Alfonso Sintjago – EDPA 5144 – Dr. Arthur Harkins – DramaTech
10/31/2010
INTERNATIONAL DRAMATECH INNOVATION SIMULATION #1
Please choose a country to which you are consulting within the near future (Dominican Republic). Your proposal is to introduce simulation learning games into representative samples of the school-age population (or other populations/cohorts) (Give every child a mobile device with augmented reality capabilities, learning games, and set up a repair shop, the device will be only usable through a particular phone network and through a particular security system which will reduce theft of the equipment). Clarify why simulations (or games or simulation gaming) have been chosen by you, the consultant, as viable tools for improving learning in the host country.
TIME FRAME: WITHIN THE NEXT 2-5 YEARS (5 years into the future)
THE INDIGENOUS PLAYERS ARE: Every child under 10 years old in the Dominican Republic from the start date of the program (Oct 30, 2015).
THE EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT PLAYERS ARE: World Bank, UNICEF, Minister of Information / Communications (DR), Minister of Education.
THE STAKEHOLDERS ARE: Community organizations (boards) for the three poor neighborhoods selected as a pilot area, Verizon Wireless, Microsoft, MIT XO Laptop (Negroponte).
**YOU PROPOSE TO INITIATE THE FOLLOWING EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT INNOVATION GOAL ACTIONS:
Joining together the objectives of the Melinda Gates Foundation and Microsoft economic goals, and with Verizon wireless as a partner, a new initiative has been developed which aims to distribute 1 phone per child. With recent improvements in technology, the 1 phone per child is three times as powerful as the original XO laptops, it is also cheaper to produce than the XO laptop. Each system will only cost $35 to produce.
The plan will at first introduce the device at three highly populated poor neighborhoods in Santo Domingo. There will be 100,000 of these phones introduced. Within 2 years it plans to provide the devices to the rest of the children (Under 10 years old) in the country. They can be used for all of the activities that previous XO laptop permitted as well as include digital books in every subject and a much more extensive software library. Since the introduction of the XO laptop, hundreds of games have been developed mostly as freeware and donationware. These programs will allow children to interact with the environment like never before. The XO phones will be able to communicate with each other through a Mesh network free of charge. Phone calls to other locations will not be free and cannot be made without a prepaid card.
A large quantity of the software available will be programming tools (more advanced and diverse than the previous XO laptops) and gaming or simulation software to learn this and other professions. By using augmented reality software various simulations will engage the children in various professions including becoming a professional photographer, a digital blog writer, a newspaper columnist, learn about waste, tourism, a historian, an archeologist. These games will use community resources to build a data base allowing students to interact in a new way with the environment and ask their parents for help building a digital wiki history of the country. The phones’ battery will charge through solar panels.
KEY INDIGENOUS PLAYER #1 RESPONDS: This is not going to work. The device look great, but they are going to stolen from us by the bigger children. They could use them for drug deals and to talk to their friends. I know my brother would take mine! My uncle does not have a phone. He will certainly take my cousin’s.
KEY INDIGENOUS PLAYER #2 RESPONDS: Wow, this is sooo cool. No one is going to take mine away. I’ll bite them. Plus my mom, my brothers, and everyone else in the family has their own phone. Plus the device cannot be used as a phone unless one pays to activate the service. Maybe they should get rid of that service all together. While it would be nice for it to be a phone, it is already very portable and exciting. I would not be surprised if parents or other people took them. Perhaps limiting their capabilities is the best way to go.
TO INDIGENOUS PLAYER #1 YOU SAY: Yes, both of you are right. Theft is a major concern. The theft of the XO laptop was limited by its look, its parts and its limitation. It was not a gadget but it was also not a regular laptop. Through its operating system the type of activities that it could be used for was limited and they were mainly educational tools. We added augmented reality functions and we could provide a local phone service for free through the device (at least to communicate with other XO mobiles) that we felt maybe we could have a pilot project were the devices are more powerful and see if they have a positive impact in their use and contribute in a greater way to the Dominican economy. Yet, it may indeed prove to be a major handicap. We have installed a program by which if the phone is reported stolen or phones are found to be used in criminal activities, for their phone-like communication system to be deactivated.
TO INDIGENOUS PLAYER #2 YOU SAY: I am glad your parents support your use of technology. Hopefully this is the reaction we will receive from most parents. Again, we are aware of the theft problems the device may cause and we may limit its functions as a consequence.
MARC PRENSKY WALKS ONSTAGE, LOOKS AT YOU AND THE INDIGENOUS PLAYERS, AND SAYS: Wow, now this is a learning device. Being able to work as a photographer, a historian.. that is so cool and practical. I am sure you will also develop some exciting games with the device. To encourage you, we will hold various biannual awards for certain “professions”. For some “professions” the time will be even shorter. Every day, every week, every month and every year, we will post results as the best picture taken with the phones. Go out there and explore your country!
THE INDIGENOUS PLAYERS RESPOND BY SAYING: Alright! I am looking forward to it. My friends always tell me I have a good eye. I am going to win those contests and obtain the picture of the year. Who knows, maybe we will get to travel and show our collective slideshow to groups of people around the world!
YOU RESPOND TO PRENSKY BY SAYING: Thank you Prensky! We will also include a program to allow students to communicate with children in Nepal, in Switzerland and in Rwanda. Those are other destinations we have in mind for our project. We also hope to expand to every welcoming country in the world during the next few years. By having the world eye everyday living simulator, children across the globe will be able to share with others what do they do on an average day and how they live their lives. It will be like your third world farmer game but based on real life data. Also, we included the games you donated to the device. Thanks!
NOW YOU TURN TO THE STAKEHOLDERS AND TELL THEM THE MAJOR INNOVATION GOAL IMPLICATIONS OF WHAT HAS JUST HAPPENED:
There will always be difficulties and crime is one of the most destructive. Hopefully, we will be able to reduce crime by creating a product which is easy to recognize and which is of limited use for possible thieves. By monitoring the number of devices we hand out and knowing who has them, and having an incorporated GPS locator, we can report the locations of stolen units to the police and recover them. If theft continues we may be force to disable its phone capabilities. Let’s hope that is not the case. Our major innovation goal is simple, we want every child to have the possibility to have a high tech learning device in the hopes of reducing the digital divide, increasing digital literacy and allow students to be engaged in learning activities and cooperative activities through an augmented reality device. Thank you Microsoft, the World Bank, Verizon Wireless, XO group, and the community boards formed by the parents of our pilot location for your support and continued collaboration in making sure this is not only a possibility but a reality.
A REVIEWER WHO WATCHED THE INNOVATION DRAMA UNFOLD COMMENTS: The Dominican Republic will sure get a head start through this initiative. Not only will the country receive the devices but a factory for them will also be built in the island. Through the use of these devices and other initiatives being sponsored by the Ministry of Education, it is not farfetched to say the Dominican Republic may become the Caribbean’s Silicon Valley.
THE FISCAL SPONSOR OF THIS INNOVATION DRAMA SKYPES YOU AND SAYS: we will support the pilot project, but depending on crime reports we may or may not support the rest of the initiative and we may require that the devices be modified.
YOU RESPOND: Thank you for your support. We understand your concerns.
