Seymour Papert Interview - One Laptop per Child (OLPC)

[shehani0nline]

Can you pls send me a used Cd rom? we got PIII computer at our school but we dont have a Cd rom.

Or send me $0.01 to my paypal account...

shehani0nline@yahoo.com

[NathalieYeiii]

CAN SOMEONE WRITE DOWN HIS WORDS IN THIS VIDEO BECAUSE I CAN'T REALLY UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING?IT IS IMPORTANT

[JuniorX]

great human being!

[RookofIvory]

>Downplaying rationality.

[leahchung]

iamreallyfree, what is the matter with you? Are you against this then? Might you suggest a better solution? Do you not realize that education may teach them more than just to keep receiving charity hand-outs for the rest of their life? And how many good teachers do you think there are in those developing countries? Why do you have to be so critical about this? I don't understand.

[bluepurpleglasses]

@leahchung. i completely agree. people are being too critical and snarky about this project and not realizing its potential. more than anything what these children are starved for is education. this is one tool that can give them that!. hand-outs don't fix anything, but access to information gives children power.

[pichuchamendizabal]

It´s not about having the same computers other children have, it´s about making the difference narrower and bringing them new technology which they didn´t have access to.

In Uruguay, a developing country, 260.000 children and their teachers have their laptops and now they haver a broader knowledge of what´s going on in the world at least.

[chinaliew]

a book can cost 100

this laptop cost 100 but have unlimited information in it via internet ,it is a life saver for the poor and thrist for kwodlege

[iamreallyfree]

the poor and thirsty need food and clothes first...they need electricity in their schools and working toilets...not computers

[hack451]

"iamreallyfree", this issue has been addressed by the head of OLPC more than once.

Short version: you don't -stop- trying to give kids an education, you do them all at the same time.

[iamreallyfree]

Form a practical point of view that approach is just not feasible. When you are facing a difficult situation like they are in developing countries, and your resources are limited, you have to decide what your priorities are. You don't really need high tech to provide a good basic education...a good teacher can just go outside the classroom and give a wonderful lesson just by encouraging children to examine and experiment with the world around them.

[Mentocthemindtaker]

@iamreallyfree This is one man's project to bring technology that many take for granted to parts of the world where many have not even seen this technology. There are people out there giving vaccines and medicines (i.e. The Fred Hollows Foundation) and there are people and organisations out there helping to grow crops and establish food reserves.

The project shouldn't be criticised because "these people have bigger problems". That's as narrow minded as saying "they don't deserve technology".

[iamreallyfree]

@Mentocthemindtaker I think its high time that people in rich countries stop having big debates on how to solve the problems of the poor without having even a clue of what is going on there and just imagining that what has worked for them is going to be great or even better elsewhere. That sort of ethnocentric thinking has done enough damage in the developing world and its exactly the reason why development projects like this are only good to perpetuate poverty wherever they are implemented.

[Mentocthemindtaker]

@iamreallyfree "I think its high time..."

I agree.

"That sort of ethnocentric thinking..."

I agree.

"...projects like this...perpetuate poverty..."

Now, here, I completely disagree and stand by my previous point. There are projects going on to help poorer countries with health care, urban renewal, agriculture, policy management and...education. The OLPC project fits under the education banner. Are you advocating that countries stop helping each other?

[iamreallyfree]

@Mentocthemindtaker no...i advocate that we first agree on a common notion for "HELP", because sometimes what helping countries think is HELP turns out producing more problems than those they intended to solve.

[Opspin]

Why is his green shirt the only thing in colour?

[nevetna]

It is the green of OLPC.

[latentforce]

Well I never !!

So it is !!

How strange :-)

[OLPCFoundation]

It is great to see Seymour speaking in these interviews.  It is wonderful that they were made back in the start of the project.

[iamreallyfree]

what he said had nothing to do with OLPC...I don't think Seymour Papert would fall into the trap of promoting just one approach to use computers as school...as an educator he will know better.

[iamreallyfree]

Papert talked about a democratic world....what OLPC is proposing is exactly the oposite....basically underdeveloped computers for underdeveloped countries....this is only perpetuating the gap between the have and have nots...if we really talk about equity, children in developing countries have the right to have access to the same technology children in developed countries have access to.

[Mentocthemindtaker]

@iamreallyfree Yes, they should have access to the same technology. But the world doesn't work like that. What OLPC is doing is the best solution they can offer in REAL WORLD terms. And if you ask me the XO does a damn good job of it. So good in fact that Microsoft and Apple were opposed to the idea and Intel have released a competitor system! (only so they can make profit mind you).

[iamreallyfree]

@Mentocthemindtaker I disagree. Everything has its process...you cant start running before you learn to walk. I live in a very poor country, and believe me, computers are the least children need right now to ensure better opportunities for a future here. The problem with your mindset and those of people living in rich countries is that you people have good intentions and honestly think that you have all the recipies to help poor countries develop faster...but this is not how it works.

[Mentocthemindtaker]

@iamreallyfree "you people"?! Firstly, you don't know where I live. Or anything about me. Perhaps it is not the 'rich countries' alone that have a superior attitude.

Secondly, you contradict yourself...you say 'basically underdeveloped computers for underdeveloped countries' then say 'you cant start running before you learn to walk'.

Which is it? Advanced computers for those who can't use them or computers with a simple UI so they're userfriendly?

Do you advocate no help at all?

[iamreallyfree]

@Mentocthemindtaker You got my point wrong. When I said "people in rich countries" I wasn´t necessaritly meaning you. I don´t see the contradiction...Im not sure what you mean by "advanced" computers because regular laptops are not "advanced" and they can be pretty user friendly. I advocate "smart", rational and honest help not cheap populism promising people with poor education that OLPC laptops will radically change education when research over the years has shown that it´s not about computers