The XO Laptop In The Classroom

The XO Laptop in the Classroom.

First Edition
April, 2009,



GRAPHICAL SUGAR INTERFACE
This simple interface is oriented for small children. It includes a
group of applications that allow collaboration.
Sugar is oriented towards collaborative learning among children. It is
not for training office workers. For that reason, Sugar is different
from the conventional systems.
Sugar was developed with the programming language Python and
deliberately developed to contain a small amount of text, because
some children just are learning to read.

Information about the actual laptop can be found here.

The OLPC Project - “One Laptop per Child” began in 2005. It is
directed by Nicholas Negroponte, and originated at MIT
laboratories. This organization has the purpose of putting in
children’s hands that machine - the computer - designed in its
beginnings to be used only by engineers. This organization was
inspired by the ideas of the great visionary Seymour Papert, who
developed the LOGO language in 1967, to put children in contact
with the programming of computers.
Later, we find other researchers and scientists, among them Alan
Kay who developed SQUEAK for him the computer become an idea
generator for children.
In 2007, the XO laptop arrived at Peru and was a pilot research at
the elementary school Santiago Apostle of Arahuay in the mountain
region of Lima province. In 2008, 40,000 XO laptops were
distributed among approximately 500 rural elementary schools in
Peru. With this project, the Peruvian Ministry of Education made a
jump to modernize the education, including the poorest communities,
which is a worthy fact, because few countries in Latin America have
had this initiative.
In 2008, approximately 3000 elementary school teachers were
trained in the basic use and the maintenance of the XO laptop. Now,
the challenge is including it in daily pedagogical activities and
integrating this new technology in the rural school classroom.
In that sense, I would like to support the teacher’s work by offering
several ways to use XO laptop activities when working with our
students. These activities are adapted to our educational reality and
our location in the world.
Sdenka Z. Salas Pilco
Puno - PERU
April 2009