# Sopala - Demonstrating how open practices can impact K-12 student learning in any setting
**URL:** https://connect.oeglobal.org/t/sopala-demonstrating-how-open-practices-can-impact-k-12-student-learning-in-any-setting/7269
**Category:** The Plaza
**Tags:** offline
**Created:** [January 20, 2025, 5:05am UTC](https://connect.oeglobal.org/t/sopala-demonstrating-how-open-practices-can-impact-k-12-student-learning-in-any-setting/7269 "2025-01-20T05:05:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@danmcguire](https://connect.oeglobal.org/u/danmcguire)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2025, 5:05am UTC](https://connect.oeglobal.org/t/sopala-demonstrating-how-open-practices-can-impact-k-12-student-learning-in-any-setting/7269/1 "2025-01-20T05:05:26Z")
Our MIT paper is now live for the public. My co-authors and the teachers involved in Sopala are a remarkable, talented, and dedicated group. They make going to work fun for me.
Here’s the link. [Sopala: An Innovative Model for K-12 Education · AI and Open Education Initiative](https://aiopeneducation.pubpub.org/pub/7npwm2su/release/4?readingCollection=06969c6d)
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Dan
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### Author:  [@cogdog](https://connect.oeglobal.org/u/cogdog)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2025, 8:51pm UTC](https://connect.oeglobal.org/t/sopala-demonstrating-how-open-practices-can-impact-k-12-student-learning-in-any-setting/7269/2 "2025-01-20T20:51:33Z")
Thanks Dan for sharing about Sopala and congrats for being one of the featured in the [MIT Open Learning AI and Open Education series](https://aiopeneducation.pubpub.org/ai-and-open-education-series) (wow, there are a lot here to read!).
And this is a great extension of the trajectory in your efforts to support K-12 open education globally. I note seeing the addition of Kiwix into the mix of MoodleBox which makes sense.
I will do my arm twisting and ask that maybe the Sopala team can plan some kind of activity/event for [Open Education Week](https://openeducationweek.org/) March 3-7, 2025? We have just opened the site for adding your events, but there’s more in the work for the weeks leading up to OEWeek.
I for one will ask my usual ask- I’d very much like to see how this learning systems works in action, the tools, how teachers use it, how learners interact. Of course the bandwidth limitations are a factor, but even seeing more video (which you have shared much before), photos, etc.
Also, along with African Storybook mentioned are you using/involved at all with [Storyweaver](https://storyweaver.org.in/)? We recently published an [OEGlobal Voices podcast interview with Purvi Shah from Pratham Books](https://podcast.oeglobal.org/2024/12/19/voices-76/) and it all spoke loudly to the power of open for making reading material available in first languages.
I urge others in the community here to visit the [Sopala project site](https://sopala.org/) and pepper Dan with questions and ideas. He readily responds here, thanks Dan.
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### Author:  [@danmcguire](https://connect.oeglobal.org/u/danmcguire)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2025, 9:03pm UTC](https://connect.oeglobal.org/t/sopala-demonstrating-how-open-practices-can-impact-k-12-student-learning-in-any-setting/7269/3 "2025-01-25T21:03:33Z")
Yes, we’re involved with Storyweaver and Pratham Books, but not as much as we hope to be in the future. This sentence from our paper includes a link to an example of a Storyweaver book that we translated: The example at the top of [this Sopala page](https://sopala.org/), _Ingonyama Iyabaleka Kwaye Inkomo Iyahamba,_ was translated by Dan McGuire using Google Translate and edited by Nomvuyo Mgoqi, a speaker of [isiXhosa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xhosa_people) and Founder and Director of Khulisani Child Development Academy in [Langa Township](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langa,_South_Africa), Western Cape, South Africa. **** This delightful creature is one of the characters in the book.
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### Author:  [@IslaHF](https://connect.oeglobal.org/u/IslaHF)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 6:15pm UTC](https://connect.oeglobal.org/t/sopala-demonstrating-how-open-practices-can-impact-k-12-student-learning-in-any-setting/7269/4 "2025-01-31T18:15:44Z")
Thanks @danmcguire for posting this here!! On Wednesday we spoke to Maxwell on WikiAfrica Hour (watch it here: [Offline discussion on WikiAfrica Hour](https://connect.oeglobal.org/t/offline-discussion-on-wikiafrica-hour/7314)) … he mentioned the your paper would be released on MIT Open Learn.
Excellent!! And being based in the Cape, it is so refreshing to see African characters and languages being featured. 😉
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### Author:  [@emanuele](https://connect.oeglobal.org/u/emanuele)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2025, 10:15am UTC](https://connect.oeglobal.org/t/sopala-demonstrating-how-open-practices-can-impact-k-12-student-learning-in-any-setting/7269/5 "2025-05-26T10:15:33Z")
Dear colleagues,
I’m part of the team behind Hopcast—a peer-to-peer file-sharing solution that works entirely without the cloud or Internet. Hopcast lets you send videos, documents, apps or any digital resource directly between devices, even in areas with no connectivity.
This capability is a game-changer for educators, NGOs, and rural outreach programs, where data costs and network gaps often hinder learning and operations. By offloading transfers to a local mesh, Hopcast keeps your teams connected and your content moving—securely and at high speed.
Might this help your offline training or field-based initiatives? I’d welcome the chance to walk you through a quick demo.
Warm regards,
Emanuele Magand
Business Development, Hopcast
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### Author:  [@emanuele](https://connect.oeglobal.org/u/emanuele)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2025, 10:16am UTC](https://connect.oeglobal.org/t/sopala-demonstrating-how-open-practices-can-impact-k-12-student-learning-in-any-setting/7269/6 "2025-05-26T10:16:22Z")
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbBXANF_3_I)