author: Mr. Uttam Sharma, a doctoral student at at the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota
My summary:- initial teacher training needs to improve (only 50% satisfaction)
- increased motivation and learning (strong anecdotal evidence but details lacking)
- xo could be used more to distribute books
- higher workload for teachers, will they maintain this in the long haul?
- teacher - student relationship have become more interactive and challenging, breakdown of traditional lecture mode
- nuts and bolts issues like jumpy cursor and chargers at home are very important
Extracts only follow: (see more detailed version here )
The Nepal government’s Department of Education (DoE) and the Open Learning Exchange Nepal (OLE Nepal) had selected Bishwamitra Ganesh Secondary School and Bashuki Lower Secondary Schools, both in Lalitpur district of Nepal, as test schools for the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) initiative in Nepal. The laptops were distributed to all 135 students in grade 2 and 6 in those two schools on April 25, 2008. The students were also allowed to take laptops home. However, charging of the laptops could only be done in school...Related:
When the teachers were asked whether the complete training was sufficient for enabling them to properly integrate laptop in the regular classroom instruction process, 50 % of the teachers’ response was positive. This response underscores the need to have refresher training on a regular basis as most of the teachers are using computer for the first time ...
The (teachers) are also of the opinion that laptop based instruction has made it easier to give students more practice exercises. In addition, they also feel that the use of laptop based instruction has made the classes more interactive. All the teachers are unanimous in saying that the use of laptop based instruction has increased the students’ interest in their studies...
When the students were asked how learning has been affected with the introduction of laptops in their classrooms, more than 95% of grade 6 students find learning using laptops easier ... As to why it is easier, the most common response was that you can do the exercise or activities as many times as you want. The second most common one was that these activities were very enjoyable to learn from. The students also appreciated the fact that you could do these activities at ones own pace ...
Some teachers feel that the introduction of laptop has made managing the classes more difficult. Many teachers feel that the noise level has substantially increased ...
When teachers were asked “Compared to the effort you had to put in the teaching learning process before receiving the laptops, how much effort do you put in now?”, the overwhelming majority of the teachers feel that they put in more effort now...
Almost all teachers (16 out of 17) find the laptop and its layout easy to use. They think it is very intuitive and also feel that the students should not have much difficulty. Most of the teachers say it takes about 1.5 hours to fully recharge the computer and that the charge lasts for about 3 hours when the computer is in use.
We had also asked the teachers, students and their family members whether they had any problem with different aspects of computer use. The biggest problem more than 50 % of the respondents mentioned was the jumpy cursor. The dust, the humid climate and the student’s sweaty hands as a result of running around might be contributing to the situation. The problem seems to be slightly more acute in Bashuki.
More than one-third of the teachers thought the sound quality needs to be improved. There either is some problem with the sound quality or that some teachers might have difficulty adjusting the sound. Since earphones are not available, difficulties arise for students and teachers when using sound related activities. They largely ask students to listen to the sound from the teacher’s laptop while teaching...
I think OLE Nepal should try to upload all the books that are in the website to student laptops sooner rather than later ... Needless to say the parents and teachers are really looking forward to using the e-library.
Most teachers in both the test schools feel that their workload has increased significantly. This is a serious concern. If this trend continues, it is likely that they will revert, to a large extent, to traditional way of teacher and ignore the materials in the laptop once the initial enthusiasm of laptop fades away ...
I strongly feel that OLE Nepal should take steps in allowing students to take chargers home so that the laptop can be used longer and that other family members or community members can also benefit ...
I think the OLE-Nepal should go ahead with the plans about providing 2 chargers per student with laptops, so the students can take one charger home and the other one can be permanently kept at School ...
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