tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29868932.post3926305750137182260..comments2024-02-14T22:50:48.749+10:30Comments on Bill Kerr: seymour papert interview on OLPCBill Kerrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00206808014093631762noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29868932.post-73901174779146570812007-04-03T00:44:00.000+09:302007-04-03T00:44:00.000+09:30hi daniel,With regard to Malawi needing a $10 lapt...hi daniel,<BR/><BR/>With regard to Malawi needing a $10 laptop, Seymour made this point in his <A HREF="http://usinfo.state.gov/usinfo/Archive/2006/Nov/14-358060.html" REL="nofollow"> interview</A>:<BR/><BR/>"Q [Talas Ordosu]: I am not clear, are children getting laptops for free or you consider that $100 dollars is not a lot of money and everyone can afford it?<BR/><BR/>A: The governments who have been discussing this with OMPC have discussed it as part of a plan to give the computers free to children. The way I think about the cost of the computer is that, if a $100 computer can last for five years, that's $20 a year.<BR/><BR/>In a few years' time, we'll make a $50 computer that will last for 10 years and then $5 per year, and every country can afford to give that free to its children. Whether they do or not is outside of our control"Bill Kerrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00206808014093631762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29868932.post-84627618467569255762007-04-01T18:32:00.000+09:302007-04-01T18:32:00.000+09:30As a follow up... I recently attended a local talk...As a follow up... I recently attended a local talk on a project that has been supplying IT and support (training the trainers, for self-sufficiency) to Malawi - one of Africa's poorest nations.<BR/>Towards the end, the speaker was asked about OLPC. He said (paraphrasing) "It's a great idea, but at $100 per laptop its too expensive for Malawi - they need a $10 laptop."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29868932.post-61382952541089863612007-01-13T03:34:00.000+10:302007-01-13T03:34:00.000+10:30I've not been following OLPC too closely, but with...I've not been following OLPC too closely, but with a little interest. I think it will be fascinating to see what happens when it is finally out there, somewhere.<br />It's perhaps a bit like foreign aid - some aid programs just seem to lead to increased dependance on aid, while programs should really be about facilitating local solutions to local problems.<br />But I do wonder if OLPC can really work as well at solving universal problems as Papert wants it to...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29868932.post-66145906842518299902007-01-04T07:40:00.000+10:302007-01-04T07:40:00.000+10:30from a 2004 interview with papert
Geraldine Doo...from a <a href='http://www.abc.net.au/sundayprofile/stories/s1144341.htm'> 2004 interview with papert </a><br /><br />Geraldine Doogue: It’s just that you have, to really round it off, you have promoted, for instance, a lap-top for every child in a primary school. I wonder why you think that is an important device?<br /><br />Seymour Papert: <b>It’s only an important device because it’s disruptive.</b> You put a lap-top, give people this…the bad things about school is that it’s a paper based system in a digital society. You put in the alternative medium and it’s still the same system. However, you’ve knocked away the underpinning that makes it get its character. So given time, with these computers everywhere, new ways of thinking and learning will inevitably be developed. The computer itself is, yeah it’s good everything’s a bit better if you’ve got the laptop …..<br /><br /><br />The OLPC is disruptive to the third world and may come around like a boomerang and end up being disruptive to the developed world as well. If the third world can have OLPC then why can't we? It is clear from the writings of seymour papert and <a href='http://learningevolves.wikispaces.com/alanKay'> alan kay </a> that their idea is to present a different, better way to do all of educationBill Kerrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00206808014093631762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29868932.post-11137437989106622282007-01-03T15:32:00.000+10:302007-01-03T15:32:00.000+10:30Someone thinks that the OLPC is "crap", that kids...<a href='http://kennke.org/blog/2006/12/21/one-laptop-per-child/'> Someone thinks </a> that the OLPC is "crap", that kids need parents, time to learn and childhood. I left a comment there, #9. <br /><br />I found the above post through Stephen Downes, who has a <a href='http://kennke.org/blog/2006/12/21/one-laptop-per-child/'> great reply </a> to the issues raised. Extract:<br />"It should be abundantly and blatantly obvious that aid to impoverished children should consist NOT ONLY of the basics of survival. At some point, aid needs to focus on how they will grow so they need no further aid. 'Teach a man to fish...' and all that."Bill Kerrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00206808014093631762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29868932.post-43333040217143527712007-01-03T08:44:00.000+10:302007-01-03T08:44:00.000+10:30Sylvia: "(seymour)...might be right"
He might be....Sylvia: "(seymour)...might be right"<br /><br />He might be. This <a href='http://www.greenstar.org/butterflies/Hole-in-the-Wall.htm'> hole in the wall </a> experiment is fascinating and is evidence that seymour might be right about kid power. I agree with Sylvia, that the something that will happen will be far better than nothing.<br /><br />"An Indian physicist puts a PC with a high speed internet connection in a wall in the slums and watches what happens..."<br /><br />"What he discovered was that the most avid users of the machine were ghetto kids aged 6 to 12, most of whom have only the most rudimentary education and little knowledge of English. Yet within days, the kids had taught themselves to draw on the computer and to browse the Net. Some of the other things they learned, Mitra says, astonished him."Bill Kerrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00206808014093631762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29868932.post-8246902621395282692007-01-03T05:32:00.000+10:302007-01-03T05:32:00.000+10:30I think Seymour's "kid power" vision is certainly ...I think Seymour's "kid power" vision is certainly overwhelming to the normal teacher-led learning we've all become accustomed to. But consider this -- he might be right, and if he is, the benefit is so much more than the benefit of us trying to keep control of the process.<br /><br />And since the risk of failure is guaranteed if we continue to do nothing, it's a bet we should make.<br /><br />If any of these OLPC implementations happen, SOMETHING is going to happen, and in fact, lots of things we can't imagine will happen. Some will be good, some bad, and most somewhere in between.<br /><br />But the sheer numbers of machines in the hands of new users is a complete unknown factor. It's sort of like trying to imagine what swimming in the ocean is like when all you've ever seen is a bathtub.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29868932.post-21233109946338393022007-01-02T15:03:00.000+10:302007-01-02T15:03:00.000+10:30But we must embrace that change! We must teach our...But we must embrace that change! We must teach ourselves out of our narrowly defined jobs and evolve!Durffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05683687754001195123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29868932.post-58160241986499775032007-01-02T14:54:00.000+10:302007-01-02T14:54:00.000+10:30"We teachers, if we are really doing our jobs, are..."We teachers, if we are really doing our jobs, are teaching ourselves out of work"<br /><br />That thought may provide an important background psychological pressure to not embrace innovation, indicating, as Papert has said, that everything has to changeBill Kerrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00206808014093631762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29868932.post-84565552189115534762007-01-02T12:57:00.000+10:302007-01-02T12:57:00.000+10:30From your blog I quote:
I believe that school is a...From your blog I quote:<br />I believe that school is an unnatural way for learning. I believe that natural learning is what happens before school and after school. But there are many things that can't be learned in the environment of the home. School became necessary because some things are not embedded in the culture of our daily lives so children cannot learn them.<br />Then I would concur! We teachers, if we are really doing our jobs, are teaching ourselves out of work. We are merely facilitators, not deliverers of content. We are not industrial producers at all, as we have all been taught to be. Education Schools are still turning out industrial producers when we need desperately to be informational facilitators!Durffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05683687754001195123noreply@blogger.com