Meet the Smallbean MobileCAP

The MobileCAP is a fully portable technology lab utilizing donated and refurbished electronics provided by corporate partners and individual donors. The MobileCAP was first implemented at four sites in Kenya in July 2010. Version 2.0 of the Smallbean MobileCAP has been implemented in Laiboni, Tanzania with the help of undergraduate students from MIT. New MobileCAP units are traveling to Uganda this May with our friends at Educate!

At the core of each MobileCAP lab are energy-efficient laptop computers provided by MSI and the Arc'teryx backpacks which house and protect the components of each MobileCAP unit. The MobileCAP also contains audio recorders, cameras, and other materials designed to maximize the educational potential of each portable Smallbean classroom.

Because Smalbean teaches the Citizen Archivist Project in locations where electricity is often unavailable or unreliable, Smallbean MobileCAP units operate using solar power. Our simple, yet durable, solar system provides inexpensive and renewable energy and extends the reach of the Smallbean Citizen Archivist Project to communities where this would have been impossible just five years ago.

But the MobileCAP system is much more than just the technology that powers it. The award-winning Citizen Archivist Project curriculum accompanies the installation of all MobileCAP units. This curriculum, which was developed with assistance from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and has been implemented successfully in classrooms in Boston, Tanzania, and Kenya, stresses an interdisciplinary, “learn by doing” approach to teaching technology skills. Learn much more about the Smallbean curriculum by clicking here.