OLPCorps Dickinson Ghana

Team Members

Name	College	Year	Roles	Background
Jeremy Pesner	Dickinson College	2009	Project Manager, Game Designer and Co-Software Engineer	BS in Computer Science
Jennifer Strater	Hamilton College	2010	Quality Control, Data Management, and Co-Software Engineer	BA in Computer Science with Psychology Minor

Who, What, When, Where?

Laptops will be distributed to 100 primary school (6-12 year-old) children at the Somey National School in Agbozume, Ghana. The program will last from the end of orientation in Rwanda until our return to the US in mid August (based on travel arrangements/availability). The children are in school during June and July. August will be spent making the transition to the Elikplim Foundation. English is the primary language in Ghana and for the school. Therefore, there should not be a language barrier.

Our Goal

Educational gaming is shown to improve test scores and enhance learning (Schmidt and Vandewater, 2008). By gaining greater attention than traditional lecture methods, computer games may be a way to enhance motivation in school aged children and adolescents. Significant improvements in learning have been observed for many different subjects when computer games were used to supplement classroom instruction including learning languages (Purushotma, 2005) and geography (Tuzun, Yilmaz-Soylu, Karakus, Inal, and Kizilkaya, 2009).

Our group will provide educational games to supplement learning in the classroom. By working with teachers and administrators, we will develop games for any subject needed and developed to the specific needs of these students. We can incorporate local customs, specific styles of learning, and age specific topics. Based on Mr. Pesner's experience in educational gaming and Miss Strater's experience in psychology, we will work to develop games that increase learning in any subject matter desired. The children will be monitored for statistically significant progress and the games adapted if they do not meet the needs of the children and educators. After we leave in August, this project can be continued on a limited-basis during the school year with the support of the Elikplim Foundation and additional gaming assistance from Mr. Pesner and Ms. Strater. The transition period will make sure we can stay involved.

• currently editing, feel free to comment, but I should be adding more soon. (3/23/2009)

References

Purushotma, R. Commentary: You’re Not Studying, You’re Just... Language Learning & Technology. 9(1): 80-96. Jan 2005. Link to Article[1]
Schmidt, M.E., Vandewater, E.A. Media and Attention, Cognition, and School Achievement. The Future of Children. 18(1): 63-85. Spring 2008. Link to Article[2]
Tuzun, H., Yilmaz-soylu, M., Karakus, T., Inal, Y., Kizilkaya, G. The effects of computer games on primary school students’ achievement and motivation in geography learning. Computers and Education. 52: 68-77. 2009. Link to Article[3]

Local Organizations

Somey National School
Agbozume
Volta Region
Ghana
Elikplim Foundation[4]
Agbozume
Volta Region
Ghana