I am Sam Farsaii, Director, Instructional Technology, in Irving Independent School District, Texas.
XO laptops for Irving, Texas
I've been eagerly following-up on the $100 laptop project for more than two years, so it is no surprise that I got my XO laptop just before Christmas!! What a treat for the first day buyers.
I think XO is a marvelous achievement thanks to all the genius behind the project. This is truly a revolutionary idea to help CHANGE education inside-out, and that is not an easy task. I think this constructivist learning tool is the catalysts in shifting learning from teacher centered to student centered environment and Seymour Papert’s dream is slowly coming true.
Now the challenge is to work with our teachers to believe in the same by teaching them to help kids create new knowledge rather than just memorize trivial facts with focus on information literacy, learning to be global citizens, learn how to learn, and think critically.
That’s what 21st century learning is all about.
After careful review, I have purchased a class set (23 units) to pilot in our schools in Irving, Texas (home of Dallas Cowboys football team). Irving ISD has been issuing 1:1 (one laptop per child) for the past seven years. All of our high school students and teachers receive a laptop thanks to a community funded bond. That is more than 10,000 laptops now.
We believe that in the ever flat world one must evolve or perish. However, the prohibitive cost of laptops limit our ability to expand this plan into elementary and middle schools. So, a pilot would allow us to experiment with these units to see the potential.
Going G1G1 for a whole class
To help our teachers/students and share the knowledge in this community, I am forming the Dallas/FortWorth XO users group. (DFW-XO). Come join us:
DFW-XO Meetup
Friday February 15, at 5:00 pm.
Irving ISD Administration Building
Training Room 1 (2nd Floor)
2621 W. Airport FWY
Irving, TX 75062 - map
Please let me know in advance if you would like to join us so we can plan accordingly.
Hey Sam, thank you very much for sharing your positive thoughts about OLPC.
Just wanted to say that the link to "21st century learning" is broken.
regards from Germany,
Gregor
"I've been eagerly following-up on the $100 laptop project for more than two years, so it is no surprise that I got my XO laptop just before Christmas!! What a treat for the first day buyers."
You say "no surprise"? "what a treat"? As someone who has also been following the project for two years, and who also ordered bright and early on november 12th, i can assure you it's not "no surprise", and way more than just a "treat" -- you, and your students, are very lucky. Many of us are still waiting for laptops.
Great for Irving, Texas. I can't even imagine having a class set of XOs. That would be amazing. I'll be following along with your pilot as I try to convince my district, Minneapolis Public, to follow suit.
Please keep us updated on your progress and results.
DFW-XO Meet up was a big hit in the Lone Star State: http://dfwxo.blogspot.com/2008/02/dfw-xo-meet-up-was-hit.html