OLPC Evaluation Report Papau New Guinea

September 2013 OLPC Evaluation Report Papau New Guinea Table of Contents ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS I NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT III INTRODUCTION 1 BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 2 OVERARCHING ISSUES 3 DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY: A NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE 3 PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF EVALUTAION 4 THE EVALUATION 4 THE CASE SCHOOLS 4 EVALUATION QUESTIONS 5 LIMITATIONS 5 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 5 ACER GLOBAL EVALUATION 2010 6 SINGH 2012 6 WORLD BANK (TEN COUNTRY SUMMARY) 6 JAMES, 2010. A CRITIQUE OF OLPC 7 KRAEMER, DEDRICK AND SHARMER 2009 7 BUTLER 2007. RACE TO WIRE UP THE POOR 7 LEEMING, THOMSON & FORSTER 2009 7 KEY LESSONS FROM LITERATURE 8 METHODOLOGY 8 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 8 EVALUATION STRATEGIES 9 SELECTION OF SITES AND PARTICIPANTS 9 ETHICS 9 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 9 aeikon I TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND CAPACITY 10 CONTROL AND SECURITY 10 POWER SUPPLY 13 RELIABILITY 15 TRAINING 15 UTILISATION AND EDUCATIONAL APPLICATION 18 UTILISATION 18 SKILLS ACQUISITION 21 ASSESSING CORE PRINCIPLES 23 EARLY IMPACT 25 ORGANISATIONAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES 26 RESOURCING OLPC 28 KEY LESSONS 29 AWARENESS & OWNERSHIP 29 LEADERSHIP 30 ATTITUDE & WORK ETHIC 31 ENTHUSIASM TO HABITUATION 32 CONTROL & ACCOUNTABILITY 33 VALUE & INTEREST 33 AGREEMENT & PARTICIPATION 34 INFRASTRUCTURE, MOBILITY & TRAINING 34 SUPPORT & FINANCE 35 RECOMMENDATIONS 35 MOVING FORWARD: AN OPEN SYSTEMS APPROACH 35 BROADENING THE VISION: AN OPEN LEARNING CONCEPTION 36 FINAL THOUGHTS 39 REFERENCES 40 aeikon II ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ACER Australian Council for Education Research GoPNG Government of Papua New Guinea ICT Information Communication Technology MDG Millennium Development Goals NDoE National Department of Education PNG Papua New Guinea PNGSDP PNG Sustainable Development Project OLPC One Laptop Per Child OLPCA One Laptop Per Child Association UBE Universal Basic Education XO Low Cost Laptop Designed by OLPC NOTES In September 2013, a draft version (Version 1) of this document was completed and provided to the PNGSDP with the intention of providing relevant information regarding the future support and development of OLPC in PNG. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks is given to the participants of the evaluation whose various contributions were extremely valuable. Acknowledgements are made to Mr Lawrence Stephens (Program Manager, PNGSDP); Mr Garry Laka (Program Officer, Community & Social Investment, PNGSDP); Mr Stanley Raka (M&E Coordinator, Development Program, PNGSDP); and Mr Blair Finis (Teachers & Psychologist). CONTACT For any queries, please contact [email protected] aeikon III Introduction resources and which operates within a broad political and social landscape. It The race towards technology is on! has a population of around 7 million people, and is represented by 860 According to the World Bank, the different ethnic groups. In the main, PNG increasing speed and scale in which is regarded as being well-endowed with portable computing devices diverse natural resources; however, 85% (laptops/tablets) are being rolled out is of the population continue to live in now a headline story. Decisions remote areas with 40% of the population concerning the use of technology in now living in poverty. schools, both in developed and developing nations are becoming PNG faces challenges to its development increasingly more central to educational from a diversity of cultures, languages policy and planning. and traditions, geographic remoteness of communities, and the effects of Within this conversation, One laptop Per globalisation. The reforms arising from Child (OLPC) has emerged as an the decentralisation of its government alternative for developing countries. Its services have seen a loss of efficacy and introduction is complex and given its legitimacy of the state, accompanied by recent introduction in developing nations weak capacity, poor organization of remains a highly debated topic. A politicians outside of urban areas, number of nations are in the midst of political challenges, clan based politics, rolling out an OLPC strategy and PNG rent seeking1, corruption, Sustainable Development Project mismanagement and conflict, making it (PNGSDP) has also been implementing a difficult for the PNG government to pilot project in 13 remote schools in mine- respond to the needs of a rapidly growing affected areas in Papua New Guinea population. (PNG). An OLPC evaluation in PNG should Three years after the start of the pilot consider these complexities if it is to be project, PNGSDP began a review. Whilst relevant. It has therefore been our intent the intent of this present evaluation is to to ensure that this present evaluation and review the success or otherwise of an its findings have been positioned within OLPC pilot in PNG, it is envisaged that this historic-socio-cultural frame. The the findings and recommendations may lessons learned and recommendations go some way towards helping meet the do not in any way represent a ‘silver educational challenges of PNG within an bullet’ for developing nations attempting ever-increasing globalised and to embrace a digital pathway, but do technology-driven world regardless of raise some important and complex socio- whatever tomorrow’s technology or cultural issues that may need device-of-choice may be. consideration along the way. PNG’s culture, history and practices Whilst the findings of this evaluation do provide some significant challenges for not lend strong support for OLPC in PNG an evaluation. PNG is Australia’s nearest in its current form at this point in time, we neighbor and former colonial borrow from Merlee Grindles notion of dependency. PNG is now described as a ‘good enough governance’2 (Grindle fragile state that is diverse in natural 1 ‘rent seeking’ occurs when a company, 2 Good enough governance suggests that organization or individual uses their poor countries cannot put a large range of resources to obtain economic gain from governance reforms in place simultaneously, others, instead of trying to create wealth. and also advocates for limiting the agenda of 1 2007), to consider what a good enough Pacific deployments in recognition of the approach to moving forward with a more value of collective community-sharing feasible digital empowerment program in rather than individual ownership. a developing nation like PNG may look The OLPC technology is designed like. It is our hope that this present around 1:1 computing for teaching and evaluation report can contribute in a learning and consists of robust “XO” meaningful way towards this discussion laptops that foster self-learning and are by assisting PNGSDP’s consideration of suited to the harsh environment in how best to advance OLPC in PNG in developing countries. The technology future years. includes specially designed solar power Background and Context solutions for charging the laptops when no grid electricity is available. In excess One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is a of 1 million XOs have been deployed relatively recent initiative supported by through OLPC projects in over 40 the Miami-based One Laptop Per Child countries. More recently, the XO Android Association (OLPCA) and the tablet (fourth generation of the OLPC Cambridge-based OLPC Foundation concept) has emerged and is now being (OLPCF), two U.S. non-profit sold in the US, indicative of an overall organisations set up to oversee the world-wide trend of a move away from creation of affordable educational devices the initial focus on developing nations, for use in the developing world. but also being rolled out in developing countries. Some critics suggest that this OLPC is suggested as being both new Android device is a “commercial and pragmatic and ideologically driven, with US-centric product” pushed by a the mission to create educational “discount computer company” that has opportunities for the world's poorest little to do with the broader vision and children by providing each child with a work that OLPC has done in the past 8 rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected years” and “shifting its focus away from laptop with content and software the developing world”3. designed for collaborative, joyful, self- A number of Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) empowered learning. It is envisaged that nations have introduced or piloted the when children have access to this type of OLPC program in their schools, notably tool they get engaged in their own Fiji, Republic of Marshall Islands and education. They learn, share, create, and Kosrae in the Federated States of collaborate. Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Solomon The OLPC concept is founded on a set of Islands, PNG and Vanuatu. five core principles, which inform and guide any OLPC project: In PNG, two pilots, one in Central Province and another in the East Sepik i) right of child ownership were initially conducted through the ii) low age use National Department of Education (NDoE) made possible by early support iii) continuous digital saturation from OLPC and early in-country support iv) connectivity and by Divine Word University. Most recently, PNG Sustainable Development v) free and open source use for local (PNGSDP) has introduced 13 pilot growth and learning. programs in mine-affected areas which, A sixth principle of community like other parts of the country, are participation has recently been added for characterised by poor resourcing, poor what must be done by targeting fewer, more feasible interventions. 3 Refer http://planet.laptop.org/ 2 performance and a lack of initiative and been introduced with the latter the creativity. The program, with in excess of subject

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