
19:48 |
|
1 girl's screen failed the 1st week, due to dropping from window sill? |
19:48 |
|
Her parents asked: should she still come to class? |
19:48 |
|
Answer: yes, sharing with friends where possible.. |
19:49 |
|
Schools (mostly functional now) wireless drew in other citizens.. |
19:49 |
|
Including local rapper musician, hanging with local kids. |
19:50 |
|
Young girl taught this older guy to shut down XOs properly! He was totally embarassed, being lectured by 10yo.. |
19:50 |
|
Kids use their computers walking home and in the market, keeping them on while walking. |
19:50 |
|
Quite a creative group of kids teaching themselves.. |
19:51 |
|
Kids asking to download music, teacher(s) did not know how, but kids figured out recording music from the radio on their own.. |
19:52 |
|
culseg: Beth Santos says she will address your question soon. |
19:53 |
|
Beth will post her PDF / Powerpoint |
19:53 |
|
Beth at slide 8 of 11 now. |
19:53 |
|
Beth will discuss challenges soon/now. |
19:55 |
|
CHALLENGES: not remembering to recharge, kids losing programs from home view, connecting to Internet, help program was in english but not Portuguese unfort, scratch-turtle art in english, unresolved HW probs (keys that didn't work, Kadema's story), language barrier! |
19:55 |
|
Well-know mesh / network problems! |
19:56 |
|
Beth spent lots of time with helpful OLPC volunteers online, struggling, but then reflash helped a ton "saving quite a number" of these computers. |
19:56 |
|
Ongoing translation of documention helping a lot now, had been very problematic prior to this. |
19:57 |
|
Beth apologized for her lack of Hardware knowledge, saying her ignorance here hurt the project. |
19:57 |
|
EG. letter 'c' was broken on one XO. |
19:57 |
|
EG. strange colors appeared on one kid's screens. |
19:58 |
|
"Elvis" colleague helped taking apart some XOs. |
19:58 |
|
He's continuing to help here, so kids aren't "screwed for life" :) |
19:59 |
|
Losing access to their only PC forever :( |
19:59 |
|
Screwdrivers not nec the problem. |
19:59 |
|
But there was apprehension and lack of time on the teachers' part. |
19:59 |
|
Broken screen -- Beth and others did not know it was replaceable. |
20:01 |
|
Paul from Illinois will return to Sao Tome to help soon. |
20:01 |
|
Beth will arrange some broken/parts machines via OLPC's Contributors Program soon. |
20:02 |
|
Beth not completely fluent in Portuguese -- she's humble -- her "computerese" in Portuguese lacked :) |
20:02 |
|
90 XOs to kids, ~5 to teachers, others parts/broken? |
20:03 |
|
Beth showing us photos of her great autumn experience -- eg. fun photos now of kids waiting for electricity to turn back on :) |
20:03 |
|
Challenge: bringing computers home. |
20:03 |
|
3hr battery life got kids thru class periods. |
20:04 |
|
Challenge: teaching kids to take care of computers, not allowing sibling to break them -- computer that broke 1st week was a great lesson warning the other kids. |
20:04 |
|
Kids took great care after this! |
20:05 |
|
Some kids took this too far, keeping XOs in cardboard boxes to protect them obsessively :) |
20:05 |
|
No computers stolen? |
20:05 |
|
Indeed: none stolen. |
20:05 |
|
Big issue at first-- |
20:05 |
|
But Beth insisted kids take XOs home to improve their computer literacy etc. |
20:05 |
culseg |
when Internet does work, do teachers and students access web sites in Brasil for support in Portuguese documents and stuff? |
20:06 |
CanoeBerry |
Beth living w/ Ned & cook-- concern that a cellphone had been hawked/sold earlier, but no theft problems. |
20:07 |
|
Parents & kids had been asked to sign contracts earlier (July 2009?) protecting the computers and taking the educ experience seriously etc. |
20:07 |
|
That prob helped! |
20:07 |
|
Kids required to come Saturdays... |
20:07 |
|
Sibling using computers at home was fine of course. |
20:07 |
|
Sao Tome & Principe is a very special country, with very little crime/theft problems. |
20:07 |
|
Paradise! |
20:08 |
|
Goal: Introducing computer to families & friends as often as possible. |
20:08 |
|
Avoid: keeping computers locked in director's office. |
20:08 |
|
(Beth takes OLPC mission to heart) |
20:09 |
|
Beth came up with this on her own. |
20:10 |
|
Had heard a bit about 'child ownership' but insisted on her own.. |
20:11 |
|
Kids lose class if they don't take the computers home to recharge! |
20:11 |
|
(Cause school so often was missing electricity, whereas homes typically retained power) |
20:12 |
|
Kids were asked to pay $1.40 for field trip. |
20:12 |
|
No US Embassy in Sao Tome & Principe! |
20:12 |
|
But they (Step Up program) asked the US Embassy in nearby Gabon. |
20:12 |
|
They were rejected. |
20:12 |
|
Still hoping.. |
20:13 |
|
Question from audience in Cambridge, MA: how much involvement from the govt? |
20:13 |
|
Beth: Govt was very interested at the outset, ongoing interest we shall see? |
20:13 |
|
Beth: teach payment is an issue |
20:14 |
|
(teacher payment for Saturday work) |
20:14 |
|
Beth hadn't thought about it--she was devoting herself free on Saturdays.. |
20:14 |
|
Ministry of Educ paying teachers for class periods, weekdays. |
20:16 |
|
Beth asks about countries funding ongoing larger deployments.. |
20:16 |
|
Sao Tome has no money. |
20:16 |
|
612 students need computers in this school |
20:16 |
|
PC's not frivolous. |
20:17 |
|
Using them in-class every day of week. |
20:17 |
|
Their question: how can they buy 512 more computers? |
20:17 |
|
Should they scale down and get a Dell Lab instead? |
20:17 |
|
Beth's conclusion: computers should not just be used from computer literacy. |
20:18 |
|
24x7 strongly prefered. |
20:18 |
|
Their ongoing discussions -- they need a stronger boost than parttime computer literacy. |
20:18 |
|
Seems Beth's preaching to the choir! |
20:19 |
kevix1 |
(I am not sure who the presentation is being present to-- missed opening of meeting) |
20:19 |
CanoeBerry |
10 ppl in room here at OLPC. |
20:20 |
|
Beth recap'ing Step Up. |
20:20 |
|
Mr Sullivan was director of Peace Corps in Sao Tome until they pulled out 10+ yrs back. |
20:20 |
culseg |
a small group at OLPC in a once-monthly Boston XO user's group |
20:20 |
CanoeBerry |
Step Up - "Sao Tome e Principe Union for Promotion" |
20:21 |
|
Sign up here if you want to join the Boston-area community: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Boston |
20:21 |
|
Ned Sullivan? |
20:21 |
|
Beth used to work at Voice of America. |
20:21 |
|
She met Ed, kicking this all into gear by a marvelous coincidence.. |
20:22 |
|
Sorry "Ned Sullivan" not "Ed" |
20:22 |
|
Volunteers come from US and other places. In exchange they get free room & board. |
20:22 |
|
OLPC & Unic of Illinois contacted Step Up. |
20:23 |
|
Beth not sure exactly how they identified this very large middle school in the capital city, but it seems to make sense. |
20:23 |
|
Lots of folks affiliated w/ "Step Up" had strong loyalty. |
20:24 |
|
Country exceptional in its can-do trusting atmosphere, despite extreme poverty. |
20:24 |
|
About $1000/yr annual average income. |
20:24 |
culseg |
a round of applause for the speaker, let's plan for the wider OLPC community to "step up to the plate" and help this project |
20:24 |
CanoeBerry |
Beth's interest? |
20:24 |
|
She had no job! |
20:24 |
|
Wanted to help a Portuguese-speaking country! |
20:24 |
|
She has an Art History degree, and can use Scratch and Paint :) |
20:25 |
|
Both her bros & dad in technology/engineers, but not her. |
20:25 |
|
2 more slides to go. |
20:26 |
|
Slide 10: Evolution of the Teacher Role |
20:26 |
kevix1 |
(were the xos part of a contrib. prog. effort?) |
20:26 |
CanoeBerry |
100 XO's were from OLPCorps, the Illinois team that left in Aug: http://xomike.blogspot.com |
20:26 |
kevix1 |
ah. cool. |
20:26 |
CanoeBerry |
Beth (by an extraordinary coincidence) adopted the program 2 months later in Oct. |
20:27 |
|
Beth's 5 phases of Teacher Role.............. |
20:27 |
|
Phase 1: Not knowing what the hell they were doing |
20:27 |
kevix1 |
I chatted with someone from Sao Tome a few times on #olpc-help |
20:27 |
CanoeBerry |
Phase 2: Equal excitement and interest as the kids; Beth is primary teacher |
20:28 |
|
Phase 3: Beth splits teaching role with teachers |
20:28 |
|
Phase 4: Beth hids in teachers' lounge fixing computers while teachers hold class |
20:28 |
|
-Culture clash during slow passing of the torch- |
20:29 |
|
Phase 5: Teachers receive guidebook and are instructed to keep in regular touch. Beth prays (current phase!) |
20:29 |
|
kevix1: when did you speak to Sao Tome person on #olpc-help , this autumn? |
20:30 |
|
Apologies #olpc-meeting cannot accomodate Beth's really great photos. |
20:30 |
kevix1 |
over the past 6 months, maybe 3 times |
20:30 |
CanoeBerry |
PDF should be posted later tonight. |
20:30 |
|
kevis1: likely you talked to Beth if it was Oct-Dec |
20:31 |
kevix1 |
I assume so too |
20:31 |
|
it was about reflashing |
20:31 |
CanoeBerry |
kevix1: and/or the quite organized Univ of Illinois group if earlier this summer |
20:31 |
|
kevix1: Beth bragged about you across the country |
20:31 |
kevix1 |
and IIRC a missing activity |
20:32 |
CanoeBerry |
She says you are her guardian angel, literally. |
20:32 |
|
"Saved her life!" |
20:32 |
kevix1 |
oh, goodies, I can double my pay ;) |
20:32 |
CanoeBerry |
Quadruple. |
20:32 |
|
She'd like to meet someday. |
20:32 |
kevix1 |
even better |
20:32 |
CanoeBerry |
FYI http://www.linkedin.com/pub/beth-santos/7/810/33a |
20:34 |
|
Culture allegory: Teachers insisted "class then field trip" impossible -- Beth had very diff attitude. Leading to Phase 4 above.. |
20:34 |
|
Tech tricks saved the day many times. |
20:34 |
|
Beth gave a very long class at the end, writing her short manual she gave these 5 teachers at the end. |
20:35 |
|
Several questions from the audience her in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from a Botsawana man very interested in exploring similar in his home country. |
20:35 |
|
Question from Caroline Meeks: other Portuguese deployments elsewhere? |
20:35 |
|
Beth: Brazil, Mozambique.. |
20:36 |
kevix1 |
I wish there was an indexed list of deployments by location and by language? |
20:36 |
CanoeBerry |
Brazil emails did not deliver so far.. |
20:36 |
|
Beth discusses Portugal's own "Magellan" project |
20:37 |
|
Those really expensive.. |
20:37 |
|
Final Slide: Plans for the Future |
20:37 |
kevix1 |
well at this rate, the cherrypy africa pc is $99. |
20:38 |
CanoeBerry |
Teachers vested in DOING ANYTHING to make this program work. |
20:38 |
|
Beth askes teachers Not to say "program is a success" (b/c they want more computers donated!) |
20:38 |
|
CMeeks asks: did mesh work here/there? |
20:39 |
|
Beth responds: peer-editing didn't fully take off -- so many kids at once |
20:39 |
|
Chatting etc interrupted. Wrong mesh. |
20:39 |
|
Smaller groups'd be more manageable. |
20:39 |
|
Kids have shared stuff over mesh for sure. |
20:40 |
|
Plans for future: |
20:40 |
|
* getting the teachers to take personal ownership of the project (ongoing!) |
20:40 |
|
Headed by Miguel |
20:40 |
|
Guia de Problemas |
20:40 |
|
Teachers will email Beth every week with updates |
20:41 |
|
* pedal-powered desks |
20:41 |
|
need pedal-powered martyr needed to power wireless internet! |
20:41 |
|
Step Up gets funding, they are hopeful.. |
20:41 |
|
using Sao Tomeans to create desks |
20:41 |
kevix1 |
the video mentioned that the island, the parents, teachers and kids dont have a strong desire to complete the educational process if kids have to redo grades and this is not stigmatized (or that was my impression) |
20:42 |
CanoeBerry |
boost local economy making Afghan-style pedal-powered desks |
20:42 |
|
* need: 500 computers |
20:42 |
|
idea of program is not to learn HOW to use computers but to actually USE them in all disciplines |
20:42 |
|
DC friend experienced in fundraising may help her |
20:43 |
|
* fundraising thru http://bethstepsup.blogspot.com -- selling kids photography! |
20:43 |
|
Finally: http://www.stepup.st |
20:45 |
|
kevix1: just asked yr question to Beth |
20:45 |
|
She says here it's different in the US. |
20:45 |
|
College-oriented drive defines US. |
20:45 |
|
Different in Sao Tome. |
20:46 |
|
That track does not exist in Sao Tome. |
20:46 |
|
This country does not have colleges apparently! |
20:46 |
|
Unless you leave the country -- and don't come back commonly. |
20:47 |
|
Exports: Fish, chocolote, coffee |
20:47 |
kevix1 |
yeah, I figured no college. |
20:47 |
CanoeBerry |
Education's important to a certain extent -- deeply appreciated, but different. |
20:47 |
kevix1 |
I would assume folks would not seek higher ed unless it lead to a job requireing it which may be lacking on an island |
20:47 |
CanoeBerry |
Repeating a grade is normal there, not horrible stigmatization. |
20:47 |
|
Absence policy. |
20:48 |
|
Kids don't show for class - or final exam. |
20:48 |
|
So Beth instituted a "lose her XO permanently if you don't show up" policy. |
20:48 |
|
Everybody showed up every time after that. |
20:49 |
|
"Push-push-push to college" culture does not exist. |
20:49 |
kevix1 |
exactly, with motivation, the kids will come to school, with the XO itself being the motivation |
20:50 |
|
in an island with few jobs needing a college education, why seek to go to college. |
20:50 |
CanoeBerry |
Botsawana guest here agrees. |
20:51 |
|
Kids culture / motivation different. |
20:51 |
|
Repeating class not fatal. |
20:51 |
|
Not perceived as "dumb kids" |
20:51 |
kevix1 |
sure. thank goodness for that. |
20:51 |
CanoeBerry |
Normal often, if parents pulled kids away or such. |
20:52 |
|
Many different reasons for kids to miss class in developing countries! |
20:52 |
kevix1 |
indeed. until they reach a higher stage of development. |
20:52 |
CanoeBerry |
Yeah students failed -- but Beth believes this is As We View Retaking An Exam! |
20:53 |
kevix1 |
wondering if there are a few really inquiring minds amongst the bunch -- something like a 'mel chua' :) |
20:53 |
CanoeBerry |
Teacher Miguel studied in Portugal, and then began in Brazil. |
20:53 |
kevix1 |
or that boy in Africa who built a windmill from a book |
20:55 |
CanoeBerry |
kevix1: i asked yr question |
20:55 |
|
Beth answers: perhaps no Nobel Prize candidates just yet, but PLENTY of kids who mastered programs far before teachers. |
20:55 |
|
Kids teaching the teacjers. |
20:55 |
|
Home views w/ 70 icons.. |
20:56 |
|
Quite a few of these students who were very good at figuring these things out. |
20:56 |
|
Are artsy too. |
20:56 |
kevix1 |
maybe the news of the computers will spead by word of mouth to the rest of the island |
20:56 |
CanoeBerry |
OK: We'll wrap up soon here now after 3hrs at last!! |
20:57 |
|
Final questions? |
20:57 |
cjb |
sad he couldn't be there |
20:57 |
|
in an airport :) |
20:57 |
CanoeBerry |
~137000 ppl on the island. |
20:58 |
|
Everybody in the town wanted to be involved. |
20:58 |
|
The 100 kids were like "All Stars" in the community. |
20:58 |
|
"Step Up" needs to update their site! |
20:58 |
|
CMeeks question: are there computer cafes in Sao TOme? |
20:58 |
|
Beth: outdoors, affiliated w. hotels. |
20:59 |
|
85degree direct sun, but you can't plug in. |
20:59 |
|
No real internet cafes that Beth saw. |
20:59 |
|
Only real city on the island. |
20:59 |
|
50,000 ppl in this capital city. |
20:59 |
kevix1 |
where ever westerners go, there will be cybercafes |
20:59 |
CanoeBerry |
Beth couldn't find a cyber cafe in this tiny country. |
21:00 |
|
No real newspapers. |
21:00 |
|
But folks understand current events. |
21:00 |
|
B/c they listen to radio and talk (both obsessively!) |
21:01 |
kevix1 |
they could build a local island internet and setup their own news website |
21:01 |
|
a few linux servers, apache, drupal and a few 1,000 ft of cables :) |
21:02 |
CanoeBerry |
We sent Beth to Mike Lee as she moves back to DC: http://olpclearningclub.org |
21:03 |
|
CMeeks question: what's next in Beth Santos' life? |
21:03 |
|
Answer: Lots of questions / possibilities! |
21:03 |
|
Step Up trying to developer a program LIKE the Peace Corps, but using Sao Tomeans, as Peace Corps types tend to disappear (after 2 yrs especially) |
21:04 |
|
She might work at Sao Tome embassy in DC perhaps? |
21:04 |
|
Beth was in art & media so she could go anywhere... |
21:13 |
|
Beth wants to repeat-- for the love of God volunteers helped save her deployment. |
21:14 |
|
And volunteers' enthusiasm (Alex's joke: even if nothing else!) |
21:14 |
|
Signing off now-- thanks all online and in the room. |
21:16 |
kevix1 |
any activities that might be useful |
21:17 |
culseg |
a round of applause for the speaker, let's plan for the wider OLPC community to "step up to the plate" and help this project! |
21:17 |
CanoeBerry |
Recap video: http://qik.com/carolinemeeks |
22:35 |
dogi |
#endmeeting |