>http://funredes.org/mistica/castellano/emec/produccion/memoria15/0493.html

Deirdre Williams' comments about Neil, his aspirations and
his needs is a useful starting point for two lines of thought.
One is - of course- how does Deirdre help Neil. The other is
of what possible use would an OLPC laptop be to Neil.

Answering the second question is easier than answering the first.
For starters, the OLPC foundation is only planning to supply them
in lots of one million units - so unless Dierdre and Neil have
999,999 other friends with $100,000,000 for starters don't line
up at the order desk.

Second, of course the total cost of an operational "package" is
much more than $100. The machine itself -if ever into actual mass
production- is now costed at more than $100. In fact, it will have
to complete with computer-like cell phones and a score of
competitive devices coming it at the same price point. Then
there are the rest of the costs of implementing such a scheme.
One does not just drop them from low flying airplanes and forget
about them.

Lastly (for now since there are other challenges to this scheme),
a computer may (MAY) be a stand alone purchase for someone who
already has the education, the networks of contacts, and well
defined needs for email, data search, etc. It is not a stand alone
substitute tool -even networked to other OLPC units- for children
in settings where the social determinants of education present
obstacles and challenges.

The old advice: "Do the right thing right" applies here.
There are many reasons to believe that starting with
laptop/notebook computers for children as a substitute for a
supportive educational environment is the wrong place to start.
It is the wrong thing done the wrong way. Bluntly put, what most
of this hemisphere's poor students need is access to a good
teacher, one who is paid a living wage, has been well trained,
and is linked/networked to ongoing education for him/herself and
linked in peer-to-peer teacher support groups.

It is only a bit short of criminal for well placed individuals
to turn the heads of Ministers of Education, and a few well
meaning capitalists and corporations, with dreams of laptop
computers dancing across the countryside, turning poor
children into productive workers and constructive citizens.

At its core, it is the worst form of "cargo cult" mentality
we have in this 21st Century. The sooner its demise, by whatever
means, the better for the children of the world. They will be
better situated to take advantage of state of the art technology
if they get a decent start with education in the first place.

For a child a cheap computer is not a substitute for a good
teacher.

Sam Lanfranco
York University.
Nearby Mon Dec 18 03:17:35 2006