ThinkDrop Consulting and the non-profit organization MACILE are collaborating on a pilot program to introduce open-source technology and Drupal to children living in less-advantaged communities, helping them overcome the hurdles that prevent them from openly accessing and sharing information. In July, we will travel to Itabo, Dominican Republic to teach a two-week class to 6th-12th graders and educators on Internet Technology, Open Source, and Drupal.
In addition to educating both students and teachers on Internet technology and Drupal, we will be documenting the process using OpenAtrium and releasing our curriculum under Creative Commons licensing. Our goal is to create a consistent curriculum to teach kids around the world who may have not ever even used a computer.
We are seeking $8,000 in funding through Kickstarter, an innovative website that allows users to fund creative endeavors. The funds we are seeking will pay for full-time coding and project development, travel and housing expenses in the Dominican Republic, and additional computers for educators and students. As we will be working in less advantaged communities, maintaining access to consistent electricity and the internet will be a challenge, so a portion of our time will be spent developing a model approach to this problem.
Although we have set our funding goal at $8,000, we hope to exceed it. Any additional funds we receive will be used to continue expanding the Internet Technology programs of COSOLA and MACILE.
Internet Technology Curriculum
We are developing a curriculum (in Spanish and English) for a two week after-school program to complement MACILE's technology courses. The students will be high school aged MACILE students and teachers that show an interest in Internet Technology.
Topics:
- The Internet Ecosystem
- Importance and Role of Open Source Software
- Online Ethics, Personal Responsibility, & Safety
- Social Networking and Internet Communities
- Drupal: The Software
- Drupal: The Community
- Site Building with Drupal Modules
- Design & Themes
- Servers & Networks
- Advanced Development
We will teach these concepts by building a "Class Yearbook" website with the students and teachers.
Partnership with COSOLA/MACILE
We are developing this pilot program in conjunction with MACILE (Math Science Language Engineering), a COSOLA educational program. COSOLA is an independent multidisciplinary, collaborative research lab that connects business leaders, government agencies, and NGOs to focus on improving the quality of primary education in impoverished communities.
MACILE has successfully implemented innovative education programs by using active teaching methods, collaborating with American universities and utilizing available local resources. ThinkDrop is going to expand the technology curriculum to include the internet and web development.
Community Development
To facillitate a collaborative effort to develop curriculum, ThinkDrop has created the Drupal4Kids group on groups.drupal.org. We want to engage and collaborate with anyone in the community that is interested in teaching kids Drupal.
We will also be reaching out to and collaborating with Drupal users in the Dominican Republic, to ensure students have mentors and leaders from their own country with whom they can continue to collaborate. ThinkDrop has created the first group for the Dominican Republic on groups.drupal.org, and hopes to help organize Drupal camps there in the future.
We believe this program will be a great step forward in bringing technology and internet programs and awareness to the MACILE students and their surrounding communities. But, even greater, we plan to lay the groundwork for strengthening the Drupal and open-source communities within the Dominican Republic and across Latin America.
Why are we doing this?
The Internet has proven itself to be the best means of collaboration and communication for our time. However, it may be hindered by limited regional accessibility and government interference, as is the case for the majority of children in the MACILE program. Our goal is to develop a model, open-source curriculum that can be used to introduce open source technology and Drupal to less advantaged communities; allowing these communties to overcome the hurdles that prevent them from openly accessing and sharing information.
More Information
- COSOLA and MACILE: http://cosola.org
- Kickstartner Proposal: http://kck.st/9rRleR
- Drupal Groups:
- Drupal4Kids: http://groups.drupal.org/drupal4kids
- Dominican Republic: http://groups.drupal.org/dominican-republic
- ThinkDrop Consulting: http://thinkdrop.net
- Follow us on Twitter @thinkdropLLC.
Comments
A very meaningful event ，All
A very meaningful event ，All of us should suport it.Hope that such activities are held all over the world, and more.
Drupal User Assocication--Drupaluser.org
Please give!
This is a great opportunity to develop an open, youth-oriented curriculum for tech and Drupal education. Heck, the bilingual Spanish-English work is worth $8,000 by itself! The folks at ThinkDrop are smart and driven. I'm really looking forward to this project getting off the ground.
Tax Deductible
Quick annotation: COSOLA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
__________________________
Jonathan Pugh
Founder, CTO
ThinkDrop Consulting, LLC
http://thinkdrop.net
http://twitter.com/thinkdropLLC
Always Open
hmm.. 8000$
??I have been teaching in China for nearly 10 years now and working on thecenterofthenet.com for years.. We are finally moving towards the end of alpha stage development. I teach 35 classes a week, and work sometimes 130 hors a week (often). I have three children and have no donations from anyone.... I cant imagine 8000 us dollars!
Such a big company really needs so many donations?
I think that the most important thing is to have a real long history of working with the students there. Only after you truly understand them and their culture and learning styles will you be able to understand what can be efficient and feasable.
I agree though drupal is the best!
Robert Eaton
thecenterofthenet.com (not really open yet)
thelifephotography.com (not drupal)
www.thecenterofthenet.com
long term effort
i agree it takes a quick trip to plant the seeds, but it takes a long time to grow them.
AntiNSA, which city are you living in and which grade are you teaching, can't believe you have done that for 10 years.
Yes, $8000
Hi AntiNSA,
I appreciate your thoughts and take. Neither ThinkDrop nor COSOLA-MACILE are large organizations. The reason ThinkDrop is self-funding is to because we've decided to dedicate the majority of our time to working on the Pilot Program, plus the costs of travel and additional resources for the students, such as computers, are too much for us as a new company. COSOLA-MACILE has partnered with us, offering us their guidance during curriculum development and their students. They have been working with some of these students for the past 4-5 years, the length the program has been active in the DR. Additionally, COSOLA has been researching education systems for the last 10+ years and their work is grounded in research and understanding. This was very attractive to us. We didn't just want to go in blindly.
I would like to see more funding from within the community to "non-traditional" and community oriented Drupal projects. But I also feel that it is up to us that are doing this projects to shout and let people know what is going on. As you can tell, we are still very short of our goal. But we have let the community know and now people are thinking and talking about it. We are still going to go to the Dominican Republic and teach and are excited to share our findings. The work we are doing is not just for us but for the community and others.
Best with your projects,
c.s
Claudina Sarahe
CEO & Co-Founder
ThinkDrop Consulting LLC
I wish you the best on your
I wish you the best on your target. I am a big fan of revolutionary education, like what is shown here http://www.johnseelybrown.com . I imagine I will to need to seek funding someday somehow. I have no idea about the DR.
However, I would say that if it is money you need to make your project successful, then perhaps it is the wrong approach. I am personally starting a 2.0 drupal learning platform with two large campuses in China from the ground up as a poor teacher.
Drupal is a fantastic community. I know that the costs of server use is the main issue I think in the equation. BUT if you are doing something educationally innovative for the betterment of humanity, then money is the least most important thing you need.
If it is 8000 us dollars which makes your program float or sink, then Id say your not ready yet? I dont know. I cant say much about your situation.
I am always stressed about the functionality, efficiency, and utter student usability and adaptability. When all of those things work here in China, all the right doors open, and for the right reasons I think. As a teacher here for 10 years seeing the change in the classroom from a time when students first new little more about the internet than cs and qq, to a time when wikipedia is now open and 20-35%% of students have an experience with blogs in my classroom we are in the midst of a revolution.
There are so many bridges though that yet need to be built here. If you make the right bridge, the people will use it. You wont have to pay for it.
But, like I said.. I work 130 hours a week and kill myself working. Everytime I see my students do better it is mmy personal version of a world cup or something.
Perhaps oneday I can think of selling my business to google or something... I have no idea yet. I have not attempted to make money from the students as that feels absolutely wrong... and I feel a little uncomfortable with making oney from the institutions at this point. Right now I want the system to work and be used, and be usefull and helpfull. (yeah I need some profit inorder not to die from overwork in the next 5 years and leave my children homeless....)
I believe that everyone in todays world needs education universally for the betterment of mankind. And as the famous saying goes, Todays Students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach.
Humanity is going through a fantastic period of evolution.
I dreamed about drupal since 95-96, and unfortunately only learned about it a year and a half ago. Drupal is power to the people.
www.thecenterofthenet.com
8000 us dollars , perhaps it
8000 us dollars , perhaps it is a dream for me..
Drupal User Assocication--Drupaluser.org
This is a great opportunity
This is a great opportunity to develop an open, youth-oriented curriculum for tech and Drupal education.
Glad to see this
Glad to see this information!
AntiNSA, Do you still be in china now? if so,which city are you in. i am from china. it's amazing that you've been persisting this for 10 years.
xxiao & runeveryday (wish I
xxiao & runeveryday (wish I would :)
I am currently in Guangzhou... I have taugh over all these years every level possible inclusive of corporate/government, etc.. Currently I am teaching at 2 colleges, and some small corporate classes..
Getting ready for my third child to be born any day now. All I can say is that for many years I dreamed about doing what drupal empowers you to do. The great community and dynamic scalability of drupal have been what I alwaysdreamed about. I spent maybe about a year learning drupal and am now bringing it into the chinese educational environment were I am quite sure it is going to help me continue to build an evolutionary platform to help all of my students, thus ultimately helping humanity in the long run.
My only wish is that I had more hours in my day :) .
I have been in GZ for about 5 years or more, n Guangxi for 4 years, and I started in Hubei for about 4 months... I think the most important thing is to understand the complete system, and what is online is a vital part.... I am finally getting a grasp and trying to become better each day.
Good luck to all those out there who are trying to use drupal to make the world a better place.
BR-
Robert Eaton
thecenterofthenet.com (not really open yet)
thelifephotography.com (not drupal)
www.thecenterofthenet.com
drupal in china
Good to know that. I was in GZ before came to US.
Last week Shenzhen had a drupal meetup, it went well. There are a few drupal startups in China as well.
last week beijing drupal
last week beijing drupal meetup, details in http://drupaluser.org/node/1462
Drupal User Assocication--Drupaluser.org
Drupal Gardens
We are pleased to announce an agreement between ThinkDrop Consulting and Acquia regarding using Drupal Gardens as a teaching tool for the ThinkDrop and MACILE after-school Pilot Program on the internet and web development.
By using Drupal Gardens as the training tool for the Pilot Program, we will be able to quickly build out websites using Drupal and all of its tools with the students. With a limited initial time schedule, our key focus is on developing interest and awareness and leaving students with basic tools and support to continue exploring. Through the active and experiential learning principles of MACILE model, we plan to build a yearbook site. With Drupal Gardens pre-built features and enhanced AJAX interface, we will be able to experiment quickly and easily as we teach concepts like content, layout, informational architecture, and design.
For more information on how we are going to use Drupal Gardens, see our blog post.
__________________________
Jonathan Pugh
Founder, CTO
ThinkDrop Consulting, LLC
http://thinkdrop.net
http://twitter.com/thinkdropLLC
Always Open