A large percentage of the population of Nepal lives in rural areas which lack basic infrastructure. However, Nepal was in the news recently for introducing One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) laptops to children of 26 schools in 6 districts. There is tremendous pressure to keep up with expectations. Resources are low and impediments are many. But this does not dampen the excitement of the children who recently received the notebooks, and the country is optimistic that these notebooks will bring with them, high quality educational opportunities for their children.

OLPC, the brainchild of Nicholas Negroponte, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was introduced in Nepal in 2008 by Open Learning Exchange Nepal (OLEN). The OLPC has designed a notebook ideally suited for use in education in the developing world, with distinct characteristics of being kid-friendly, robust, having a low power requirement and an intuitive interface tailored to local needs.

The OELN program in Nepal started with 135 XO-1 notebooks distributed to students in grades 2 and 6 of Vishwamitra Ganesh and Bashuki public schools, in April 2008. Teachers were trained for four days offsite and for 5 days on-site with the children in their class rooms. Although computers were new to them, the teachers were enthusiastic about learning. Check out more details on deployment in the OLEN blog here.

In Nepal, school children are required to pass examinations at the end of the year to be promoted to the next class. Teachers are willing to consider co-learning and collaboration so long as it does not hamper their regular studies specified by the educational system in the country. However, they found the E-path suite of education developed by OLEN, in accordance to the existing curriculum, to be productive. The teachers found that they could pay more attention to the needy students while the others were working on their notebooks.

The OLEN blog has ruled out any security issues caused due to children carrying notebooks, since the country has a low crime rate compared with other developing countries. The children and parents also ensured that the laptops were well taken care of. The blog mentions a funny incident where a notebook was spoiled when an over-enthusiastic child cleaned it with soap and water!

The OLPC is a low-cost notebook, specifically designed for children in developing countries. OLPC's latest model, the XO-1.5, has refreshed hardware from VIA. The XO-1.5 uses a VIA C7-M processor, which is expected to enhance performance while still keeping the power consumption low. This is crucial in rural areas where electricity provisions are low. The XO-1.5 also uses VIA's media system processor, the VX855, which includes a 3D graphics engine, HD video decoder, memory interface, USB, SDIO and other functions as a package. The OLPC in Nepal uses Linux and depends on open-source content for its initiatives.

Following the deployment of XO-1 laptops in Nepal, teachers and children requested a more user-friendly E-book reader and wanted more activities to help them learn English. They wanted their textbooks in local language to be available in a digital version. They also requested a digital library with content in local language. Like typical school children, Nepali children requested car racing games, user-friendly music and video players. Another request was for interactive learning activities in accordance with their curriculum.

OLEN's claim to being different from other countries is that they have linked the deployment of OLPC laptops to curriculum. According to Rabi Karmacharya of OLEN, the process was delayed to facilitate this.

This new development in Nepal has generated a lot of interest in the importance of ICT in education. There are a lot of concerns still to be addressed and various possible solutions. The country needs improved infrastructure including electricity and Internet connection for schools. The OLPC is trying to get locals and the government involved in this project to overcome these hurdles. Nepal has a huge task ahead and needs coordinated efforts to gain the full advantage of technology in education. The deployment of OLPC notebooks across almost thirty schools in the country, so far, is an important step.