One Laptop Per Child

[celeritas]

OLPC is launching its Give 1 Get 1 program for its laptops next week. I thought it was an interesting project. Anybody else hear about this?

http://www.laptopgiving.org/

back to studying....big tests coming up...

[Mikey]

Hmmm... nice idea, but I think I would start with things like irrigation projects and water purification facilities before I started handing out laptops.

[celeritas]

Hmmm... nice idea, but I think I would start with things like irrigation projects and water purification facilities before I started handing out laptops.

lol i don't think these laptops are going to Darfur per say (i.e. practically undeveloped nations), but developing nations that aren't struggling to feed themselves or shoot each other in the back, like those in South America (Brazil, Peru, etc.) and South East Asia (Thailand). After all, its their governments that have to foot the bulk of the bill in the end. Anyhow, only Uruguay is signed up so far. but your right, it does have a little western imperialistic feel to it.

i'm practically making up these locations by memory so don't quote me on them and read their website instead.

Edit: found a map: http://www.laptop.org/en/vision/progress/maps.shtml
so it looks like some develop nations are also in the mix with some underdeveloped ones for the pilot phase, but it looks like they want a heavy South American and Russian push to start off their world conquest.

i haven't decided if i want to do the Give 1 Get 1 thing yet. $400 is a bit steep for a no-income, borderline-starving student such as myself.

[Mikey]

I happen to unemployed myself at the moment, so it's not the ideal time. And in fact, while I hate to sound selfish, I'd rather get my own daughter a laptop before I get one for anybody else.

I know, parenthood can narrow your view, but that's what having kids is like.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Nothing wrong there, Mikey. I'd go for irrigation and such too first before laptops.

[Sionnach Glic]

What's the point of having laptops in such a country? How is this possibly better than spending the money on developeing agriculture and water supplies?

[Tsukiyumi]

Most of those countries have limited, irregular electric service, if any. How the hell do you run a laptop with nowhere to recharge it?

[celeritas]

i think the laptops have alternative power sources (hand-cranks or something like that) so they can run even in iraq.

and a couple of countries with nuclear power are getting laptops. but i can see the problem with clean water, you know, in massachusetts. those poor bastards.

the point is that there's lots of places in the world that aren't in the stone age. Places like Uruguay may have adequate food, power, and a decent education infrastructure for their citizens. hell, they might even have money budgeted for education. i.e. they can afford something like this.

i don't think the laptops are meant for places like some (most?) in sub-saharan africa. if they really have trouble feeding themselves, they won't have the capital to buy the laptops in the first place. they're probably already defaulting on their loans from the world bank they used to build that hydroelectric plant that they currently have plugged into nothing because nobody there can afford electric appliances there anyway.

the question i'm thinking about is whether or not spending money on laptops as a country is a good idea, when a country has that kind of money to spend. that is, is it better to spend money on the tech to educate poor kids on computers or take that same lump of cash and spend it on building more schools and improving educational infrastructure (universities, libraries, etc.). olpc's stance is that standing still is a sure way to get behind and more of the same won't be helpful. i'm not so sure about that. do you buy that?

[Mikey]

Not at all. The point should be getting a nation's economic/agricultural/production base up to a certain standard, then its educational base, in order to get it to a point where it can buy its own educational equipment.

[Teaos]

I suppose you could argue that by giving our kids laptops they will be better off and help our countrys grow which will then in turn help the thrid world more.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

I think the money should be spent on infrastructure/agriculture before laptops.

[celeritas]

as somebody who's not totally convinced by this scheme, its really hard to argue devil's advocate here. here goes.

Not at all. The point should be getting a nation's economic/agricultural/production base up to a certain standard, then its educational base, in order to get it to a point where it can buy its own educational equipment.

i just feel that olpc could be of benefit to any country that has some semblance of infrastructure to have a cheap laptop product that they could add to their educational system. olpc isn't charity for the most part. there's a giving component, but for the bulk of it, laptops are sold and governments have to purchase the laptops themselves. governments who could be adopting olpc are at the point where they have the infrastructure and are buying their own equipment. olpc would be something they might consider buying.

I think the money should be spent on infrastructure/agriculture before laptops.

if your country can afford spending millions of dollars on education ($1 million only buys 10K laptops), i would venture to say that they have good enough infrastructure and food supply and don't need help with that regard.

nobody is thinking about selling laptops to places in africa where people think having an empty coke bottle is incredible. and i really don't think that its anybody's plan to realistically airdrop any computers to starving african children or places where people run around in loincloths and wooden spears because there's no infrastructure. countries like those have their own problems and olpc isn't going to solve them. thats in the territory for live aid, humanitarian missions, the red cross, whatever. these laptops are going to be sold to countries that have infrastructure and aren't doing sustenance agriculture and have the luxury to go beyond the basic needs and do things like get educated.

just because a country isn't considered "developed" doesn't mean they don't have the infrastructure to support an education system. even a place like Palestine where the whole country is being demolished for one reason or another every so often still has food, running water, electricity, schools, computers, internet, etc. people and kids there might benefit from a education opportunity like having access to a laptop.

I suppose you could argue that by giving our kids laptops they will be better off and help our countrys grow which will then in turn help the thrid world more.

the whole plan does have a taste of western imperialism on it. i can't say that it doesn't feel like we're just training people for outsource tech support in the future because it might ultimately be true. are we really helping developing nations or are we giving developing nations a chance to help themselves? i don't know.

i'm not trying to sell any laptops to your kids here, i just wanted to hear some thoughts on olpc in our forum community. i personally think that even within the united states, there are some rough areas that could really use availability of a cheap laptop product like olpc in their school systems. this can be the setting of rural schools in the middle of nowhere USA, or in inner-city schools that can't afford the funding for an extravagant computer lab. i went to a decent school district that didn't have access to computers and i think it could have been an excellent educational tool if they could have been available.

what do i think the potential for olpc is? it can give some kids a better educational opportunity whether they are in brazil, peru, inner city los angeles or detroit, or somewhere else. it probably won't be even close to the opportunity i have, but its something and it could go a long way. olpc has the potential to let kids in places that don't have world-class educational facilities help themselves.

am i going to spend money and support olpc? i don't know. haven't decided yet. having a new laptop and giving one for $400 might be nice, but is it a worthy cause? and what will i do with the laptop? will it attract hot women? is it a good idea to spend money when you've got about $50,000 (and climbing) in debt to pay off? these are all questions i don't have answers to.

[Mikey]

Even in the "second world" situations of which you spoke, there are better things to support than laptop computers. If there is an educational structure already in place, give supplies to feed it - like books, eye care, continuing teacher education, advancements in learning disability recognition and treatment, etc. I don't know of any public schools in New Jersey that give laptops to the students, and I don't believe that their presence or absence contributes to a school's success or failure.

[celeritas]

Even in the "second world" situations of which you spoke, there are better things to support than laptop computers. If there is an educational structure already in place, give supplies to feed it - like books, eye care, continuing teacher education, advancements in learning disability recognition and treatment, etc. I don't know of any public schools in New Jersey that give laptops to the students, and I don't believe that their presence or absence contributes to a school's success or failure.

ah! finally!

is it better to spend money on the tech to educate poor kids on computers or take that same lump of cash and spend it on building more schools and improving educational infrastructure (universities, libraries, etc.). olpc's stance is that standing still is a sure way to get behind and more of the same won't be helpful. i'm not so sure about that.

i survived my stint at a public high school without having access to a computer lab and made it to the ivy leagues just fine! so clearly, i am living proof that it possible for a student to succeed without the benefit of all the techno-gadgets, a school without them isn't doomed to failure and their students aren't destined to end up on the streets.

but, would it have been helpful to have access to my own laptop? sure would have been nice...

as i indicated before, i think its hard to predict whether its best for a government to spend the money to supply laptops or use the money to build on other aspects of their education system. i can imagine a lot of benefit for kids having access to laptops but is it worth the cost? should the government be involved at all? why not market them as affordable laptops to private citizens and let families choose whether or not to purchase them for their kids?

(side note: i believe "second world" usually refers to ex-soviet states btw and don't usually include central and south america or parts of asia and the middle east, etc. that do have modern countries that aren't in the stone age. the numbered "worlds" terminology should refer to cold war divisions and don't actually represent the level of development of different countries. i hate to say there's no place for olpc in africa, but my perception is that africa's got a lot of problems.)