OLPC: Not a computer, but an educational project

“The guarantee only works if the machine has been dismantled” – Nicholas Negroponte.

L’Atelier devoted the whole of Wednesday 4 February to an association whose objective is to ensure access to education for all children from 6 to 12 years old in emerging countries: One Laptop per Child (OLPC)

The morning got off to a strong start, with Jean-Michel Fourgous, the deputy mayor of the town of Elancourt, describing to us the genuine progress that has been observed in children since the implementation of digital teaching materials (interactive whiteboards [IWBs], iPods, computers etc.) in the classrooms.
What has effectively happened is that children have become active protagonists in their own education (along with improvements in motivation and concentration, as teaching materials, particularly in the sciences, become more attractive), and the teacher has seen his role change from that of an instructor to a facilitator, who must himself master the equipment in order to successfully fulfil his function, signalling a shift from an instructional to a constructivist vision of teaching and learning.

Pierre Lena, a research astrophysicist at the Observatoire de Paris (the Paris Observatory), who is one of the founders of La Main A La Pâte (the “Hands On” project for teaching science in primary schools) and Daniel Andler of the Paris Sorbonne University, a philosopher of science and of the theory of knowledge, representing the Compas Group, have also confirmed the necessity of introducing and mastering digital technology in the service of education.
For them, as well as François Taddéi, a research biologist and author of the OECD’s report on education, the stakes are global rather than national. Providing access to, and therefore promoting understanding of, the digital world to the children of every nation prevents them from becoming excluded – and as exclusion tends to give rise to violence, this is of immediate and critical importance.

The results of an “Education and Technology” Ifop survey commissioned by L’Atelier were then presented. French parents were interviewed to assess their perception of the usefulness of digital technology in education, and to ask them about the form they felt it should take. It appears from this study that the majority of parents are in favour of the introduction of new technologies in the education of their children, particularly when the age range concerned corresponded to that of their own children!

Read the Atelier report (French)

All this information is essentially intended to introduce OLPC.
OLPC World is an American association headed by Nicholas Negroponte, a researcher at MIT, which aims to provide its small, green-and-white, extra-robust “XO” computers to all children aged 6 to 12 in the countries in the southern hemisphere, in order to enable them to access education.
The XOs have already been rolled out in many parts of the world, most notably the 396,000 XO laptops provided to Uruguay. The principle is to “reach saturation point”, so that every child has one. The laptops are distributed at the initiative either of the governments of the countries concerned, or of non-profit organisations. There is a genuine willingness on both sides to obtain access to education and to give it.
However, OLPC is not content with simply distributing the machines. They also train teachers to use them, as in Cameroon, so that they can fully master the equipment and can support the child as he or she learns to use it.
The XO runs on the Sugar environment, of SugarLabs, designed specifically for children.
The number of “activities” programmed for children is growing more and more rapidly – there are currently 237 – thanks to the contributions of the teachers and engineers who belong to the association.

OLPC France especially supports the initiatives undertaken in the Francophone world, such as the distribution of XOs in Madagascar and the translation and development of educational content, and is responsible for mobilizing volunteers and donors around the various projects.

However, if these efforts are to be successful, the help of volunteers is essential: OLPC needs translations of the activity programs as well as donations of money, time and all the energy that can be provided.