<incom> OLPC

Tue Jan 16 15:27:40 CET 2007

Hi all,

It is sad that there is even talk about a "guinea pig"... it shouldn't be.
Pat, the question you raise is quite right: is there any evidence that any
of the claims are true, or at least valid, regarding the wonderful potential
of computers like this in this particular context? Sometimes I feel like
that the counter argument when somebody mentions all the bad examples of
computers at the school is just "in this case, numbers are different". Like
if the sheer amount of computers will change education cause nobody will be
able to run away from its transformative power. Coming from tech types, that
should have read The Mythical Man-Month and all the literature about
productive use of computers, is at least self-delusional.

So, I guess that, considering the hubris exposed here, Negroponte does
believe himself to be a modern Prometheus. Not that I wish him to spend the
rest of his life tied to a mountain as a rather raw goose, but do remember
that the last "modern Prometheus" didn't manage to control his creation. In
his case, I guess he'll just move to the new delusion, carrying with him a
lot of self-deluded people.

Eduardo

On 1/16/07, Felipe Fonseca <felipefonseca at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hey Pat
>
> One thing we can see here is that the decision about
> adopting the OLPC is hardly related to educational issues,
> or even economic issues. It is related to propaganda and
> votes. Such a great thing for a political campaign to have
> a lot of poorblackskinny children armed with nice-looking
> laptops.
>
> Then again, if the project is ever implemented, it will
> have results despite all the populism, because people
> in the borders will create meaningful uses for the X-Os.
>
> As for the resources, there is a lot of money being misused
> in Brasil as we speak, and a lot waiting to be used - there
> is a special reserve for "universalization of telecommunications",
> teh FUST, that should amount now more than 3 billion Reais -
> 1,4 billion dollars.
>
> f
>
> f
>
> On 1/16/07, Pat Hall <p.a.v.hall at btinternet.com> wrote:
> > Hi Felipe,
> >
> > you raise a critical issue - the MIT branding of OLPC. Even though the
> OLPC
> > team left MIT in order to pursue the production of OLPC, it does still
> > carry that brand. Here in Nepal we have the same problem - our decision
> > makers only hear a part of the story, and the proponents of OLPC are
> making
> > pitches to donor groups, bureaucrats, and the new government. How can we
> > together raise a contrary voice?
> >
> > In Nepal the counter argument will be strongly economic - for the money
> you
> > would spend on equipping every child in a school with a laptop, you
> could
> > replace all the school buildings; the cost of the standard package of
> one
> > million OLPCs plus the hidden infrastructure and training costs would
> > consume the entire annual education budget.
> >
> > But there is also an argument to be made about the educational (mis)use
> of
> > computers, and that is what I hope can come out of a discussion on this
> > list. It may also be useful to take the development of the counter
> argument
> > off-line - I know that I need to gather evidence from friends and
> > colleagues in educational research.
> >
> > The key question remains for me - are there any examples anywhere in the
> > world of schools education carried out following the OLPC model? It
> could
> > be that we just have to face one or two countries buying in on the idea,
> > and then wait and see what happens. If it succeeds, and education
> becomes
> > digital, that is wonderful. But if it fails, then I hope the country
> > concerned can afford the loss. Perhaps one country, such as Brazil,
> should
> > volunteer to be the guinea-pig for the G20 world. How about it?
> >
> > Pat
> >
> >
> >
> > At 02:46 16/01/2007, Felipe Fonseca wrote:
> > >Hey Steve
> > >
> > >But let me tell you about Brasil. I have been working
> > >with the Pontos de Cultura project and some other
> > >initiatives here. The fact is that, as the X-O carries
> > >the MIT brand, no one asks for our opinion about it,
> > >as if something developed by those technology
> > >experts shouldn't be questioned ever. I too believe
> > >that people designing it are well-intentioned, and
> > >my intuition says once some X-Os arrive in the
> > >streets, they'll be hacked both for better and worst
> > >uses anyway.
> > >
> > >I know there's at least one of those in São Paulo,
> > >I'll try to check it out soon.
> > >
> > >f
> > >
> > >On 1/13/07, Steve Cisler <sacisler at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > >>I think the people involved in the XO project are at
> > >>least as high-principled as some of us believe we are.
> > >>I think there are some great design features in the
> > >>new machine, and I did like Negroponte's bemoaning the
> > >>fact that kids (and adults) all over the world are
> > >>being taught word/excel/ppoint as if that's the main
> > >>reason for using a computer.
> > >>
> > >>I think it's important to have people at the country
> > >>level (as participants, kibbitzers and gadflies, and
> > >>planners and facilitators) to be commenting...and
> > >>later evaluating how this rolls out. Right now I don't
> > >>think any of us are more than interested parties, or
> > >>perhaps I should say persons of interest--to use my
> > >>government's wonder euphemism for 'suspect.' Maybe we
> > >>can gather others to take part.
> > >>
> > >>Steve
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> >
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> > >
> > >
> > >--
> > >FelipeFonseca
> > >           .''`.
> > >         : :'  :
> > >         `. `'`
> > >           `- Orgulhoso ser MetaRecicleiro
> > >http://fff.hipercortex.com
> > >http://metareciclagem.org
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> FelipeFonseca
>            .''`.
>          : :'  :
>          `. `'`
>            `- Orgulhoso ser MetaRecicleiro
> http://fff.hipercortex.com
> http://metareciclagem.org
>