Hey all, as we talked about in class, we'll be using the blog to understand the OLPC program better. Please comment on this post with some new information about the program.
What does that mean for your responses? You'll have to read the post and the comments to make sure you're not repeating anything! We want to know as much as we can so we can make informed decisions about how this laptop relates to the issues we've been discussing in class.
So in relation, try to also provide some commentary about how your OLPC information relates to some portion of the class content.
This will be fun!
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One of the most striking digital divides that I have come across, though unrelated to American libraries, is the vast difference between the technology available to children here, and that available to those in Africa. The One Laptop per Child organization strives to bridge that gap by donating inexpensive, interactive laptops to children in Africa. The article that I read described the program and stated how it lacks funding not only because we, technologically advanced nations, aren't giving enough but also because the governments of these countries are not willing to spend the money to test these unproven products that could take away from the standard teaching environment. The African governments are concerned about buying "an odd looking box with unfamiliar software" which is a valid concern. Relating this article to our class though, I think that this initiative is one that needs to be explored more. If we can provide children in Africa with internet access and computers, we will be able to further break down cultural and physical barriers between countries and people. This program will help promote business practices that can occur across any distance and can link up children in different countries to help with learning and understanding the size of the world. Further, children will get involved with technology at an early age and will have an advantage, or at least an even playing field in the business world in the futures. This is something that libraries in the US provide as well. While one laptop per child here too would be a stretch, every family having access to a computer and the internet is not. That is achievable thanks to libraries which, much like the One Laptop Per Child organization, serve to bridge the digital divide and bring those underprivileged individuals to the level that the rest of the world is at.
Video Reflection
14 years ago
Interesting article.
ReplyDeleteMy personal opinion is that, especially in developing areas of Africa, we need to start with more durable forms of information before technology such as laptops are brought into the picture. Books for example. Certain areas would have nowhere to store their laptops from the elements. A slow progress would be more effective from my perspective.
If anything, one laptop per child in the US is more achievable simply because of the existing infrastructure. We have ready access to electricity and WiFi signals permeate the air. Even in many rural settings, a cheap $5 home-made "cantena" can pick up signals from a very long ways away. So, while giving each child in Africa a laptop, the laptop may be able to be utilized more effectively in the US simply due to the associated infrastructure costs. I mean, if you give a drunk, strung-out homeless person a mansion of a house, they will just get thrown in jail by the IRS for not being able to pay the taxes on it. So rather than being relatively safe on the streets, that same person you "helped" is in a dangerous prison.
ReplyDeleteOne noteworthy point is that the OLPC program is not aimed at just serving poor African children. This is a very common misconception, and a very stereotypical misconception. There is an extensive list of participating countries, including the Americas, Middle-East, Asia etc., and countries with pilot programs (Some I found listed on Wikipedia). It is important to note that there aren't only poor children in Africa, but throughout the whole world. Individual governments order these cheap laptops to be distributed to needy schools in the government's country.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there are some countries that refuse to participate in the program, such as India. I had read a short clip saying that India had concerns of the affect of children's health by the laptop, and also a concern that money could be used in other circumstances rather than for poor children. This reminded me of one of the many definitions of access, this representing mental access. The government is able to purchase laptops, but has a different idea of money usage.
CHECK OUT THIS OLPC COMIC:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyimages/1034.gif
CHECK OUT THIS PIC:
http://techdigest.tv/rwanda-google.jpg
The missions statement is: To create educational opportunities for the world's poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning.
They provide laptops to about two dozen countries, and 6,000 alone to Nigeria. Interestingly, 70% of adults are literate in Nigeria (not literate to English) and 10% of the kids are "severely" malnourished. 38% of the kids suffer from growth stunting from poor nutrition. 68% of the kids regularly attend school. It's up to you guys to decide if its worth it, or if more nutritional food might be more important. South Africa is another country OLPC serves, and in 2006 alone 76,000 kids under the age of 5 died. It's a bigger African county, but a 1/10 infant mortality rate and a 25% kids under 5 stunting from lack of vitamins means there are some national deficiencies. 15% of babies are born underweight.
THE US infant mortality rate is 6.37/1000, just a comparison.
So..is it worth it?
"Most of the more than one billion children in the emerging world don’t have access to adequate education. The XO laptop is our answer to this crisis—and after nearly two years, we know it’s working. Almost everywhere the XO goes, school attendance increases dramatically as the children begin to open their minds and explore their own potential. One by one, a new generation is emerging with the power to change the world."
ReplyDeleteWhile I do agree that this program has important benefits, I believe we are putting this above issues of higher priority. I agree with Jules. Our money and time should be spent trying to impact the survival of the people of the world. Once we conquer more serious issues like mortality, hunger, poverty, and violence, I think we can focus on internet access. I do think it is important to expose kids to technology from an early age, but only in places that are geared towards technology. In some developing countries, the internet seems irrelevant. I agree that efforts in the United States might be easier and might even be more useful. I do think it is important for the world to catch up to the technology level of the United States, but before they do, other issues need to be solved.
I agree with many of you that there are probably other things that we can do to help countries less fortunate than ours, but you do have to give the One Laptop Per Child people credit for actually going out there and doing something. A lot of people come up with ideas, but nothing ever gets put into action. I was more curious as to why the laptops and why not more libraries with Internet so everyone could use it. Then I found this article about another group that works closely with One Laptop Per Child called Open Learning Exchange (OLE) and how they are working in Nepal and other places around the world to do just that, open libraries. Well, actually they are making E-libraries in the native language so that the countries will actually have something to access. I found it really interesting, so here's the address if you want to learn more about it. http://www.olpcnews.com
ReplyDeleteLike a lot of people said before me, I agree that there are a lot more important things we should be focusing on to help improve the lives of African children, like heath care. However, my biggest problem with the program is the way the website seems to market the website as a alternative for school, as the website says in its opening lines.. "Most of the children in the world don't have adequate access to education.." I think it would have been more beneficial to train teachers in the area to be better teachers and better educate their students than it would have been to buy these kids lap tops.
ReplyDeleteJules had a great point in bringing up the malnourishment of these children receiving the laptops. It's clear that there are slightly more important aspects of their lives begging for improvement before their lack of internet connection should receive attention.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I do think a lot of good could come from OLPC's intentions. I think the computer/internet access could lead to better education and literacy. I don't, however, think that they're taking a good approach to the problem by giving each child a poor-quality computer. I didn't have my own personal computer until a month before I left for college, and I think I'm doing alright.
Instead, I think the money should be put towards a single informative and resourceful computer lab in each community. We've read about this type of thing before in small areas, and I think it's a great idea for poor communities that lack computer access. Since there would be fewer computers, they would be of higher quality. The saved money could also go towards different information resources like books and reference materials. This would also be a good step towards Sami's post about Open Learning Exchange.
I agree with Sami, and think that OLPC does deserve a lot of credit that they are taking an initiative to make a difference in the lives of children living in poverty all over the world. Though Jules did point out a lot of hardships that these children and families face, I think education is an important way to lead these kids out of poverty and into a life that has more hope. In class we discussed how education and poverty can correlate with each other and I think that is important to keep in mind. So though there are a lot of other issues that these children are faced with on a daily basis, the OLPC program is an intuitive approach.
ReplyDeleteI think that we all recognize that there are a lot of huge issues related to third world countries, such as poverty, starvation and disease. Some may believe that the One Laptop Per Child organization should focus on one of these issues instead, but education truly is the key to solving all of these problems. The higher ones education, the more money they are bound to make and the better they will be able to provide for their families. On the other hand, I don’t know what kind of occupational opportunities exist in these countries. Maybe becoming more technically savvy will not result in a higher paying job because the country hasn’t reached the digital age yet. Researching this topic has made me realize how vast the digital divide truly is. We have only been discussing the digital divide and access within the United States, but there is a much wider divide across the planet. By giving these children laptops and educating them, we are hopefully getting a step closer to narrowing this ravine.
ReplyDeleteOne article I found mentioned a program called the Give One, Get One campaign. The program involves an organization that buys one of the XO laptops for around $475. This buys a computer for the company and for a child in a poor country. The benefit a company recieves is a tax write off of $200.
ReplyDeleteMany people believe the OLPC program's money could be better spent for clean water and reducing poverty. On the other hand, I think the OLPC is a new way to adress a topic not yet focused on in Africa. There are thousands of organizations the raise awareness for clean water, AIDS, and poverty in Africa. OLPC is a unique program that large busniesses can realate to, because they use computers and technology constantly. Companies DO realize that children don't have access to clean water and teachers, but what gives the company incentive to donate to charity? But, they can give children computers that teach skills to students without teachers.
Likewise, it would be difficult to encourage teachers to come to a poverty stricken area for a long period of time. It would also be difficult to choose which few areas would get help through new libraries and schools. A child that has a to walk ten miles to get to school is much more complicated than connecting to a computer that can teach similiar skills. The inovators of the OLPC program must have thought of this, because they built a computer that connects to all other XO computers in the area. Hence, if one computer has the internet, all do. A network is created where knowledge is spread; a bridging social network similiar to networks we depend on everyday.
Hey Guys,
ReplyDeleteAs I was searching news sites for my job at The Herald, I came across a couple of websites about the "one laptop per child" program..
I thought this would be an awesome laptop to give kids.. http://www.origin.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4308006.html. This article, dealing with the laptops in Afganistan as a way to educate girls who are often restricted from attending school, made me think more highly of the program over all. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/05/one.laptop.per.child/
See you all Wednesday! =)
I think the OLPC is a good idea, but not right now. I think that in developing countries such as Africa there are alternative forms of educational material. Without someone there that knows the software on the computer explaining it to the child it does them no good because most of the adult population has no idea what it is. I think the laptops would be great for bridging the digital divide and cultural divide i think we need to make sure that the countries are ready for that bridging.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the OLPC program has great intentions to help African children further their education so they can eventually work their way out of poverty. Although like the pictures Jules posted I think for some villages in Africa OLPC might be unpractical. Like we talked about in class, how are these children suppose to connect to the internet or charge these computers. If they cannot use these computers for those purposes than they are just going to use them to play the games and use the applications that come already programmed on the computer. Some people might say that these programs can still educate these children but I do not think that these programs can accomplish anymore more than a leap frog toy if they cannot connect to the internet. I think they are more practical options to educate children in Africa than give them all laptop with limited capabilities.
ReplyDeleteI am going to take a different approach to looking at the OLPC mission and their goal to adapt African children into the technologically-driven world that we live in today. My thoughts when researching OLPC may seem selfish, but I began to think about children closer to home. There are crazy amounts of children in cities like New York, Chicago, L.A., and Minneapolis that 1) cannot even afford lunch each day at school let alone 2) having internet access at home. As OLPC's mission statement said, their goal is to provide for children all over the world. But what about American children who lack access? What about inner-city children who cannot get to a library or who's school doesn't provide adequate technology opportunities. I am asking, is there any salvation or assistance for these children? Is anyone worrying about our children?
ReplyDeleteA few years back my mom actually piloted a program called Discourse Technology in a St. Paul elementary school. Her students are mostly all non-English speaking immigrants coming from the refugee camps in Tailand or Laos. In this pilot, every student had a small computer device at his/her desk. They used the technology to interact and communicate with my mom as their teacher. The results were amazing. Just allowing the children to experience technology furthered their confidence and communication skills as young learners.
I guess my statement here is that yes, OLPC is a brilliant idea. However, I wish we could incorporate similar strategies in the United States to help the inner city children. Helping other countries is worth much praise, but there are children here that need our help too!
Like most of the posts before me, I think that there are definitely more realistic ways to improve the well-being of these African children without handing out laptops. On the other hand though, it seems like for the past couple of decades, people from countries like ours have tried to initiate aid in the form of food, medicine, and shelter, necessities that I'm sure that we all can agree should come before laptops and technology. Sure, our donations have helped the people of impoverished countries, but we haven't seen the results that we've expected from those donations, so why not try something new? Who knows...maybe the introduction of these laptops is the beginning of a revolution!
ReplyDeleteI do think that the one laptop per child is a good idea for trying to advance technological education in third world countries but I dont think that it is the right thing that we should be doing now. Third world countries have a lot of (in my eyes) more important issues that need to be dealt with first. Starvation, AIDS, disease and many other problems are vividly seen in these countries and I think the money that this one laptop per child is going to cost could be used to do other beneficial things. Building hospitals, bringing them food and building schools would greatly improve the healthcare and education of people in these countries. I do think the laptops would help, but other things are more important in my eyes than getting each child a personal laptop.
ReplyDeleteI was reading an article that listed some criticisms of the OLPC.
ReplyDeleteSome of the better points were
- That the laptops would be a hot thing to steal and would become a black market item
- The laptops are much more expensive then textbooks and are probably much easier to break or destroy
- the already mentioned fact that starvation and disease are bigger issues for some of the participating countries.
http://catenary.wordpress.com/2007/04/15/a-friendly-criticism-of-the-one-laptop-per-child-project/
I think the intentions are good. But i do think that some of the participating countries have problems that are much greater than the divide.
I took a look at the website Rachel suggested, and it changed my opinion a bit as well. The program does realize that many parts are still in extreme poverty and have issues other than access on their minds. To me it seemed like these problems were not being addressed. It seemed like the one laptop per child program was ignorning critical current issues, only to better bridge the digital divide. The program is dedicated to more than closing this gap; it betters the education in general of the participants. As Rachel said, in some areas girls are restricted from attending schools, and this program would be a way to educate them. Education is important for solving many of the world's problems. The article states: "Targeting current and historic conflict zones, including Iraq, Rwanda and most recently the Gaza Strip, not only fulfills the group's mission to offer equal-access education to the most isolated children, it may also promote world peace. By putting laptops into the hands of kids who would otherwise be indoctrinated we can make the case pretty successfully that doing this is a long-term solution to root causes." I now see how the one laptop per child program can not only work to solve the digital divide problem, but many other global problems at the same time.
ReplyDeleteThough I believe that they definitely need technological advancement in many developing countries, I also agree with many people before me who said there are many other aspects of their lives that need to be improved much more desperately. When I was looking at websites regarding One Laptop Per Child, I found many criticisms (they could've easily outnumbered the positive aspects), that included: controversy regarding mission, approach, environmental issues, and total cost of ownership. I also found out about a similar program called the Digital Advantage in Arizona that raised money to be able to provide certain disadvantaged students with laptops.
ReplyDeleteA lot of the class believes that the OLPC program could better direct its money towards basic needs that poor countries still lack. When I was reviewing for the second exam I came upon a quote from Warschauer, the first article assigned for the second exam. He stated that "ICT (Informationa and communication technology) is a necessary condition to overcome social inclusion. It is certainly not the only condition that matters; good schools, decent governments, and adequete health care are other critical factors. But ICT can contribute towards improved education, government and health care."
ReplyDeleteThis statement applies to the OLPC case. Yes, OLPC won't solve poverty, but also consider that nothing else has. But, OLPC can (in a new way!) contribute to idea sharing to possibly get the government to act.