[Localization] [Educators] Empowering teachers

[Bastien]

"Edward Cherlin" <echerlin at gmail.com> writes:

>> But educational systems in *poor* countries tend to stick to their old
>> model (I mean: more than less poor countries.)  You cannot expect such
>> systems to change as quickly as systems where you can get volunteers,
>> etc., where "community" has about the same meaning it has in FLOSS
>> development.
>
> That's what the Ministry thought in Peru. They were very surprised to
> see collaboration taking root in the first week.

I'm open to surprise (but I can't predict that I will be surprised...)

>> Let's make this parallel: Free Software requires a rich environment to
>
> Rich financially, or in spirit, or in opportunities, or what?

Financially, economically, morally.

>> thrive, and from an economical point of view, poor countries should be
>> the first to benefit from it.  Similarily, new educational practices
>> require a rich (social, intellectual, pedagogical) environment to be
>> brought up, and poor countries should also be the first to benefit
>> from it.
>
> I expect to see a lot of that. The prosperous and comfortable are far
> more hidebound than the poor.

My bad.  I was to general in my previous statements, and so does the
current discussion.  Different countries, different people!

>> The problem is that implementing new educational practice is a bit
>> more complex than downloading Free Software on the web!
>
> Fortunately, downloading Free Software is the smallest part of this
> project. 

(Here again, I was talking about Free Software from a general point of
view, not that part of OLPC that frays with FLOSS.)

> And it is not that we must implement something, or everybody
> else will get it wrong. The teachers are amazed and delighted at the
> changes they see in the children and their parents, and want more of
> it. Which the laptops enable them to do in collaboration with each
> other and with the communities. And us, to be sure, but what do we 
> know?

I'm glad if it's so.

My only point was: don't underestimate the effort of deploying.  Rich
cultural and intellectuel environments invent new ways for education,
but in some contexts, these new ways require double-effort to take
place.  

-- 
Bastien