Team USC/UChicago - Philippi, South Africa
OLPCorps Project Proposal For Team USC/UChicago in Philippi, South Africa
Extended Version (Note: Not Yet Finalized)
Team Member Information
Team Members
Peter Koehler, University of Southern California, pkoehler@usc.edu
Suzanne Adatto, University of Chicago, sadatto@uchicago.edu
Local Non-Profit Organization
Philippi East, Cape Town, South Africa
Local Contacts:
Ian Edelstein, ian@townshipbaseball.org
Rob Rosenbaum, robert.c.rosenbaum@gmail.com
The Basics
We, Peter Koehler and Suzanne Adatto will comprise a two-person team that will deploy to the Philippi Township outside of Cape Town, South Africa. Peter is pursuing his Masters in Planning at the University of Southern California and Suzanne is pursuing a double major in English and Political Science at the University of Chicago. We both grew up in Portland, Oregon and work very well together due to our long history and friendship. We will be working in cooperation with the Township Baseball Academy.
Mission statement
Using the XO computers to complement and further the work already being done by the Township Baseball Academy; enrich students lives through academic assistance and individual means of self-expression and discovery; develop computer literacy; install a program that has longevity - both programatically and in the students' lives.
Background
Philippi East is a formerly "black" township in the Cape Flats area of greater Cape Town. The immediate township has a population of about 80,000 students, and serves a variety of public schools. Students are met with obstacles both in the lack of necessary tools for education in their schools, as well as in their neighborhood where rampant unemployment (up to 60% of job-seeking adults) and HIV/AIDS has led to a dearth of opportunities in the area. The Township Baseball Academy has served this community for three years, providing after-school programming of baseball Spring-Fall and academic programming throughout the winter to a population of up to 200 students. While tutors have found many of the students to be behind in basic math and literacy acquisition, students are eager and enthusiastic to participate in any programming available to them.
Our Plan
We plan to work with the Township Baseball Academy, a local non-profit that functions as a successful extracurricular and after-school baseball club and positive community haven for kids mostly aged 6-13 from the township. The children are on winter break for a large part of the program (June 26th through July 20th), which we will use to maximize that extra time with the kids – working in cooperation with the baseball academy to provide XO lessons and programs.
The four goals of this project:
1) Develop computer literacy and enhanced technological understanding.
2) Use XO computers to identify target math and literacy deficits, and address these through targeted tutoring and
monitored and directed self-learning.
3) Initiate leadership-directed programming, whereby older children become mentors to younger children. (See 6.2)
4) Allow students the ability to pursue their own passions and interests through smaller elective classes in art,
photography, creative writing, ecology and environment,health and nutrition, and history of baseball, using the XO
laptops as textbooks, newspapers, portfolios, canvasses, daily logs, and personal diaries.
The four guiding beliefs that will structure this project:
1) Focus on how the XO computers can complement and augment the preexisting work already being done by the Township
Baseball Academy and the lives and needs of the students -- this will allow for sustainability of the program itself
and make the XO computers the most useful.
2) Maximize small group and one-on-one instruction - To use the XOs to their maximum efficacies, the role of us as
team-members should be to facilitate the most personal experiences, something that is only possible with close
attention.
3) Allow for flexibility in students needs and allow room for curiosity and discovery, and emphasize learning-by-doing
and learning-through-play. Using the XOs as a means of individual self-expression and self-determination,
rather than just teaching about how the XO computers work. -- The XOs are both a learning tool as well as a means
of self-discovery. Kids should be allowed to pursue what interests them and form personal and specific relationships
with the XOs. Most students in the US acquired computer literacy through their own interests, and with an age group of
6-12 it would be difficult to simply teach about computers themselves, rather than illustrating them to be
a conduit to multiple opportunities.
4) Keep an eye towards long-term developmental goals while being aware of the role of individual self-determination as a
valuable means and ends of development. See the XOs as a stepping-stone towards larger leadership development, tools
of computer literacy and academic improvement, and empowerment, all contributors to economic and health development,
while also acknowledging the need to simply allow kids the ability to play and have personal attention on a day-by-day
level.
Programming
The programming will take place in three distinct stages:
STAGE 1
Upon arrival, we will work with the Academy staff to first introduce ourselves, the available programming, show
students an XO, and divide students into small groups based on interest and need. During the winter break time, we
will work all-day to provide summer camps that are tailored to the students needs and interests. This will allow
us the opportunity to work closely with the students, focus on the use of the XOs in particular, and discover and
target the specific requirements of the students.
STAGE 2
After school resumes, we will use the transition to teach students about how to integrate the XOs into their academic
lives, using the XOs to assist with academic development and creating self-directed learning programs.
STAGE 3
While we will be working with local UCT volunteers throughout, in our final week we hope to train local volunteers
to specifically lead the program and handover the instructional materials and information we have collected. These
volunteers would have the job of specifically monitoring the XO usage.
We will work with the organization to identify particular students who fit the following profiles:
1) Older (10-12 yrs. old) students who are particularly engaged, excited, and committed to the after-school program and
have demonstrated responsibility already within the program. These students will be selected as student-leaders, and
be taught about the ins-and-outs of the system. A particular emphasis will be put on selecting equal females and males.
2) Students who are exhibiting particular academic deficiencies.
3) Students who are particularly interested in an academic subject or who are accelerated in academics, who are
interested in creative expression such as art, photography, or creative writing, and students who are interested in
science and ecology.
These students will be divided into smaller groups and participate in a summer camp during the three weeks that student are off of school. As the students will be free from school and our teammate will have the opportunity to solely devote our time to programming, we will try to split up the day in order to maximize the amount of personal small-group attention to students.
The programming will be done with full support of the Township Baseball Academy staff and volunteers, and the emphasis will be teaching students about the use of the XO computers exclusively, first, and then as a means to their other interests and particular needs. This time that is free from school restraints will allow the students unparalleled freedom and exploration with the computers themselves, and best allow them to integrate the computers into their academic lives once they resume.
Specifics of our Local Partner and Sustainability
The Township Baseball Academy is “a registered South African Non-Profit Organization employing a unique intervention model for at-risk township youth, combining the physical and social benefits of team sport with principles of achievement, positive communication, and discipline, borne through experiential education on the playfield, and transferred into the classroom. [They] work with a group of approximately 200 children, most aged 6-13, have access to an indoor activity center, and conduct year-round programming 3-4 days/week in baseball and academic enrichment.”
Our main contact until we arrive will be Ian Edelstein, who founded the academic program. We have been in constant contact with him, discussing ideas and programming, and learning about the type of environment we will be working in and the needs of the students we will be working with.. One highly attractive component of this organization for us is the fact that it is already very well organized and has a structure and an ethos already in place. This will benefit us in greatly in two main ways:
1) It will focus our time more effectively. There is a very strong existing structure and organization in place,
based around clearly motivated children who are taking part in extracurricular activities by choice. This means
that our team will be able to expend far more time and energy on actual education and empowerment, meaning less
time wasted on simply trying to organize and motivate the children and structuring their schedules.
2) It will ensure successful sustainability. After we leave, the only thing that will change is that we won’t be
there. The Township Baseball Academy will continue to promote,encourage and support the exploration of the XO and
the worlds that it opens as they will be able to easily continue such an extracurricular structure. Furthermore,
they already use the services of volunteers from the University of Cape Town for baseball and academic mentorship,
and it will not be difficult to simply extend their volunteer program to encompass computer and learning mentors
from the university as well.
Overall we are very confident about our local partner; in fact, we were so drawn to so many components of the program that although we had the opportunity to work in more rural communities, which would supposedly increase our chances of getting selected according to OLPC guidelines, we truly felt that we could be more effective and successful in Philippi. We hope that OLPC is able to recognize that.
Please click here to read the letter in support of our team from Ian Edelstein, Executive Director of the Township Baseball Academy.
Technical and Logistical Support
Peter is proficient with tech support and working with computers, however one large advantage of being near Cape Town is that should the occasion arise for more professional tech support, we will be able to recruit volunteer students from the University of Cape Town. In fact, since the Baseball academy already recruits volunteers from the University to coach baseball on a regular basis, we hope to work with them to expand their volunteer program to include computer and technology volunteers who will be able to work with and help the children long after our departure. We are in touch with the Information and Communication Technology program at the University of Cape Town, further information forthcoming.
In regards to the logistics of securely receiving and storing the 230 kg shipment of XO's, both Mr. Edelstein and Mr. Rob Rosenbaum, the volunteer coordinator for the organization have confirmed their capacity to safely receive and store the computers.
Additional Information
If you have any questions or suggestions whatsoever, please feel free to email Peter Koehler (pkoehler@usc.edu) or Suzanne Adatto (sadatto@uchicago.edu).