tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21077063.post5074266234788286459..comments2024-02-16T08:32:46.618+00:00Comments on Donald Clark Plan B: Negroponte hacks off AfricaDonald Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00796341486328270474noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21077063.post-4580966231396221012013-06-10T10:19:02.185+00:002013-06-10T10:19:02.185+00:00Hi Jaye
My own view is that self-organised learnin...Hi Jaye<br />My own view is that self-organised learning has been around since Socrates and in technology based learning for decades. Mitra has added nothing new here. In fact, his unsustainable projects do more damage than good. See my previous posts on Mitra.Donald Clarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00796341486328270474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21077063.post-74417580007510593262013-06-10T09:12:48.022+00:002013-06-10T09:12:48.022+00:00I hardly think Mitra's work could be classed a...I hardly think Mitra's work could be classed as a 'Mosquito' project. To do so is to denigrate all the work that's taking place around self organised learning...<br /><br />JayeJaye Richards-Hillhttp://www.mimanifesto.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21077063.post-52646284727108709752013-06-06T19:34:55.418+00:002013-06-06T19:34:55.418+00:00Nicholas is not OLPC, and OLPC is not Nicholas. He...Nicholas is not OLPC, and OLPC is not Nicholas. He is a very good fundraiser and schmoozer. He is not by any stretch of the imagination, a technician and he doesn't claim to be. It certainly has to be said though that without him the OLPC project would not have happened.<br /><br />My view is that where there has been strong local support and widespread adoption, such as Plan Ceibal in Uruguay, the project has thrived and provided great value. In other countries the machines have been imported, and sit in warehouses or locked storerooms and provide little value.<br /><br />But we heard so many stories and testimonials from common people I have to believe the project has done a lot of good. We heard of Brazilian kids making a TV journal to provide positive coverage of slums which usually were the target of media scorn. We heard of Indian kids taking video of music videos from their tvs to share with their friends. Whenever kids in Uruguay came back from a break our servers would groan with the mass of new apps being downloaded.<br /><br />I myself got involved with the project because I loved the hardware. The design is brilliant, very low power (2-9 watts for the original model) and very rugged. It really can be disassembled and reassembled by a six-year-old with a screwdriver.<br /><br />There have been a fair number of supply chain problems which have been handled. When you are shipping computers from Shanghai to the remotest corners of Peru, Mongolia, or Afghanistan, you are going to have those.<br /><br />With Nic you have to take the good with the bad. I would not say he is a nice person, but I will say he is a good person. Certainly a fair amount of what he says in public is marketing hype and has to be interpreted as such.<br /><br />A lot of the criticism of OLPC has been of this patronizing "they are poor people, what do they need computers for?" sort. The answer is they need computers for the same things other people do. To keep track of farm records. To learn to read. To make and share videos. To communicate. To read wikipedia and edit it. To use social media. To be world citizens.<br /><br />Ultimately it is up to them, the people, what is the XO good for. We heard of people dismantling theirs in order to use the screen light for home illumination. The only electric light in the house. People used them in all kinds of unexpected ways. We heard that in Rwanda, a few enterprising souls set up OLPC repair centers, repairing XO's for 5 dollars American. And people who had very little wealth and very little cash would get that money to get their box fixed because that little green dorky computer was the most valuable treasure their family had. A window to the world and a source of pride.<br /><br />Also don't forget the stone soup aspect of OLPC. Villages getting XO's also perforce got: electricity. A school with a roof and a lockable storeroom. Telecommunications with the outside world. A sense of pride and ownership, of being part of a worldwide community. All tremendously valuable.<br /><br />The year I spent as sysadmin at OLPC was one of the best of my life and I treasure the project and the people involved with it.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10573122728995910840noreply@blogger.com