Library and learning initiatives

Argentina

• Educ.ar CD collections -- offline version prepared to demo on the laptops
• Universities:

Brazil

• Showing people how important english learning is.
• Talk to existing groups and researchers, make sure they are strongly involved

  Teacher seem to be more committed and using machines; it is more commitment than we expected. a very short time; teachers that came to a first meeting, when nothing worked well... some researchers even left the room. But they became so motivated, and are wonderful to work with. We came with them to build a solution together.

  Ways forward: on lists/groups, other teachers are saying, you aren't asking us about what we think! So we're getting teachers from the school working on the project on these lists (to draw them in)

• Universities: (porto allegre) - that's how to find videos on youtube LEC/UFRGS

Colombia

Roger

• Portal development a couple of years back : relpe; for most of spanish-speaking south america.
• contents based on competences; mandatory for students and schools not to follow curriculum but develop competences in each topic

  Math, science, language, technical, bilingual

• University: EAFIT, Andes U, UNAB, UTP, Nacional Uni., Colciencias

Pakistan

• Health and environment (coordinate with UNICEF water/environment)
• Literacy, English
• Lots of small regional projects; need coordination.
• Library coordination - needs someone on the OLPC side, in the US pulling on local government?
• University

Nigeria

from mini it/tech

• Literacy - system to help teach, graphics to enhance and encourage lit
• Health - primary healthcare. (children influencing parents) If children take omre caution, the parents will as well.
• Environment - Being an oil/petro counry, there is much environmental trouble. 20-30 yrs ago, many areas that produced fish are now damaged.

  BioVision

• Math/science - simplify visualization; add a lot of local content, to see how materials can be used.
• Games - a country rich in games! Want to proudce local games, folklore, things related to the educational and counting system.
• Library - Not much yet; trying to develop digital libraries. Libraries at the school will be nice; allowing to search and discuss with peers. Can add to the list of what we need in archives. Difrectly intersted in cultural heritage; most kids don't know their culture. My children can't even speak my language... we have so many in the country, we can't do all of them.

  The interest in language is very important; most educational systems are built on basic language. Support and encourage a few languages; especially when visitors come.

Questions: how will this affect the educational system? What will children see? hw will they be assured not to see what they will not see? (part covered yesterday)

• Primary schools are mainly under local councils. (774 of them)
• On being lazy. Nigerians are v. individualistic. A system of local content that builds collab/cooperation, working with others to solve real world problems... that will be quite good. Groups that love education ask, ed for what? From a young age, think 'ed for job creation'. Right now it creates job seekers, not job creation.

  Show how ed is useful from creating job from a young age, so hose with entrepreneurial tendencies are encouraged; so they could start companies, use knowledge and skills to make things happen, that would give them leewya to say they could get good education and start modern companies... have a mentoring system with fellow young people who did the right thing.

  nb- connect with unicef mentors.

  create/recruit a special class of young teachers to teach other young people. when the age group is close and they see creativity, they like to copy them. (cf mousers) wb - you can also leverage the nigerian propensity for filmmaking. the idea that you can use media to get cultural messages out; creation, not creating job-seeking.

• Universities: U. of Port Harcourt. Niger Delta Uni. U of Abuja. Obafemi Awolowe Uni. Uni of Lagos.

• Inspiration and long-term projects - Launching new science/technology -- like a space satellite. Teaching children why these things are important; the space program, other technology. We don't have the local people to really develop and make people understand these things.

  NA/ESA educational collabs? good opportunity of interest.

Huge bioresources. Let children know about these in their environment. How processes will lead to similar types of things. Help integrate learning with changes in the world around them.

[Also how to apply this to art, anything - C]

Paraguay

• In education: bilingualism. Teaking a spoken language can completely fail (keeping guarani alive) some try to take it out of the program. others want to keep it. olpc can help strenghten, with the capacity to move, up/download multimedia.
• Lack of transport: gettig people to cities is hard . Allowing participation to know what is up, what topics are discusse, that will be [big change].
• Library system isn't always maintained; some things are 40-50 yrs in storage
• University:

Uruguay

• re: Relpe, used broadly for ebooks
• Generating new content for olpc during the rollout, and format, other updates to existing materials
• 3-4 wks of teacher preparation, with 2 stages - how to use an xo, how to take advantage of apps for the XO and content generated on it.
• These curricula and developed material will be available; the model is available now; will send to Battro so he can consider it, and if it is good it will be shared.
• University:

Nepal

OLPC Nepal

• No digital library yet
• A separate linux distro has been under development. Scanning materials and making digital libraries will come very soon. OLPC Nepal is making their own contents, converting physical contents for children
• UMN/UNICEF works ot produce physical books; they are working with them to digitize. Nepali WP with only 500 articles; working with university and high school students to develop it more rapidly.

  NB: connect with Hivos

• Trying to make env and cultural contents, with UNESCO as well.
• Languages: 40-50 langs. Some groups are working to produce books in their own language. Working to digitize (connect to ICDL). Making local lang wikipedias as well.

  Note: we need fonts for them as well. Connect with Rosetta Project before it disappears; also the Unicode Foundation

• Texts involve lots of delays; and are in a vacuum. There is a gov responsibility to get new texts every year to every student.
• Adult literacy is low. There are few books in the countryside. Tin truck libraries. There are numerous projects to bring books out in paper to the countryside; it is hard for them, the truck is the best solution.

• University: Tribhuban, Kathmandu, Pokhara
• BellaNet, MPP (very local, fonts &c)

Libya

Exciting... not a lot of public libraries. A few concentrated on history of the country. Universities, mainly reference. Culture of librarianship isn't strong.

• National texts : there is digitization underway (about history). High school? Perhaps not.
• Focus on English language, IT.
• Map digiitzation, using GPS.

• Fonts? Use of Squeak.
• Work with companies in country to fund creation of materials. Teachers may lack qualification or willingness. Get in touch with university groups.
• University: Al-Fatah (Tripoli), Garyounes (ben ghazi)

Panama

• limited resources for tachers, including English
• Education about the canal and nat resources matters. Smithsonian tropical research center. [check int'l location obligations] NASA atmospheric center - City of Knowledge [physical]
• exploration programs online
• games; chess apps. tile layouts via Cairo; Pygame chess, for tournaments and bughouse?
• Some digitization possible at the nat library; glad for help.

  See what other countreis are doing to inspire development.

• Health/telemedicine for countriside areas with no clinics; use cameras?

  Argentine group working with the WHO -- basic first aid, &c, via curric-builder.

• University: Universidad nacional de panama, uni. technologica, USMA (private)
• NB: the head of the Senacyt (like the nsf here)

Ethiopia

Thomas

• In the 70s, there was help. Education was key; everyone went to Addis. Now every dept and faculty has some project in the past. Uncoordinated (competition?)
• University: Addis... note the long history; used to external funding. But no library system. + 3 more, and moving to 3 more now. A siste rcompany is constructing 13 new universities; trouble is # of teachers. Vocational training centers; 108 different ones [basic IT maintenance]

  a dean will likely work with you intensely if there is support for the university.

• For primary school: not much. Texts are handed out, not comprehensive; every 2 years or more. Old texts, no libs.
• Digital publishers: AA can access content around the world... but connectivity is poor. One university only (not AA) has good connectivity. infra is ongoing. New solutoins needed to distribute.
• MiniEd wants to see texts on machines, to solve distribution; local bureaus have own projects. One has text of books on CD --> 60 books atm.
• Despite the efforts recently, 138/139 on ICT use/density. Willing to put in a real push to make the leap. Really want to make this part of the ed system.
• Languages - focus on pictures for schoolbooks, not text. Easy to share.

Mexico

Carla

• Health and environment. how to integrate things so people can do things about it immediately. Practical learning for teachers and students to hlep them be part of change; motivate movement

Joint project with sister schols? paraguay, colombia, uruguay ... Each school making the pilot will hae a sibling school with other countries; exchanging experiences with other schools [buenos aires, tucuman, abuja]. Starting with video conferencing to introduce one another; propose a plan for exchange. Others are welcome to join. (Nigeria is :)