OLPCorps Cornell Mauritania/Deployment Plan

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Working with Children

  • Our focus is on literacy - using the XO as a tool to improve students skills with the multiple languages (Arabic, French, English) that they need to know in order to succeed in school.
  • We are administering and deploying the laptops through the Girls Mentoring Center (GMC) in Tidjikja
  • The local school partner is école primaire 1 in the Tagant Region.
  • School is not in session during the summer. We will work with the students who have volunteered to be a part of this program, Seth is working with the local Students Parents Association about this.
  • Have pen pals with Montessori school in Ithaca & kids in Mauritania. (project details to come)

Local Partner

  • Ginger Tissier heads the GMCs in Mauritania, which are run by Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) and are in the process of being handed off to the local community. We will work with the 6 PCVs in [Tidjikja, our primary contact there being Seth Luxenberg. Seth has organized an English club and computer club. People are generally extremely interested in computers and constantly ask him for lessons. Long term sustainability of the program is assured through the Tidjikja GMC.

Impact On Grade School Children

  • The children's literacy level is quite low, especially for girls. (51.2% for the total population, and only 43.4% for women). We aim to use the laptops to improve their literacy in both Arabic and English. See this link for an in depth analysis of the issue.
  • According to UNESCO, high literacy rates are "key to enhancing human capabilities, with wide-ranging benefits including critical thinking, ..., children's education, ... and active citizenship." reference
  • Catalytic Rationale here

Financial Support after we leave

Consultation

Community Support

  • We have support from the Students Parents Association, and from the local volunteers at the GMC.

Communication

  • Students speak hassaniya, an arabic dialect. They are learning French/English, with more emphasis on French
  • Seth speaks semi-fluent Hassaniya, as do all the PCVs.
  • James speaks conversational French.

Logistics

Transportation

  • Seth indicates that we may need to fly into Nouakchott in order to avoid a difficult border crossing.
  • Check this website out It talks about how to travel around Mauritania.
  • This website gives info on how much money it is to get from Nouakchott to Rosso (near Senegal)
  • Check this also this out. It's Mauritania Airways, which flies to/from Paris (really expensive).
  • Alternatively, Air France flies in/out of Nouakchott. This may be most reliable.. as Mauritania Airways sounds sketch, and Air France is pretty legit. (we'd fly from US to france, then France to Nouakchott)
  • There is a taxi from Nouakchott to Tidjikja. The price is about 5000 UM = ~$20 per person. see here for source.
  • You used to be able to fly from Nouakchott to Tidjikja. It is unclear whether we can still do that.
  • The people going to Rwanda is undetermined.
  • We will then fly back to Dakar, & get back to Tidjikja after the conference.
  • Other people are getting to Tidjikja through Dakar, Senegal (Maybe?).
  • Need to figure out how to get to Tidjikja from Dakar.
  • From Dakar to Nouakchott by public transport usually takes from 11 to 13 hours depending on the wait at the border. travel information
  • This section is confusing-sounding. The point is that we have options for how to get to Tidjikja. Regardless of how much it costs, it will probably take up most of the budget to travel out to Tidjikja.
  • We are coordinating with the PCVs in Mauritania to possibly book Mauritania Airways, as the website does not list all flights.

Shipping

  • We are shipping the laptops to Nouakchott.
  • Customs should not be a problem, but we should investigate this.

Laptop Distribution

  • Since it is likely that school will not be in session the second that we get there, we will probably be able to set the server/infrastructure up before the school year starts. Though we will try to give the kids as much exposure to the laptops before we leave.

Technology

Flashing the Laptops

  • SD memory cards and or USB memory sticks will be donated
    • Companies interested in donating, contact adg29@cornell.edu
  • Bandwidth is limited in Tidjikja. Hopefully the most up to date version will have been made available before we go out there. That way even if the laptop software is out of date when we get them, we can reflash the operating systems once we get there.

Tidjikja's XO School Server: Capacities

The XO school server will be setup to serve as

  • An educational resource.
    • Educational resources will be preloaded with documentation on how to utilize these resources and how to search and obtain further resources.
      • Wikipedia
      • Internet archive?
      • Creative commons content?
  • A collaborative resource.
    • Moodle's collaboration software will be preloaded.
  • An administrative tool.
    • Filtering functionality is necessary and available . Mauritania is Islamic; if a child sees inappropriate content the laptops will be shut down.
      • Cornell OLPC will train selected Tidjikja staff to monitor and control the filtering tools.
    • Remote desktop control is necessary and available. Laptops that are not returned can be blocked.
  • A backup tool.
    • The server can automatically back up content all the laptops.

Tidjikja's XO School Server: Setup

Alan Garcia is the technology lead and is working with other Cornell OPLC team members (Jamie and Eli) and collaborators (Cornell Free Culture's Rob Oschorn and Cornell Computer Reuse) to setup a server for testing purposes.

Localization

  • Hassiniya is the oral dialect of Arabic that the Moors speak. Written Arabic is standardized as MSA (Modern Standard Arabic). Though the alternative language in Mauritania is French, it does not make sense to design a new Arabic/French keyboard when there is an existing Arabic/English keyboard. (See here. This is unfortunate, but we can figure out software solutions to insert the special characters for french (accents & ç).
  • There seem to be Arabic language packs for OLPC. Translation seems mature see here
  • Reverse Localization (taking what the kids said and letting the world understand it... probably in English) - at first, small amounts of this may be done by Seth. In the future, it could be done by the teacher/kids themselves, as they start to learn English in middle school.

Internet Capailities

  • There is internet at the GMC in Tidjikja, though it is spotty.
  • A server would be able to broadcast the signal that currently comes into

Power

  • Seth must speak with power guy in Tidjikja to run power to the school - school does not have power currently.
    • "Installation of electricity at a school will be between 100 and 200 dollars"(Seth 3-18).
  • We are looking into getting a generator, either through donation or through purchase. Generator would be transported in same fashion as laptops, however they are transported.
  • Make sure our power strips have sockets that are aligned = = = - parallel to the strip, so that all sockets can be used by power adapters.
  • Look into buying an MBC/XOP
  • Calculate the total number of watts needed - oh look, the awesome deployment guide here did it already! We replicate here for readability.
    • We do not want to rely on solar power as sandstorms are frequent and this will shorten the life of the panels dramatically.

    Education

    • The sugar platform is designed to underscore the importance of collaboration as an integral component of learning. We will focus on creating an environment in which student learning will be supplemented through an active relationship between teaching leads and their laptops well beyond our visit.
    • We must first introduce the new technology to the teachers, and make sure they understand that the laptops are there to be integrated into preexisting school/ lesson plans, and are by no means stand alone teaching tools.
    • We will provide the teachers with an adapted manual of how the laptops actually work. This manual will be rewritten in Arabic or French, and abridged so that it is more accessible.
    • Among casual usage, teachers will be taught things like how to provide maintenance for the laptops, how to monitor and filter the children’s activities, how to clear laptop memory, and how to troubleshoot the laptops.
    • The children are on break for some of the time that we will be there. This will give us time to hold workshops for the teachers.
    • Our primary goal is to focus on getting the children comfortable with the laptops so that they may explore and develop skills on their own with guidance from the teaching leads.
    • Multiple levels of teaching for the different skill levels will be defined, so students do don’t become intimidated by activities above their capacity.
    • The children are learning science, math, physical education, French, Arabic, Islamic education and civics. We will adapt certain things to the curriculum such as typing
    • Activities for the laptops can be found at the following locations:
    • We have developed a basic plan to follow at the beginning of our stay, however, given the circumstances, we realize that it must be highly flexible.
    • Simple games/getting used to the computer
      • browsing the internet
      • maze application
      • implode application
      • music games
    • Math:
      • patterns and shapes, geometry: shape applications, paint shapes in paint
      • comparing numbers
      • arithmetic- addition, subtraction, etc: calculator
      • measurements
      • fractions and ratios, probability
      • algebra
    • Science:
      • moon application
      • videos on the internet
      • planet earth or animal planet
      • using objects from outside the classroom and measuring them.
      • environmental problems: desertification, garbage
      • internet scavenger hunts
    • Writing/Language/Arabic/French
      • daily journals/how their day was/what they learned- in both languages?
      • look up new words
      • creative writing
      • sharing with the class or with one other individual
      • translator program
      • word processing
      • speak application
      • chat
    • Islamic Education
      • Quran on the server
      • Use the internet to teach them stuff
      • Quran reciting program
    • Physical Education
      • Stopwatch and distance applications may be used.
      • distance competitions
    • Other subjects
      • painting
      • music
      • geography

    Support After We Leave/Repairs

    • Peace Corps will be in town
    • Hopefully teach the students @ a local vocational school how to use the computers, as they may be older, and may learn more quickly?
    • (Tentative) Morph Seth's current English club into a support group for OLPC? They seem very enthusiastic about Western Technology.
    • Since we get 1% overstock (not a lot, only 1 extra computer), we anticipate raising funds for additional ones that we can leave for teachers/repairs.
    • In keeping with OLPC DIY philosophy, we plan to teach the children how to repair the computers themselves.

    Internet Safety Training

    • Pedagogical lead will explain that while the Internet is great for obtaining varied information, there are people out there who may try to lie to you & steal from you.

    Partnerships with other Organizations @ Cornell

    • The Cornell Computer Reuse Association has a history of sending computers to Africa. Perhaps they can ship some standard (beige box) computers out to us so they can be used in the vocational school? This is ancillary to our primary goals. Their website is here
    • Cornell Free Culture
      • Very enthusiastic about project - head of this club has two OLPC's. We may be able to borrow one from him to test servers, etc.
      • Website is here.

    Cultural Notes/Misc

    • A cool article about Mauritanian schools/manuscripts is here
    • An EXCELLENT document detailing current cultural norms in Mauritania is here.
    • Peace Corps wiki about Mauritania here
    Number of unitsAvg. WattsTotal power required
    Laptops1005 (15 peak)500 Watts
    School Server120 (24 peak)20 Watts
    Connectivity (i.e. modem/wifi)15050 Watts
    Total Power570 Watts
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