My Learning from N=1 Deployment

The XO laptops belong to hands of children and not in closet, shelves, boxes, labs or auction sites! A used XO is better than one collecting dust. Seen any XOs with no karmic life? Unleash it! I have come to another era with my work on computers as powerful enabling tools. (http://www.scribd.com/doc/64027997/Computers-Came-in-All-Sizes). This time round the little green machines are laptops of my choice. I want to recycle/relocate them into the hands of disabled children - who can regain some sense of dignity and independence with it. As a Psychologist I understand the importance of profile matching with multi-faceted expertise support if we want to change lives of dependent children. Parachuting recycled XOs into homes of disabled children without special need services support is like relocating a dust collector again. The hope was the XO can become alive in the hands, feet, mouth or any controllable body part a disabled child for learning. The OLPdisAbledC project I have in mind aims to start small to identify volunteer groups who are in position to help, and use existing XO modifications for deployment (excellent work e.g. http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Activities/hMouse are coming out from the Uruguay experience in special needs provision). This recent work to conceive OLPdisAbledC is my dejavu in empowering people with disabilities (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSyTFvrihkM). As a result of months of playing (http://www.youtube.com/nurturelabs#p/u/4/oN5FofYeJ) with what is available and help from various people, the first recycled XO with accessibility tools has landed in a home of a child in Anshan, Northern China. A local group (http://www.anshanbethesda.org/index.html) with experience in disability provided the frontline ground support. Was it successful?

It was rewarding to get initial feedback as noted in this e-mail: Dear Kang The computer is in the child's hands and we will see what will happen in 2 weeks. Please see the attached pic. Will report more later... Thanks for your love for our children.

The feedback evaluation is based on my remote study of N=1 deployment. The experience illustrates complex deployment where culture and change interacts with technology expectations. To increase success probability, I located a child for the recycled XO from an organisation with good past track records. The leader of the organisation was a medical doctor who became quadriplegic many years ago. I have known him for a long time when he came to Hong Kong for a presentation and later on training. He had his first commercial laptop with voice-input device from a donation after his accident this aided his rehabilitation process and he went to earn a degree in rehabilitation from an online study and intern in the US. As such he was very supportive when I suggested the idea of trying the OLPC XO in an e-mail to him at Christmas in 2010. In summer 2011, the XO was delivered by a group of HK volunteers who were visiting the organisation. Training was provided prior to the visit to help them familiarise with the XO and OLPC visions and missions (http://www.youtube.com/nurturingasia#p/a/u/0/CyY7jIGUX7Y). A OLPdisAbledC bag with the right tools, software and hardware was created for the purpose.

It was my intention to monitor the progress of this N=1 OLPdisAbledC deployment and provide virtual support to ensure that the constructionist education philosophy takes root in the childs learning and this self-help community. Concerns and dependency were expected as expressed in this follow-up e-mail: If more donation comes, I think we will need you or other XO expert to come over teaching the use of the machine. We still cannot figure out how to well use the computer. I hope the function of XO could be fully delivered I had plans of delivering more recyclable XOs or seek funding to grow the project if they found it useful to create a critical mass of users. Unfortunately reservations emerged: Sorry for the silence... In fact, we have been working hard to push the program forward. Our teachers have brought the computer to many of our disabled children but most of them could not control it and almost none of them could figure out how to run it. It's mainly because of that our children have severe disabilities and very limited function. On the other hand, the system is too different from the commonly used computer. Even our teachers still cannot figure out how to fully use it. The computer is in a child's hands now. He have it for almost one month, but can only on and off now, though he is "relatively smart with good hand functions". We do wish our children could use the computer. But we just decided that the XO computer does not fit the conditions of our children well. Even so, I still hope to express our gratitude for you help and love for our children. Thank you very much for consistent help! Thank you! I have written to get more details since I was sadden to hear that the child could only switch on and off the XO: Good if you can have a video to capture how he use it for my understanding. I have worked with children and they picked up a lot by themselves exploring. Hence I am curious to know what could be the issue.

Perhaps this is not an understatement but I need visual data to understand. The lesson learned is that open-mindedness patience is critical to appreciate issues (beyond the lab where expertise is at hand) before changing mindset. In my case, empowerment comes from helpers and teachers figuring out how XO can (or cannot) be used appropriately to provide the value they expect. In my view, frankness of the follow-up feedback is welcomed. For me, it highlights my need for some critical reflection despite my passion and hope for the XO. Could I have made a difference if I had myself delivered the XO and trained their teachers? What if a normal laptop with the normal commercial software or a tablet was used instead of the XO? Do cultural factors affects independent learning? This N=1 experience grounded me on the reality of future deployment Small or large. Nevertheless despite this setback, I will continue the dialogue to shape a positive outcome from both parties. I hope to make contact with disability groups in Hong Kong and Malaysia. The XO laptops are relevant not only to poorer communities - I suspect there is a demand for low-cost laptops that are rugged for disability use in urban settings. The XO is the best in the market despite its limitations. For any change, every effort small or big counts. It is about doing the right thing with effort and learning from mistakes. Any technology deployment is like construction - you build new infrastructure for change and see if the effort makes a difference. Rectify if possible. I would like to end with an appeal. If you have a XO, desktop computer, commercial laptop or even tablets do contact a local disability group in your area. Experiment with a child you want to help and see if there are lessons learned. Help spread OLPdisAbledC in your own ways. Disabled children cant wait for tomorrow tools - they need what we have NOW to be recycled or redeployed. N=1 may just make a difference. Give it a chance.
T.K. Kang is a Clinical Psychologist with an interest in the interface between technology and human development. He ran a successful Bulletin Board System (BBS) in the late 80s to support people with disabilities in Hong Kong for self-help empowerment. He is currently XObsessed with the XO and has been volunteering his time to help deployments without ever been one himself. He can be contacted at tkkang@nurturingasia.com