Slashdot Mirror
Why OLPC Struggles Against Educators, Big Business
afabbro writes "The current issue of BusinessWeek has an expansive article of the history of OLPC and why it has, to date, been a flop. Among the reasons: no preparation for the educational systems expected to use it, uncertain pedagogical theories, poor business management, competition from Microsoft/Intel, and no input from education professionals in designing the software. As BusinessWeek quotes one educational expert, 'The hackers took over,' and the applications are too complex for children to use. To date, 370,000 laptops have been shipped — a far cry from the original 150 million planned to be shipped by end of 2008."
His teacher had told the class to search the Internet for information
on the environment, but the boy was stumped. "I was trying, but I couldn't
find anything,"
What the boy didn't know, was the rest of his classmates *did* find something and
the classroom immediately erupted in a resounding "RTFM!" in response, showing
proof that children in developing nations can at least find Slashdot.
boycott slashdot February 10th - 17th check out: altSlashdot.org
So that is what the ??? in the profit meme stands for!
1. Do something.
2. Do something else.
3. "and then some magic happens"
4. Profit!
That's because in theory, we can.
Caveat Utilitor
I like your synergy and value delivery and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
Yes, but if you live in a rural village in a third world country, how much technology are you surrounded by? Yes, in the first world nations, not knowing how to use a computer is a serious hindrance in the work environment, even if you work at a fast food restaurant. But in the third world, especially in the most rural villages, the technology is, for the most part, primeval. Yes, they're being introduced to technology that is incredibly advanced, but how will this help them in their daily lives? They now know how to run a computer, but it's such a complex piece of technology. If you give someone a wheel, they'll eventually figure out how it works. An automobile is derived from so many other technological discoveries that it's function is inexplicable to people not familiar with it. The XO is an interesting toy, but knowing how to operate one won't really benefit most children in these communities. Knowledge of more sophisticated agricultural practices, or looms, or food storage techniques (canning, dehydration, etc.) would be of greater benefit. Yes, a few poster children will leave their villages, attend university on scholarship, and become scientists, doctors, lawyers, etc... but that involves leaving the village. It would be better if, instead of giving them laptops and teaching them skills that are useful in our culture, we would teach them skills that can make their lives better and improve the lives of the whole village. In the long run, it would help more people if, instead of giving them food or laptops, we would help to teach them the skills that have allowed our culture to create things like laptops.