Processes
From WikiOrth
After One and a Half year
The Pedagogic Report.
The Technical Report.
The monitors team
After a long educational process, the Foundation now counts on a group of high school students, who have been specializing during all this time in repairing and maintenance for these laptops. Apart from strengthening the ability for the interaction with other pairs, for coping with more communicative tools to face local, national and international visitors, these young people are strengthening possible study alternatives for their professional future.
The wifi signal
In a common effort with local authorities and specialized personnel, all the necessary antennas were finally managed to be installed so that the Internet signal could reach each home for every Marina Orth School student. Now every student has Internet access.
Teachers learninig to use classroom projects
During all the time that the VUELA Project has taken for its development, elementary and high school educators, each period in its level, have been increasing their knowledge about the use and implementation of the learning by Classroom Projects.
First year Evaluation
The present report seeks to outline our expected results. Once Project VUELA (Taking Flight) has been fully implemented and conducted for a significant length of time, we will conduct a study to collect empirical evidence of the effects of this project. Right now, our data and observations indicate that the students have improved noticeably, although there are cases where this improvement has not been evident.
Family Awareness-150 families
We have held five family information sessions to this point with the goal of encouraging parents to get involved in the use and maintenance of the laptops.
General Teacher Training
All of the teachers in the school, including those who are not directly involved in the project, have received training in the use of the laptops and their value in the classroom.
Specialized Teacher Training
The foundation has a cooperative partnership with the Fundación Universitaria Catolica del Norte through which it has developed the educational plan and has been developing a plan for training in info virtual tools. The three teachers who initiated the project September 1, 2008 constructed the first classroom project based on new technology with the help of both foundations. The project is titled “Living Beings,” and teaches the children to explore the lives of animals.
Beginning October 1, the teachers of third, fourth, and fifth grade began the process of implementing XO work in their classrooms. They are currently developing a course in technological tools for the coming school year.
Student Initiation
Before the first handout of the computers, the students attend 6 sessions to familiarize themselves with the laptops. They learn with relative ease the actions “open, close, turn on, turn off, etc.” We were surprised to discover that 90% of the preschool students learned the aforementioned actions in less than one minute with no previous experience with the laptops. Several of the students have discovered by themselves how to chat, make and share videos, and take photos. The children who have not yet officially received their laptops may borrow the laptops during their breaks and weekends in order to maintain their motivation.
On October 1, the students of 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades received their laptops, and from that day on they have been bringing them to their houses.
OLPC Monitors Group.
We have convened a group of students from the secondary with a special interest in Project VUELA (Taking Flight). They execute diverse technical processes that require the laptops to work properly. At the same time, they learn to work well in groups. They have been developing an IT training plan for the other students.
Little OLPC Scientists.
The children have loved these devices so much, that through their own initiative, they have put together the group of “Little Scientists” who have been conducting experiments and exploring different uses for the machines. One discovery of this group was made by Daniela, an 11-year-old 5th grade student. Through experimenting with broken laptops, she discovered why these laptops were deactivating and developed a process to reactivate the laptops.
Changes in the Children
We are seeing with pride how the group interactions provided through the laptops has sparked a change in behavior, especially among boys and girls who were difficult cases for their teachers. Today we find them more sociable, less aggressive, and able to share better with their peers and adults. The children speak of their discoveries and advances, and demonstrate enormous joy in them. Children with learning problems have surprised us when they have shown us their creative abilities on the laptops.
Difficulties:
We have identified two specific difficulties with the project thus far: First, without prior warning, the laptops will deactivate due to misuse by the children or instability on the electrical fluid of the hamlet. Second, some children have mistreated the hardware. Three children have pulled out keys from their key boards. A screen has also been broken, but right now we attribute this damage to an accident. Another issue has been that the students want to save their activities, but do not have USB memory cards for this purpose.
