On One Laptop per Child
I saw some rumblings this week about what went wrong with OLPC (One Laptop per Child). Having had, depending on your perspective either a front row seat or being in the ring myself - It is a good but unpopular idea that Nicholas Negroponte did several amazing things and oddly doesn’t get enough credit for them. The first is that he ended the discussion of whether computers belong in children’s hands – they do. And the second which will endure is that he also answered the question of whether inexpensive computers can be useful – they are and their numbers are growing. 50 Million units are predicted in the next 12 months just as Nicholas predicted in 2005 (and was roundly laughed at for). His critics saw only speeches but he gave everything he had, everything he could muster - to this effort and he has succeeded in ways that will long endure. Today more than a million children see the world in ways they would never have, and millions more will in coming months thanks to what Nicholas created.
- Mary Lou
Mary Lou, I don’t think the discussion of whether laptops belong in children’s hands was at all decisive. The problem with OLPC (and nearly all other technology-driven solutions) is that it assumes that the “education problem” consists primarily in a lack of access to information. I and many other educators reject that premise outright. The real problem is what it has always been: teaching children to learn is hard and takes time and human effort.
By throwing in more technology and more unordered, unfiltered information, we nearly always make things worse—and the data support that (see below link).
Children don’t need more information. Children need to learn how to read, how to write, how to cipher, how to think critically, how to weigh information presented to them, how to reject fallacies, and how to love learning. All this is best accomplished by a caring and patient adult at their side.
I blogged about this here:
http://scott.wiersdorf.org/blarney/081103b.html
but the summary points are:
- computers without responsible guidance are merely distractions
- educational software still sucks, even with responsible guidance
Computers can enhance learnings in some limited domains, but it’s too easy to confuse entertainment with education.
While I laud Negroponte’s zeal for education, all of that money and research and time would probably have been better invested in caring and competent teachers.
Dear Mary Lou,
I agree with you about NN’s achievements. And of course, those who go new ways take the risk of stumbling and falling more often than those sticking to the beaten tracks.
However, I have two remarks to your post:
a) I agree that NN’s initiative (OLPC) has set the netbook wave into motion. But it seems incorrect to me to compare the predicted 12 Mio nettops sold to wealthy adults in western countries with NN’s 10-million-prediction of child-oriented learning laptops in developing countries.
b) I am not sure what you mean in your last line by “…millions more will in coming months…”. Do you again refer to the nettops that hardly reach needy children? Or are there any million-sized school deployments in developping countries expected in the coming months of which I haven’t heard yet?
Visionary dreaming is one precondition to take bold action. But once the action started dreaming should stop and reality should be faced, scrutinized and taken into account in adjustments.
I wish you, PixelQi and OLPC good success.
A million years ago, at the birth of satelite TV, I recall reading an article that reffered to satlite dishes as the “State Flower of West Virginia” The reason for the comment was that at that time, coal miners making $15K per year were quite happy to spend $5K on a satelite dish and big TV as thye could not recieve regular TV that was their daily connection with the outside world. Today, being connected means having access to the internet and all of the data and global interaction that it makes available. For folk in isolated areas, it means that they and their children can know the world and be part of the information age society just as it was important for those West virginia coal miners to have a TV connection to feel connected outside of the coal fields.
Norm