S PR I N G 2 0 1 2 , O L P C A S S O C I AT I O N N E W S L E T T E R 1

o n el a p t o pp e rc h i l d

O LPC g o e s a ro u n dt h e w or l d COVER STORY

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o n el a p t o pp e rc h i l d

De ar Friends,Thank you very much for your enthusiastic and generous support of One Laptop per Child. Without your kindness, we would not be able to re a lize our mission of bringing a brighter future to the world’s poorest and most margina lized children.

OLPC had a strong 2011 during which we made substantia l progress on a number of fronts. We expanded projects in Colombia, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Mexico, Argentina, Armenia, the Philippines, Austra lia and Rw anda. We conducted dozens of le arning workshops, te acher tra ining sessions and XO camps around the world. We completed the development of the XO 1.75, which will go into production this month. We deepened partnerships with Marvell, Genera l Mills and P&G, and established new partnerships with the Knight Foundation and MTV. Best of a ll, in our travels to Africa, Latin America and Asia, we experienced the excitement of thousands of children using their laptops to connect to the world.

2012 is off to a very exciting start. Together with Marvell, we debuted a functiona l model of a tablet at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. With the Knight Foundation, we launched our first U.S. project at the Holmes Elementary School in Miami. We are in advanced discussions with severa l governments in Africa about expanding our presence on that vast continent.

Given these developments we think it is important for us to keep you updated on our progress. This newsletter, which we will publish on a quarterly basis, will include stories about our deployments, partnership initiatives, and more. It will complement our website, blog and socia l media channels in providing the most up to date information on a ll things OLPC.

From the entire te am at OLPC, thank you for your ongoing support of our mission.

Sincerely,

Rodrigo ArboledaCha irman and CEOOne Laptop per Child Association

EDITORIALNote from the CEO

Note from the CEO

Around the worldThe Americas •

Africa •

Partner programsGenera l Mills launches Win & Give Campa ign to •

support kids in AfricaM arvell and OLPC are the ta lk of CES 2012 •

OLPC and San Francisco Sta te University •esta blish p artnership

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IN THIS ISSUE

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T h e A m e r i c a s : M i a m i , F LStudents receive XO laptops at Holmes Elementary School in Miami.

The John S. and Ja mes L. Knight Found a tion and OLPC have launched a digita l literacy effort a t the Holmes Elementary School in Mia mi’s Liberty City neighborhood. At the end of Janu-ary, there w as gre a t excitement a t the school when XO la ptops were distrib-uted to a ll 525 students.

“Access to the Internet and digita l skills are vita l for success in tod ay’s connected world,” sa id Jorge M artinez, who le a ds Knight Found a tion’s Univer-sa l Access Initia tive. “We hope the la p-tops help these e a ger young minds a t Holmes Elementary to become digita l

OLPC  launches  first  U.S.  deployment  in  Miami

A r o u n d t h e w o r l d

na tives who are more informed and eng a ged in their classrooms and their community.”

Along with the XO la ptops, OLPC is providing in-house tra ining a t the school for p arents, te achers and stu-dents on how to use the computers to a dvance students’ le arning. The la p-tops come equipped with tools tha t a llow students and te achers to work more closely together. In re a l time, stu-dents can follow their te achers’ work on their la ptop, or work colla bora tively on projects. In a ddition, OLPC is assist-ing in cre a ting a loca lized curriculum tha t helps kids meet their aca demic benchm arks.

Holmes Elemen-tary School, which serves the m a jority of Liberty City resi-dents, is a t risk of closing a t the end of the ye ar if its sta te test scores do not improve. In an ef-fort to boost perfor-m ance, a variety of tools and resources are being used to enhance te aching and le arning, in-cluding the la ptops and tra ining.

“With this project, every child will car-ry le arning in the p a lm of their hand

and we will be one step closer to lev-eling the educa tiona l playing field in Mia mi,” sa id Atunya Wa lker, Holmes Elementary School princip a l.

M E X I C O

U R U G U A Y

C A M E R O O NR W A N D A

M I A M I

N I C A R A G U A

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N i c a r a g u a

M e x i c o

C h i l d r e n o f O m e t e p e c o n n e c t e d t o t h e w o r l dOn February 29, the Z a mora Teran Found a-tion, Banco LAFISE Ban-centro and OLPC deliv-ered 5,000 XO la ptops to connect the children of the Island of Ometepe to the world. Ometepe w as formed by two volcanoes rising from Lake Nicara-gua. Its na me is from the N ahua tl words ome (two) and tepetl (mounta in). As of June 2010, Ometepe

beca me an interna tion-a lly designa ted protect-ed are a as p art of the UNESCO Biosphere Re-serve progra m.

In 2009, LAFISE Ban-centro provided a $1 mil-lion seed investment for the Z a mora Teran Foun-d a tion. The Roya l Dan-ish Emb assy dona ted an a dditiona l $1.5 million. Other priva te donors have since m a de gener-

ous contributions.To d a te, 25,000 XO la p-

tops have been distribut-ed to children in schools across Nicara gua. The Z a mora Teran Found a-tion coordina tes and executes XO purchase logistics and insta lla tion and provides a high level of technica l support. A ped a gogica l tra ining plan has been devel-oped with the support of

On February 21, officia ls of the sta te of Sonora, loca ted in the northwest region of Mexico, hand-ed out 5,000 XO la ptops to children as p art of the sta te’s larger plan to ex-tend digita l connectivity to a ll its citizens. In ac-cord ance with the UN’s declara tion of Internet access as a b asic hu-m an right, Sonora is the first sta te in Mexico to esta blish connectivity as a hum an right in its Con-stitution.

The OLPC project in So-nora will be implement-

ed by Nueva Generación Sonora A.C. (New Sonora Genera tion), a nonprofit org aniza tion whose goa l is to provide every child in the Sta te access to the knowledge economy through stra tegic use of inform a tion and com-munica tion technologies and progra ms.

During the next three ye ars, 350,000 XO la p-tops will sa tura te a ll elementary schools in Sonora. In a ddition, XO la ptops will be distrib-uted in 100 community centers tha t will offer

connectivity as well as technica l and ped a gogi-ca l support to students and te achers, thus a llow-ing loca l projects to ben-efit their communities. The OLPC project has the full support of Governor Guillermo Pa dres and the m ayors of Sonora, as well as the Socia l De-velopment Secretaria t (SEDESOL) of the Federa l government.

“Improving children’s educa tion is a key goa l for my a dministra tion,” sa id Governor Guillermo Pa dres of the Sta te of So-nora. “Society and gov-ernment must work to-gether to support projects tha t will ensure a better future for a ll our citizens. Educa tion is everyone’s responsibility.”

Sonora is the la test Mexican sta te to launch an OLPC progra m. In

a qua lified educa tiona l te a m and facilita tes the integra tion of the XO into the existing Ministry of Educa tion Elemen-tary School Curriculum. Schools p articip a ting in the OLPC project must meet specific selection criteria. Te achers play a key role in the use of the XO la ptop, incorpora ting it into d a ily planning and classroom activities.

September 2010, 500 XO la ptops, funded by Procter & G a mble, were distributed to indige-nous children in San Fe-lipe del Progreso, Sta te of Mexico.

In August 2011, the Genera l Dep artment of Indigenous Educa tion of the Ministry of Edu-ca tion distributed 1,800 XOs to remote schools in the Sta te of N ayarit in Western Mexico. As p art of this project, the Sug ar le arning environment is being transla ted into severa l indigenous lan-gua ges – Huichol, Cora and Mexicanero.

Nineteen hundred XOs are also in the process of being distributed to children in the State of San Luis Potosi in North-Central Mexico. For this region, Sugar has being translated into Teenek.

“Knowledge   and   skills  have   become   the   global  currency   of   21st-century  economies,   but   there   is  no  central  bank  that  prints  this  currency.  Everyone  has  to   decide   on   their   own  how  much  they  will  print.”  Andreas Schleicher,  Specia l Advisor on Education Poli-cy to the Secretary Genera l, He ad of the Indicators and Ana lysis Division Directorate for Education, OECD

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U r u g u a yF i r s t c o u n t r y t o g e t n e w m o d e l X O l a p t o p

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Since the beginning of OLPC, Uru-guay has been a t the forefront of providing its children access to a modern educa tion. By mid-2010 Plan Ceib a l achieved complete la ptop sa tura tion, providing XO la ptops to a ll 570,000 prim ary school children in the country. The project recently ordered 60,000 XO 1.75s in order to take a dvanta ge of the m any bre akthrough hard-w are and softw are fe a tures in the new model.“We are d e e p l y c o m m i t t e d to m aking One La ptop a Child a re a lity for a ll our children b e c a u s e we believe tha t digita l fluency is e s s e n t i a l to a 21st century educa tion,” sa id Miguel Brechner, Director of the Technologica l La bora tory of Uruguay and in charge of Plan Ceib a l.The XO 1.75 provides significanta dvances in technology tha t

reduce power consumption and m ake the la ptop more rugged for children’s use. This is the first la ptop produced by OLPC to incorpora te an ARM-b ased processor from M arvell, a le a ding glob a l semiconductor comp any tha t has colla bora ted closely with OLPC on technology development. The M arvell Arm a d a 610 processor in the XO 1.75 uses very little power, 4

w a tts when in use and 200 milliw a tts when idle, which is a quarter of the power consum p t ion of other processors on the m arket.The XO 1.75 will also feature a new o p e r a t i n g

system rele ase with the newest version of the Sug ar le arning environment. Developed under OLPC’s le a dership with contributions from the Sug ar development community, the new version of Sug ar includes significant improvements in usa bility, perform ance and e ase of discovery of how Sug ar itself works.“We sa lute Plan Ceib a l for its le a dership in providing a ll Uruguayan children access to a modern educa tion,” sa id Rodrigo Arboled a, Cha irm an and CEO of the One La ptop per Child Associa tion. “Uruguay is a gre a t exa mple of a well-planned, well-executed deployment tha t is having a positive imp act on children’s educa tiona l development.”

“The XO la ptop empowers children by

a llowing them to explore the world, be cre a tive,

le arn by doing and colla bora te and share with their classm a tes

and communities.”

Becomes first OLPC hub in Francophone West Africa

Exp ands deployment to 210,000 children

Ca meroon

Rw and a    

Thanks to the Isla mic Development Bank, 5,000 XO la ptops are on their w ay to prim ary school children in the West African na tion of Ca meroon. The proj-ect will initia lly sp an 51 schools in six re-gions; planning is underw ay to extend the deployment across the country.

This deployment esta blishes Ca mer-oon as OLPC’s hub in francophone West Africa. A te a m from Ca meroon’s Min-istry of Educa tion has provided tra ining assistance to an OLPC project in M a li and other countries in the region are ex-

pected to launch OLPC projects in 2012.Grassroots OLPC initia tives have

sprung up in Ca meroon since 2008. With funding from the Isla mic Devel-opment Bank the project will begin to sca le and re ach m any more children.

Ca meroon has one of the high-est school a ttend ance ra tes in Af-rica. Most children have access to free, sta te-run schools or subsidized priva te and religious schools. Most instruction is in English or French.

The OLPC project continues to exp and in Rw and a. Since the arriva l of the first 750 la ptops a t the Rw a m a g ana B school in 2007, 110,000 XOs have been distrib-uted to schools throughout the country.

Taking the next m a jor step to-w ard its goa l of providing la ptops to a ll 1 million children in prim ary gra des 4-6 by 2017, the government of Rw and a has recently ordered an a dditiona l 100,000 la ptops to be dis-tributed to schools in rura l are as.

OLPC provides comprehensive sup-port services to the Ministry of Educa tion

te a m implementing the OLPC initia tive. These services include te acher-tra ining workshops, holid ay and summer le arn-ing ca mps, assistance with content development and curriculum integra-tion, and p artnership development.

The OLPC project is p art of the government’s Vision 2020 plan to transform Rw and a from an a gricul-ture-b ased economy into a knowl-edge-b ased economy. It is change m ana gement on a very large sca le and educa tion is a critica l component.

A r o u n d t h e w o r l d : A f r i c a

6 S PR I N G 2 0 1 2 , O L P C A S S O C I AT I O N N E W S L E T T E R

Becomes first OLPC hub in Francophone West Africa

Exp ands deployment to 210,000 children

Ca meroon

Rw and a    

Thanks to the Isla mic Development Bank, 5,000 XO la ptops are on their w ay to prim ary school children in the West African na tion of Ca meroon. The proj-ect will initia lly sp an 51 schools in six re-gions; planning is underw ay to extend the deployment across the country.

This deployment esta blishes Ca mer-This deployment esta blishes Ca mer-This deployment esta blishes Ca meroon as OLPC’s hub in francophone West Africa. A te a m from Ca meroon’s Min-istry of Educa tion has provided tra ining assistance to an OLPC project in M a li and other countries in the region are ex-

pected to launch OLPC projects in 2012.Grassroots OLPC initia tives have

sprung up in Ca meroon since 2008. With funding from the Isla mic Devel-opment Bank the project will begin to sca le and re ach m any more children.

Ca meroon has one of the high-est school a ttend ance ra tes in Af-est school a ttend ance ra tes in Af-est school a ttend ance ra tes in Africa. Most children have access to free, sta te-run schools or subsidized priva te and religious schools. Most instruction is in English or French.

The OLPC project continues to exp and in Rw and a. Since the arriva l of the first 750 la ptops a t the Rw a m a g ana B school in 2007, 110,000 XOs have been distrib-uted to schools throughout the country.

Taking the next m a jor step to-w ard its goa l of providing la ptops to a ll 1 million children in prim ary gra des 4-6 by 2017, the government of Rw and a has recently ordered an a dditiona l 100,000 la ptops to be dis-tributed to schools in rura l are as.

OLPC provides comprehensive sup-port services to the Ministry of Educa tion

te a m implementing the OLPC initia tive. These services include te acher-tra ining workshops, holid ay and summer le arn-ing ca mps, assistance with content development and curriculum integra-tion, and p artnership development.

The OLPC project is p art of the government’s Vision 2020 plan to transform Rw and a from an a gricul-ture-b ased economy into a knowl-edge-b ased economy. It is change m ana gement on a very large sca le and educa tion is a critica l component.

A r o u n d t h e w o r l d : A f r i c a

P a r t n e r p r o g r a m s

Genera l Mills’ Win & Give Website

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M a r v e l l a n d O LPC a r e t h e t a l k o f C E S 2 0 1 2

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Betty Crocker® Fruit Flavored Snacks has m a de giving b ack e asy through its “Win & Give” ca mp a ign. From mid-January through M ay 2012, kids in the U.S. have a chance to win la ptops and help dona te la ptops to kids in Africa. The ca mp a ign shows p arents and kids tha t even the sm a llest acts can m ake a big difference and be fun.

“Betty Crocker Fruit Flavored Snacks believes tha t every kid can be a hero, so we’re helping them m ake a gre a t imp act on the lives of kids in Africa,” sa id Ben M and, brand m arketing m ana ger, Betty Crocker Fruit Flavored Snacks. “The ‘Win & Give’ ca mp a ign provides kids in the U.S. an opportunity to win a la ptop, as well as the chance to see the imp act these la ptops have on students in Africa.”

G e n e r a l M i l l s l a u n c h e s W i n & G iv e C a m p a i g n

At the 2012 Interna tiona l Con-sumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Veg as, OLPC and M arvell, a worldwide le a der in integra ted silicon solutions, demonstra ted a fully functiona l version of

an XO 3.0 ta blet. OLPC and M arvell a lso announced tha t the XO 1.75 la p-top would begin shipping to custom-ers in M arch 2012.

Over 75,000 units of the XO 1.75 have a lre a dy been ordered by OLPC

projects in Uruguay and Nicara gua. The XO 1.75 uses the M arvell ARM-b ased ARMADA PXA618 SOC proces-sor, which comp ared to the e arlier XO 1.5, m a inta ins perform ance while us-ing only ha lf the power. The XO 1.75

fe a tures a sunlight-re a d a ble screen and a ll the other fe a tures and design characteristics of the two previous versions of the XO la ptop.

The XO 3.0 builds on m any of the technology bre akthroughs m a de with the XO 1.75, includ-ing the use of the sa me M arvell processor. Other key fe a tures in-clude:• Unique charging circuitry;

the XO 3.0 is the only ta blet tha t can be charged directly by solar p anels, hand cranks and other a l-terna tive power sources

• Stand ard or Pixel Qi sunlight-re a a ble display

• Android and Linux opera ting system support.

Demonstra tions of the XO 3.0 ta blet were a mong the most ta lked-a bout events a t CES. Ne arly 200 journa lists wrote sto-ries, filmed video and took pho-togra phs of the working model.

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OLPC and San Francisco State University establish partnershipFor the p a st severa l ye a rs, f a cu lty a nd stud ents a t S a n Fra ncisco St a te h ave vo l-unt a rily org a n iz e d a n a n-nu a l summ it for OLPC d e-ve lop ers. Now OLPC a nd SFSU h ave est a b lishe d a form a l working re l a tion-sh ip in wh ich both p a rties w ill use the ir b est e f forts to est a b lish long-term co-op era tion a nd co ll a bora -tion in the fie ld of 1-to-1 computing in cert a in pri-m a ry schoo ls in C a lifor-n i a a nd a round the world.

OLPC a nd SFSU w ill work tog e ther to support the S a n Fra ncisco Bay

Are a volunteer commu-

nity through monthly meet-

ings, lending library and

an annua l summit. Further,

the parties agree to support

faculty rese arch, commu-

nity service, student projects

and internships in the OLPC

context. These may include,

but are not limited to, peda-

gogica l approaches, content

generation, softw are devel-

opment, hardw are testing,

network ana lysis, community

outre ach and other related

topics that go tow ards ensur-

ing the susta inability of OLPC

in different parts of the world.

XO La p top a t N e w York’s MoM a

O L P C I n s t i t u t i o n a l P a r t n e r s