OLPCorps Jamii OLPC Tanzania/Team

Jamii OLPC: Team

The Jamii OLPC team is made up of four units:

• the International Unit
• the Local Unit
• the Pedagogical Advisory Unit
• the Information Communication Technologies for International Development (ICT4D) Advisory Unit

Cooperation and collaboration between the four units is of paramount importance to the success and sustainability of the project.

The full bios of the International Unit can be found below. For a full listing of all unit members, please visit the Team section of the Jamii OLPC main page.

International Unit

These individuals are responsible for direct communication with OLPCorps, and will be participating in the fieldwork aspect of the deployment.

Fieldwork Positions

Project Coordinator & Political Lead

Name: Samantha Burton
Country: Canada
University: Carleton University
Major: MA Mass Communications (current)
Age: 23
Email: Samantha.V.Burton@gmail.com

Sam has extensive practical experience working on the ground in the developing world, having participated in internships in Nepal and Tanzania. Both placements involved working with and liaising between local and national NGOs, implementing long-term sustainable plans and working with youth. She lived and worked in Mwanza, Tanzania in 2006, interning with a women's rights organization called Kivulini through Western Heads East. She also speaks conversational Swahili.

Sam has over five years of work experience in communications, public relations and project management. Relevant positions include Adult Adviser to the Ottawa Red Cross Youth Action Ambassador Program (present), Political & Media Liaison for the Mobilize March (2008), UWO Faculty of Information and Media Studies Vice President Events (2006). She has also been the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including a CIDA Canada Corps Students for Development Internship Grant for her 2006 work in Tanzania.

Primary Responsibilities

• Ensures that all operations not only adhere to, but also support and emphasize OLPC’s foundational principles
• Main point of contact for all internal and external communications
• Directs operations of team as a whole, ensuring cohesion
• Ensures all team members and operations receive adequate financial, technical and personnel support
• Drafts OLPCorps proposal
• Works with all team members (international and local) to draft a strategic plan, detailing the deployment strategy and long-term sustainability of project
• Helps to set achievable, yet ambitious, goals
• Organizes and implements, in conjunction with the local unit, community outreach and information
• During deployment, works closely with Pedagogical Lead I to train teachers and introduce children to XO laptops
• Prepares a proposed budget for overall operating costs, to be presented to the Financial Lead

1. for initial deployment
   
2. for long-term project sustainability

• Provides any training necessary for local counterpart(s) to take over position following the international team’s departure

Technical Lead

Name: Daniel Drake
Country: United Kingdom
University: University of Manchester
Major: BA Computer Science (graduate)
Age: 22
Email: dsd@laptop.org

Daniel is a Computer Science graduate from the University of Manchester, UK, soon to be returning for postgraduate studies in business/management. Daniel has extensive experience with OLPC, having performed a technical internship at OLPC HQ in Summer 2008, immediately followed by helping on the Ethiopian deployment for 5 weeks. Daniel is currently helping on the Paraguayan deployment until mid-May.

Daniel has experience in developing many open source projects, including XO operating system components and activities, and also has an understanding of the learning-related topics that are empowered by OLPC.

Primary Responsibilities

• Organizes all technical aspects of deployment
• Advises Project Coordinator and Pedagogical Lead(s) about potential limitations and potential aspects of emphasis with regards to the XO Laptop, as well as help formulate solutions to integrate ideas within capabilities of the technology
• Directs and assigns technological-support related tasks to other team members as necessary
  • Will inform Project Coordinator of all technological-support related tasks assigned to other team members
• Prepares a proposed technological budget, to be presented to the Financial Lead

1. for initial deployment
   
2. for long-term project sustainability

• Provides any training necessary for local counterpart(s) to take over position following the international team’s departure

Pedagogical Lead

Name: Deanne van Tol
Country: Canada
University: Queens University
Major: PhD African History (starting fall 2009)
Age: 23
Email: deannevantol@gmail.com

Originally from Burlington ON, Deanne has a BA from McMaster University and an MA in History from McGill University. Recently, she has relocated to Kingston where she will be beginning my PhD at Queens this September.

Family connections to international aid and development incited my interest during her MA at McGill, and resulted in a thesis investigating the history of international volunteerism in twentieth century British colonial Africa, particularly Kenya.

Her background in education, on the other hand, is more practical than academic. She has worked as a teaching assistant, and volunteered as an educator at a variety of local museums. For three years she taught Canadian aboriginal history and environmental studies at a conservation area, and most recently was employed as a program leader at an after school program.

Primary Responsibilities

• With the Pedagogical Advisory Unit, prepares a flexible draft curriculum, comprised of several possible ways/activities/uses through which use of the XO laptop could be integrated into the school’s existing curriculum
  • The flexibility of this document is of particular importance, as the local partner Education Lead(s) will have the final say in how the proposed curriculum is integrated into the existing.
    
  • Approximately 1-2 of the first weeks of the on-the-ground deployment will involve an intense, collaborative work-shopping, adaptation and integration of ideas by both the international and local team members, the end result of which will be the final curriculum to be adopted.
    
  • After final curriculum is agreed upon and implemented, will conduct ongoing evaluation of effectiveness during term of deployment, and make or suggest adjustments where necessary
  • Potential subjects: Computer Science/Training (ie. typing); Swahili; English; Math; Science; History/Geography; Creative Arts
    
  • The draft curriculum will provide activities/uses for each subject, for the following age groups: 6-7, 8-9, 10-11, 12+. This will facilitate the initial deployment, as well as ensure the school is equipped with a curriculum that will grow and develop as the children do.
    
• Familiar with (or prepared to become familiar with) constructionist pedagogy, which guides OLPC's curriculum
• Directs and assigns pedagogical-related tasks to other team members as necessary
• Prepares a proposed educational supplementary budget, to be presented to the Financial Lead

1. for initial deployment
   
2. for long-term project sustainability

• Provides any training necessary for local counterpart(s) to take over position following the international team’s departure

Non-Fieldwork Positions

Logistical & Financial Lead

Name: Laura Tribe
Country: Canada
University: Carleton University
Major: MA Mass Communications (current)
Age: 24
Email: tribe.laura@gmail.com

Primary Responsibilities

• Prepares and evaluates a detailed budget, comprised of reviewed section-specific budgets created by the Project Coordinator, Technical Lead and Educational Lead (s)

1. for initial deployment
   
2. for long-term project sustainability

• Responsible for researching, locating and approaching potential monetary support options, both for the initial deployment and long-term sustainability
• Coordinates any fundraising efforts to occur prior to deployment
  • Monitors any funds collected through those efforts
  • Prepares a detailed list of suggestions as to where those additional funds would be best spent, in the context of the strategic plan and existing budget
• Creates an inventory of all project-related materials to be purchased and transported to partner school, or to be purchased locally. Responsible for monitoring this inventory, and making sure all required materials are purchased and accounted for.
• Monitors spending throughout the deployment, ensuring all team members are accountable for funds spent
  • Responsible for organizing round-trip transportation and lodging for international team
  • Responsible for organizing transportation for local unit Project Coordinator to Kigali orientation
  • Organizes receipt, transportation and distribution of XO laptop shipment
• Prepares and maintains a flexible Deployment Schedule, based on timelines and goals agreed upon by the team
• During deployment, works closely with Pedagogical Lead I to train teachers and introduce children to XO laptops
• Provides any training necessary for local counterpart to take over position following the international team’s departure (ie. training in grant proposal writing, fundraising strategies