I had this
opportunity to visit the OLPC site in Khairat, Maharashtra in Aug' 08. It is situated in a small hamlet of about a dozen houses and a one-room school, away from Navi Mumbai.The school itself is donated by one of the villagers, so that the children could learn!
It was a rainy day, but the single class room was filled with the 15 odd kids, noisily "studying" with their laptops. Watching them use the XO activities that their teacher had created for them was fun and interesting. Their levels of interest was evident, with each one of them exploring it intently!
I had wanted to understand how the collaborative features of the XO worked, and how it could enhance the learning experience. With the help of the teacher, Sandip Surve, I was able to check out most features, including the "collaborative constructivism" approach.
The teacher is really excited about the way he can use the laptop to teach. Check out these videos where he shares his excitement! (It will help if you know Marathi! :) ).
The first video shows one of the lessons he has created.
The second one shows him demonstrating the collaborative features.
In the third, he shares his views on why and how he likes using the XO to teach.
The last one shows the whole class "learning" with the XO.
On the way back, I was reflecting on my experiences in the school. My impressions :)
- Having seen children learn equally well if not better in Govt. ICT projects in the rural areas, one gets the impression that there seems to be an undue hype about the way the OLPC has been projected - an "education wand" for the developing countries.
- A couple of articles I read about the various pilots seemed to emphasize the impoverished environment in which it was being implemented more than the pedagogical benefits of the XO. It may have been inadvertent, but that is playing down the real benefits/power of the XO!
- Kids across the country take to exploring gadgets very easily because they are growing up in a world driven by technology. The urge to explore and discover exists in every child. Urban or rural doesn't make a difference. Give them an XO or a laptop or any gadget, they will explore and learn on their own. The "Hole in the wall" experiment is an example!
- The "mesh" that a set of XO's create is a powerful feature, since it does away with the need for a standard network with its equipment. Imagine connecting whole communities without expensive networking equipment! But there seem to be glitches in the way it works. Hopefully this feature will improve.
- The ability of the XO to help children collaborate and construct their knowledge is equally powerful and reflects the actual learning process in the human mind. But here again, not very demonstrable. We seriously need to look at ways of implementing this feature and build some case studies.
- The most exciting takeaway was the teacher's joy of creating lessons using the XO. Wouldn't One Laptop Per Teacher be more practical and useful? After all, they are the one's who need to know how to use technology, not the kids!
