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OLPC a Hit in Remote Peruvian Village
mrcgran writes "The Chicago Tribune is running a feel-good story about the effects of OLPC on a remote village in Peru. 'Doubts about whether poor, rural children really can benefit from quirky little computers evaporate as quickly as the morning dew in this hilltop Andean village, where 50 primary school children got machines from the One Laptop Per Child project six months ago. At breakfast, they're already powering up the combination library/videocam/audio recorder/music maker/drawing kits. At night, they're dozing off in front of them — if they've managed to keep older siblings from waylaying the coveted machines. Peru made the single biggest order to date — more than 272,000 machines — in its quest to turn around a primary education system that the World Economic Forum recently ranked last among 131 countries surveyed.'"
If you think that Peru is a commie state, your level of education is quite low, we are a free country ( and we have largely defeated those murderous commie pinkos called shining path ( I spit on the ground just thinking about that nefarious name) we have freedom of press, better news reporting than the ones I see in the US, the education outside the big cities is largely low BECAUSE of the lack of government interest, try visiting peru soime day, the biggest source of corruption there is from the government, not the other way around.
- Read articles about fishing in Spanish Wikipedia.
- Explore the articles' references.
- Teach yourself to fish.
- Catch fish.
- Sell fish.
- PROFIT!
Am I missing a step???Impact on students and teachers in Arahuay
I took as complete notes as I could talking with each of the teachers in turn (unfortunately, I forgot to get their names); translation slowed things enough that I believe the notes are pretty complete, though it may have also introduced errors. They echo Carla's excellent report, but are now months later:
Two children have come to the Arahuay school specifically because of the laptops who would not have previously attended.
The children are sharing much more: they take pictures and videos and share them.
The children are teachers too.
The teachers see much improved conduct. One child (who often arrives hungry) who has been sad and aggressive now loves to work on the OLPC. He is working more with other children and his behavior has improved.
One of the children has vision problems; is cross eyed and has one damaged eye (Carla will remember the child, I'm sure). Using the laptop has improved the child's ability to focus her eyes and work.
Another teacher noted that small children, ages 6-7, are learning much faster. The web browser is the most popular/important activity, followed by the camera.
The activities they use most are the browser, paint, calculator, write.
The children use the internet to find information of interest.
One child, who is from Lima, has learned much in Arahuay and is very happy about the OLPC.
Another teacher said the children have changed: they have more concentration, mental ability.
The children's concept reception is much better than before. Despite the use of US keyboards (all we had at the time), the children have had little problem adapting, and have figured out all they keys.
A third teacher said the internet is the most interesting.
The children are showing more abilities, are more creative, their behavior is better.
The children were selfish about the computers at first, but now share and discover with them, showing the teachers and other students what they have discovered.
Children who had previously been interested in power (bully?) have forgotten power and are sharing.
The children are showing better attention and organization.
Students are learning about the world, and now feel part of it. They are now interested in learning other languages, which they had not wanted to do before. Creating a web site on Arahuay has made them feel part of the world. Impact on the teachers:
They have started to research topics on the internet and have practiced to use the computer.
The teachers have more ways to plan and improve the class.
Another teacher said the computer was wonderful for her. Information on the internet had improved both her and the children.
Their jobs are easier now.
One of the teachers asked for mind-mapper software, which they have used. We should install freemind on the servers and explore how feasible it is for packaging as an activity (it is Java based).
But the high point was the eight year old girl who came up to me shyly and gave me a kiss....
BTW, if anyone speaks Quechua or Aymara (or other languages), please help at: https://dev.laptop.org/translate/.
Please come help!
- Jim Gettys, OLPC
You know, it's almost enough to make an old geek cry, imagining these kids learning about computers and becoming proto-geeks, who otherwise might have lived their entire lives without ever seeing a laptop or using the internet.
My kid wants a OLPC. But you can't just buy one. My kid isn't a good, African kid, she's a bad, American kid.
Your 'American kid' has far more resources to draw on that the target audience of these laptops. You, the dad, has the resources and ability to basically build her a laptop for cheap. You already have a 24/7 internet connection, ready for this laptop to connect to. She has PC's in school...all her friends (and their parent) have PC's at home. She can very easily go to the local library to use the computers there. If you work in any medium size company, you can probably scam an older laptop for free (I have 3 such laying around).
You popping for a brand new, dual core, multi gigbyte HD laptop for under $600 is far less of a financial impact than an OLPC would be for any of the target audience.
Or...you popping for a $399 OLPC (and a tax deduction of $200) is far less of a financial hit as well.
Should we also be bitching because the 'good African kids' also get free rice and 'bad American kids' don't? Or that 'good African kids' get a well dug in their town by the Peace Corps, and YOU, the downtrodden, poor American, has to actually pay taxes for clean, filtered, unlimited, water delivered to the multiple taps in your house at any temperature you desire.
Oh...and if you happen to come across a cheap/free laptop, you (Mr. computer wizard) can install the OLPC image on it and your daughter can have almost exactly the same thing. (unfortunately, that image is outdated. I hope they publish a current one soon)
Quit yer bitching.