Global Junior Challenge - Alternative Education

Carrello_AMICO

Andrea Gorelli — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 15:58:58 +0000

Has your project been replicated/adapted elsewhere?:

Yes

Where? By whom?:

Un noto supermercato ha manisfestato interesse per far replicare industrialmente il progetto ad aziende del territorio, partendo dalla nostra esperienza e dai progetti sviluppati in questo periodo dai nostri studenti.

What lessons can others learn from your project? (max. 1500 characters):

Lo spirito del nostro progetto era di essere aperto e condivisibile.....a chiunque ne faccia richiesta, per cercare di far appassionare alla realizzazione di un prototipo tutti quelli che hanno voglia di fare e di mettersi in gioco.

Are you available to help others to start or work on similar projects?:

Yes

Organization Name:

IIS Tito Sarrocchi Siena

Organization Type:

School

What is the full duration of your project (from beginning to end)?:

From 1 to 3 years

What is the approximate total budget for your project (in Euro)?:

Less than 10.000 Euro

What is the source of funding for your project?:

Grants

Is your project economically self sufficient now?:

When is it expected to become self-sufficient?:

2016-05-30 22:00:00

inn

Do you authorize the FMD to the treatment of your personal data?:

I do authorize the FMD to the use of my personal data.

Tramite Carrello Amico, i nostri alunni si sono confrontati da oltre un anno a trovare soluzioni innovative e creative, per sviluppare competenze nella proggettazione tramite stampanti 3D, sviluppo del software, e realizzazione di schede di svilupo a microcontrollori. Inoltre una parte di loro ha avuto la possibilità di interagire con varie aziende, venendo in contatto con la realta industriale, confrontandosi con i loro modi e tempi.

2014-08-30 22:00:00

Country:

Italy

Barriers and Solutions (max. 1000 characters):

Gli ostacoli che abbiamo incontrato, e parzialmente superato erano legati ad un basso budget iniziale.

City:

Siena/Toscana

Future plans and wish list (max. 750 characters):

Riuscire a migliorare questo progetto, affinche sia usabile da persone con handicap motori.

Describe the results achieved by your project How do you measure (parameters) these. (max. 2000 characters):

Tramite la realizzazione funzionante del progetto: “CARRELLO_AMICO” siamo stati in grado di coinvolgere l'intera specializzazione di "Elettronica e Robotica" che per oltre un anno si sono confrontati con i vari problemi che di giorno in giorno venivono fuori. Abbiamo sperimentato un nuovo modo di fare didattica, dove le lezioni non erano più frontali ma nascevano dalla curiosità e dall'esigenza di superare gli ostacoli incontrati. Certamente per un insegnante non è il modo più semplice di portare avanti la programmazione didattica.......ma per gli studenti era estremamente stimolante, in quanto si dovevano guidarli nel risolvere i problemi che di giorno in giorno incontravano. Questo è il prototipo 1.0 sviluppato presso, IIS "Tito Sarrocchi" di Siena, il progetto è "aperto", sono a disposizione di chi ne fa richiesta tutti gli schemi elettrici il software e ogni altra soluzione adottata, affinchè altri makers possano replicarlo e migliorarlo.

How many users interact with your project monthly and what are the preferred forms of interaction? (max. 500 characters):

Tramite questo progetto siamo riusciti in due anni a coinvolgere gli studenti delle classi terza, quarta, e quinta della specializzazione elettronica e robotica del nostro istituto. Il numero è quantificabile in un centinaio di studenti.

Robotica inclusione sociale Alternative Education

Description Frase (max. 500 characters):

Robotizzare e rendere autonomo un carrello per la spesa, in grado di seguire i movimenti della persona che lo usa, è stata l’idea alla base del nostro progetto.

Abbiamo preso un carrello da supermercato e rese attive le ruote collegandovi dei motori elettrici, in grado di farlo muovere in tutte le direzioni; successivamente si è progettato e realizzato i driver per i motori, mentre la parte elettronica di controllo abbiamo usato un ARDUINO UNO in modo da rendere il progetto facilmente replicabile da altri makers che vogliono confrontarsi con queste problematiche.

La persona seguita da "carrello_amico" deve indossare un emettitore a raggi infrarossi, mentre un ricevitore posto all’interno del carrello ne ricostruisce la direzione e pilota i motori in modo da seguirla negli spostamenti.

Project Summary (max. 2000 characters):

“CARRELLO_AMICO” è un prototipo di un "reale" carrello da supermercato automatizzato in grado di seguire gli spostamenti di una persona durante gli acquisti.
Il progetto nasce per cercare di aiutare le persone anziane o con un handicap durante la spesa in un supermercato o negli aereoporti quando devono spostare dei bagagli cercando di lasciare le mani libere.

Prendendo un carrello da supermercato sono state motorizzate le ruote tramite dei motori in corrente continua, gli studenti hanno progettato e realizzato in laboratorio driver di potenza per i motori.
Per la parte di controllo è stata usata una scheda ARDUINO UNO in modo che sia facilmente replicabile da altri maker che vorranno confrontarsi con problematiche simili.

La persona che usa il "CARRELLO_AMICO" dovrà indossare una cintura munita di led ad infrarossi, mentre sul carrello sarà presente un ricevitore in grado di rilevare la direzione da seguire, e pilotare opportunamente i motori.

Questo è il prototipo 1.0 sviluppato presso, IIS "Tito Sarrocchi" di Siena, il progetto è "aperto", sono a disposizione di chi ne fa richiesta tutti gli schemi elettrici il software e ogni altra soluzione adottata, affinchè altri makers possano replicarlo e migliorarlo.

Project DEFY : Design Education For Yourself

Abhijit Sinha — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 16:58:11 +0000

Has your project been replicated/adapted elsewhere?:

Yes

Where? By whom?:

There has been a lot of interest shown in this project, and it is being replicated in a village in Nepal, as an alternative school and also as a source for help in cases of natural disasters. We are working on developing on more spaces in different parts of India such as near Trivandrum in Kerela and Padhurnah in Madhya Pradesh, India.

What lessons can others learn from your project? (max. 1500 characters):

Teachers and experts are not always required to get great education. Everyone has something to teach and some scope to learn. Great teachers are everywhere and all we need is access to them.
One can choose and design education for oneself, and not necessary follow the mainstream structure. Likewise, there are choices and one can choose what one wants to work on, and can always change it.
Good education need not be costly. You can create good education for yourself, if you have the motivation to. Also, such motivation can be created by developing a culture of exploration.
Not everyone needs to learn everything and there can not be generic education for all. People have interests, and that should be taken into consideration while creating an education system, because eventually, the ones who are really interested will be great in it, as opposed to ones who are not. Imagine a population of a billion people working in fields of their interests, and being really good at it; contrary to how we have lots of engineers but few really good ones.
Technology is tool that can be leveraged easily to create interest. It however is not complete education in itself and should not be considered so. It can be used as a medium for growth and to develop understanding, and to get proficient with doing things by hand.

Are you available to help others to start or work on similar projects?:

Yes

Organization Name:

Education For Development Trust

Organization Type:

Association

What is the full duration of your project (from beginning to end)?:

From 1 to 3 years

What is the approximate total budget for your project (in Euro)?:

From 10.001 to 30.000 Euro

What is the source of funding for your project?:

Grants

Is your project economically self sufficient now?:

Since when?:

2015-06-29 22:00:00

When is it expected to become self-sufficient?:

2016-11-29 23:00:00

Education up to 18 years

http://e4d.io

Do you authorize the FMD to the treatment of your personal data?:

I do authorize the FMD to the use of my personal data.

India is a country of a majority of youth, most of whom reside in villages. However, India's development has concentrated itself mostly on cities, making them hubs of opportunity, while the villages slid back over the years. Although an agrarian economy, with industrialization the focus shifted on big companies in the cities that made much more money, as opposed to the villages where agriculture became increasingly difficult, owing to lack of Government oversight and innovation. As the capital difference grew, correspondingly the gap in opportunity grew along. One of these gaps came about in the field of education.
The cities had and could afford quality private education, but such access is not available to the villages. The Government schools were quickly proven to be inefficient, with high rates of drop-out, teacher absence, under-capacity of teachers, etc.
The question however is that is it really possible to have great teachers for such a huge population as India which send millions of kids to school every year. So how could we bring the best teachers from around the world to everyone?
The other question is, who can be a teacher? Is the traditional concept of a teacher still applicable, where a teacher is supposed to be an expert and a deliverer of information? Why can't we all be teachers, and students ?
The third question is, what is the kind of education that we need? Is it enough to be book experts, as it is now the case in India. Shouldn't education be practical?

2014-02-27 23:00:00

Barriers and Solutions (max. 1000 characters):

<p>1) The biggest barrier is lack of confidence in oneself. It is difficult for people to choose a system too far away from the mainstream. However, this barrier is much less in the villages where the mainstream hasn't succeeded in completely programming the minds of the people. Also, our space has a culture of exploration, pushing the limits of what we know, and trying out more out of curiosity. Once someone joins the space, he/she is able to overcome the fear of drifting away from the mainstream, and in fact takes pride in the difference it creates in him/her when compared to others.</p> <div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-right: -0.63in; margin-bottom: 0in">2) The other major problem that we face is that the local school looks at us as a competition and forces its students stay away. We are trying to work this out with them by creating a small club of explorers within the school to act as a channel between the school and us, so that they would have full knowledge of what happens in the space and we can work together.</div> <p> </p><p> </p>

Country:

India

City:

Bangalore

Future plans and wish list (max. 750 characters):

<p> </p> <div align="LEFT" style="margin-right: -0.63in; margin-bottom: 0in">       1. Developing a self-learning curriculum based on <font color="#111111"><b>Exploration and play, Solving Local Problems, Understanding World Concepts, Directional Learning, Exit Strategy</b></font><font color="#111111">.</font></div> <ol start="2"><li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-right: -0.63in; margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal"><font color="#111111">Developing a financial self-sustenance model for these schools/makerspaces to generate revenue for themselves and not depend on external funds forever.</font></div></li><li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-right: -0.63in; margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal"><font color="#111111">Reaching out to more villages in and outside India</font></div></li><li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-right: -0.63in; margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal"><font color="#111111">Make the concept open source and easily replicable for anyone to build such schools </font></div></li><li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-right: -0.63in; margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal"><font color="#111111">Secure funding to continue our experimentation at our pilot space in Banjarapalya for the next three years. </font></div></li></ol> <p> </p><p> </p>

Describe the results achieved by your project How do you measure (parameters) these. (max. 2000 characters):

<p>Although experimenting since March, 2014, we had a stable concept only by November 2014. In this period, we had many participants at different points of time.</p> <div align="LEFT" style="margin-right: -0.63in; margin-bottom: 0in">One of the biggest observations made and milestones achieved was the the space could be given away to the participants themselves. Which means that since December 2014 until now, the participants from Banjarapalya village have been running the space, taking care of all requirements of the space in terms of managing the finances, keeping the space clean and work-friendly, maintaining the culture of free speech and exploration, engaging more participants, ensuring safety and constant learning. This was a big breakthrough for us, as this proves that schools do not require teachers and can be run completely by the students themselves.</div> <div align="LEFT" style="margin-right: -0.63in; margin-bottom: 0in">The process that the space follows that helps it show its impact, is that each participant using the space must document his/her work or project on the internet. Therefore it is possible to see how they are developing and thinking of new ideas, as well as to see how to are becoming more able to explain their ideas. Although the projects are still quite simple the development is visible, even in a short period of six months. It is also interesting to see how the projects are chosen and developed, when no body is telling them exactly what to do. A group of volunteers review the projects and give feedback. Also since the projects are online, they receive feedback from people around the world by means of comments and suggestions. This is highly scalable as now <b>“everyone around the world is measuring their work”</b> and giving their opinion and not just a few experts.</div> <p> </p>

How many users interact with your project monthly and what are the preferred forms of interaction? (max. 500 characters):

On a monthly basis, we are interacting with at least 50 users of the space. Most of them from the village. Sometimes we also have some visitors who come and work with the village participants or on their own projects or volunteer. The user base is varied and involves variety of ages from 7 to 24 (currently) and has had participants even above the age of 40 in the past.

Self-learning rural Makerspaces Alternative Education

Description Frase (max. 500 characters):

A "school without teachers" using a combination of cheap makerspaces and the Internet, for rural Indian youth.

Project Summary (max. 2000 characters):