LEARNING WITH THE XO-1 LAPTOP

Luis Alberto Quiliche Villanueva

SPECIAL THANKS Committee Members: •  Young-Jin Lee (Advisor) •  Ronald Aust •  Richard Branham

INDEX •  Introduction •  Some Basic Concepts •  Literature Review •  Structure of the Peruvian Education System •  The Budget for Education in Peru •  Information and Communication Technology or Technologies (ICT) in Peru (1961) (1994) (1990-2000) (2001-2006) (2006-2011) OLPC / XO-1Laptop (2011-2015) XO-1 Laptop •  Conclusions

INTRODUCTION Why did I choose to write about Learning with the XO-1 Laptop? Hypothesis

if the XO-1laptop is used in the classroom as an educational tool, then it will help to enhance education and eliminate the so-called digital divide

SOME BASIC CONCEPTS What is the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Foundation? •  Nicholas Negroponte and other faculty members from the MIT Media Lab founded the OLPC foundation (non-profit organization) •  The foundation's purpose is focused on providing XO-1 laptops to underprivileged children from less-developed countries

What Is Digital Divide? The North Central Regional Education Laboratory and Metiri Group (2003) states the following:

It is characterized as a gap in technology access that translated into inequities in educational, economic, social, and civic opportunities among sectors of the population. (p.7)

What is the XO-1 laptop? A little green and white computer

Developed by the OLPC Foundation

Mainly built for poor children from primary school

Designed as an educational tool to close the digital divide and engage students in their own learning

What is the sugar (software)?

Developed as part of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project

The core of communication between the student and the machine

Turns the Laptop into a fun and easy to use

LITERATURE REVIEW

Positive Findings q  Made students feel pleased and enthusiastic doing their assignments by using the XO-1 laptop (Diaz,

Banchoff Tzancof, Harari, & Harari, 2006). q  Offered the promise of catching the students' attention in a nontraditional way (Ziff, 2008). q  Encouraged learners to read and write more as well as it motivated the collaboration in the classroom

(Flores & Hourcade, 2009). q  Helped students to develop skills in recording, reading comprehension and text production (Gutierrez,

2010). q  Made the classroom more attractive and enjoyable (Guimaraes, Ribeiro, Echeveste & De Jacques,

2013). q  Raised awareness on teachers about the importance of using technology in the classroom (Guitert &

Vázquez, 2013). q  Engaged students in the learning process (Fajebe, Best, & Smyth, 2013).

Negative Findings Villanueva-Mansilla and Olivera (2012) q  It was mostly used for entertainment (play games, record, download music, and so on). q  It came into conflict with the schools' institutional arrangements and Peru's educational system. q  It didn't meet the expectations of the users because the students had already had experience with

computers at commercial public access centers. As well, q  Older students recognized the XO-1 laptop as a means of communication/entertainment rather than an

educational tool (Guimaraes, Ribeiro, Echeveste & De Jacques, 2013). q  Encouraged distraction or disruption (Fajebe, Best, & Smyth, 2013).

LIMITATIONS

q  Lack of commitment by some principals and teachers (Villanueva-Mansilla and Olivera, 2012). q  Lack of internet connection (Gutierrez, 2010). q  Technical problems (Guimaraes, Ribeiro, Echeveste & De Jacques, 2013). q  Some reluctant teachers (a distractor and waste of time) (Guitert & Vázquez, 2013).

STRUCTURE OF THE PERUVIAN

EDUCATION SYSTEM q  The Peruvian education is managed by the Ministry of Education

q  Define, lead, regulate and evaluate in coordination with regional governments the educational and pedagogical policies.

Moreover q  The government recognizes and guarantees freedom of education as well as a quality education, a free

public education, and integral and universal education. q  Stages, modalities, levels, cycles and programs

CYCLES

Programs They are sets of educational activities. The national curriculum design from the regular basic

education presents a program according to each educational cycle.

THE PUBLIC BUDGET REVENUES OF PERU IN

2015

THE BUDGET TO INVEST IN EDUCATION IN THE YEAR 2015

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

OR TECHNOLOGIES (ICT) IN PERU q  Barrios states that in 1961 was created the first distance education program on TV called

“telescuela”(as cited in Balarin, 2013). q  In 1994 the Peruvian scientific network installed 40 computers to promote the public use

of Internet (Bueno, 2013). ICT in the Alberto Fujimori’s government 1990-2000 •  The educational networks unit (connecting around 200 urban secondary schools through a

dial-up network) •  Infoescuela (a robotics project/improving the quality of primary education) •  A Pilot program for distance education (reaching the most distant/remote places) ICT in the Alejandro Toledo’s Government 2001-2006 •  Huascaran program ( providing desktop computers to all levels of regular basic education

- Initial Education, Primary Education, and Secondary Education).

ICT in the Alan Garcia’s Government 2006-2011 •  The general direction of educational technologies (designing a strategy to integrate ICT into

the educational process) •  The One Laptop per Child Program (distributing XO-1 laptops at schools, but especially

those located in rural areas / a total of (thousand)850,000 XO-1 laptops were distributed )

A PILOT STUDY •  At a primary school (Apostol Santiago) from a small town called Arahuay (Gomez, 2013)

Encouraged the students to be more focused on their assignments

Motivated the collaboration in the classroom

Allowed the teachers to have a variety of features to enhance their students' learning

Fostered to the students' parents to be more involved in the education of their children

IN 2011 THE INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK ASSESSED THE OLPC PROGRAM IN PERU (BALARIN, 2013)

q  It was focused on determining the impact of the XO-1 laptop on “lengua” (language) and mathematics learning.

q  Finding out if the use of the XO-1 laptop increase the cognitive abilities of students Findings •  It did not increase neither the language learning nor mathematics learning •  However, it improved cognitive ability All programs of ICT implemented in Peru from 1961 to 2011 have been focused on coverage or access setting aside the dynamics of use, appropriation and sustainability of educational technology in schools (Balarin, 2013).

ICT IN THE OLLANTA HUMALA’S GOVERNMENT 2011-2016 The XO-1 laptop currently in the Peruvian education system

•  The dynamics of use, appropriation and sustainability of ICT ( XO-1 laptop). •  Assessing and monitoring the status and impact of the XO-1 laptop. •  Providing Internet access to more schools.

•  Training teachers in the pedagogical use of the XO-1 laptop and about other technologies.

CONCLUSIONS •  The positive results found in the literature review demonstrate and support the hypothesis

stated “the use of the XO-1 laptop in the classroom as an educational tool, will help to enhance education and eliminate the so-called digital divide.” •  Therefore, learning with the XO-1 laptop deepens and enriches student learning and educator

teaching. •  However, it is important to conduct a study that examines the negative findings and

limitations encountered in the literature review. •  The implementation of the XO-1 laptop has not been entirely successful in Peru because of

secondary factors (The lack of internet connection, technical problems, lack of educational objectives, reluctant teachers, and so on) •  In order to take advantage of the great benefits of these laptops it is important to resolve all

the negative aspects found in the implementation of the XO-1 laptop.