<incom> OLPC presentation in Norway

[Steve Cisler]

A good post. A lot to comment on:

Re: game machines in developing countries.
>Because the thingy has to compete
> with the gaming machines in the internet cafe around
> the school'sstreet corner, in order to be taken
>seriously and accepted by the kids as"worthy".

The video game machines I have seen in Paraguay,
Guatemala, and Uganda were usually recycled old arcade
machines from the U.S. (and maybe Europe). Sort of
like the old U.S. school buses that end up as
transport in Latin America. Maybe there are fancier
ones in some places.

Bypassing teachers:
> > "We don't need to train the teachers, we pass over
> that stage".

This was a big mistake ten years ago during the hyped
NetDay to connect the schools in the U.S. After the
volunteers came and went, many schools including some
where my wife worked here in Silicon Valley, had to
hire people to fix what well-meaning NetDay people
screwed up. The organizers had the same view: work
with the kids; the teachers "don't get it." (one of
the most overused declarations by technophiles).

Many computers-in-education advocates have other
goals: shaking up the existing educational
bureaucracies, de-schooling kids, and of course
expanding the market for a wide variety of activities
that are based on working in front of a screen.

If the XO really works well for five years that will
answer the dreams of many educators in charge of
purchasing equipment. That is a lot of stability in an
environment that is notorious for rapid change.

Steve Cisler


 
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