[OLPC India] Let them have laptops

[Marc Valentin]

Yes, the XO is an interesting little machine. But i feel we cannot use
it the way OLPC is proposing to use it, we cannot give one laptop to
each child in our school and let them go with it back home in their
village : First, it is much too expensive (there are so many
children... basic infrastructure is our priority), second I am almost
sure many would just "disappear", stolen or sold. I know there is a
security system but you have to be educated to understand that the
laptop can be "deactivated", people in the villages are not.
At the moment we have 5 XO in our school in U.P., they reached one
week ago and the staff already asked me what they should do with that
thing. (Well, they didn't say it that way of course. :-) ). There is
no user guide. The only thing possible is to print some online wiki
guide from the internet. That is not very easy and practical. In
India, a lot of teaching is done with school books, this XO is missing
paper material ! I am not sure if the teachers are going to accept
that. With a class of 50, they don't have time to create the material
themselves.
Any way, I will be there after a few weeks and I will see the
potential of both the EeePC and the XO. But, one thing is sure, you
cannot impose a laptop against the will of the staff and teachers.
One aspect of the XO I like to test is the collaborative aspect. It is
really amazing that you can share activities and collaborate easily.
It is nice because I feel the Indian mentality tend to be very
individualistic. In this matter, the XO can be a very nice tool to
make understand the children that collaboration is important.
-Marc Valentin-
http://www.OeuvreDesPains.org


On Feb 2, 2008 7:32 PM, Sameer Verma <sverma at sfsu.edu> wrote:
> Joshua N Pritikin wrote:
> > On Fri, Feb 01, 2008 at 11:48:06AM -0800, Sameer Verma wrote:
> >
> >> A short article from the Indian Express today.
> >> http://www.indianexpress.com/printerFriendly/267511.html
> >>
> >
> > I think the real question is whether it is easier to embezzle money
> > tagged for basic needs and traditional education or XO laptops. I am not
> > sure what is the answer.
> >
>
> Hi Joshua,
>
> Apart from the "make a quick buck" strategy, I find that many people are
> unable to make the connection between a means to an end, and the end
> itself. I see technology as a means to the end goal of empowering the
> individual through education. I must clarify that education in this
> context is not a degree or diploma. It is largely an awareness that
> potentially improves perspective.
>
> The market is driven by perception, and that needs to work in favor of
> the project. A whole bunch of things are perceived as threatening or
> unknown:
>
> The OS: Why something obscure? Aren't our kids entitled to what the rest
> of the world uses?
> The machine: At $100, it must be cut rate and inadequate. Our kids must
> have real computers.
> The approach: The Americans aren't using this in their schools, so they
> must be dumping this on us. Its one of those "third world" things.
>
> What I find interesting is that once people actually see this laptop and
> use it for a bit, they start to see the implications. They connect the
> dots. They see the value proposition of e-books, the child educating the
> family when she takes the laptop home, recording some history of each
> family through pictures and video, and so on.
>
> Marc Valentin, who is on this list (I don't mean to pick on you,
> Marc...just using your perspective as an example :-)) has looked at the
> Asus Eee PC
> (http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/india/2007-November/000134.html) and
> now he has an XO. Obviously, Marc has seen something in the XO, which is
> why he is still here! If the value proposition did not exist, Marc would
> have purchased a bunch of Asus machines and moved on. I have both
> macines at home. Although the Eee PC boots and loads way faster, I would
> recommend the XO hands down.
>
> I think that because we (list people) are so close to the
> problem-solution domain we easily see the connections, but the public at
> large does not. Someone has to spell it out for them. I hope we see more
> pilot studies, and more importantly, we see results of pilot studies so
> that the public perception improves over time.
>
> This is just the beginning.
>
> cheers,
> Sameer
>
> --
> Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor of Information Systems
> San Francisco State University
> San Francisco CA 94132 USA
> http://verma.sfsu.edu/
> http://opensource.sfsu.edu/
>
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