Video of activity in Sarandí Grande

Originally published by Pablo Flores on Sun, Dec 23rd, 2007
Translated by Paul D. Spradling

For those of who weren't there, this 45sec video gives you a taste of the activities that took place in Saradí Grande.

Excellent video from Fernando da Rosa. He also wrote an article about the activities.

This was last activity of the year. We hope to continue our work late-January, and give the project everything it deserves!

A Day of Activities in Sarandí Grande

Originally published by Pablo Flores on Thurs, Dec 20th, 2007
Translated by Paul D. Spradling

Yesterday we were in Sarandí Grande for the announced support session for parents and teachers that have received their laptops recently.

We were a group of seven: 3 engineering professors (Gabriel Gómez, Raquel Abella and myself), 1 psychology professor (Esther Angeriz), 1 Communication Sciences professor (Fernando da Rosa), Fernando Cormenzana, and Daniel Viñar who decided to come along since he's promoting a similar project in Bolivia.

In the morning we worked with the teachers. We were surprised to find that many rural schoolteachers have not received their laptops yet. They had already been given a basic course so we decided to give them a more in-depth look at the uses of graphics and the internet. We counted on some very valuable support material: Fernando da Rosa's Videos, which we were able to copy to the laptops so they could have them for future reference.

In the evening we received the parents, some of who brought their kids along. We started by introducing the project and giving some presentations on the theoretical use of the laptops. It was very interesting to see the parents listening attentively and the kids concentrating on tasks in the laptop. We then opened up for questions. It was amazing to see how some kids (like Valentina in the picture) have learned to use their laptops so quickly and how they put it in good use.

Being there was a great pleasure. The people were really grateful for the laptops and appreciated the help we went to provide. We arrived at the clear conclusion that there is great demand for more information, help documentation, support activities, etc. Surely, in part, it's because of the recent arrival of the XOs; they were not given the time to learn to use them sufficiently.

We hope to have a new activity in Florida before the end of the year.

More information:

• See picture and video gallery
• Previous post on project 'Flor de Ceibo'
• News announcing these activities, published in La República

Giving the Laptops: 2 Images

Originally published by Pablo Flores on Thurs, Dec 20th, 2007
Translated by Paul D. Spradling

The following extracts were sent by Cesar Barrettto, a volunteer that helped with the distribution of the laptops in Florida.

Image 1: It was on our way out of the school, the bus driver hurrying the group of '83 volunteers so we could leave. Someone brought hot water to replenish the thermoses [to drink mate]. We were happy, talking about the gratifying moments we had experienced since morning. As we turn out of the driveway, we see a family sitting on the porche of their simple block house. The father was sitting on a low stool, his wife standing on his side, three children gathered around them, one of them still with their tunic. They watched with joy how their father explored the XO, one of the kids was thrilled to explain the basics. We weren't able to take a picture, but this memory will stay with us for ever.

Image 2: We were giving the first XOs to the kids in the school for disabilities. One of the volunteers stuck the labels and scanned the laptops; we called out the kids one by one to receive their laptop. We called for 'Juan'; the principal, with a big smile, said to us: "you'll see". From behind a steel column, in the roofed patio of the old house, emerged a little kid with big cheeks and glasses, tumbling around with a great big smile. Juan has Down's Syndrome. He's happy and you see it. Everybody can tell. He received his laptop and quickly and happily tumbled back to his place. Everybody cheered. It was a party!

Thank You Cesar!

More pictures:

• Giving of laptops at the school for disabilities by Cesar Barretto
• Giving of laptops at School No. 4 in the city of Florida by Raúl Etcheverría

Inside One Laptop per Child: Episode 4

Originally published by Pablo Flores on Sat, Dec 22nd, 2007
Translated by Paul D. Spradling

Episode 04 takes us on location in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Where the first batches of XOs have been delivered and deployed. Meet the teachers using the laptops in the classroom. Where besides doing daily assignments on the machines, some students have already learned programing. Local culture has permeated the project, and as a veteran school principal explains, an improved education is set to equip a new generation of Brazilian citizens.

It's strange that OLPC is using Brazil as an example, given the recent news of brazil's apparent loss in an auction to purchase 150,000 computers for children.
The auction went to Grupo Positivo with a new version of the Classmate PC.

Inside One Laptop per Child: Episode 3

Originally published by enrique_place on Tue, Jun 19th, 2007
Translated by Paul D. Spradling

How can these laptops "talk" to each other even without widespread internet access? How is the network they create different from the network at your home or office? Episode 03 explains it all.

Source: OLPC.tv

Inside One Laptop per Child: Episode 2

Originally published by enrique_place on Tue, Apr 24th, 1007
Translated by Paul D. Spradling

Episode 02 of this series produced by Red Hat documenting the One Laptop per Child project focuses on the activities built for the laptop.


I love the minimalist offices with the walls covered in white-boards! ;-)

The following video is from Eduardo Silva's blog (Chile). Eduardo contributes to the OLPC project thru Google.

Inside One Laptop per Child: Episode 1

Originally published by enrique_place on Wed, Apr 25th, 2007.

Translated by Paul D. Spradling

First part of a video produced by Red Hat.

Red Hat has a close relationship with this project: they collaborate with developers and investigation; and a version one of their products: Fedora Core GNU/Linux, is included in the laptops.

"This is the story of the little green laptop that could. Meet the faces behind the One Laptop per Child initiative and see what they do every day in the Cambridge, MA office. Sit in on a brainstorming session. And find out what you can do to help."

"The famous" Marcelo Tossati (brasilian), can be seen participating in the project near the end of the video. He has worked in Conectiva (now Mandriva), and has been put in charge of maintaining a branch of the GNU/Linux kernel by the one and only Linus Torvalds.

Activities supporting Ceibal Project begin in Sarandí Grande

Originally published by Pablo Flores on December 14th, 2007. Translated by Paul D. Spradling.

Project "Flor de Ceibo", initiated in the Universidad de la Republica, has given rise to the collaboration between Plan Ceibal and LATU (Uruguay's Technological Laboratory). The project's general aim is to organize volunteer activities, counting with the participation of students and staff of the university. The project is in an embryonic state, but its aims are well defined:

The university will support Project Ceibal, accompanying and contributing, with the end of improving opportunity and equality in the access to the new technologies to all children in the country; generating a profound change in education.

It is expected that students and staff of the university will participate, contributing their experience to facilitate the students, teachers and parents first encounter with this new tool (the laptop).

By means of an activity of mass participation throughout the university, it is expected to contribute essential elements to the formation of the university's students. Key elements include: closer contact with the reality of the country, development of communication and expression skills, and the horizontal link with students and staff of other faculties or mayors.

We hope to generate links that will potentially give birth to projects of development, content or that will contribute national know-how. It is expected from this experience, that some students will maintain contact with the schools that they visited and that development projects with social utility will surface.

We aspire for a project of mass participation by students and staff of a variety of carriers, which will develop throughout the year 2008 in which Project Ceibal will spread throughout all rural areas of the country.

The modality of uniting, in mass, the university's students to the volunteer activities of Plan Ceibal will begin next year. Nevertheless, a preliminary activity in which only professors will participate, is already planned.

It will take place in the Sarandí Grande Theatre this following Wednesday, December 19th. The work schedule is the following:

10:00 to 10:30 Meet with teachers: Introduction.

10:30 to 12:30 Meet with teachers: Laptop utilization and email workshop. Q&A.

13:30 to 14:00 Meet with parents: Introduction.

14:00 to 16:00 Meet with parents: Laptop utilization and email workshop. Q&A.


The idea is to back off a little from exclusive school use, and to support the families so that they also take advantage of this powerful resource.

We expect everyone in the region. It is recommended to bring your own laptop.

On Students' Motivation

Pablo Flores, November 27th, 2007
(Translated by Alec McLure)

Based on a question in an earlier post, I'm making some comments on the project's influence on students' motivation.

Motivation is hard to measure quantitatively. According to the headmaster at the Cardal school, there was never any problem with desertion or any high level of absenteeism, but the latter was reduced this year (i.e., the kids were absent less than in other years). The teachers also tell us that students seem more motivated and that, in particular, they enjoy it when it's time to work with laptops.

On the other hand, additional motivation comes up when the kids take their computers home and show their parents what they have done and what they have created. In this sense, there's generalized perception that the project is helping to bring families "closer" to the school. Edith Moraes, director of the grade school, says that she's very happy that a long-existing trend is reversing itself - where it seemed that the school was going down one path and families down another.

In any case, these results are extremely preliminary given that the Cardal experience has special qualities due to it's enormous level of exposure.

We could have a new reference point in the next few days, when massive laptop distribution begins in other schools in Florida.

PS: I'll soon be adding some videos to this post.

"Special Report: Uruguay, the next Finland of Latin America"

Translated from "Reporte Especial: Uruguay la futura Finlandia de América Latina", originally published on september 18th, 2007.

That's the title of the article published on the site Un computador por niño - Chile, in which there is a very good revission of the Ceibal Project and its strategical goals.

It includes an interview made by Luis Ramírez to Sylvia González, project coordinator. It's been subtitled into English through the fav2fav blog, here it goes...

Today begins the mass production of XO laptops

According to what Walter Bender said today in the inauguration of the OLPC Learning Workshop that is being held this week in Boston, right in this moment is starting the mass production of XO laptops. Initially, it is expected to have a production of 15.000 laptops per week, which will be accelerated afterwards.

It's Official - Ceibal Project Will Begin With XO Laptops and IBM Servers

Published by Pablo Flores , Monday, October 15, 2007

Translated by Alec McLure

After the technical analysis period for the proposals presented in the call to bids and additional negotiation between Latu and the offering companies, the following have been adjudicated:

• Laptops: XO from OLPC (represented in Uruguay by Brightstar)
• School Servers: IBM servers (provided by INCO)
  
• Connectivity: Declared as deserted
  

This adjudication went through a period during which the team from Positivo (the company that offered the Classmate PC) made comments on the technical evaluation (in which they came in just under 4 points lower). Latu officially responded to these comments, coming to the conclusion that they didn't apply. At the same time, Latu pointed out that in the proposal's total scoring (which included a 40 point economic component and a 60 point technical component) there was a large scoring difference in favor of Brightstar's OX offering; this offering came in at US$199 as opposed to Positivo's $243 (which was bundled within a package of service offerings.)

Some of the XO components, like the mesh network, integrated camera, and screen resolution had a strong effect in its favor. It's worth noting that all the components which the Education Commission had requested for the laptops were included in the call for bids' technical terms and in its scoring. It also appears to be a good thing that Villa Cardal's XO laptop experience can be built on.

As far as the servers go, INCO (Interamericana Computing) made a significant offer of IBM servers with 2 gigs of Ram, 2 x 120 gig hard drives, and installation service at the price of US$610. This was the winning bid.

As regards connectivity, the proposals presented were very expensive. This was most likely due to the challenging requirements for home coverage in the call for bids. Latu's technical team along with Antel, have been doing excellent work on this and have attained the experience to do it on their own if this should become necessary.

All this information will be confirmed at a press conference to be given by Latu in the next few days.

This adjudication corresponds to what was referred to as "Phase I", initially 100,000 laptops, so the possibility of strong competition for future roll-outs (as a matter of fact, a new and noisy global player has come into view: Asus EeePC)

2nd Latin American Meeting for Presentation of One-on-One Modality Projects

Published by Pablo Flores , Saturday, October 6, 2007

Translated by Alec McLure

A second regional project analysis meeting under the heading of "One Computer Per Child and Per Teacher" will be held on October 16-18, 2007 at Montevideo's Hotel Cottage.

Representatives are expected from Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Panama, and Peru, in addition to Uruguay (download Agenda (pdf in Spanish).

This meeting is strongly supported by the IDRC and its "IT and Communications Technology for Development in the Americas (ICT4D Americas)" program.

Linux.com: "Uruguay poised to make first governmental OLPC purchase"

Lisa Hoover of Linux.com has written an interesting article about the situation in Uruguay and the world refering to the OLPC project. She used different sources of information, included an e-mail inteview she made me days ago.

Here is a quote:

Negroponte says if Uruguay places an order for XO laptops, the project is ready to deliver. "Some machines would arrive as early as December 1," he says. Complete order fulfillment depends on a number of factors. "The exact rollout of laptops ... is driven as much by other orders and the need to keep overall manufacturing smooth -- flat or upward sloping -- not with peaks and troughs, to drive the price lower and lower."

According to Pablo Flores, a team member with the Ceibal Project, the organization overseeing the implementation of laptops in Uruguay's classrooms, there is a "logistics plan to distribute the laptops school by school" once delivery is taken. Flores says the Ceibal Project team is already preparing schools for the influx of laptops. "We are working very hard to integrate the computers into the educational system. We are training teachers and working in a collaborative environment to join together the contents and applications chosen by educators, as well as sharing educational experiences."

Read the complete article.

Press - Ceibal Plan Will Buy OLPC

Originally published by enrique_place , Thursday, October 04, 2007

Translated by Alec McLure

"Commision's Report leans towards US$199 laptop"

ALEJANDRO NOGUEIRA

The formal decision is not out yet, but Latu received the report from the committee adjudicating on the bid for 100,000 laptops for schools. Nicholas Negroponte's OX scored 56.84 points and the Intel Classmate 53.06.

Yesterday Latu looked at the two companies participating in one of the largest purchases envisioned by the State for one of this administrations' most ambitious educational plans. In addition to the original 100,000 computers in the bid, there's an option for another 50,000 and for hundreds of servers (which are in a separate call for bids).

Brightstar Uruguay presented the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program, which has the units designed by Negroponte's MIT group; Grupo Positive de Brasil were there with the Intel machines. Both of these units are made in China under their designer's specifications.

Timeline. The companies now have five days to present any objections to the process - this would delay any decisions by the government, which would rather get the decision made. the official intent is to begin distributing school laptops before the end of the yeard and to roll out to all schools in the country before the end of the current administration.

Brighstar began the process by offering their computer at US$205; Positivo at US$ 274 (in their open-source Linux offering) although this unit had more memory and functionality. Latu negotiated on price, and finally the OX went down to US$199 and Intel's unit to US$258.

Grupo Positivo's proposal, which included servers, connectivity, teacher training and educational portals, also had a proposal for use of Windows and tech support in Uruguay by the Sonda company.

Brightstar's offer only includes teacher training and tech support, in addition to an additional 1% supply of machines for replacement purposes due to wear and tear. In addition, this design allows for parts that can be replaced by the children themselves.

Both machines were additionally designed to be highly impact-, water-, and dust-resistant.

Negroponte's so called "green machine" (it's apple-green) doesn't have a hard disk and uses so called open-source (non-commercial) software. This machines book-sized prototype which weighs in at 1.5 kilos (3.3 lbs) was presented at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis at the end of 2005.

These laptops are the ones being used in a pilot program to bridge the digital gap which is being carried out in the Cardal school in the Flores department [in Uruguay]. [Translator's note - see editor's comment below - it's actually "Florida" department]

Negroponte originally announced a US$100 laptop but up to now hasn't achieved that price. His plan, which originally was focused on working with large populations in poor countries, will apparently have it's first concrete expression in Uruguay.

Uruguay's inclusion in this program was obtained after convincing him that it was easier to apply the project in a small country with a relatively sparse population.

Leader in Cell-Phone Logistics

Brightstar is the Motorola cell-phone distributor used by countries such as Movistar (Telefónica) and CTI Móvil (América Móvil), both in Uruguay and in other countries in Latin America. In Uruguay, it also distributes BlackBerries and Palm [Pilots] and LG-branded products. In the Ceibal Plan bid it offered the Intel-designed computers.

Brighstar Corporation is principally a distributor and provider for value-added services for the wireless telecommunication industry. It specializes in managing inventory, logistics, fulfillment, internet-based solutions, invidual packaging and post-sale support to the cell-phone industry. World-wide, it's the third-largest provider of this type of service. The company was founded in 1997 and now takes in about US$ 4 billion annually.

In July, Intel and OLPC announced a joint agreement to take the benefits of technology to countries in development by using the synergy between their programs. Intel joined the OLPC board in which several IT big-rollers participate. Among them are Google, AMD, Red Hat, News Corporation, and Bright Star itself.

Source: Diario El País

Editor's Note:

• The bold-faces are mine, and not in the original article
• Where it's stated that "in the Cardal school in the department of Flores" - "Flores" should be "Florida" (thanks to Gabriel Menini!)

Press: "Offers of U$S 205 and U$S 270 for laptops for Plan Ceibal"

(Translated from
Prensa: "Ofertas de U$S 205 y U$S 270 por laptops del Plan Ceibal", published by Enrique Placé on Sept. 14th, 2007.)

"LATU opened yesterday (Sept. 13th, 2007) the bidding offers for Plan Ceibal's computers. Brighstar offered laptops for U$S 205 and Grupo Positivo from Brazil offered laptops between US$ 270 and U$S 300 depending on the type of machine.

The special technical committee of Uruguay's Technological Laboratory (LATU) and the National Administration of Public Education (ANEP) finished the studies of the technical offers from both companies and yesterday noon opened the economic offers. The person in charge of the bidding, former national director of industry, Miguel Mariatti, said to El País that the information about the offers will be made public after being evaluated at the LATU's board, so he declined to give details at this time.

However, from sources related to this bidding El País learned that Brighstar Uruguay SA concentrated its proposal on terminals XO for kids, with 256Mb of memory, running open software (Linux), while Positivo offered computers with 256 Mb of memory also with Linux, and 512 Mb of memory with Windows platform from Microsoft. This company made a much broader proposal that included servers, connectivity, contents, network support, training for teachers and students, and availability of educational portals.".

Complete article at: Diaro El País (in Spanish).

A day in Villa Cardal

This slideshow is made with photos taken yesterday by Pedro "el paseante", during a trip to Villa Cardal. An enjoyable art!

a

Get the photos!

Here are the photos uploaded to Cardal's school blogs with XO laptops. In addition to the published ones, there are many pictures form "draft" posts of the blog that can be seen here.

No more words.

School's blog	Photos	Show
4th form's blog	Photos	Show
5th form's blog	Photos	Show
6th form's blog	Photos	Show

Updated: Now we also have:
1st form's blog
2nd form's blog
3rd form's blog

The wallpaper of Cardal

Thanks to the contribution of Fernando Cormenzana, now we have an excellent wallpaper with pictures taken in Villa Cardal. Clicking the image you can see it in complete size for downloading.

Opening of bidding offers is delayed until next Thursday

As informed in the portal, we will have to wait one more week to know how the bidding proposals for the equipment of "Phase I" of the project are.