[OLPC India] OLPC XO vs. Asus Eee PC 701

[amit gogna]

Hi Marc,

 I am working at India's first pilot site for OLPC at Khairat near Mumbai.
Here is what I have to say from my practical experience.


>
> I agree with that. I don't know about the computer interface but for
> the physical part it is a matter of showing how to do things. But
> still this is an important aspect. I suppose your daughter is not
> living in India, there is a big difference between children living in
> western countries and those living in India. In India, there are not
> so many things they can play with. They don't have toys for example,
> the parents living in small places have also the basic needed things.
> So they have more problems to deal with technological devices.




Well I dont see the kids here having problems dealing with technological
devices. They enjoy every bit of it. Offcourse there our some local problems
related to electricity in rural areas but that too is been worked on. They
enjoy discovering on their XOs. And what follows is the process of learning
in a group with this self learning initiative. Teacher acts as a medium of
taking them to new paths and they explore every bit of it.... i mean if
given a taste of some activity ... they go on making a creative picture out
of it. Well there is much more to it.Khairat Chronicle gives a much better
picture of the whole situation.

>
>
> Well, if you see the practical aspect, the XO is weak. To buy < 100
> you have to go for G1G1. Means you have to have an physical address in
> the USA, you have to arrange and pay UPS postage and indian custom
> fees (high !). Once you have the computers in India, where do you go
> for support ? This is actually the worst aspect of XO. You can buy Eee
> PC in India and Asus has offices and resellers to provide support.
>
> Let me make you aware that the work on building a system for all the
> Indian Requests for XOs and all logistics attached to implementation of OLPC
> in India (which includes support) has already started and is been worked at.
> Also a website and payment gateway is been worked on. You will be made aware
> of complete details in some few days to follow. We have already receiving
> some requests coming in from across the country. With the vision of OLPC we
> intend to take this to all the rural parts of the nation thus bridging the
> digital divide and such a initiative takes a while for the system to be in
> place for it to be  successfully deployed across the nation.
>


>
> That is not what I meant... Children cannot learn by themselves. They
> need teachers. Trying to impose a technology to the teachers against
> their will is a very bad idea. And as I see it, teachers in India are
> easily lost when you come "out of the book". So it is important to be
> sure they are going to use the computers and not keep them in the
> cupboard...



 Well what I understand is that nothing is been imposed on teacher neither
on students. I think education is more of a fun to them and now they learn
with much more interest. As I said before dont tell them how to cook .. just
give them the ingredients and then we will all see what delicacy they make.
And with XOs I have seen them doing that. I think it is just the beginning
.. OUR OLPC MESH NETWORK is going to set its NODES all across the NATION ..
and then we all will be connected through this beautiful technology
spreading this wave of new era of learning which is based on the principles
of constructivism , creative thinking and self learning.


  Amit
OLPC India Team.


>
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