<div dir="ltr"><div>I think Marc's basic question has not been answered.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Regards,</div>
<div> </div>
<div>A.S.Guha.<br><br></div>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Sep 22, 2008 at 9:19 PM, Sameer Verma <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:sverma@sfsu.edu">sverma@sfsu.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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<div class="Wj3C7c">On Mon, Sep 22, 2008 at 10:08 AM, Marc Valentin<br><<a href="mailto:mvalentin@oeuvredespains.org">mvalentin@oeuvredespains.org</a>> wrote:<br>> On Mon, Sep 22, 2008 at 4:31 PM, Sameer Verma <<a href="mailto:sverma@sfsu.edu">sverma@sfsu.edu</a>> wrote:<br>
>> On Sun, Sep 21, 2008 at 3:43 PM, Satish Jha <<a href="mailto:sjha@vsnl.com">sjha@vsnl.com</a>> wrote:<br>>>> I am overwhelmed by the kind of support this project is receiving from<br>>>> everyone.. from individuals to institutions and corporations and<br>
>>> governments.. they have all been trying to do their best..<br>>>><br>>>> My corporate relations adviser informs me that an airline has agreed to give<br>>>> a number of free tickets for the staff, a business house is willing to offer<br>
>>> office space and support for all the schools it runs and the children they<br>>>> have run up in six figures and so on..<br>>>><br>>>> However, our goal is to reach out to those who cannot help themselves.. And<br>
>>> our efforts are focused primarily in that direction.<br>>>><br>>>> While individual initiatives greatly contribute to the cause, aggregating<br>>>> them in an organized way may get a lot more out of them.<br>
>>><br>>>> We should also keep in mind that our production batch size is 50,000 at one<br>>>> time and unless we can scale up, the program will have different kind of<br>>>> management challenges.<br>
>>><br>>>> In this listserv, if we can focus on how to aggregate to large numbers, it<br>>>> will be a great help indeed.<br>>><br>>> Maybe what we need is a simple list or table of people who what small<br>
>> batches of XOs in their school, village, neighborhood etc., organized<br>>> by location, etc. That way we can combine small batches into a larger<br>>> order. If 50 schools of 1000 children each speak up, we get 50K. It<br>
>> could very well be a simple form that people fill out with all these<br>>> details and contact info, potential donors (whether they have any or<br>>> are seeking, etc).<br>>><br>>> This could even scale worldwide...<br>
>><br>>> Thoughts?<br>><br>> I think it must be very exciting to see all the children of a school<br>> roaming around with XO laptops but I don't see the educative aspect in<br>> it. First, you need capable and motivated teachers, very difficult to<br>
> find.<br><br></div></div>I disagree. First, you need capable and motivated *children* and<br>that's easier to do than to retrofit a thirty-something teacher with<br>new thinking.<br>
<div class="Ih2E3d"><br>> Second, children can easily share the laptops during the day,<br>> they are not going to spend the whole day using the laptops, isn't it<br>> ? It depends on the quantity of divisions in the school but with one<br>
> division, 50 laptops are certainly enough so during a class using XO,<br>> each child can have his own laptop. (That was the source of the<br>> misunderstanding in a previous message : we have 35 laptops and 50<br>
> would be just perfect).<br><br></div>I am tempted to say that I find your lack of faith disturbing :-)<br>(subtle Star Wars humor)<br><br>I've seen children work with the XO. Yes, you need teachers to keep an<br>
eye on things in a classroom, and yes you will need to educate them<br>about the project and process, but give the children some credit. I<br>don't know how old you are Marc, but I am willing to bet, the kids are<br>a lot younger :-) They learn faster and in much better ways than you<br>
and I can. I started KinderGarten with chalk and slate. Why should we<br>subject the children to chalk and slate if we can bypass it?<br><br>So, kids walking around with XOs is educational? I think so. Every<br>time they learn that multiplication is addition done several times<br>
using Pippy, they learn. I didn't learn that until 11th grade (not<br>very sharp, was I?) when I learned to write BASIC programs. Why?<br>Because the nuns at my convent school never bothered to teach me. They<br>surely did a good job of beating it into me (all the way up to tables<br>
of 14), but that's another story. See more at<br><a href="http://sameerverma.org/blog/?postid=164" target="_blank">http://sameerverma.org/blog/?postid=164</a><br>
<div class="Ih2E3d"><br>> If you consider the budget aspect only : 1000 laptops means $200,000<br>> only for the hardware. You still have to count the training and the<br>> maintenance. It is a very big amount, too big for a 1000 children's<br>
> school.<br><br></div>Yes, that number is true. In fact, if you look at Habib Khan's<br>spreadsheet, you'll see what some of the real costs are.<br><a href="http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Image:OLPC_Cost_Simulation_Model_for_South_Asian_Countries_by_Habib.xls" target="_blank">http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Image:OLPC_Cost_Simulation_Model_for_South_Asian_Countries_by_Habib.xls</a><br>
<br>We have to be realistic. The idea isn't doing this cheap. The idea is<br>to get someone who *can afford it* to pay for it. The XO costs are<br>still less than $350 or so for an ASUS EEE PC. All other costs will<br>
remain the same, if not increase.<br>
<div class="Ih2E3d"><br>> I know donations can come from abroad but local people will<br>> feel you mis the point, the main problem in India is the lack of<br>> infrastructures<br><br></div>Lack of infrastructure can be bypassed or circumvented by the XOs<br>
bringing their own infrastructure with them. If we wait to build the<br>infrastructure, that might be another ten years gone by.<br>
<div class="Ih2E3d"><br>> and the poor attendance of the teachers and the<br>> students.<br><br></div>I believe this has improved dramatically once the children have a<br>reason to be there. In Bhagmalpur<br>(<a href="http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_India/Bhagmalpur" target="_blank">http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_India/Bhagmalpur</a>), the school has a<br>
near 100% attendance. The real reason? Free mid-day meal from the UP<br>government. Post lunch, the school looks empty and the kids raid the<br>village backyards and gardens in search of mischief.<br><br>I don't intend to discount your opinion in any way. After all, you<br>
have a school of 35 XOs. Your input is valuable. We are all on the<br>same team here. At least, I hope so. However, some of the thinking<br>with this project is incredibly disruptive, and will require us to<br>think in disruptive ways. Otherwise, the XO Speak will dictate "Two<br>
one za two..." and the children will repeat.<br>
<div class="Ih2E3d"><br>Sameer<br>--<br>Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D.<br>Associate Professor of Information Systems<br>San Francisco State University<br>San Francisco CA 94132 USA<br><a href="http://verma.sfsu.edu/" target="_blank">http://verma.sfsu.edu/</a><br>
<a href="http://opensource.sfsu.edu/" target="_blank">http://opensource.sfsu.edu/</a><br>_______________________________________________<br></div>
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