Re: [Air-l] India Rejects One Laptop Per Child
Wojciech,
I must say that the first argument is a perfect example of how people in developed countries often lack the foresight and local knowledge required to adequately decide whether a technology truly is "appropriate". Forget the merits to education or the potential for employability skills -- those are secondary to the potentially negative health effects of the laptops.
Responses of the Western civiliation to the needs of the "developing" countries abound. The Westerners have developed this keen "foresight" as to what the "other" countries really need. In the meantime, merits of access to computers in education are questionable. There does not seem to be any direct link between computers and raised student academic achievement. What constitues "academic achievement" is yet a different matter. Commercial use of the Internet is most prevalent and one may argue that it is the Western culture that is carried through the newest of technologies. Western thought imposed on other lands does not always bring the desired fruits of stability and prosperity, does it? I believe that the Indian government's actions deserve more of a dialogue, then outright condemnation. That only builds resentment. Best, Jarek
From: "Wojciech Gryc" <wojciech@gmail.com> Reply-To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: [Air-l] India Rejects One Laptop Per Child Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2006 00:49:50 -0400
Hi,
Keeping in mind the long discussion that was posted a few weeks ago with regards to the merits (or lack thereof) of the One Laptop Per Child project, I thought this may interest subscribers of this list:
HRD rubbishes MIT's laptop scheme for kids http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1698603,curpg-1.cms
So India has decided against the One Laptop Per Child Project (for now). Two arguments that stood out for me:
1. Poor rural children often have health problems that may be exacerbated by laptop use, especially those affecting eyesight and children's backs. 2. No developed country has universalized laptops for children, so why should India?
I must say that the first argument is a perfect example of how people in developed countries often lack the foresight and local knowledge required to adequately decide whether a technology truly is "appropriate". Forget the merits to education or the potential for employability skills -- those are secondary to the potentially negative health effects of the laptops.
Thanks, Wojciech Gryc
--
Five Minutes to Midnight: Youth on human rights and current affairs http://www.fiveminutestomidnight.org/ _______________________________________________ The air-l@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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Hi everyone, Just to make it clear, I still support the OLPC project, and thought the Times of India article, though short, made some valuable comments. I do not necessarily agree with them nor am I qualified to judge them (I am not a doctor or expert on the health effects of computers). What is important to me, though, is it's providing a new point in a debate that we've been having here, as well as in other places. With regards to Heshan Sun, I agree that a project focusing on providing health supplies, nutritious food, or similar necessities to every child would be important. And to let you know, I have actually spent time working in rural India and rural Africa, and like to think I'm not ignorant. I said that developed countries lack the foresight in some cases, not that developing countries do. I will not get into a debate on development theory here, but I believe my organization should be defended. There are different stages of development, and to say that all we should do is provide people with nutritious food is to ignore the complexities of development and the needs of society as a whole. This is why there are eight Millennium Development Goals, and not one. Technology can be a beneficial tool throughout the process of achieving the MDGs or promoting development in general. Through the use of open source software to develop free newspapers (which is what Five Minutes to Midnight does), one can obviously promote literacy, not to mention many indirect benefits. Furthermore, to say that "development" focuses solely on "poor countries" is not necessarily correct. One comment we've heard on this list a few times is that Western (mis)perceptions towards developing nations can be a problem. Indeed, non-profits could take it upon themselves to educate interested Westerners about the intricacies of development, and how many "development solutions" can and do fail. This is what Five Minutes to Midnight does through the use of the internet and open source software, and we specifically target youth. We've done our homework and have found a niche, much like many other non-profits working in technology and development. Thank you, Wojciech Gryc -- Five Minutes to Midnight: Youth on human rights and current affairs http://www.fiveminutestomidnight.org/
If you're interested in the idea of laptops for school-level learning, you might find this pilot project interesting... "A unique trial at Brooklyn School, which will see Year 5 and 6 students using a portable personal tablet-style PCs in place of exercise books... Known as a Tablet, the A4-sized all-in-one electronic 'exercise book', will be used for the majority of class work across most subjects. Students then get to take the Tablets home each day to do their homework." More at: http://www.digiops.org.nz/projects/currentprojects/chaos/ Andy
In my opinion, technological empowerment and basic living fulfillment are both valid argument, while "one laptop per child for a poor country" is a more unrealistic one. In fact, not all children in India are equally, poor. Children in rich families don't need your old-fashioned laptop with only 128MB DRAM, while poor children will probably be more willing to sell this "useless" machine in exchange for something s/he needs more. Who will actually bring this laptop to school and learn it? It needs further investigation. In addition, I cannot speak for Indians, but I believe children in Asia are relatively not treated as individuals like Western countries. Therefore, you must make sure that their parents won't take over their children's "property" once the laptops are given to those children. Well, maybe this project will have another unexpected result "one laptop per father." Wojciech Gryc wrote:
Hi everyone,
Just to make it clear, I still support the OLPC project, and thought the Times of India article, though short, made some valuable comments. I do not necessarily agree with them nor am I qualified to judge them (I am not a doctor or expert on the health effects of computers). What is important to me, though, is it's providing a new point in a debate that we've been having here, as well as in other places.
With regards to Heshan Sun, I agree that a project focusing on providing health supplies, nutritious food, or similar necessities to every child would be important. And to let you know, I have actually spent time working in rural India and rural Africa, and like to think I'm not ignorant. I said that developed countries lack the foresight in some cases, not that developing countries do.
I will not get into a debate on development theory here, but I believe my organization should be defended. There are different stages of development, and to say that all we should do is provide people with nutritious food is to ignore the complexities of development and the needs of society as a whole. This is why there are eight Millennium Development Goals, and not one.
Technology can be a beneficial tool throughout the process of achieving the MDGs or promoting development in general. Through the use of open source software to develop free newspapers (which is what Five Minutes to Midnight does), one can obviously promote literacy, not to mention many indirect benefits. Furthermore, to say that "development" focuses solely on "poor countries" is not necessarily correct. One comment we've heard on this list a few times is that Western (mis)perceptions towards developing nations can be a problem. Indeed, non-profits could take it upon themselves to educate interested Westerners about the intricacies of development, and how many "development solutions" can and do fail. This is what Five Minutes to Midnight does through the use of the internet and open source software, and we specifically target youth.
We've done our homework and have found a niche, much like many other non-profits working in technology and development.
Thank you,
Wojciech Gryc
It seems to me that a set of the side-effects of OLPC, even if no child ever uses one of the physical machines, are the improvements that are being made to the software to wedge it onto the OLPC hardware. I'm hopeful that at least *some* of that software will make its way back onto "first class" desktop machines - hopefully with usability and edu-theory-happy improvements. --elijah On Thu, 27 Jul 2006, Chheng Hong wrote:
Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2006 19:44:36 -0400 From: Chheng Hong <cho5@buffalo.edu> Reply-To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-l] India Rejects One Laptop Per Child
In my opinion, technological empowerment and basic living fulfillment are both valid argument, while "one laptop per child for a poor country" is a more unrealistic one.
In fact, not all children in India are equally, poor. Children in rich families don't need your old-fashioned laptop with only 128MB DRAM, while poor children will probably be more willing to sell this "useless" machine in exchange for something s/he needs more. Who will actually bring this laptop to school and learn it? It needs further investigation.
In addition, I cannot speak for Indians, but I believe children in Asia are relatively not treated as individuals like Western countries. Therefore, you must make sure that their parents won't take over their children's "property" once the laptops are given to those children. Well, maybe this project will have another unexpected result "one laptop per father."
Wojciech Gryc wrote:
Hi everyone,
Just to make it clear, I still support the OLPC project, and thought the Times of India article, though short, made some valuable comments. I do not necessarily agree with them nor am I qualified to judge them (I am not a doctor or expert on the health effects of computers). What is important to me, though, is it's providing a new point in a debate that we've been having here, as well as in other places.
With regards to Heshan Sun, I agree that a project focusing on providing health supplies, nutritious food, or similar necessities to every child would be important. And to let you know, I have actually spent time working in rural India and rural Africa, and like to think I'm not ignorant. I said that developed countries lack the foresight in some cases, not that developing countries do.
I will not get into a debate on development theory here, but I believe my organization should be defended. There are different stages of development, and to say that all we should do is provide people with nutritious food is to ignore the complexities of development and the needs of society as a whole. This is why there are eight Millennium Development Goals, and not one.
Technology can be a beneficial tool throughout the process of achieving the MDGs or promoting development in general. Through the use of open source software to develop free newspapers (which is what Five Minutes to Midnight does), one can obviously promote literacy, not to mention many indirect benefits. Furthermore, to say that "development" focuses solely on "poor countries" is not necessarily correct. One comment we've heard on this list a few times is that Western (mis)perceptions towards developing nations can be a problem. Indeed, non-profits could take it upon themselves to educate interested Westerners about the intricacies of development, and how many "development solutions" can and do fail. This is what Five Minutes to Midnight does through the use of the internet and open source software, and we specifically target youth.
We've done our homework and have found a niche, much like many other non-profits working in technology and development.
Thank you,
Wojciech Gryc
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participants (5)
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Andy Williamson -
Chheng Hong -
elw＠stderr.org -
J. J. -
Wojciech Gryc