OLPCorps MIT Mauritania Bababe: Difference between revisions
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[[OLPCorps Africa |Back To OLPCorps Africa]] |
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'''University:''' MIT<br /> |
'''University:''' MIT<br /> |
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[[OLPCorps MIT Mauritania Bababe Team|'''Team:''']] Mary Wang, Owen Derby, Janet Li, Madeline Mirzoeff <br /> |
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'''Contact Information:''' olpcorps@mit.edu <br /> |
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'''NGO:''' Peace Corps<br /> |
'''NGO:''' Peace Corps<br /> |
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'''NGO Contact:''' Ginger, Peace Corps Volunteer<br /> |
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'''Local Contact:''' Zach, Peace Corps Volunteer and Environmental Educator<br /> |
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[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPCorps_MIT_Mauritania_Bababe_Deployment_Location'''Deployment Location:'''] Bababé, Mauritania [Brakna Region]<br /> |
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'''Deployment |
[[OLPCorps MIT Mauritania Bababe Deployment Location|'''Deployment Location:''']] Bababé, Mauritania <br /> |
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'''Deployment Date:''' June 20th-August 22nd, 2009<br /><br /> |
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== Proposal == |
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Goal: |
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Our goal is to give children the tools they need to explore the world and learn independently of the rote memorization they are accustomed to. We want to empower them with the ability to share what they have learned, teach their peers and parents the new tools they have acquired, and express the ideas they come up with. |
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Project Set Up: |
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| ⚫ | We are working with |
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Our deployment will be set up as a summer program for children in Bababe at Maison de Jeunes, a youth center established by the Ministry of Culture. Based on the information from our local contact, there will be more children interested in the program than we can provide for. Thus, we will choose a diverse group of 5th and 6th graders. In a male dominated education system, we will make sure that we provide equal opportunities to both genders. |
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'''[[OLPCorps MIT Mauritania Bababe Project Specifics |Project Specifics]]''' <br /> |
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Working with the Children: |
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'''[[OLPCorps MIT Mauritania Bababe Budget |Budget]]'''<br /><br /> |
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'''General Information'''<br /> |
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The current school system in Mauritania is not very conducive to children's learning, due in large part to the deep poverty of the country and thus lack of resources available to students. Bringing in 100 laptops to a classroom of elementary school children will have eye-opening and irreversible effects on how they learn. Allowing each child to learn and explore the XO's one-on-one will give students the chance to be exposed to innovative technology and utilize the opportunities that come with it. The biggest opportunity is undoubtedly the Internet; the ability to access this infinite information database will give students the resources and desire to learn. We will also use the XO's as learning tools in the classrooms, teaching the children how to use the laptops to gain more understanding about each other and their own environment. |
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Our goal is to give children the tools needed to fully learn and to explore the world. We want to empower them with the ability to share their ideas and to teach others. |
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| ⚫ | We are working with a [[Peace Corps]] [http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.wherepc.africa.mauritania] volunteer, Zach, on this initiative. Zach is an environmental educator in Bababé who will work with us throughout our deployment and provide facilities to store and charge the laptops. Zach will meet us in the capital Nouakchott to help us pick up the laptops and equipment and transport them back to Bababé. |
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The children will learn how to use the XOs through interactive, multi-player games. They will be encouraged to explore the features of the laptops themselves. Then, they will design projects that they will work on in teams. Potentially, they will collaborate with children participating in our sister deployments in Kaedi, Tdjikja, Kiffa and Kankossa. Using the XOs, they will record what they observe, share the designs and ideas they come up with, analyze the information they find on the web, and present the results to their peers and parents. We hope that this will foster a collaborative spirit in which students are eager to learn from and teach others. |
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We will set up a summer program based in the local réseau de jeunesse, or youth center, in Bababé, where the XOs can also be stored. There are normally over 200 students in Bababé who are aged 10-12, so we will have to address the issue of having more students than laptops. Since the children are on break for the nine weeks we are there, it's hard to gauge how many students will be available to participate. We will work with Zach in the coming weeks to address this issue. In a male-dominated education system, we will provide equal opportunities to both genders.<br /><br /> |
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In addition, we will work with local educational providers and Peace Corps volunteers to design lesson plans for schools to incorporate the XOs. Keeping the 5th grade public school education curriculum in mind, we will show the children how to take what they have learned and apply it in a new and interesting way. Other possible ideas include using the XOs to record and share their community history and cultural vibrance. They will be able to express their creativity by writing and sharing stories, artwork, and music. |
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'''Impact on Children'''<br /> |
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We hope to use the laptops and the internet to broaden the childrens' horizons and to show them that there is more to learning than just rote memorization. We will hopefully connect all five deployment sites in Mauritania [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPCorps_Cornell_Mauritania] [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPCorps_MIT_Mauritania_Kaedi] [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPCorps_Africa#University_of_Miami_-_Mauritania] over the internet, allowing the children to record their observations, share the designs and ideas they come up with, analyze the information they find on the web, and present their learnings to their peers and parents. Learning through the XOs can help the children jumpstart change in their country. |
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Our goal is to let the children bring the laptops home while they are learning to use them. However, in Mauritanian society, anything the child brings home becomes the property of the family. To address this problem, we will set up a loaner library where the laptops will be the property of the Peace Corps, but the children can still take them home. They will charge the laptops at school using power we will fund, since most homes in Bababé still don’t have electricity. Internet will be provided by World Vision, another NGO operating in Bababé that subscribes to satellite internet.<br /><br /> |
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'''Communication''' <br /> |
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The languages spoken in Bababé are Pulaar, Hassaniya, and French. Since three of our members know some French, we plan to communicate basic instructions in French. However, we will work with the volunteers to make sure that the children receive the most accurate instructions. We will also need to make superficial alterations to the keys on the XOs, changing the English into a French keyboard. <br /><br /> |
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In short: |
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The Peace Corps has been involved in Bababé for 20 years now and will continue its involvement. The volunteers we train will pass their skills to new volunteers, continuing our program long after we leave. We will work with local educational providers and Peace Corps volunteers to design lesson plans which follow the 5th grade public school curriculum while incorporating the XOs. |
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In working with children, we hope that they will have positive effects on the community. The beauty of children is that they are often more communicative and willing to share than adults. Their energy and enthusiasm will allow them to be a positive influence in their communities. |
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We will document the work we do in Bababé as reference for future deployments; if successful, this project will serve as a pilot for future Peace Corps programs internationally. |
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We are looking into setting up a penpal exchange program between Bababé students and the students involved in other deployments, both across Mauritania and all of Africa. This will facilitate cultural awareness amongst all students involved. We will further develop this in the weeks leading up to June 8. |
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The Peace Corps has been involved in Bababe for 20 years now and is making no plans to leave. By training Bababe volunteer with the XO's, and passing on these skills to new volunteers, our program will flourish long after we are gone. In addition, our local contact Zach Swank will be heavily involved in the project. He will be in Bababe for a year after we leave to help integrate the project into the school system. If successful, this project will serve as a pilot for new Peace Corps programs in Mauritanian education. |
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We will also encourage the children to keep in contact with our team by inviting them to email us photos, videos, stories and artwork and to keep us updated on their lives as they get older. There is also the possibility of setting up pen pals between the Bababe students and the students involved in the Cambridge, MA deployment near MIT. We will look further into this idea in the weeks leading up to the summer deployment. This way, each culture could learn about the other and so that the Bababe children could speak with other kids their age from a different part of the globe, utilizing the english they learn in school. |
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Our team is |
Our team is planning on establishing an official MIT OLPC chapter dedicated to promoting awareness of the non-profit and initiating new projects while supporting ongoing ones, including this one. Becoming an official club will allow us to apply for funding from MIT's finance board, fundraise on-campus, and solicit alumni and corporations for sponsorships. The money we raise will provide continuing financial support to Bababé volunteers who will maintain internet connectivity, power, server connections, repairs and eventual replacement of the laptops, and will also raise the necessary funds to send new OLPC teams to Africa every summer. |
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Latest revision as of 11:45, 27 March 2009
University: MIT
Team: Mary Wang, Owen Derby, Janet Li, Madeline Mirzoeff
Contact Information: olpcorps@mit.edu
NGO: Peace Corps
NGO Contact: Ginger, Peace Corps Volunteer
Local Contact: Zach, Peace Corps Volunteer and Environmental Educator
Deployment Location: Bababé, Mauritania
Deployment Date: June 20th-August 22nd, 2009
General Information
Our goal is to give children the tools needed to fully learn and to explore the world. We want to empower them with the ability to share their ideas and to teach others.
We are working with a Peace Corps [1] volunteer, Zach, on this initiative. Zach is an environmental educator in Bababé who will work with us throughout our deployment and provide facilities to store and charge the laptops. Zach will meet us in the capital Nouakchott to help us pick up the laptops and equipment and transport them back to Bababé.
We will set up a summer program based in the local réseau de jeunesse, or youth center, in Bababé, where the XOs can also be stored. There are normally over 200 students in Bababé who are aged 10-12, so we will have to address the issue of having more students than laptops. Since the children are on break for the nine weeks we are there, it's hard to gauge how many students will be available to participate. We will work with Zach in the coming weeks to address this issue. In a male-dominated education system, we will provide equal opportunities to both genders.
Impact on Children
We hope to use the laptops and the internet to broaden the childrens' horizons and to show them that there is more to learning than just rote memorization. We will hopefully connect all five deployment sites in Mauritania [2] [3] [4] over the internet, allowing the children to record their observations, share the designs and ideas they come up with, analyze the information they find on the web, and present their learnings to their peers and parents. Learning through the XOs can help the children jumpstart change in their country.
Our goal is to let the children bring the laptops home while they are learning to use them. However, in Mauritanian society, anything the child brings home becomes the property of the family. To address this problem, we will set up a loaner library where the laptops will be the property of the Peace Corps, but the children can still take them home. They will charge the laptops at school using power we will fund, since most homes in Bababé still don’t have electricity. Internet will be provided by World Vision, another NGO operating in Bababé that subscribes to satellite internet.
Communication
The languages spoken in Bababé are Pulaar, Hassaniya, and French. Since three of our members know some French, we plan to communicate basic instructions in French. However, we will work with the volunteers to make sure that the children receive the most accurate instructions. We will also need to make superficial alterations to the keys on the XOs, changing the English into a French keyboard.
Sustainability
The Peace Corps has been involved in Bababé for 20 years now and will continue its involvement. The volunteers we train will pass their skills to new volunteers, continuing our program long after we leave. We will work with local educational providers and Peace Corps volunteers to design lesson plans which follow the 5th grade public school curriculum while incorporating the XOs.
We will document the work we do in Bababé as reference for future deployments; if successful, this project will serve as a pilot for future Peace Corps programs internationally.
We are looking into setting up a penpal exchange program between Bababé students and the students involved in other deployments, both across Mauritania and all of Africa. This will facilitate cultural awareness amongst all students involved. We will further develop this in the weeks leading up to June 8.
Our team is planning on establishing an official MIT OLPC chapter dedicated to promoting awareness of the non-profit and initiating new projects while supporting ongoing ones, including this one. Becoming an official club will allow us to apply for funding from MIT's finance board, fundraise on-campus, and solicit alumni and corporations for sponsorships. The money we raise will provide continuing financial support to Bababé volunteers who will maintain internet connectivity, power, server connections, repairs and eventual replacement of the laptops, and will also raise the necessary funds to send new OLPC teams to Africa every summer.