XO computers from the “One Laptop per Child” Project are designed to introduce computers into classrooms around the world. The Ohio State University Haiti Empowerment Project is working with teachers, students, and Haitian university faculty and students to make develop Haitian standards-based mathematics teaching modules derived from information gathered from Haitian OLPC schools in collaboration with University Episcopal in Port-au-Prince. Some teachers would like to use the XO computers, but they lack the training to use them in their classrooms. Many of the teachers we spoke to expressed keen interest in this training. A second concern is the lack of coordination between current computer-based programs and the Haitian national educational standards.
The goal of this project is to work with the Rector and Vice Rector of University Episcopal and their Dean of the College of Computer Science to produce mathematics teaching modules that adhere to Haitian national education standards. This will be done during the 2012/2013 academic year with OSU Education and North Central State College Computer Science faculty and students. During the following year, teachers in elementary schools in the Port-au-Prince vicinity will be trained to integrate these modules into their teaching.
