Students ‘test drive’ unique laptops for developing-world classrooms 
9/5/2008
To see the Horizons Summer School students clustered on the Toronto Island ferry, each one hunched over a small, sturdy looking, green and white plastic laptop, you’d wonder what they’re up to.
The remarkable computers, purchased through UCC’s involvement in the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program, are specially designed for classroom use in developing countries. They “power up” via a charger or by pedal, solar, or pull-string power, and have a handy spill-proof keyboard. UCC now owns 40 of the laptops, which means that, through OLPC’s matching program, 40 have been donated overseas.
Horizons is UCC’s program for high-achieving students in inner-city schools. Its students served as technology pioneers, test-driving the laptops’ capacity, says Grade 9 teacher Jeff Hill ’98, who worked with them as part of the new, two-week Integrated Media Program.
“This proved to be an amazing experience for the students,” says Hill. Students took the laptops on their field trips to the Toronto Islands and to the Distillery District. They used the laptops as note-taking devices, still cameras and video recorders. Remarkably, IB1 student Adam Gordon did really “groundbreaking work” on the machines, says Mark Battley, head of digital media and program creator.
The computers have the ability to connect with each other, no Internet connection necessary. Battley explains that Gordon figured out how to set up one of the machines as a server that could archive websites, documents and PDFs, then making the archive available to students as they travelled by bus and ferry, thus creating a mobile, digital classroom. Such a setup would, of course, be most useful in remote, developing regions. The students also made a
video about their experience with the laptops.
As the school year unfolds, classroom use of the laptops will include computer engineering and science classes school-wide. As well, UCC’s Wernham and West Centre for Learning is excited about the possibilities they’ll offer for collaborative learning, says Mary Gauthier, the centre’s executive director.
“The program wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of UCC parents David and Stacey Cynamon who are committed to UCC programs with an international impact,” says Gauthier.