<incom> From the CES in Las vegas

[Bob Hughes]

Thanks to you both for this about OLPC.

I imagine the project will be introduced via so-called "aid", as a 
"conditionality" (beneficiary-countries will have to prove that they 
are meeting their citizens' needs for US electronics before they can 
have the loan).

I wasn't really aware how powerful the "digital divide" industry is 
until I was asked to review a book called "Digital Nation" by Anthony 
Wilhelm last year. The review hasn't been published yet (it's for a 
US electronic journal called TEKKA) but I have just posted the 
unedited article ("Let them eat chips") on my wiki:

	http://www.dustormagic.net/DorMWikka/wikka.php?wakka=LetThemEatChips

... in case it's of interest in these discussions.

Best regards,

Bob Hughes

At 8:58 am +0545 11/1/07, Pat Hall wrote:
>Dear Maja
>
>thank you for posting this, it is very revealing.  At the moment I am
>attending the annual CAN Infotech show in Kathmandu, where we had a
>presentation from a group calling themselves OLPC-Nepal.  There is no doubt
>to me that the OLPC contains some impressive technology, what worries me is
>its intended application.
>
>One quotation in the BBC report is very revealing where they quote Bletsas:
>"I'd like to make sure that kids all around the world start to communicate.
>It will be a very interesting experiment to see what will happen when we
>deploy a million laptops in Brazil and a million laptops in Namibia."
>Focus on that word 'experiment'.
>
>OLPC was being pushed here as a solution to Nepal's educational
>needs.  There is no doubt that Nepal has severe needs, with inadequate
>school buildings, insufficient teachers many of whom are unqualified mostly
>teaching rote learning from the front of the class, and much absenteeism as
>kids help their families survive.  But there are examples of sound teaching
>practice in spite of these constraints, introduced by local Nepali
>educators and through programs funded by the Scandinavians and through
>UNESCO.  UNESCO is in the process of producing a short video to illustrate
>these local Nepali best practices.
>
>OLPC is based on a high tech view of education mediated by the OLPC,
>networked so that collaborative learning takes place, following a
>constructionist paradigm.  Nothing wrong with collaborative learning and
>constructionist education - that is what happens when teachers move away
>from the front of the class and pupils turn their chairs to work in groups,
>and just a few more resources like teachers or teaching assistants are
>available.  But this does not require the OLPC.
>
>OLPC-Nepal describe themselves as a group of 'young engineers', and billed
>the origins of OLPC as coming from a group 'educators at MIT'.  Hang on,
>isn't the Media Lab a group of high-tech people who have been pushing the
>use of technology in teaching for 50 years, from Marvin Minsky and Logo to
>the present?  Has anybody anywhere adopted a completely computer mediated
>delivery of education in schools?  Even distance educators such as
>Britain's Open University recognise the need for a personal touch in their
>use of tutors and self help groups.
>
>So the way it looks to me is that the high-tech people from Media Labs and
>their fellow travellers, having failed to roll out the use of high tech in
>schools education across the developed world, are now indulging in one
>gigantic experiment on the developing world to see if their
>computer-mediated methods work.  Phew, how does this rank against drug
>trials in developing countries and the dumping of computer waste in the
>name of recycled computers?
>
>How do you stop this leviathon?  Well, it will stop in due course due to
>its own failures, hopefully in countries that can afford the odd 100
>million dollars or two.  I will do what I can to advise people here in
>Nepal against OLPC, though of course it must be people here who decide.
>
>best wishes
>
>Pat
>
>
>
>At 02:15 11/01/2007, Maja van der Velden wrote:
>  >The BBC had an interview with Mr. Bletsas from the One Laptop Per Child
>>project:
>>
>>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6246989.stm
>>
>>"He said he hoped that the laptop project would help children enrich
>>their lives to the extent that one day they could become consumers of
>>the types of technologies on display in Las Vegas."
>>
>>There is much more interesting stuff there. For example, the laptops are
>>not supposed to go to people without internet access...
>>
>>
>>Greetings,
>>
>>Maja
>>--
>>
>>
>>In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune
>>
>>But this reality so give me some room
>>
>>(Billy Bragg - Waiting for the great leap forward)
>>
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