OLPC UK

Organisation Overview

OLPC UK is a community effort to bring together UK-based OLPC supporters and contributors, and to create structured support for the OLPC project in and from the Has location country::United Kingdom.

• What we're about: Mission Statement. Are you from the press and want to know more? look in the #Media section

• What we're working on: see the #Projects section

• Who we are: see the #Members section

• How to get involved: see the #Get Involved section

Get Involved

Check out the #Projects we're working on or the #Ideas_for_UK_community_activities we haven't gotten around to yet. You DO NOT need to ask before you do something. START it and ANNOUNCE it are the only things you need to do to get involved.

Where we meet

• Mailing list: olpc-uk@lists.laptop.org about mailing lists
• IRC channel: #olpc-uk on freenode (irc.freenode.net)
• Next meeting: July 4, Regents Park; for details see this email. Has location city::London.
• most recent meeting minutes

Projects

• We are running a Pilot at a London school. The pilot team has created a laptop grant proposal and is working on getting it approved by OLPC UK. Help is needed especially creating "content" for the OLPC community as a whole.

• We are creating content of use to the global OLPC community. All help is much appreciated . To help, please look at the #Materials_Needed section and announce what you're doing on the olpc-uk mailing list. You DO NOT need to ask before you do something. START it and ANNOUNCE it are the only things you need to do to get involved.

• Increasing the profile of OLPC in the UK is what the Marketing team is working on. They have created some logos and are working on a website for the group

• Offering laptops to people interested in contributing to the OLPC project (globally) in any way they can is what the /Lending Library and Repair Centre is for.

Media

The BBC has produced some of the best media coverage in the history of the organisation, although it is a bit outdated in the present day.

The Racepoint Group, one of OLPC's media partners in the US, has a UK office with a group who assist OLPC by generating media attention in the UK.

Press pack

We probably need some polished materials. For now we have this:

Why OLPC UK?

In order to provide a rich learning experience to as many of the world’s children as possible, it is critical to not just provide computers to children, but to ensure that the software that runs on the computers maximizes the potential for engaging in activities that promote learning: exploration, expression, and collaboration. We want to help children, parents, teachers, and schools participate in, improve, and help others the best educational opportunities.

( from http://www.sugarlabs.org/index.php?template=press&article=20080515&language=english#20080515 )

What's the big picture?

At a higher level:

Mission Statement

To create educational opportunities for the world's poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning. When children have access to this type of tool they get engaged in their own education. They learn, share, create, and collaborate. They become connected to each other, to the world and to a brighter future.

What is OLPC UK actually doing?

We have a lot of #Projects on the go - click here to have a look.

People

Please list your name and location if you would be interested in participating in UK OLPC activities. Please ensure that there is some obvious way of contacting you (e.g. put your email address on your user page, and link to it).

Finally, please olpc-uk@lists.laptop.org sign up to the mailing list so that you will receive information on any developments.

• Alan Bell
• Alan Lord
• Martin Dengler
• Tom Hannen
• Frankie Roberto, Manchester. XO owner.
• Jeff Plante Leeds
• Chris Lawrie, Aberdeen
• Mark Simpkins, London. XO user.
• Shanmuhanathan Thiagaraja, Reading. XO user.
• Dave Lee - Conisbrough, South Yorkshire
• Gani Bhagavathula, Norwich UK. XO User. Experimenting with Ubuntu.
• Louie Christie, London UK. System Admin, Ex-programmer, Youth Worker, Social Entrepreneur
• Daniel Drake, nr London
• Peter Robinson, London. Fedora packager
• Gary Martin, Edinburgh, freelance developer.
• Mark Bools, Leicester, freelance IT consultant
• Joe Kelleher, West Midlands, developer and (parent of) XO owner
• David Craddock, Kent, developer with XO
• Vaz Singh, Hertfordshire & South-East London.
• Tony Vroon, Peterborough, sysadmin. G1G1 order placed.
• Edward Mooney, Brighton, Sussex. Teacher and e-learning co-ordinator. Could, with some grovelling, offer the use of a real life school as a venue for any OLPC UK events.
• Mark Hadman, Sheffield. Imported my XO from the US way back in early 2008. Running the DebXO OS.
• Kev Thomas, Glasgow. support/development background. Keen to see UK education pick up on XOs. Start small in Scotland and aim high!
• Faisal Khan, London.
• Christel Dahlskjaer, Nr London. FOSS Geek, XO User.
• Roger Turner, London, XO owner.
• Miles Berry, Surrey, XO Owner, Headteacher, Open Source Schools
• Kunal Vora, London, Physicist, Ubuntu User, FOSS Advocate, XO owner.

Meeting minutes

The meeting minutes page has been transcluded here for easy access:

• OLPC UK/Meetings/20090527 - meeting 3
• OLPC UK/Meetings/20090506 - meeting 2
• OLPC UK/Meetings/20090408 - initial meeting in central London

Ideas for UK community activities

These are ideas people have suggested that are not being worked on yet, but you could start:

• Social events
• User support groups
• Media outreach
• Working with government for OLPC adoption in the UK education system
• Formation of a non-profit/charity organisational structure
• XO demonstrations to potential community members
• Link people/organisations who want to Give Many, to increase scope of UK-backed deployments in other parts of the world
• Create corporate support programme. Provide companies with opportunities to be Corporate supporters of OLPC UK and participation in sponsorship. Have various sponsorship bands: silver, bronze, gold, etc.
• Target XO deployment to the most poorest and deprived parts of UK.
• Form partnerships with like-minded organisations, such as the EWB UK.
• Appoint a famous person to be an Ambassador for OLPC UK.