Thursday, August 24, 2017

VillageTech: 5/21 - 5/27 (Grant)

Grant Dumanian
5/21/17 10:30-3
VillageTech Solutions
Skip Stritter
skip.stritter@villagetechsolutions.org


For my PACT, a classmate and I have come to Nepal to test out Looma, a device developed by VillageTech Solutions that has the ability to teach a class using a minicomputer and a projector. The goal of Looma is to make global content accessible in areas without wifi, as the devices are loaded with educational information that can all be accessed without connection. While Looma is close to being able to be sent out to classrooms, it has never actually been tested and troubleshooted by students in Nepal. The goal of this trip is to gain feedback on Looma’s ease of use and functioning in classrooms.

John Weingart and I have been in Nepal for several days now, and today got our first chance to see Looma in action in classrooms. We helped teach three classes: science, social studies, and english. Before coming to Nepal, I worries that teachers would be fearful of the daunting capabilities of Looma having rarely used electronics before. Today's classes put that fear to rest- the teacher we worked with was not only enthusiastic about the device but fully capable of operating it. Watching him teach a class and seamlessly use different parts of Looma together was incredible, a testament to the fact that the device can be successful. In our interview with the teacher afterwards, he gushed about Looma, saying it would give children access to content they could never dream of having before university.

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