Google and the Imara Project
Post by Jonathan Proulx, MIT
CSAILThanks to a generous grant from Google's
Open Source Program Office, the
Imara Project at MIT's
Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab
(CSAIL) was able to provide computers based on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)
for each elementary school in Fiji's rural Taveuni school district. (note that this project is
separate from
OLPC)
We
chose laptops for the project, both for shipping concerns (shipping PCs to developing nations
tends to be prohibitively expensive) and because electrical power isn't available at all the
school locations. We used Lenovo Thinkpad R52s due to their large screens, low cost, and
Linux-friendly components. Three members of the CSAIL community took the 10 laptops as
carry-on luggage, and held training sessions for the teachers once they arrived in Fiji.
The FOSS component is central to the sustainability and adaptability of the
project. Since it's free, there's no additional software cost when the project expands, or if
community groups wish to further leverage the technology. Since it is Open Source, once the
userbase becomes sophisticated enough it will be simpler to adapt the software to meet local
needs, such as adding Fijian language support.
Edubuntu (a Debian GNU/Linux-derived operating
system specifically tailored for educational environments) was chosen as the laptops'
operating system. Edubuntu provides virtually all the packages required for a good K-12
classroom environment, with minimal configuration. The only program we added outside Edubuntu
was
GeoGebra, a dynamic interactive
mathematics application for exploring geometry, algebra, and calculus.
Configuration included creating a privileged "teacher" account as part of the basic
install process, and adding an unprivileged and password-less "student" account. We configured
the desktop environments with icons for the most relevant applications (office/productivity
applications for teachers, and educational programs for students), and set the window system
to automatically log in the "student" account on startup, and that was that!
Here are the applications we selected for the student desktops:
Imara
volunteers provided initial training in two day-long sessions, graciously hosted by
Maravu Plantation on Taveuni Island, Fiji.
Follow-up activities are also in the planning stages, including a 20-seat
Edubuntu installation at one of the larger schools, and further developing local expertise by
sponsoring a Fijian teacher's travel to spend time at
CSAIL with members of
Project Imara.
