<div dir="ltr"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Oct 20, 2008 at 1:24 AM, Edward Cherlin <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:echerlin@gmail.com">echerlin@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
I find this idea of putting XOs into computer labs unacceptable. What<br>
do others think?<br>
</blockquote><div><br>I'm not overly fond of the idea.<br> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><br>
<br>
On Sun, Oct 19, 2008 at 9:35 PM, Svetlana Senajova<br>
<div class="Ih2E3d"><<a href="mailto:svetla@paiwastoon.com.af">svetla@paiwastoon.com.af</a>> wrote:<br>
</div>> Dear Edward,<br>
<div class="Ih2E3d">><br>
> Thanks for your points. The idea behind this is that more children have<br>
> access to computer, as the supply is very limited<br>
<br>
</div>"The shortage will be divided among the peasants."--Walt Kelly<br>
<br>
I am well aware of this argument. It is wrong-headed. The problem is<br>
that the answers you get depend on whether you are asking the right<br>
questions. This project does not.<br>
<div class="Ih2E3d"><br>
> - don't forget that<br>
> Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world. Besides that the<br>
> computers will be in the school where all children will have a chance to<br>
> get to know computer, their parents will have access to it in the evenings<br>
> to get a learning for themselves - e.g. about hygiene, about how to start<br>
> a business, how to get better crops out of their fields, connecting to<br>
> buyers and supplies of agricultural products etc. And this shall at the<br>
> end prove that it can contribute to economic development of the rural and<br>
> urban areas and that in the future when parents' standard of their living<br>
> increases they can purchase XO themselves and whole family - both children<br>
</div>> and parents can use it.<br>
<br>
What is this about having parents buy XOs? That violates the<br>
fundamental principle of the OLPC program. I'm copying Nicholas<br>
Negroponte on this.<br>
<div class="Ih2E3d"></div></blockquote><div><br>Woah, Slow down a little bit Ed. Svetla said that parents would have access to the machines, which would make sense in a computer lab setting. The mention of purchasing XO's sounds to me like a long term indicator of national growth and development. In that, one day parents could buy machines directly like people in the US can.<br>
</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div class="Ih2E3d"><br>
> It is per wish of Ministry of Education and with support of USAID/ASMED<br>
<br>
</div>I need to see the documentation on this project so I can ask my<br>
Congressman to investigate USAID for this violation of the project's<br>
fundamental principle. Is there a public URL for any of the<br>
agreements? I find a press release at<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.mcit.gov.af/detail.asp?CatID=1&ContID=179" target="_blank">http://www.mcit.gov.af/detail.asp?CatID=1&ContID=179</a><br>
Posted on: Sep 18, 2008<br>
Ministry of Education and Ministry of Communication and IT Launch the<br>
One Laptop Per Child Project in Partnership with Roshan and ASMED<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.moe.gov.af/news/Sanbullah/15September2008.htm" target="_blank">http://www.moe.gov.af/news/Sanbullah/15September2008.htm</a><br>
Ministry of Education and Ministry of Communication Launch the One<br>
Laptop Per Child Project in Partnership with Roshan and ASMED<br>
Quotes Bryan Rhodes, Chief of Party for ASMED, USAID's Small and<br>
Medium Enterprise Development project.<br>
<br>
I can't find anything about this program on <a href="http://afghanistan.usaid.gov/en/" target="_blank">http://afghanistan.usaid.gov/en/</a><br>
</blockquote><div><br>Laptop.org is similarlly out of date, if I wouldn't take that as an idicator of anything.<br> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<br>
Well, I will inquire at<br>
<br>
Contact Us<br>
...<br>
U.S. Department of State<br>
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs<br>
Afghanistan Desk<br>
</blockquote><div><br>By all means make contacts and find out more information. But please don't do so in a way that would harm what looks like a newly founded partnership with USAID.<br> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<br>
> and hopefully will a new way of how XO can help in developing world.<br>
<br>
It is vital that some of the computers, even if only a few hundred, be<br>
distributed one-to-one, even if most go into computer labs. That way<br>
the Ministry can have a chance to see its error.<br>
</blockquote><div><br>Perhaps this will be the case. This is a very young project.<br><br>--Seth<br></div></div><br></div>