[squeakland] Re: controverse blog about OLPC

Fri Sep 11 12:06:27 EDT 2009

Rita,

thank you very much for sending me the link to this article.

I finally succeeded in posting a reply.

I copy the original posting followed by my reply.

I will also translate it and post it in america-latina and in rapceibal.

Carlos

Here are the copies of what appears in the United Nations sponsored  
blog:

Alanna Shaikh's blog
One Laptop Per Child - The Dream is Over
Alanna Shaikh - September 9, 2009 - 9:06am

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project started out with big dreams.

Founded by Nicholas Negroponte of MIT’s media lab, it promised a  
hundred dollar laptop that would
be sold directly to Ministries of Education in huge lots.

The laptop, they promised, was the new pencil.

It was going to revolutionize education in the developing world.

It didn’t.

The laptop never came down to the hundred dollar price that was  
promised.

The huge orders never materialized, and the project was very slow to  
allow sales to NGOs and
charities instead of just governments.

They abandoned the human-powered power source.

They abandoned the special child-friendly OS.

The laptop still didn’t sell to their target market in the developing  
world.

Americans wanted the OLPC.

We fell in love with its tremendous promise and adorable shape. (note:  
I own an OLPC)

We were the first market it conquered. OLPC launched a give one-get  
one promotion that let individuals pay $400 to donate one laptop and  
receive one for themselves.

It was a huge success, except that OLPC wasn’t set up for that kind  
of customer order fulfillment.

Laptops arrived far later than promised, and several thousand orders  
were simply lost.

Once the laptop finally started arriving in the developing world, its  
impact was minimal.

We think.

No one is doing much research on their impact on education;  
discussions are largely theoretical.

This we do know: OLPC didn’t provide tech support for the machines,  
or training in how to incorporate them into education.

Teachers didn’t understand how to use the laptops in their lessons;  
some resented them.

Kids like the laptops, but they don’t actually seem to help them  
learn.

It’s time to call a spade a spade.

OLPC was a failure.

Businessweek called it two years ago.

Now, Timothy Ogden, editor-in-chief of Philanthropy Action has made a  
compelling argument to give up on OLPC.

He points out that supporting de-worming programs has more impact on  
child learning than the OLPC laptops.

The laptops were designed without end-user input, they cost too much  
both to produce and to run, and they’re now being  outcompeted by  
commercial laptops.

Only about a million OLPCs have shipped so far.

Some people call OLPC Nick Negroponte’s vanity project. I wouldn’t  
go that far.

But it’s not going to change the world, or even affect it all that  
much.

One Laptop per Child got everyone thinking about the education in the  
developing world.

It spawned the commercial laptops that are now out competing it.

But that’s all.

The dream is over.

Add new comment

September 11, 2009 - 8:56am — CarlosXO

Comments

The Dream is NOT over at least in Uruguay.

This is a response to Alanna Shalikhʼs post of September 9, 2009  
titled “One Laptop Per Child - The Dream is Over”

Will not repeat the excellent points brought by previous responses  
including Mr. Negroponteʼs.

This is my own personal view, I am one of the over one thousand  
volunteers working in Uruguay, in a group called Red de Apoyo al Plan  
Ceibal, RAP Ceibal.

The OLPC plan in Uruguay is well and alive, with no plans to disappear.

One important fact:

The main opposition candidate in next month presidential elections,  
has gone to extremes to explain how good the Plan Ceibal is.

He publicly recognized it as one of the good projects implemented by  
the current government.

My wife and I lived and worked in New York City for over forty years.

During those years we participated ﬁrst-hand in the introduction of  
two new technologies in our business.

In 1983 we introduced the ﬁrst computer in our ofﬁce.

In 1997 we started a website and used it as the center for our business.

Those two introductions of new technologies were no different from  
what we see in Uruguay with the XO computers and Plan Ceibal/OLPC.

The normal reaction of most human beings to any new technology is fear.

And the immediate reaction to fear is rejection.

Yes, a lot of people, have a negative first reaction.

Particularly the older individuals who have had successful careers for  
many years without the new technology.

Those who repeat their comments without thinking, of course don't help  
the process of accepting new modern tools.

But technology doesnʼt go away so easily.

And much the less when young children without prejudices or fears have  
tested it, liked it and approved it.

And much the less when those children are all the elementary school  
students and every year more and more in high school.

They keep the computers after leaving elementary school where they  
received them as their personal treasure to keep.

We should not worry about those rejecting the idea.

Pretty soon they will see others succeeding and ﬁnd out they too  
could succeed.

And those detractors will imitate the leaders.

Let me ﬁnish with a success story that makes me very proud.

We recently had the pleasure and honor of helping a school teacher  
from Uruguay, Fabiana Marella, make a remote presentation of her paper  
to Squeakfest USA 2009, an international conference at UCLA,  
University of California at Los Angeles.

Recording of her original presentation:

http://squeakland.org/resources/audioVisual/movie.jsp?id=54

Our spanish version of the same presentation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A61ei-W7r4&annotation_id=annotation_127705&feature=iv

Carlos Rabassa

On Sep 11, 2009, at 6:25 AM, Rita Freudenberg wrote:

> Hi Carlos,
>
> I just cam across this articles and wanted to let you know. Maybe  
> you will send it to other mailing lists?
>
> http://www.undispatch.com/node/8859

> http://scanlyze.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/nasty-undispatch-blog-attack-on-one-laptop-per-child-a-response/

> http://www.undispatch.com/node/8867
>
> Greetings,
> Rita
>
>
> -- 
> Rita Freudenberg
> FIN-ISG
> Otto-von-Guericke-UniversitÃ¤t Magdeburg
> http://isgwww.cs.uni-magdeburg.de/isg/rita.html
>

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