This week the Manaiakalani project team meet at our house for a change of scene. I think that was the fourth or fifth big meeting with somewhere between 15 and 20 people in attendance.
So what is Manaiakalani? It's an elearning and literacy strategy that is being coordinated out of Pt England School but includes a lot of schools in the Tamaki region of Auckland.
The plan is to get one netbook per child (almost like one laptop per child but not quite?) for students from year five through to year thirteen, and to distribute wireless broadband into homes in the community, increasing family engagement in education. The netbooks will run Ubuntu and they will use Google apps for managing their work. Software in the build includes GIMP, Scratch and TuxPaint.
Four of the olpc volunteers in Auckland are helping Manaiakalani. To see how it all fits together you might want to check out the Tamaki Achievement Pathway website.
