OLPCorps FSU Rwanda

Florida State University & Global Peace Exchange: Rwanda

Logistics

Organizational Background: The [Global Peace Exchange] (GPE) is a student-run development organization out of Florida State University operating out of Rwanda since the summer of 2008.

Target Population: All terminal year classes at Bukomero primary school will participate in the program. This will allow a specific group of students to obtain ownership of the laptops who can then act as mentors to their younger peers. Location & Site Details: The project will be located in rural Byimana, Rwanda at Bukomero Primary School and Umuryango Children’s Network (UCN), a seven minute walk from Bukomero. Half of the laptops will be located at UCN which houses the first and only internet connection in Byimana with a pre-existing technical center of five computers. This internet connection can provide access to updated applications and new materials to build upon the existing resources of the laptops. UCN also has electrical capacity to maintain one hundred laptops, while Bukomero does not. The remaining fifty will be placed in one classroom within Bukomero.

Duration: GPE project managers and volunteers arrive in Rwanda on May 14, 2009, beginning English language trainings at Bukomero and cementing logistics for the laptops. Site leaders will remain in Rwanda until August 5th, at which time the program will transition into the hands of locally-based partners.

Security: UCN staff will be responsible for laptop oversight on their property while laptops at Bukomero will be stored in a padlocked cabinet each night.

Program:

Weekly Schedule: The program will operate on a rotational basis between classes where each class will spend several hours throughout the week engaged with computers on the UCN complex and in their individual classrooms. One class will walk to UCN each day while another will use computers within their classroom. The classes will rotate such that all receive an equal amount of time with the laptops each week. Batteries from the 50 computers at Bukomero will be taken to UCN to be charged each evening.

Alternative Schedule: On the weekends, “computer camps” will be opened to the rest of the children at Bukomero, where the upperclassmen will help to teach their peers how to use the laptops. During the school break from late July to mid-August, a similar series of camps will be held in addition to sessions designed specifically to train teachers on the laptops. Through these trainings, teachers will be better prepared to incorporate technology into their curricula on a regular basis.

Staffing & Partnerships:

• Universite Catholique de Kabgayi (UCK): GPE will hire at least one IT student from UCK to oversee the program as a paid staff member. This IT instructor will serve as the main contact and responsible party when GPE managers depart. A core group of volunteers from UCK will also participate in IT classes with the students to provide guidance and instruction in the native languages of Kinyarwanda and French.

• Bukomero Primary School: Teachers will be cooperating with GPE site managers and IT staff to create a rotational schedule and open Bukomero facilities on weekends.

• Umuryango Children’s Network: Staff from UCN will be responsible for security oversight of the laptops.

Curriculum/Instruction:

• Basic computer literacy: General trainings at the inception of the program will provide potentially marginalized rural students with a grasp of computer literacy in Rwanda’s growing IT sector.

• English education: Computer applications such as WikiBrowse, Journal, and Record will be utilized in conjunction with new English curriculum at Bukomero in order to ease the transition from Francophone to Anglophone education.

• Self-Expression: Using musical and visual activities, students have the opportunity to express themselves through mediums not previously available. Teachers will also be encouraged to incorporate these various components into their lesson plans through creative projects and personal expressions.