Almost done
During my last week of the project, I took two trips out of the city (and did some touristy things I’ve been meaning to do since I got here!)
On Saturday, I took a trip with Flor de Ceibo to the country, north of Montevideo near a town called Tala. The trip was a “diagnostic visit,” and the event was held in a community center next to a school, surrounded by farms. A few dozen community members showed up, and students from the College of Agriculture at the University of the Republic gave presentations about the geography and economy of the region and its needs. Afterwards, there were hamburgers, soda, and pastries. I’m not entirely sure what was being diagnosed, or really how it related to Plan Ceibal at all, but it was cool to see another part of the country and get to talk to the other students in the group more. Here’s the gathering in the community center:
Monday, I went with Pablo and Cesar to another blogging workshop in the town of Salinas, about an hour outside of Montevideo. It was held at a large elementary school (with about 800 kids) in a suburban neighborhood just off the highway. When we arrived, we found a few groups of kids using their XOs. They were far too absorbed to notice us posing for photos.
A group of a few dozen teachers, all of them women, was waiting for us. Cesar and Pablo introduced Tus Ideas Valen and ceibalJAM! Pablo had created a test blogspot site, and asked them to comment on a post with their idea of what a blog was. Most of the teachers weren’t familiar with blogs, or really the Internet in general. When Pablo put the URL of the test blog on the board, many of them typed it into Google instead of the address bar, and many of the comments they posted were along the lines of “we don’t know, we’re here to learn!” But they all seemed to be having a great time figuring it out, and by the end of the workshop had an idea of what a blog is and how tools like Blogger function.
Video coming soon!
I’m going to spend a week traveling in Northern Argentina before I fly home. I’m still finishing up a few things via the Internet, and I’ll be writing a summary/reflection for ISTS/Neukom, so there will be at least one more post coming!
