tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10706863448156126342024-03-13T17:57:56.485-07:00OLPC OceaniaOne Laptop per Pacific ChildOLPC Oceaniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14390283512700613300noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-22331803814709142962013-01-30T08:30:00.002-08:002013-01-30T09:05:58.270-08:00Marshall Islands launches national OLPC program<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FtLx31_Z8vQ/UQjXwBZqjCI/AAAAAAAADKs/QqOxhSC90K4/s1600/RMI+boys+group+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" height="262" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FtLx31_Z8vQ/UQjXwBZqjCI/AAAAAAAADKs/QqOxhSC90K4/s320/RMI+boys+group+-+Copy.jpg" title="Click to enlarge." width="320" /></a><br />
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Hundreds of students, parents, educators and officials gathered today in Majuro, remote capital of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), to formally launch the One Laptop per Child program in the developing Pacific nation. The launch was the culmination of more than <a href="http://www.olpcoceania.org/2011/06/marshall-is-leads-pacific-on-laptops.html" target="_blank">18 months of cooperation and planning</a> between the Marshallese people, their national government, and their development partners: the United States, the University of the South Pacific (USP), and OLPC Oceania.<br />
In attendance at Majuro's Delap Elementary School were RMI's President, <b>His Excellency Christopher J Loeak</b>, the Minister for Education, <b>Dr. Hilda Heine</b>, and the US Ambassador to RMI, the Hon. <b>Thomas Armbruster</b>. </div>
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<a name='more'></a>Delap is the first school in RMI to provide laptops for its students. 320 laptops were distributed to every student and teacher in grades 4,5 and 6. The school has full wifi coverage and the laptops connect to a high-speed optic fibre internet connection through an XS School Server loaded with many useful digital resources appropriate for Pacific learning and RMI's curriculum.</div>
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Addressing the event, Minister Heine thanked the US government for funding the project through its continued support of the Ministry of Education, and acknowledged the supporting role of USP and OLPC Oceania in bringing the project to fruition. The Minister emphasized the extensive training of teachers, the importance of e-Learning to the government's vision for education, and the MOE's plans to connect all schools on Majuro to the internet. There are already 12 solar powered VSAT ICT centres scattered across its far flung outer islands and atolls.</div>
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<a href="http://majuro.usembassy.gov/olpc_launch.html" target="_blank">Ambassador Armbruster made a strong speech</a>, engaging the children directly in his address. Producing his own "technology" - an abacus - the Ambassador noted while we have always had tools to assist our learning, the most important tool is the brain. Asking how many kids had pets, he noted that just like pets, their new laptops need to be looked after.<br />
He then recommitted the United States' ongoing support for OLPC in RMI, where there is a school-age population of about 10,000 kids. It is in the so-called "compact" nations of the mid-Pacific -- the Marshalls and the Federated States of Micronesia -- that the US government is making its only direct commitment to support national OLPC programmes. </div>
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Delap's Grade 6 kids performed two songs for the occasion, one especially composed for OLPC. Singing in Marshallese, it was easy for non-native speakers to understand when the children held up their new laptops shouting O-L-P-C. The launch attracted national media coverage, was broadcast live over local radio and was the topic of several speeches in the national Parliament. </div>
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Veteran Pacific OLPC expert, <b>Mr Ian Thomson</b>, now E-Learning Fellow at the University of South Pacific, has travelled to Majuro several times for USP in the past year to advise the RMI Government on deployment and to conduct teacher training workshops ahead of today's handover. USP signed an MOU with OLPC Oceania to support Pacific deployments in 2010. USP has been assisted by OLPC volunteer <b>Nicholas Dorian</b>, who has been in the country for several months.</div>
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As part of OLPC Oceania's <a href="https://www.box.com/keydox/1/31970050/401871150/1" target="_blank">community inclusion approach</a>, Mr Thomson conducted a community briefing last week attended by several hundred parents and community members. </div>
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"They asked some very good questions as well," said Mr Thomson. "We are now planning another session on XO basics. The next phase of the project is to launch the project in two more Majuro schools in coming months and then to five outer island schools over the second half of 2013."</div>
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RELATED LINKS:<br />
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://majuro.usembassy.gov/olpc_launch.html" target="_blank">OLPC on US Embassy in Majuro, Marshall Islands</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.olpcoceania.org/2011/06/marshall-is-leads-pacific-on-laptops.html" target="_blank">Marshall Is. leads Pacific on ICT for kids</a></li>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-60513054477170459752012-11-28T04:45:00.003-08:002012-11-28T05:39:54.765-08:00Pacific "hack" for adapting local content for the XO<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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OLPC Oceania technical field expert, <b>David Leeming</b>, reports on a neat hack to adapt for the XO content created on the still ubiquitous Powerpoint, a tool many teachers and curriculum developers in the Pacific still use every day.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>"This will help lots of people create content that will play on the XO without any special training or further modification. Only the flash codec (plug in) is needed, and a free download for PowerPoint.<br />
PowerPoint is still a tool many teachers and curriculum developers will be familiar with. But PPT does not play on the XO. However, with the Flash codec installed, a SWF file will.<br />
So all you need is a handy free PPT to SWF converter. iSpring is a great one – free plugin , just install and it appears as a tab in PowerPoint. <a href="http://www.ispringsolutions.com/">http://www.ispringsolutions.com/</a>You can also convert PPT to SWF with Open Office Impress, but it doesn’t convert all the animation. However, that will reassure the purists. Personally, I think PowerPoint with iSpring does the job better so why not use it.<br />
To play the SWF file on the XO, you can’t start it from the journal just by clicking on it – it needs to start in Browse (where the flash plug in is installed).<br />
To do this from the journal (or a USB stick) you have to start the Browse activity and then navigate to the file and it will play perfectly.<br />
Even easier on the XS Server. Just create a public folder and copy the SWF files to it."</blockquote>
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Now educators can easily use an existing legacy tool such as Powerpoint to make new content or adapt existing content for the XO: including multimedia, animation, embedded audio and so on.<br />
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<b>-- David Leeming</b>,<b> </b><a href="http://www.rurallink.com.sb/" target="_blank">Solomon Islands Rural Link</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-82988593402374431712012-11-13T08:36:00.002-08:002012-11-13T12:24:16.016-08:00PREL partners with OLPC in North Pacific<embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="500" src="https://www.box.com/embed/0e6v0vius0xg7he.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" wmode="opaque"></embed>
Hawaii-based <b>Pacific Resources for Education and Learning</b>, better known as PREL, has partnered with OLPC Oceania to provide trainings in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). OLPC’s mission to empower children through education by giving poor students access to low-cost personal laptops aligns with the work of PREL and the goals of the FSM National Department of Education (FSM NDOE). OLPC Oceania is delighted that PREL is able to bring its skills and expertise in training and capacity-building to bear on the FSM state of Kosrae, where 2000 XO laptops have "saturated" the island's school population. <a href="http://www.prel.org/media/220978/13_one_laptop.pdf" target="_blank">Read PREL's report on OLPC </a>in their Spring 2012 newsletter. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-43249452526332260452012-09-20T17:08:00.001-07:002012-09-20T17:08:59.606-07:00Students mentor their peers on XO in Australia<iframe width="400" height="225" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/08rBCczTT94" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
At Denison State School in Emerald, Queensland, several student have undergone a online course which qualifies them as "XO Experts". These students man a Help Desk. It's to them that other students turn when they have issues with the XO. Denison's OLPC Coordinator Trish Noy says:
"Students are driving this program, they take very seriously their role within the program and their leadership role within the school."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-84087075248702601632012-08-27T00:30:00.001-07:002012-08-27T00:32:46.957-07:00Fiji targets neediest kids for OLPC launch<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kutrNdnG1hI" width="420"></iframe>
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The Republic of Fiji has announced a five year plan to invest in ICT for education with OLPC at the centre of its program. At a launch in Suva last week officials from the Ministry of Education announced it has chosen three disadvantaged schools in Suva to kick off its OLPC pilot program:<br />
<ul>
<li>Nabua Sanatan Primary</li>
<li>Navesi Primary School</li>
<li>Draiba Primary School</li>
</ul>
The three schools will be receiving 800 OLPC XO 1.75 laptops in November, generously donated by OLPC Oceania's Pacific private sector partner, The Bank of the South Pacific.<br />
Meanwhile, the University of the South Pacific (USP), which signed a Memorandum of Understanding with OLPC Oceania in 2011, has been conducting teacher training for the three schools the past week and will conclude its workshop later this week.<br />
USP reports the training has been going well and the teachers are very motivated. USP adviser Ian Thomson noted there were "three teachers who have never touched a key pad before and they were very excited. You can see the light bulbs turning on!"<br />
Mr Thomson said teachers from the selected schools had been training for the past four weeks and their feedback had been positive.<br />
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Read more about the launch at <a href="http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=209672" target="_blank">The Fiji Times here</a>.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-51338373937320701882012-05-18T10:12:00.004-07:002012-05-18T10:12:34.966-07:00Report: Teacher training in PNGXO deployment expert, David Leeming was commissioned by the PNG Sustainable Development Program in April to conduct teacher training at three OLPC schools. Training was given to a total of 52 teachers in 12 schools in three provinces; namely Kisap, Jiwaka Province, Oksapmin, Sandaun Province and North Fly, Western Province. Read David's full report here:<br />
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<b>General Outcomes</b><br />
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<li>52 teachers trained to use the school servers and access the OLPC-AU training manual on the servers</li>
<li>Introduction of the OLPC-AU XO-Certification framework, which can then move on to having selected teachers enrolled online, and any donor scheme linked to the certification </li>
<li>The three groups of teachers in the three project areas brought together and with team building</li>
<li>Improved focus on the project - a set of strategies agreed on, and roles identified and agreed</li>
<li>Improved focus on educational impacts – empowering students and teachers</li>
<li>Improved curriculum linkages – XOs put into the context of the thematic (rich task) PNG primary school curriculum and lesson planning system.</li>
<li>Improved communications (text and email networking) coordinated by nominated resource persons</li>
<li>Local support improved - BU confirming Simon Nimyon to be appointed Education Officer for Oksapmin with OLPC support role, and Catholic Education Authority announcing appointment of a Horizon 3000 volunteer with OLPC support role, and Kevin Joseph in his OLPC technical support role in N Fly.</li>
<li>Infrastructure checked and all systems updated and working, with roles set in Moodle (Kevin and Simon were trained to do basic Moodle roles administration). Simon trained to install the network switches at Tominiap and Mitikinap and enable multiple access points.</li>
<li>An evaluation of the Kiunga workshop by participants (page 30) revealed that all participants who responded agreed or strongly agreed that the intended outcomes of the workshop were achieved. The weakest area (9/13 responding “somewhat agree”) was in regard to being equipped with strategies to manage the deployment. Thus, that is where the local support is most needed.<br /><br /><b>Setbacks and remaining infrastructure work: </b></li>
<li>On the last day, Yenkenai village was hit by lightning. Unfortunately it also hit the school and ran down the outdoor access point to burn out the server. Only the solar panel was found to be working. It is possible to move some eqt from Matkomnae to Yenkenai without affecting performance with their current number of laptops; thus only the server and the cables and power injector need replacing.</li>
<li>Finalbin school is using a PC as a school server. This is OK and may last for a good time, but it is advisable to replace with the dedicated small servers which are better able to run 24/7. </li>
<li>At Tekin a replacement inverter was supplied. However, before the system can be moved to the High School office where the solar panels are mounted, a network cable needs to be routed from PS office.</li>
<li>It was discovered that the sealed batteries that the Mt Hagen solar power company has been supplying, are in fact car batteries and unsuitable for deep cycle work. They may be OK if they are used only for the servers and access points, in which case a very low cycle depth will result. As they have extra batteries, three in parallel will further reduce cycle depth. However, they cannot be expected to last for a very long time. </li>
<li>The above highlights the need to acquire some spares<br /><br /><b>Strategies and Recommendations </b><br />One overall outcome of the series of training workshops is improved consensus on the priorities and strategies for a more sustainable continuing OLPC programme. The participants met and shared their views and developed some shared thinking on the way forward. Five strategy areas were identified and some practicable tasks or aims were listed. These are shown below, in a table with measurable outputs that the resource persons can try to achieve (Kevin Joseph in North Fly, Simon Nimyon in Oksapin and Steven Tela in Kisap). <br /><br />Important recommendation: A pilot project needs at some stage to be evaluated. In order for partners (such SMIT) to assess the pilot and make decisions on any extended roll out, an evaluation framework should be drawn up and then the project monitored over a period of time and lessons learned (i.e. a formative evaluation). The Solomon Islands evaluation framework (see the ACER evaluation report)is an example but we can be more or less ambitious. This needs to be agreed on by the education partners.</li>
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-24256260389730150882012-05-08T07:06:00.001-07:002012-05-08T07:06:07.619-07:00Australia donates A$11.7m to national OLPC charity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In its 2012-13 Federal Budget released tonight, the Australian Government <a href="http://www.budget.gov.au/2012-13/content/bp2/html/bp2_expense-08.htm" target="_blank">announced a huge one-off grant supporting OLPC Australia</a> for kids in remote and disadvantaged Australian schools:
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<blockquote>
"The Government will provide a one‑off grant of $11.7 million to One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Australia to support expansion of this initiative to primary school students in partnering regional and remote communities and low SES schools. This will help OLPC Australia to roll out additional custom‑built laptops to thousands of primary school students and to provide helpdesk and online support to participating schools."</blockquote>
This is a massive investment and vote of confidence in the Australian charity's programme and approach, including their <a href="http://www.one-education.org/" target="_blank">new education program</a>. OLPC Australia CEO, <b>Rangan Srikhanta</b>, and <a href="http://www.laptop.org.au/mission/people/" target="_blank">his team</a> are to be congratulated for their efforts on behalf of disadvantaged Australian children.<br />
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</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-33167273387856079702012-04-29T16:57:00.000-07:002012-04-29T16:57:52.943-07:00Bank of South Pacific donates 1000 laptops to Pacific children<b><a href="https://www.box.com/s/c6cb891d73823db08322" target="_blank">Joins regional coalition as OLPC Oceania’s Lead Private Sector Partner</a></b><br />
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, April 17, 2012 – One Laptop per Child (OLPC) and
the Bank of the South Pacific (BSP), the region’s leading bank, have announced an
exciting strategic partnership to advance South Pacific education, kicking off with a
donation of 1000 revolutionary ‘XO’ laptops to Pacific children.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Children doing what comes naturally in Patukae<br />
Marovo Lagoon, Solomon Islands. </td></tr>
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As its first act in the new role of Lead Private Sector Partner for OLPC Oceania, BSP will
donate the educational computers to children in three OLPC project schools in the
Solomon Islands and Fiji. In coming months, BSP plans to provide more support for
children in Papua New Guinea as it spearheads private sector support for OLPC.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>OLPC’s Regional Director for Oceania, <b>Mr Michael Hutak</b>, thanked BSP for its
generosity and welcomed the new partnership as a breakthrough for Pacific education.
“With BSP’s strong corporate leadership in the Pacific, its large regional branch network
and its strong commitment to community participation, we look forward to a long and
effective partnership, not just to our ongoing mutual benefit but more importantly to the
long-term advancement of Pacific education.”<br />
BSP Group Chief Executive Officer <b>Mr Ian B Clyne</b> said the new partnership was a
perfect fit with the Bank’s corporate social responsibility goals and would broaden the
reach and impact of the BSP Children’s Foundation, complementing programs such as
BSP’s widely-praised BSP School Kriket program. The partnership continues BSP’s
commitment to Pacific development and follows a recent Fiji$100,000 donation to
emergency relief efforts following the devastating floods in Fiji.<br />
As Lead Private Sector Partner, BSP will join the regional initiative OLPC Oceania,
which is a coalition of national governments, educators, donor agencies, academia, the
private sector, civil society and community organizers, all working to assist Pacific Island
countries to establish the OLPC concept in schools. Mr Hutak said BSP will bring much-
needed private sector expertise and know-how to the Pacific initiative.<br />
Currently there are OLPC projects running in 10 Pacific countries, with approximately
10,000 laptops being used by children in 50 schools. Across the globe OLPC has
distributed more than 2.4 million laptops to poor children in 40 countries.<br />
Some 200 laptops donated by BSP’s Children's Foundation will be deployed by the
Secretariat of the Pacific Community in the Solomon Islands in remote Marovo Lagoon,
the site of the first Pacific OLPC project in 2008. The remaining 800 laptops will be
distributed in two demonstration schools in Suva, Fiji, in partnership with Government of
Fiji and the University of the South Pacific. The schools
will be where Fiji's teacher and technical training will
occur.<br />
BSP plans to promote the establishment of
similar demonstration schools in Port Moresby and will
work with the PNG Govt, the World Bank and other
partners to scale up OLPC in PNG.<br />
BSP has also agreed to facilitate the collection of public
donations to OLPC Oceania projects both online and
through its branch network.<br />
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<a href="https://www.box.com/s/c6cb891d73823db08322" target="_blank">Read the Media Release for more info and media contacts</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-5678060620479639302011-11-21T17:14:00.000-08:002011-11-21T17:16:29.094-08:00Aid donors key to bridging Pacific digital divideRadio New Zealand International broadcast the following feature this week on the OLPC Pacific programme:<br />
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</div>And yesterday RNZI <a href="http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=64532" target="_blank">published the following story</a>.<br />
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<blockquote><b>Aid donors key to bridging Pacific digital divide</b></blockquote><blockquote>The regional head of the world wide ’One Laptop Per Child’ programme, says key Pacific donor agencies must become involved and help Pacific countries to bridge the growing digital divide.<br />
<a name='more'></a></blockquote><blockquote>Michael Hutak says information communication technology is at a crossroads in the region and laptops are an incentive for children to engage with schools. </blockquote><blockquote>He says donors such as the New Zealand aid programme and AusAid need to realise ICT can radically change the education landscape for the better and he says their involvement would make the scheme sustainable.</blockquote><blockquote>“The amount of money going into the Pacific in terms of aid is huge. Personnally I’d like to see more of it directed not just to OLPC but to ICT and to digital media and to the digital revolution in particular, to ensure that Pacific kids don’t get left behind.”</blockquote><blockquote>Mr Hutak says the United States Government has shown a lot of leadership in the North Pacific, with strong support for the programme in the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia, where the scheme is being evaluated as its becomes established.</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-21723379862900656132011-11-21T16:54:00.000-08:002011-11-21T17:15:53.938-08:00Lessons from Niue feed into other Pacific effortsIn terms of our regional initiative, <b>One Laptop per Pacific Child</b>, we have learnt much from our <a href="http://bit.ly/ucNQwg" target="_blank">experience with Niue</a> (which was our first donation to Pacific children), as we have from our other <a href="http://www.box.com/s/y0jrj70yym2fnotyegkp" target="_blank">early Pacific pilots</a>. For today, the primary lessons we take from Niue are that:<br />
<ul><li>national education officials need to have goal-setting, deployment-planning and resource-mobilisation in place before any laptops arrive; this now seems very fundamental and is working in our favour in countries like the Marshall Islands, FSM, Vanuatu and Fiji.</li>
<li>a full-time national ICT-for-Education coordinator should be funded within government and be responsible for coordination and rollout of the OLPC program;</li>
<li>no matter how many politicians or parents in Small Island States publicly ask international donors to invest in ICT for basic education, none will be forthcoming without the active and real support of development partners.</li>
</ul>The good news is that the countries which are just beginning their engagement with OLPC are taking these lessons on board and are benefiting from the experience of our early pilots.<br />
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<b>Lessons learned from the OLPC Pacific pilot phase:</b><br />
For an in depth analysis, see the <a href="http://bit.ly/tvDC3A" target="_blank">independent evaluation of the OLPC pilot in Solomon Islands</a>. Meanwhile some lessons learned from the OLPC Country Pilots in Niue, Solomon Islands,Papua New Guinea and Nauru include:<br />
<ol><li>The OLPC Programme enhances, strengthens and aligns with regional and country education goals and plans, including countries’ global commitments to the MDGs and Education For All;</li>
<li>There is broad country-level demand and political and community support for the OLPC programme in the Pacific;</li>
<li>Small pilots, while encouraging, provide an insufficient evidence base for policy makers;</li>
<li>It is essential that Monitoring & Evaluation systems be integrated at the outset of any OLPC programme;</li>
<li>Broader-based regional technical assistance is needed to aid country capacity building;</li>
<li>A standing stock of XO laptops and hardware peripherals should be centrally maintained in the region to efficiently feed trial deployments in a timely and cost-efficient manner.</li>
<li>There is suppressed demand for internet connectivity in rural and remote parts of the Pacific, especially schools.</li>
<li>Criteria now exists for country and community readiness to undertake a trial program.</li>
</ol>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-65041291411760729642011-11-21T16:07:00.000-08:002011-11-21T17:15:13.140-08:00Niue education winds down OLPC due to funding shortfallThe acting Director of Education in Niue, <b>Lisimoni Togahai</b>, has told <a href="http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=64467" target="_blank">Radio New Zealand International</a> the OLPC program there is to be phased out:<br />
<blockquote><u>The programme’s first two years went very well, with children’s computer literacy and understanding of issues such as climate change improving</u>. She says unfortunately the scheme is expensive to run and the Education Department hasn’t got the budget to pay technicians to service the laptops.<br />
“When the pilot ended and the school could not afford to pay for the high cost of maintaining the V-SAT that’s connected to the satellite for the internet access. So it’s just phased out.”</blockquote><br />
COMMENT: I have been unable to confirm any of these details, however as the Pacific rep for One Laptop per Child, it is distressing to read about a national program that "went very well" but is now unsustainable due reportedly to the cost of internet access.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
First it means I failed to make people aware of the capacity and benefits of these technologies even when there is no internet access. It also means however that there is still 500 XOs in the tiny country and we could still make good use of the laptops we donated to Niue at the community level, even if the DoE is ending an ongoing program.<br />
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The second point raised in the article is the prohibitive cost of technicians to service the laptops. This may well be the case within Niue's budgeting priorities for education. However there is a very active developer network of volunteers on OLPC in the Pacific many of whom have already donated their services to help small island states like Niue. Indeed the initial deployment on Niue was assisted by volunteers from Australian and New Zealand. Such human resources are still available to Niue.<br />
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Finally, if this program really is being phased out because of the cost of internet access, then it raises an issue well beyond OLPC and goes to what do we really want for basic education in this "Pacific Century". Do we really want our schools to have internet access? If yes, are we prepared to pay for it and make it a priority? Or are the pricing regimes themselves unfair and inequitable? We understand there are excellent satellite broadband internet facilities on the island close to schools. It's unfortunate that a win-win arrangement could not be struck whereby access to such facilities could be shared to the lasting educational benefit of Niue's children. <br />
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I have never been to Niue but I have met some wonderful, dedicated educators from there at several Pacific conferences. They always expressed enthusiasm for technology in the classroom and indeed for the XO laptop as a device designed expressly for children. With 500 laptops still on the island, we have not given up on Niue. We are seeking a more detailed statement from Niue's education officials, and I will be especially interested to hear some experiences on the ground from the teachers and parents.<br />
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(Any further information we can get will be shared here on our blog)<br />
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- <b>Michael Hutak</b>, Regional Director, Oceania, One Laptop per Child AssociationUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-82800113791170816392011-11-02T18:37:00.000-07:002011-11-02T18:37:06.654-07:00OLPC drives stunning gains in numeracy in remote AustraliaThe registered charity One Laptop per Child Australia has enlisted powerful private sector support to reach largely Indigenous communities in remote or isolated locations. Its work is starting to produce results in Australia's new nationwide student testing program NAPLAN, which in turn are starting to attract attention among Australian policy-makers. This week the Australian Federal MP, <b>Rob Oakeshott</b>, <a href="http://bit.ly/ujR0V2" target="_blank">told the Australian Parliament</a>:<br />
<blockquote>One Laptop per Child Australia delivers results in learning from the 5,000 students already engaged, showing impressive improvements in closing the gap generally and lifting access and participation rates in particular.<br />
Most impressive of all is the first year in Doomadgee State School in remote, largely Indigenous North-West Queensland. Doomadgee has just produced stunning NAPLAN results, <b>boosting their percentage of year 3 pupils at or above national minimum standards in numeracy from 31 per cent last year to a staggering 95 per cent in 2011</b>. Principal Richard Barrie and his teachers are using plenty of clever and different engagement strategies, but one important tool in the toolbox is the early and strong use of technology via the One Laptop per Child Australia program. I am willing to back this program and I ask the Prime Minister and the government to do likewise... I strongly urge the government to consider this program.</blockquote>In the Pacific around 8000 OLPC laptops are being used in 46 schools in 10 countries. The Pacific's major donor partners are currently considering several requests from countries to scale up and fully evaluate the program in the region. In August, the <a href="http://bit.ly/qyN6Lv" target="_blank">United States committed to partnering on OLPC </a>with the north Pacific "Compact" countries, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia, which both have embarked on OLPC programs.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-21437443612251458392011-08-20T17:26:00.000-07:002011-08-20T17:27:23.455-07:00Solar charged Haiti project points to OLPC's renewable future<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ict4dviewsfromthefield.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/p1080648.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://ict4dviewsfromthefield.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/p1080648.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
On her excellent blog, <a href="http://bit.ly/pa2qKy">Laura Hosman documents</a> an inspiring collaborative project in Haiti which installed solar power to charge 500 XO laptops in 8 days! (Plus a year of planning!):<br />
<blockquote>We did it!! We successfully carried out our first solar powering deployment in Haiti, August 3-11! The EFACAP school in Lascahobas now has the capability to charge 500 OLPC XO laptops with a direct current (DC)-only solar system. According to our research and to OLPC, our installation has the distinction of being the world’s largest single-school solar laptop charging deployment!</blockquote>Read the full post at <a href="http://ict4dviewsfromthefield.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/successful-solar-installation-in-lascahobas-haiti-to-charge-500-laptops/">ICT Views from the Field</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-59359199936044857252011-08-14T05:39:00.000-07:002011-08-14T05:46:52.941-07:00US rep at Kosrae OLPC handover: "We are your dedicated partner"<b></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-efC5zxrHSpI/Tke87HcvXOI/AAAAAAAACvQ/v5qxOh0c2MY/s200/Capture.PNG" width="175" /></span><a href="http://kolonia.usembassy.gov/speech-2011-13.html">In a speech</a> made in July 2011 at the <a href="http://olpcoceania.blogspot.com/2011/07/spotlight-on-special-ed-as-us-backs.html">official handover ceremony</a> at Tafunsak Elementary School on the remote island of Kosrae, Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), <a href="http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/59293.htm">Peter A. Prahar</a>, declared the United States "a dedicated partner" in the effort to roll out OLPC and improve the quality of education in Micronesia:<br />
<blockquote>"Thank you for inviting me to participate in this event. I can assure you from this day forth, education – or at least educational opportunities – in Kosrae will be changed forever. I certainly don’t need to tell the students this is a momentous day. They are leaning forward towards the pile of computers that will be issued after we stop talking with the biggest smiles imaginable on their faces! But of course with every change, there is anxiety. With every change, there is a need for leaders to explain the rational and value of the change and how it might be best carried out. So let me address some short remarks to this big topic.</blockquote><blockquote>"First of all, a good education is rooted in the classroom, the home, the community, and the culture. A good education requires a strong, coherent curriculum, dedicated and professional teachers, students motivated to learn, adequate resources and facilities, and parents and communities that support and value education. A good education requires enormous effort by everyone involved.</blockquote><blockquote>"Nothing about the One Laptop Per Child Program changes any of this.</blockquote><blockquote><a name='more'></a>"It is not a miracle cure for what ails you. Just like a fancy textbook, just putting this new tool in a student’s hands won’t guarantee he or she learns anything. </blockquote><blockquote>"Dedicated and professional teachers who understand the new tool will still need to see that it becomes part of a strong, coherent, and relevant curriculum. Principals will still need to make sure that the teachers are delivering well-structured, sequential programs in well-managed classes day in and day out – and that they understand this new tool. Students will still need to be motivated to exploit this new tool to advance their educations. Parents will still need to be their child’s first teacher and they still must be meaningfully involved in the formal education process in order to provide support, encouragement, interaction, and stimulus. Communities will still need to support and value the use of this new tool in getting a good education.</blockquote><blockquote>"The challenge for the students, teachers, principals, parents, and communities is enormous. The One Laptop Per Child is like a hammer in the hands of a person. The person has a choice. He can either use the hammer to break a building down or use it to build a new structure.<br />
Used ineffectively, this new tool can be used to fritter away considerable amounts of time with Facebook, MyFace online games, and all the frivolous entertainment and other distractions available on the Internet. Used ineffectively, this new tool can become an impediment to learning and personal growth.</blockquote><blockquote>"But used effectively, this new tool can open new worlds of information and opportunity. It can link the newly empowered students of this small, island community with the entire global community. It can significantly level the playing field in the highly-competitive 21st century between students on this small, island community and those lucky enough to be able to physically attend the most demanding public and private schools in the world, anywhere in the world.</blockquote><blockquote>"But while I’ve pointed out the risks and rewards of this new tool, let me also say that you have no choice but to confront them. We have witnessed in the past ten years an unprecedented growth in information - all of it digital. Digital data now accounts for well in excess of 95 percent of all information. We simply cannot talk about education in the 21st century and somehow ignore 95 percent of the available information. We simply cannot talk about education in the 21st century and somehow decide we’re going to operate at 18th century speeds with 15th century paper and print technology and 19th century thinking.</blockquote><blockquote>"By the way - this is also the reason why everyone - not just students - should be online and connected. To not go online and be connected is to shut yourself off from 95 percent of what's happening.</blockquote><blockquote>"Some more free advice: Reach out and sell this program – this new tool - to all of your stakeholders.</blockquote><blockquote>"Sell it to the students. Tell them that on the Internet they can get the same information as someone in Honolulu, or Los Angeles, or New York, or London. They can share ideas with people anywhere in the world. They can take online courses and even get a college degree in many subjects without leaving Kosrae. I recently had dinner with a group of teachers in Chuuk who had completed bachelor degree courses on line through San Diego State University in California. And it’s not only college-level work: My 15-year-old niece stayed with my wife and me last summer. While living with us on Pohnpei, she was able to take online advanced high school courses from Johns Hopkins University – one of the best universities in the world.</blockquote><blockquote>"Sell it to the teachers: Here’s an opportunity to, at long last, get the most up-to-date learning materials into the hands of your students. Here’s an opportunity, at long last, to get learning material most appropriate to an individual student’s ability level and interest into his hands. </blockquote><blockquote>"Here’s an opportunity, at long last, for your students to access online courses, such as through the online Khan Academy, that will complement and reinforce classroom work. Here’s an opportunity, at long last, to see test scores soar and their scholarship eligibility potential increase. "Most importantly, here’s an opportunity, at long last, for the students to explore, to experiment, and to express themselves – in short, to acquire the skills they will need for a lifetime of learning. </blockquote><blockquote>"Sell it to the parents: Tell them that research has shown time and again that if used properly, this new tool can significantly increase their children’s knowledge of current and past events, their ability to read and write, their self-confidence, their entrepreneurial abilities, and their motivation to learn. By the way, educators may wish to consider workshops for the parents early in the rollout process to get them involved in a meaningful way in the learning to exploit the power of the Internet.</blockquote><blockquote>"Sell it to the community: Skill in exploiting the digital age is the key to Kosrae’s future. You could talk about the growth of the global marketplace for goods and services. You could point to the firm on Pohnpei that is, from an office next to the Embassy, selling millions and millions of dollars of insurance and other financial services to Japanese businesses – all from Pohnpei.</blockquote><blockquote>"In short, a well designed One Laptop Per Child program is more—much more—than a plan and a pile of computers. A well designed One Laptop Per Child program involves more than just the department employees and students within a school system. A well designed One Laptop Per Child program will, in fact, embody and win the solid commitment and active participation of all of the stakeholders in the Kosrae education system.</blockquote><blockquote>"And, as you roll out this new tool and take other steps to upgrade the quality of the education system here in Kosrae, I can assure you that the U.S. will be your dedicated partner in the effort."</blockquote><blockquote>Thank you.</blockquote><div style="text-align: center;">---</div><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://kolonia.usembassy.gov/speech-2011-13.html">Read Ambassador Prahar's full speech at the Kosrae handover</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.prel.org/media/186748/pec_19th_july_2011_ambassador_prahar.pdf">Read Ambassador Prahar's keynote speech at the annual Pacific Educational Conference in Pohnpei,19 July 2011.</a></li>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-68505246768967357032011-08-09T23:57:00.000-07:002011-08-09T23:57:18.205-07:00UNESCO: "Education is a Human Right"A thoughtful video from UNESCO Bangkok: Children all over the world talk about the issues that affect them most.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/t5Gbi3bf2pg" width="400"></iframe><br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;">In March 2011, World Education leaders met in Jomtien, Thailand, to renew their commitment to achieving Education for All by 2015. During the meeting, statements of high-Level Asian country representatives were gathered in this video to promote education as a human right.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0nQz3cycNAw" width="400"></iframe><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;">Participants in the video are: Mr. A.K. Abdul Momen, Ambassador of Bangladesh to the United Nations; Mr. Phimmasone Luangkhamma, Minister of Education, Lao PDR; Ms Irina Bokova, Director General UNESCO; Mr. Joao Cancio Freitas, Minister of Education, Timor-Leste; Mr. Athar Tahir-Chowdhry, Secretary to Government, Ministry of Education, Pakistan; Ms Anshu Vaish, Secretary to Government, Ministry of Human Resource Development, India; Mr. Chinnaworn Boonyakiat, Minister of Education, Thailand; Mr. R. Agus Satorno, Deputy Minister for Education and Religion, Indonesia.</span><br />
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<embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="250" src="http://www.box.net/embed/mehg8ehtdjgqecm.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" wmode="opaque"></embed><br />
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Speaking Saturday at an official handover of the laptops at a ceremony in Suva, Fiji, OLPC Oceania director, <b>Michael Hutak</b>, welcomed the new partnership as a breakthrough for OLPC in the region. <br />
"This is a great day for OLPC in the Pacific," said Mr Hutak. "USP is the leading teacher training institution in the region with campuses in all 10 Pacific countries where there are OLPC projects. Governments and ministries of education will now have access to the best minds in the region for their country to using the XO laptop in the classroom. And at the Japan Pacific ICT Centre, they will now have access to the best facilities too.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Under the terms of the agreement, USP has committed to:<br />
<ul><li>House the laptops in a permanent lab at the new US$30 million Japan-Pacific ICT Centre at the Laucala Campus, Suva.</li>
<li>Ensure USP teaching students and staff have unfettered access to the XO's</li>
<li>Conduct teacher training on 1-to-1 approach in ICT in edcuation</li>
<li>Develop content for USP member countries</li>
<li>Provide technical advice on OLPC to USP members</li>
<li>Conduct research on educational impact and appropriate Pacific content</li>
</ul>Mr Hutak, who negotiated the agreement with USP Vice-Chancellor Rajesh Chandra in February, said the MOU "removes a crucial roadblock to broad and effective regional technical assistance to Pacific countries on OLPC. Since 2008, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) has been an invaluable partner on technical deployment, assisting countries to kickstart OLPC projects. Now, with USP, we have the pre-eminent academic partner joining us, putting its significant expertise and resources behind this region-wide effort. But most importantly, this MOU signals an deeper commitment from all players in the region to addressing gaps on ICT in basic education.<br />
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"This can only boost our collective efforts to bridge the digital divide -- an area where the Pacific is falling behind other regions."<br />
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Mr Hutak also praised the vision and generosity of the Government of Japan, which has designed, built and funded the new state-of-the-art facilities at the Japan Pacific ICT Centre, and which has now officially handed the facility over to USP to take forward. USP will make the OLPC lab at the centre available to trainee teachers at USP's School of Education. Leading research on educational impact and content development will be USP's Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment (FSTE). A working group to include the relevant USP Faculties, the ICT Centre, SPC, and OLPC will now be formed to take forward the effort.<br />
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The MOU ceremony came at the conclusion of the first ever <i>South Pacific ICT Expo and Symposium</i> jointly hosted by USP, the Government of Fiji and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). View OLPC Oceania's presentation at SPICTEX here:<br />
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<strong style="display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/olpcoceania/olpc-oceania-at-usp-21-jul11" title="OLPC Oceania at USP - 21 jul11">OLPC Oceania at USP - 21 jul11</a></strong><br />
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<div style="padding: 5px 0 12px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/olpcoceania">One Laptop per Pacific Child</a>.</div></div><div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-1407093863280819772011-07-22T08:01:00.000-07:002011-08-06T05:30:40.163-07:00Spotlight on Special Ed as US backs OLPC in MicronesiaMicronesia's OLPC journey is off and running with the Official Handover ceremony of 810 XO laptops on the remote island State of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosrae">Kosrae</a>. The program comes after teacher training workshops funded by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, OLPC's deployment partner in Oceania.<br />
Kosrae's program is funded by the United States, a significant and most welcome commitment from the largest aid donor in the northern Pacific, and a move that will ensure sustainability in a country heavily dependent on external aid.<br />
<i>The Marianas Variety</i> <a href="http://bit.ly/oc1Nl9">reported comments</a> by US Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia, <b>Peter A. Prahar </b>at the handover ceremony on July 7. Noting "the importance of embracing the digita l age," Ambassador Prahar challenged Kosrae's parents and teachers to use the program to “embody and win the solid commitment and active participation of all of the stakeholders in the Kosrae education system.” Proof of that commitment could be seen immediately in Kosrae's inclusion of its special education students in the launch activities.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5WRXMKmsJDA/Til9gyhuMzI/AAAAAAAACq8/NGuB4Br3pvA/s1600/Image_00004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5WRXMKmsJDA/Til9gyhuMzI/AAAAAAAACq8/NGuB4Br3pvA/s400/Image_00004.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kosrean Special Education students show off their new XO laptops .</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a>Social inclusion is at the heart of the OLPC approach in Oceania, and the provision of laptops to <i>every </i>child is a signal from tiny Kosrae -- population 6,600 -- that neither disability nor the vastness of the Pacific need be barriers to a better quality education for all our children.<br />
<ul><li><a href="http://www.mvariety.com/2011072138670/palau-pacific-news/us-supports-one-laptop-per-child-in-kosrae.php">Read the The Marianas Variety news item</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.box.net/shared/ctuvfxo0n85iz0m0zigx">View more photos from Kosrae's Official Handover</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.box.net/shared/llnx51el4l">Read David Leeming's 2010 report on teacher traning in Kosrae</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.box.net/keydox">Check out OLPC Oceania's Key Documents</a></li>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-31164961484012538842011-06-13T05:19:00.001-07:002011-06-13T15:28:04.580-07:00Marshall Is. leads Pacific on ICT for kids<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="400" src="http://www.box.net/embed/fbsaa38z0pyvnep.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" wmode="opaque"></embed><br />
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The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) kicks off its OLPC program this week with consultations between Ministry of Education (MOE) officials and representatives from the One Laptop per Child Foundation and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Following the installation in 2010 of high-speed internet via fibre-optic cable, the remote Micronesian nation is rolling out OLPC as part of the MOE's wider "<a href="http://www.box.net/shared/7sf8gkpy2sdsk1lv9eiq">Comprehensive Technology Plan</a>" for education.<br />
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<a href="http://www.box.net/shared/k6fsitchrvtquv7jvrut">OLPC is a key plank</a> in the MOE's broader vision that will see RMI "schools becoming an environment where all students and staff have ready access to the best available range of current technology, software tools, and applications." The MOE is planning an innovative rollout of OLPC that will incorporate a teachers' professional development program to ensure teachers are well prepared when the laptops come to their communities.<br />
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"The Marshall Islands' investment in technology infrastructure is being matched by investment in its people too," said OLPC's Oceania director Michael Hutak, "With the rollout of OLPC in schools taking shape with meticulous planning, RMI is ensuring the next generation will not be left behind. "<br />
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Read the RMI OLPC Project document <a href="http://www.box.net/index.php?rm=box_download_shared_file&blog&file_id=f_777551716&shared_name=k6fsitchrvtquv7jvrut" target="_blank">here.</a><br />
Read the RMI Comprehensive Technology Plan <a href="http://www.box.net/shared/7sf8gkpy2sdsk1lv9eiq">here</a>:<br />
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<a name='more'></a><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="400" src="http://www.box.net/embed/7nq42hegzcp3o19.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" wmode="opaque"></embed><br />
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The Comprehensive Technology Plan is an inspiring and visionary document, to quote:<br />
<blockquote>"As the RMI moves toward being a globally connected and information based society, the MOE has a responsibility to prepare the Republic’s young people with the 21st Century skills necessary to be successful contributing members of society locally, within the Pacific region, and globally. These include problem solving, and the ability to participate in a global technology-based community as well as cultural competencies, language skills, mathematics, science, etc. The MOE also strives to improve its own effectiveness by taking advantage of the best available communications and technology tools.<br />
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"ICT has changed the way people and cultures view and participate in the world –locally, regionally, and globally. Computers and Internet access, as well as a variety of other technologies, have very rapidly led to new sets of skills necessary to function in the work place and required for continuing education beyond high school. These developments also necessitate and provide opportunities to consider new ways of teaching, learning, and understanding schooling."<br />
<br />
"The MOE envisions ... schools will be places where students are engaged in a challenging curriculum and are comfortable using technology to contribute to and enrich their learning. A community where teachers have the knowledge and skills to integrate technology into a challenging and interdisciplinary curriculum which addresses students' specific needs, developmental levels and learning styles, and use technology to support learning across the curriculum. All administrators, teachers, and other Ministry staff will use technology on a regular basis to effectively help students attain high standards and prepare for tomorrow's world of work."</blockquote><blockquote></blockquote></div>OLPC Oceaniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14390283512700613300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-53641025651928070672011-05-22T22:20:00.000-07:002011-05-22T22:21:59.338-07:00OLPC Oceania at UN Asia Pacific Forum, Bangkok<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="__ss_8061899" style="width: 410px;"><span style="display: block; margin: 12px 0 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/olpcoceania/olpc-oceania-itu-unescap-regional-forum-bangkok-19-may-2011" title="OLPC Oceania - ITU UNESCAP Regional Forum Bangkok -- 19 May 2011">APAC Regional Forum on ICT Applications, Bangkok</a>, hosted by ITU, UNESCAP and the Government of Thailand.</span> <iframe frameborder="0" height="355" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/8061899" width="410"></iframe> <br />
<div style="padding: 5px 0 12px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/olpcoceania">One Laptop per Pacific Child</a> </div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-8667316473575746092011-05-15T10:18:00.000-07:002011-05-15T10:18:17.089-07:00"Let me add something raw and home based..."<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lEMd_A_6mcI/TQ8wnPMvXbI/AAAAAAAAAyE/9UIKWJC21Hs/s1600/trip+to+solomons+296.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lEMd_A_6mcI/TQ8wnPMvXbI/AAAAAAAAAyE/9UIKWJC21Hs/s400/trip+to+solomons+296.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>In this recent post to a mailing list for Pacific educators, Brian Bird, the principal at Patukae College in the Marovo Lagoon, Solomon Islands, makes a passionate grass roots case for OLPC :<br />
<blockquote><blockquote>"Let me add something raw and home based to my previous article ... yesterday. Patukae CHS is one of the OLPC projects project in the Solomon. While it is true that technology does not in itself responsible for driving change, it is a tool that can be used to drive change in learning and in commitment to learn. In for instance which is one of the pilots in the OLPC project we accepted OLPCs as tools and we invested efforts to make them work.<br />
<a name='more'></a></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote>"We ran training programme for teachers, and students, and we provided back-up support to both teachers and students and the results have been quite exciting. Student literacy rates have gone up. The overall academic performance of students with laptops had increased and we have seen increase in school pass rates since the introduction of laptops. The attitudes of students with laptops have changed; they are more active in their learning objectives. Parents have also becoming more engaged in their children’s learning and some of them have even improved their own English literacy through the use of the reading and pronunciation tools in the OLPC.</blockquote><blockquote>"We at Patukae College have definitely found the OLPC very useful. They have pushed the boundaries of Education, they have given teachers more option and ideas, and it has enabled students to learn in a different way. To make it work we took its vision, drive and commitment, and a belief that used properly, this tool can make the difference our rural schools are looking for. It is very easy to knock technology on the head, very easy to question its legitimacy, its usefulness, but let us not forget that we who can communicate are the lucky ones, we have the opportunity to have computers, they have helped us. For the first time similar opportunities are given to children in the rural areas at Patukae and they are now realising the same opportunities that some of us have been taking for granted.</blockquote><blockquote>"In elevating this ICT innovation to another height, Patukae CHS in collaboration with most of the leading Primary Schools in Marovo Lagoon started last year and currently is through an UNESCO project launched a Marovo Wiki educator program that can globally accessed. Teachers from these schools were brought together to learn wiki skills to enable them use the skills in devising lessons both in English and in Marovo vernacular with the aim that most of these lessons should be uploaded to the Marovo Wiki/Wiki educator online. </blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote>"This is ICT in action right in the classroom and our teachers and students used the OLPC to make this work. With the introduction of OLPC into its classroom, Patukae see opportunities through the challenges and decided to move on realising the potential ICT can bring to its populace. In that view point I would call on for more support towards ICT expansion in Schools. Let us not criticise the technology, nor those that are trying to help. But rather ask the question, what can I do to add value to this initiative. At Patukae we take the view that we need to empower our teachers so that they in turn can empower our students. There is no point always looking at the empty portion of the ‘half-filled bucket of water’; rather we should be asking the question, how can I fill the rest of this bucket of water so that can achieve its full potential?</blockquote><blockquote>"I support the OLPC programme and what it sets out to do. I have seen the benefits it has provided to those that have received it. It is my hope countries can put in place mechanisms that will empower teachers to empower children but also processes that will objectively evaluate the impact of this technology in the education of our children into the future because the outcome of such evaluations will add more weight to the effectiveness of OLPCs as an effective learning and communication tool..."</blockquote></blockquote>Find out more about OLPC in Marovo:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="http://olpcoceania.blogspot.com/2010/04/new-solomons-study-puts-hard-evidence.html">New Solomons study puts hard evidence of OLPC's positive impact</a></li>
<li><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/dIQwF/~3/Mw2_Dy9NJ9E/decade-ago-solomon-islands-was-still.html">Solomons' Marovo pioneers a new "Pacific way"</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/jR0qGh">Solomons kids use XO and Wiki to bring encyclopedia to life</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/maXJXd">OLPC pilot in Patukae thriving one year on</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/jwVrXb">All eyes on Solomons as evaluation gets underway</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/jU63fQ">Solomons endorses scale-up of OLPC pilots</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/kdOxXm">OLPC in the Solomon Islands</a></li>
</ul><a href="http://bit.ly/jR0qGh"></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-69455125109716166532011-04-28T18:08:00.000-07:002011-04-28T18:08:44.816-07:00Teachers using technology to humanise the classroom<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Founder Salman Khan talks to Bill Gates at TED 2011 about the concepts behind the Khan Academy, an online service providing "self-paced learning" that frees up teachers to focus on providing individual attention to meet individual student needs and encourages "peer-to-peer" teaching among students themselves. Khan has uploaded more than 2100 videos and 100 self-paced exercises and assessments covering everything from arithmetic to physics, finance, and history. Khan is American but his videos have become a global phenomenon. Do Pacific educators see any value in these approaches?<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gM95HHI4gLk" width="400"></iframe></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-42482562805358545682011-04-11T15:21:00.000-07:002011-04-11T15:21:48.124-07:00Essay: One Laptop per Pacific Child<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nJbP1opigms/TaN-ni51XcI/AAAAAAAACC0/c3sY5t2ckd8/s1600/cooks_first-schgool_mitiaro+%25286%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nJbP1opigms/TaN-ni51XcI/AAAAAAAACC0/c3sY5t2ckd8/s200/cooks_first-schgool_mitiaro+%25286%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OLPC Cook Islands pilot.</td></tr>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>As the world grows smaller, our common humanity will reveal itself.</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: right;"><i></i>-- US President Barack Obama, Inauguration Speech, 2009</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">If they are lucky enough to attend school, today’s six year olds will graduate in twelve years, in 2023. The pace of technological change is so astounding, how can we know what 2023 will even look like?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Consider for a second life twelve years ago. In 1998, internet access in global terms was slow, narrow and novel. Today it is fast, broad and approaching potential ubiquity. In education, how do we prepare children for a world we cannot predict? What should education be when information is just a few clicks away?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Here are some things we do know about the school leavers of 2023:</div><a name='more'></a><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><ul><li>They will be competing for jobs on a global market.</li>
<li>They will be working with as yet undeveloped computational devices, many in still to be imagined industries, in digitally connected communities.</li>
<li>They will need twentyfirst century skills to succeed: information literacy; critical thinking; and a capacity to innovate and create.</li>
</ul><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Addressing these issues, One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is a global, non-profit organisation dedicated to creating educational opportunities for the world’s poorest children. OLPC views education as the key to overcoming poverty, and as the creator, manufacturer and distributor of the ground-breaking XO laptop, it works with governments and educators to supply rugged, low-cost, low-powered, connected laptops, loaded with educational software, to children in developing countries.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The brainchild of researchers and educators of MIT’s renowned Media Lab, designed especially for children aged six to twelve years old, the XO is a special object. Unveiled at Davos in 2005 as the ‘hundred dollar laptop’, it became an instant icon of twentyfirst century design, a landmark in computer innovation, the epitome of disruptive economics, and a symbol of hope to millions of children across the developing world.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The XO has been in the vanguard of a global revolution in bringing information and communications technology into the classroom (of which Australia’s own ‘Digital Education Revolution’ is a largely unacknowledged lamplighter). OLPC is designed to be a national program mainstreamed into the education system and more than two million XOs have been distributed in over forty countries, including Uruguay, Peru, Pakistan, Palestine, Nepal, Haiti, Rwanda, Afghanistan and remote Australia.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">OLPC also adopts the ‘one-to-one’ approach whereby every child is given their own device to keep, take home and share with their families and community. Giving every child a device is analogous to an inoculation against exclusion from the ‘digital divide’– that gap in equitable access to the internet and the digital domain between rich and poor countries, and between the rich and the poor within all countries. Progress on bridging these gaps is now widely accepted as a key indicator of human development.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Now the XO has come to the Pacific. In 2011 there are more than 6,000 children with XO laptops in forty-one schools in ten Pacific Island countries: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.</div><blockquote><i><b>what should education be when information is just a few clicks away?</b></i></blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">One Laptop per Pacific Child is a regional initiative to provide an XO loaded with appropriate Pacific content and open source software to every Pacific child in basic education. We are seeking to reach more than 700,000 children in schools across twenty-two Pacific island nations, a goal that acknowledges just as many children attend no formal schooling whatsoever. A coalition of partners called OLPC Oceania is linking individual country programmes to region-wide technical assistance.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">In January, the tiny Micronesian state of Kosrae took possession of 800 XO laptops, enough to cover more than half the island’s senior primary school population in years 4, 5 and 6. A key task Kosrae’s educators have set their students is to adapt the operating system of the computer into the native Kosrean language, in time for next year when grades 1, 2 and 3 will get their laptops. This will have a positive impact on this cohort’s lifelong economic prospects, but we won’t start to see the results until the 2020s when many will embark on twentyfirst century careers that their parents would never have imagined possible.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Similar stories are being written all over the Pacific, and while heartwarming at first blush, these are but baby steps for the region, dwarfed in scale by deployments elsewhere in the world, such as Latin America, where in Peru alone there are some 870,000 laptops in use.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Why has the Pacific take-up been slow? It hasn’t been for lack of political will. In 2007, the leaders of twenty-two Pacific nations publicly resolved to test the XO in their primary schools and education systems. National leaders of ten Pacific countries have made explicit formal requests for support from donors to support their government to introduce OLPC. As OLPC’s Pacific representative, I have been petitioning the donors to listen.</div><blockquote><b><i>an unskilled worker in the Solomons takes a week to earn </i><i>what an unskilled Australian </i><i>earns in an hour</i></b></blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">If country demand is strong, it’s because the needs are enormous. In 2011 the people of the Pacific face challenges arising from poverty, climate change, globalisation, natural and human-made disasters, rapid population growth and increasing rates of urbanisation. These forces are impacting the natural environment, traditional cultures and practices, food security, local markets and livelihoods, communities and families.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">In wealthy, developed Australia we forget that six of the world’s fifty designated ‘Least Developed Countries’ are right in our ‘backyard’: Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">An unskilled worker in the Solomons takes a week to earn what an unskilled Australian earns in an hour. In Kiribati, a child’s first birthday is the most celebrated milestone, since so many fail to meet it. Many small Pacific economies face long-term if not permanent dependence on foreign aid and remittances from expatriate diasporas.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">If donors fail to equip Pacific children to meet these challenges we put them at an even greater disadvantage. We will be handing the baton to a new generation less able to support and raise their own families, and more vulnerable to social disintegration. As adults, they will risk being left behind, a destructive legacy they will pass on to their own children.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">However Barack Obama’s quote reminds us that there are options. We can choose to help the children of the Pacific secure their future. We can give a child a laptop today which can extend her education, broaden her knowledge, expand her skills, and unlock her creative potential. Here in 2011, at a time when Australia rolls out a Digital Education Revolution, the question is not whether laptops for Pacific children are appropriate, but whether we are going to be early or late in supplying them.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: right;"> -- <b>Michael Hutak </b>is Director, Oceania, One Laptop per Child Foundation.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">First published by <a href="http://www.ethics.org.au/living-ethics/one-laptop-pacific-child">St James Ethics Centre</a>.</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-15538023271287978042011-03-05T09:02:00.000-08:002011-03-05T09:02:25.644-08:00Young iKiribati plug into Facebook to raise climate change alarm<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zNjCW5_N1sM" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe></div><br />
<a href="http://www.unicef.org/pacificislands/">UNICEF Pacific</a> reports young iKiribati are using Facebook to tell the world they are experiencing a disaster that is slowly and steadily eroding their culture and home. Kiribati President Anote Tong calls again on the international community to take action on climate change.<br />
<br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-75781426013810929932011-02-22T17:37:00.000-08:002011-02-22T17:50:07.920-08:00OLPC calls for Australia’s Aid Program to Bridge the Digital Divide<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OzLIK3K80TA/TWRWBZkZ3MI/AAAAAAAABYs/knGTFoP8E-c/s1600/trip+to+solomons+314.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OzLIK3K80TA/TWRWBZkZ3MI/AAAAAAAABYs/knGTFoP8E-c/s200/trip+to+solomons+314.jpg" width="200" /></a>The OLPC Foundation has <a href="http://www.aidreview.gov.au/publications/sub-onelaptop.pdf">made a submission</a> to the Australian Government's <a href="http://www.aidreview.gov.au/">Independent Review of Aid Effectiveness</a>.<br />
While other agencies <a href="http://bit.ly/gntxdn">scale up</a> their commitment to <a href="http://www.usaid.gov/div/">innovation</a> in aid delivery, we note in our submission that Australia's contribution to global efforts on bridging the digital divide has been insufficient. We make the case that:<br />
<blockquote>"From the perspectives of humanitarian aid, human development and human rights, contributing to global efforts to bridge the digital divide needs to become an urgent and central priority of Australia’s aid program."</blockquote>We argue that Australia’s aid agency needs to develop a substantial, coherent, and overarching digital strategy with respect to the delivery of its programs and the conduct of its activities. <br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Read <a href="http://www.aidreview.gov.au/publications/sub-onelaptop.pdf">our submission to the review here</a>, or download the document here: <br />
http://www.aidreview.gov.au/publications/sub-onelaptop.pdf</li>
</ul><a name='more'></a>BACKGROUND: Australia is the major bilateral donor to developing Pacific countries and under the leadership of Mr Rudd, first as Prime Minister now as Foreign Minister, it has shifted its core sectoral focus in recent years to education. This shift culminated in last year's commitment to spend US$5 billion on education in developing countries as Australia's key contribution to meeting the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. This investment in the world's children is the centrepiece of Australia's bipartisan MDG commitment to double its aid program to 0.5 per cent of GDP by 2015. It is in this context of "doubling aid" that Mr Rudd announced the review of Australia's aid and development program, the first since 1996.<br />
<br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1070686344815612634.post-15393943070324493512011-01-19T05:30:00.000-08:002011-01-19T05:30:38.988-08:00FAO feeds young minds on responsible aquaculturePacific educators looking for appropriate content for OLPC Oceania XS school servers should investigate the exhaustive <a href="http://www.feedingminds.org/fmfh/fisheries-aquaculture/resources/en/">array of online resources</a> collected by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for its <a href="http://bit.ly/gmzPCm">Feeding Minds Fighting Hunger</a> initiative. FAO, the UN agency leading international efforts to defeat hunger, has produced a rich online educational resource on all aspects fisheries and aquaculture. It includes a learning module of special relevance to our region, ‘<a href="http://www.feedingminds.org/fmfh/fisheries-aquaculture/wonders-of-the-oceans/zh/">Wonders of the Oceans</a>’, which aims to:<br />
<blockquote><div class="bodytext">"...teach 8-12 year olds the importance of conserving our aquatic resources through responsible fisheries and aquaculture. We have selected six major themes to learn and explore the world’s oceans: the richness of the oceans; creatures inhabiting the oceans; food from the oceans; people who depend on the oceans; bad and good practices and their impacts on the oceans; the importance of acting responsibly regarding the oceans. </div><div class="bodytext"></div><a name='more'></a>Each theme includes lessons containing the core learning content and curious facts with associated activities (both group and individual) and additional information. There are a total of 17 lessons. <br />
<div class="bodytext">At the beginning of each lesson, students will follow the amazing journey of Captain Costa, the experienced captain of a fishing boat, and Lisa, his 12-year-old granddaughter. Together they will discover the wonders of the oceans and students will learn through these experiences. </div><div class="bodytext">To set the stage, each lesson is prefaced by a short exchange – either through a conversation or a postcard – involving Captain Costa and Lisa. </div></blockquote>In 1995 the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries was adopted by 191 countries at the FAO Conference. This signalled a major step in promoting the move towards acting responsibly in regards to all aquatic resources and their ecosystems. Through the learning achieved in these lessons, FAO hope that students the world over will understand the importance of the Code.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0