[Olpc-open] [realness] Re: [IAEP] [realness] a school is not a building

[Kenneth Adam]

Maybe it’s a good idea to go for "digital collaboration", or at least laptop-based/ e-learning, instead of bricks and mortar when resources are scarce, but maybe not. The problem is that a proper evidence base to support the proposition still doesn't exist, as far as I know, which is why it will remain an extremely hard sell to any responsible Ministry of Education.

This shows us why a scientific and independent study of the benefits (as in cost-benefit analysis) needs to be undertaken in a wide range of settings, establishing the educational value of such interventions (as compared to the effectiveness/ value of traditional interventions). Undoubtedly concentrating resources on e-learning may make good sense in some situations, and bad sense in others, depending on local environmental conditions and the costs involved.

In any case, I would agree with Ian Thomson that OLPC is best viewed as something which can augment and support traditional teaching models, sometimes helping to bridge capacity gaps, rather than as something which could/should replace them. Apart from anything else, school is fun for most children (those that are lucky enough to have a place in a school), not to mention offering a possibility for women to have a professional life in the years after child-bearing, so it would be a sad thing if schools became obsolete because some of us got carried away with ideas of digital utopia!

Just my $0.02...

Ken


Kenneth Adam
Project and Program Management Office (PMO)
Afghanistan Information Management Services (AIMS)
Tel: 0093 (0) 796 311 256
www.aims.org.af


-----Original Message-----
From: geekblake at gmail.com [mailto:geekblake at gmail.com] On Behalf Of Blake Elias
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 6:22 AM
To: Edward Cherlin
Cc: Ian Thomson; Timothy Falconer; olpc-haiti at lists.laptop.org; grassroots OLPC; olpc-open at lists.laptop.org; Squeakland List; Maho 2010; IAEP; Bernie Innocenti; ht2011-winter at waveplace.org
Subject: [realness] Re: [IAEP] [realness] a school is not a building

It's not that Ministries of Education should *stop* their core
activities, but another possibility to consider before *starting*.

A physical school where children can learn and work together is
wonderful.  In some situations where it's a struggle to build a
physical school, where it really may be a dichotomy between
buildings/laptops because of the expense, maybe they want to make
digital collaboration their main goal instead of building with brick
and mortar.

Blake Elias

On Sun, Dec 5, 2010 at 6:47 PM, Edward Cherlin <echerlin at gmail.com> wrote:
> What he said. I hate false dichotomies. They abound in discussions of
> education and in the politics of education, indeed in any situation
> where the more extreme the position, the more likely it is to be
> heard.
>
> On Sun, Dec 5, 2010 at 18:04, Ian Thomson <IanT at spc.int> wrote:
>> Personally, I think the whole approach is wrong. You will never convince
>> Ministries of Education to stop their "core" activities just because
>> there are laptops.
>>
>> The better approach is to show how laptops can enhance education in
>> schools.
>> This should not be an "either/or" approach. We can do both.
>>
>> As a simple example, children can leave the school earlier after
>> suitable teaching and complete work on the laptops at home or other
>> locations. This will free up the school to take a second shift of
>> students.
>> Teachers can restructure their teaching to have groups working together
>> to learn, so freeing them up to take more students.
>>
>> Ian Thomson
>> ICT Outreach Section
>> Economic Development Division
>> Secretariat of the Pacific Community
>> B.P. D5 - Noumea Cedex - 98848
>> New Caledonia
>>
>> Phone +687-265419
>>
>> Fax +687 26 38 18
>> http://www.spc.int
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: iaep-bounces at lists.sugarlabs.org
>> [mailto:iaep-bounces at lists.sugarlabs.org] On Behalf Of Bernie Innocenti
>> Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 8:36 AM
>> To: Timothy Falconer
>> Cc: olpc-haiti at lists.laptop.org; grassroots OLPC;
>> olpc-open at lists.laptop.org; Squeakland List; Maho 2010; IAEP;
>> ht2011-winter at waveplace.org
>> Subject: Re: [IAEP] [realness] a school is not a building
>>
>> On Sun, 2010-12-05 at 15:18 -0500, Timothy Falconer wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> A favor:  help me make this case (or refute it) as we prepare once
>>> more for Haiti ... "spend money on training & laptops instead bricks
>>> and mortar".
>>>
>>> http://waveplace.com/news/blog/archive/001035.jsp
>>
>> It's a beautiful thought that touches deep into my hacker spirit, but
>> the conclusion seems weak: what is it that we are advocating for? Remote
>> learning? Home-schooling? Having classes under a tree? It's unclear.
>>
>> The point that you were making with the military canteen vs cooking at
>> home metaphor is that compulsory education doesn't follow individual
>> inclinations. Then, the conclusion should state the proposed solution
>> for this problem.
>>
>> --
>>   // Bernie Innocenti - http://codewiz.org/
>>  \X/  Sugar Labs       - http://sugarlabs.org/
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
>> IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
>> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
>> IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
>> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Edward Mokurai (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) Cherlin
> Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation.
> The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination.
> http://www.earthtreasury.org/
> _______________________________________________
> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep