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| Project-Based Learning in the CoEd Computer Centers |
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 Under a project-based learning system, students in rural Guatemala use technology to find solutions to real-world challenges. Through this system, youths at our project schools learn to work cooperatively, think critically and creatively, and apply their knowledge to complex situations, both in and out of the classroom.
The following three examples demonstrate how CoEd Computer Center students have used the project-based learning methodology to make a positive impact on their communities. And through their talent and hard work, they are making great strides at bridging the digital divide in rural Guatemala.
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 Cost-Benefit Analysis:
Peas or Broccoli?
In the rural village of Chipiacúl, you’re either a “broccoli family” or a “pea family.” That is, each planting season, families cultivate either broccoli or peas as their main cash crop. About three-fourths of the villagers plant broccoli, as it commands a higher price at market. But a few renegades choose peas, claiming that they are easier and faster to grow.
Students at CoEd’s Chipiacúl Computer Center decided to settle the debate, once and for all, by determining whether broccoli—or peas—is the more lucrative crop. They began by performing an historical price analysis on peas and broccoli grown and sold in their region. They discovered that broccoli brought a 20 percent higher price than peas at market. The broccoli camp seemed—at least for the moment—to be on top.
But when the students carefully analyzed the inputs for each crop (water, seeds, fertilizer, and cultivation hours) in Microsoft Excel, they concluded that, when factoring in labor expense, broccoli becomes less profitable to plant than peas!
The students completed their project with a PowerPoint presentation of their findings to a stunned parents’ committee. The “pea families” smiled and nodded enthusiastically, knowing they had been right all along.
Most students at Chipiacúl had never touched a computer keyboard before the CoEd Computer Center came to their community. Now they are using technology to undertake complex cost-benefit analyses that will help their families make better decisions for the future.
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 Local Product Development & Marketing: Amargomaize
While for most people dandelions are little more than pesky weeds, the people of Hacienda María, a small town in the impoverished region of Chimaltenango, are aware of the plant’s powerful medicinal properties. Local curanderos (healers) use dandelion root to treat everything from kidney problems, to high cholesterol to digestive illnesses. As part of a PBL exercise on small business development, students at the town’s CoEd computer center decided to develop a mock product that would harness the power of dandelions as an appetite stimulant for young children and the elderly suffering from malnutrition and anemia. To bring their idea to fruition, the youths did what any good entrepreneur would do: they launched a start-up.
A team of six students put their computer skills to work to create a business plan for manufacturing, marketing and selling locally-grown dandelions in the form of a low-cost health supplement. The students named their product Amargomaize (“Bitter Corn”).
The youths used the Internet to research the various beneficial applications of dandelion root. They then conducted a market survey to measure local demand for the product. They used Excel to plan raw material needs, and manufactured the supplements on home-made pill presses. Finally, the students used Word to produce marketing materials and they created a Power Point presentation to promote Amargomaize at a town meeting.
The Hacienda María Computer and Technology Center students are busy coming up with other ways to put their newly-acquired technical skills to work in, and for, their communities. And they are just getting started.
Note: This was a classroom exercise only; Amargomaize was never marketed and sold in the community.
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 Public Service Project:
Town Clean-up
When the young people of Chiquilajá, Quetzaltenango, view photos of U.S. cities on the internet, their first reaction is almost always, “The streets, the parks … They’re so clean!” The contrast with the polluted towns and villages in which they play, learn and live is a stark—and troubling—one. But students at CoEd’s Computer Center in Chiquilajá decided to change the outcome in their community. They used their computer skills to research methods for cleaning up litter and reducing air pollution. Armed with the information they gathered, the students walked local streets and dumps, collected trash, and sold the recyclable items for the equivalent of $35 dollars (more than some subsistence farmers in Chiquilajá earn in a week). The students cycled their profits back into the community by purchasing brooms and garbage cans for future clean-up initiatives. They also planted 65 trees to beautify the town center—and to reduce the carbon footprint of their town.
Students in Chiquilajá understand the gift they have received in their CoEd Computer Center. And they are committed to giving back to their community, even if it means getting their hands dirty from time to time.
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