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In 2014, ACP began working with the SOLT Kobonal Mission located outside of the town of Hinche, in the central plateau region of Haiti. As one of the participants in our Technology Integration into Developing Nation Classrooms Program, ACP donated 50 Android tablet computers to the mission school. Over the course of the two-month pilot program, ACP worked with the school administration to setup an infrastructure for managing the tablets which included tasking two teachers as the ‘technology administrators’ who were responsible for the day-to-day tablet management responsibilities. ACP trained a select number of teachers on how to use the tablets technically and how to teach using the tablets from a pedagogical approach. ACP then worked with the teachers and students in the classroom to integrate the technology into lesson plans. Upon completion of the pilot program, ACP worked with the school administration to develop a post-implementation plan to ensure the entire school of approximately 950 students and 40 teachers were trained technically and pedagogically on the use of the tablets in the classroom. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected through the entire pilot program and a final report is available in our Library. A major finding of the pilot program was a complete lack of digital content in Haiti’s mother tongue language of Haitian Creole. ACP’s solution was the Open Education Resources (OER) Development Program. While the program was owned and sustained by the SOLT Kobonal Mission, ACP conducted follow up visits to make recommendations and changes as needed.

During follow-up visits, ACP observed that the 50 tablet computers were being used to their maximum capacity and it was determined that additional technology was now needed for the program to grow and continue to be successful. At the beginning of 2016, as the result of a generous donation, ACP returned to conduct the implementation of a multimedia classroom from Sûrtab which included an additional 50 Android tablet computers, a Windows tablet computer, a local server, 2 external batteries, a storage & charging cart, an IPEVO interactive whiteboard system, and an ASUS projector. Over the course of a five-week intensive Kobonal Expansion Program, ACP worked with the school administration and technology administrators to setup an infrastructure for managing the multimedia classroom. ACP then worked with all of the teachers after school and in the classroom, training them on how to technically use the multimedia classroom and how to teach using the multimedia classroom. The content used by the teachers included ACP’s education-based windows applications in Haitian Creole, Haiti Futur’s digitized National Curriculum lessons in Haitian Creole and French, Wikipedia in French, Khan Academy in French, and other digital content selections. Upon completion of the Kobonal Expansion Program, ACP worked with the school administration to develop a post-implementation plan to ensure the entire school continued the use of the multimedia classroom. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected through the entire Kobonal Expansion Program and a final report is available in our Library. ACP has conducted one of at least two follow-up visits to make recommendations and changes as needed.

ACP and the SOLT Kobonal Mission hope to continue to grow the Kobonal Technology Integration Project. In addition to this project, we are in the early planning stages of developing additional education-based mobile applications.