(Eighth part) The Infobourg tells you, over the months, the extraordinary adventure of two retirees from teaching who generously offer their time to share their ICT knowledge with the 15 school in Mayo, Mexico, within the framework of of an OLPC project.
On the occasion of their annual vacation in Mexico, Louise Le Bourdais and Guy Bergeron, education retirees and partners in life as well as in their passions, have in mind to bring an ICT project to life for young people from the school of Lo De Marcos thanks to the OLPC Foundation. Here is the eighth article in the series!
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The next training took place on January 20. Five young students introduced themselves. They wanted to use the XOs. Louise and Guy agreed to integrate these unforeseen events by placing them under the supervision of Alfonso, the student of 4e year that has helped them since the start of training. “There was energy in the room today! There was even a teacher who came with her baby of about 6 months. He seemed impressed with the computers. Maybe a future XO user? "
During this time, they worked with the “memory game” application showing them how to make their own game with content of their choice. Subsequently, the participants tested by playing in a network. Once again, Louise and Guy had to force their hand a bit to complete this training. “People were literally absorbed in their work! "
On January 24, the training took place without Louise. Guy explains, “She has a serious infection on her face requiring visits to the doctor and ophthalmologist. There is a real danger to his eye. She's taking two antibiotics. I must therefore give the training alone. The height of bad luck, the young Alfonso could not be present this time. “I'm not sure how I did,” Guy says, “but it went well. The cards were so well prepared. Louise had seen everything. "The couple had concocted for this period a sheet including various questions whose answers were found by searching in the encyclopedia Wikipedia in Spanish.
Teachers at work ...
Louise is still absent during the training on January 26, but she is present through the contents of the activity sheets. This time, the teachers were offered the project of creating a collaborative story using the Escribir software (word processor) shared between two people. “Great stories were read at the end! People let themselves go by adding funny elements! »Says Guy.
One of Louise and Guy's goals through this activity was to make teachers understand how interesting it could be to experience in class with the students. The activity integrates creation, writing and reading. Students could even correct each other directly in the text.
The presence of young Alfonso was still very useful during this training. This demonstrates how it will be a good resource for the school when students use the XOs.
Now the couple want to force things. “For next Tuesday's training, we asked Grade 6 teacher Laura to bring 4 of her students. We want to show that she will be able to use them in class. We will see if it will bear fruit. We have appointed Alfonso responsible for these 4 students. "
They note, at the end of January, that even after all this training, the teachers do not feel strong enough to start with the XOs in their class. Is it the fear that the devices will be damaged by the students? Or that of not being able to answer any questions from the students? One thing is certain, we see that Mexican teachers share the same concerns as many teachers back home ...
"So we are thinking about ways to encourage them to give it a go ..."
To be continued next week.
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