OLPC a Hit in Remote Peruvian Village 187
mrcgran writes "The Chicago Tribune is running a feel-good story about the effects of OLPC on a remote village in Peru. 'Doubts about whether poor, rural children really can benefit from quirky little computers evaporate as quickly as the morning dew in this hilltop Andean village, where 50 primary school children got machines from the One Laptop Per Child project six months ago. At breakfast, they're already powering up the combination library/videocam/audio recorder/music maker/drawing kits. At night, they're dozing off in front of them — if they've managed to keep older siblings from waylaying the coveted machines. Peru made the single biggest order to date — more than 272,000 machines — in its quest to turn around a primary education system that the World Economic Forum recently ranked last among 131 countries surveyed.'"
A shining path to success... (Score:4, Insightful)
I predict some kind of censorship - under the cover of 'protecting' them, of course - within a year.
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Re:A shining path to success... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:A shining path to success... (Score:4, Insightful)
On the other hand, the world has always been this way, and always will be as long as we're human in terms of how the word is defined now. It's sad to think about what might have been lost already in our brief history, so I like to focus on the good in this world. In my opinion, any efforts geared toward bettering the education of a society are worthwhile.
Re:A shining path to success... (Score:4, Insightful)
I think you could easily generalize this to include any individual that is not in the right place. Doesn't matter if it's maths, sports, crafts, arts, music or whatever else their good at. A good environment which fosters diversity and recognizes special skills makes all the difference.
Unfortunately it's probably impossible to cater to those that fall very far from the center of the mainstream.
What I'm trying to say is that society should - IMHO - constantly strive to encourage and recognize diversity.
Re:A shining path to success... (Score:5, Insightful)
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And obviously a top down, monolithic, state run education system is a great way to accomplish that.
Yes, because a completly private education system means that only the children of aristocrats can get or afford a quality education, the peasants' children mostly get none and end up as stoop labourers or factory fodder. A few very bright (or just lucky in who they know) will get scholarshops, but
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Re:A shining path to success... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:A shining path to success... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:A shining path to success... (Score:5, Funny)
Well, coward, I agree with the OP (Score:3, Insightful)
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Title of Summary: OLPC a Hit in Remote Peruvian Village
Title of OP: A shining path to success...
The first result of Google(shining path) [google.com] is Wikipedia(Shining Path) [wikipedia.org] which begins:
Per
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If it takes a year, don't you think it will be too late. Some of the kids will have already learned the concepts by then. They'll share the knowledge. Other kids (and adults) will hear about these concepts, and research them. Don't you think they'd notice that what they used to be able to look up, now they can't? Don't you think they'd question this?
If they wanted to do that, then a year is far too long. It will be too late by then.
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Well, this is the point of OLPC to teach different kinds of things, including these.
You know, several years later, some of them may decide that blowing yourself up in the crowd is not such a good idea...
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The real lessons are about the IMF loans, US historical interventionism, and a vicious right-wing establishment trying to manhandle the world into their control. When we control the horizontal and vertical, we filter out our nasty little secrets. The OLPC is much more likely to open people's world into how we mess with them, not how C
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Jesus. If you don't think Americans should govern the world and control its resources, that's like saying that we're not really God's chosen people. Why do you think Americans say they're the freest nation on Earth? It's because we're not only free to choose our own destiny, but free to choose everyone else's as well!
Why? Why do you hate your country so?
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Seriously, I know you're trying hard to be inflammatory and I'm taking the bait, but until you've actually been there, you really don't know what you're talking about.
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The bigger issue is that there are a lot of neo-nazis, supremacist
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But mainly, I want to laugh at you. Have you noticed the US Dollar recently? You might not have, unless you've looked down. That's it in the couch cushions. Products that were $100 a few years ago are now $150, minimum.
You might want to blame your non-elected slack-witted president for that. Losing cubic meters of cash overseas,
Education (Score:3, Insightful)
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es:Pesca (Score:5, Insightful)
- Read articles about fishing in Spanish Wikipedia [wikipedia.org].
- Explore the articles' references.
- Teach yourself to fish.
- Catch fish.
- Sell fish.
- PROFIT!
Am I missing a step???Re: (Score:3, Funny)
5 1/2. ????
Your Slashdot card is hereby revoked.
You're missing a step. (Score:3, Insightful)
0. Roll out universal Internet connections to remote Andean villages.
Or did you think that internet connectivity was just a given. A bit of a "let them eat cake" moment there. Though yes you should be able to get a fair amount of information on the 800Mb of internal storage. I assume they come with a load of books pre installed.
Re:Education (Score:4, Funny)
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Bush Administration has a shorter-term perspective (Score:2)
"give a man firewood and he'll be warm for a day.
Burn a man to death and he'll be warm for the rest of his life".
I think it's called winning "hearts and minds", and works about as well as one would expect.
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Re:Education (Score:5, Insightful)
I'll ignore all the normal arguments (like the fact there are other groups working on that kind of stuff). Let me ask you this:
Which is better? A disruptive technology now, or an infrastructure in 40 years?
If you give the kids laptops now, they learn to learn. They learn some physics. They learn some science. They learn some this, they learn some that. They are like renaissance people, learning a little about everything. They get the benefit of being able to look up the solutions other cultures have come up for to fix problem. They can improve their world in the next few years, even if in small ways. As they get older and more kid go through things, things improve. Some kids break out of the cycle, and they may decide to help donate to get others out.
Option two is to put up schools. We'll ignore the problem of keeping the funding going. You make the schools. If you can get the kids into the schools and get them to keep going (read the article to see how the OLPC is doing this), it's still 9 years to get the kid into the high-school range. They are limited by whatever materials they get. By the time they make a difference in the world, it may be 20+ years. It's a very long term investment. In the mean time, things won't change too much. Without the ability to go look up how someone solved problem X, they are forced to reinvent the wheel sometimes, slowing progress.
People have been trying the school option in the US and basically every other country on Earth for a long time. Charities have been setting up schools in poor countries (in Africa, South America, and other places, for example) for easily 30 years. Yet those countries still have these problems. Now we have a way that may improve things faster.
Worst case scenario: the kids stay in school and things happen the old-fashioned way.
All this ignores more immediate stuff. People in little villages would have to make pots, and toys, and many other things. There are people who, if given access (through eBay, for example) 10-100x what those people sell the things for right now. All they need is access to the market. It wouldn't take much of that to improve the lives of many people, spreading the wealth as they improved their lives.
eBay (Score:2)
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OLPC: Training the next generation of Nig 419 Scammers
Re:Education (Score:5, Insightful)
One of the key mistakes made almost every time computers are introduced to kids is to try to introduce them to computers.
XOs are not tools to teach "computer skills". They are tools to teach reading, writing, arithmetic, science _and_ some basic computer skills. They are much more than most people see. Think of them as an infinite number of books distributed for free to any kid in the country in real time and you start grasping the idea.
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ob (Score:3, Funny)
Too early? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Too early? (Score:4, Interesting)
Christmas eve and I'm in the office. What a fucking loser.
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From the article you didn't read...
And...
Re:Too early? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Too early? (Score:4, Insightful)
Child's play, really, for the country that produced Srinivasa Ramanujan.
The most exciting thing about this project is the number of potential geniuses in the world who heretofore have had little or no access, or only one way access to information.
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We thought I had seen the last of that microwave, but I was wrong. Shortly after, my
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The geeks among them (there will always be geeks) will use the working lappies to learn how to fix the borked ones, and that will be just as valuable to them as similar experience was to us.
A nice rebuttal (Score:4, Interesting)
OLPC and Universal Health Care (Score:4, Insightful)
Poor people are supposed to be poor.
You can't have winners in life when there are no losers. Poor people are supposed to be sitting around in filth like Michael Palin in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. And poor people are supposed to sit around in public hospitals for hours waiting for substandard care and dying early. That's their job in life.
How can a white middle to upper class American feel smug about themselves when poor people are getting the same care as they are and have access to information technology to better their lot in life?
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Re:OLPC and Universal Health Care (Score:4, Insightful)
They can't when they might work hard to earn their better care and technology, and others just think they are entitled to it because they are poor. I scrimp and save every penny to put myself through school, without any government assistance or student loans. I don't smoke or drink. The "poor" students at my university, who go out to pubs a couple times a week and smoke, put spare time into volunteering, then complain about being too poor to pay for education, expect taxpayers (like myself) to fund their lifestyles for them.
I agree it's a whole different ballgame in Africa. But on a domestic scale, when I do without to save up so that I can get something better, it doesn't automatically mean that I should subsidize those who spend all of their disposable income, or subsidize those who think that us "nerds" are stupid for all of our hard work when they regularly go out and party.
I don't have a social life, I work very hard to look after myself, save diligently, and as such I am well off financially as compared to my peers. Now I should just give my money to others?
And yes, I'm white and male. I apologise, because it seems lately that it's something I should be ashamed of. Even though I started off with less than most of my peers.
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No, you should be ashamed for being a self-righteous prick, overfond of broad generalizations about people he doesn't know.
an easy fix in theory... Re:OLPC and Universal H (Score:2)
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It's not a me me attitude, the guy was saying that he believes in something and acts according to his beliefs - self reliance. It's kind of hard to say y
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I think your logic is faulty. The larger the gap between the rich and the poor, the worse off the economy is. While I am not an economist, one did explain it to me a while back. The smaller the gap between the rich and the poor, the healthier the economy gets. This has to do with the larger consumer base capable of buying goods, thus driving the economy. This theory can be backed up with both mathematical models and historical data.
As for communism, it's equality is fake. You can't have a forced equality s
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The profit motive is also the best thing for an economy, as it promotes producing goods for those that desire them most, it underpins supply and demand. At the same time, there obviously needs to be laws restraining monopolies and corruption.
Anyways, my o
Re:OLPC and Universal Health Care (Score:5, Insightful)
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And, since I go by my real name on the internet, I'm willing to put my name and reputation by that. If you think there aren't many examples of mutual trade benefiting both parties, you need to read the newspapers.
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The point is that no matter if it's possible or not to have a trade benefit both parties, there are many secondary costs involved which are generally where the trade-off happens. It's pretty clear that except in very few cases, 2 parties will sign an agreement if and only if they are both taking advantage of it. Still, you c
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My original point was "one party does not have to lose in order for another to win.". I certainly did not make the point that there were "no losers" in a competitive system. I know my point would have been easy to disprove if it had been absolutist: but (unfortunately, for your straw man argument) it was not absolutist
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Download the book Adam Smith Wealth of Nations [gutenberg.org] but also remember that while Capitalism benefits the wealth of the whole and the majority of participants it does not guarantee the increased wealth of all participants in particular countries with little resources and an unskilled low productivity labour force that have no money to purchase internet backbone/wireless routers even worse if landlocked by hostile countries that do not permit trade such as
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Having visited Arahuay in October. (Score:5, Interesting)
Impact on students and teachers in Arahuay
I took as complete notes as I could talking with each of the teachers in turn (unfortunately, I forgot to get their names); translation slowed things enough that I believe the notes are pretty complete, though it may have also introduced errors. They echo Carla's excellent report, but are now months later:
Two children have come to the Arahuay school specifically because of the laptops who would not have previously attended.
The children are sharing much more: they take pictures and videos and share them.
The children are teachers too.
The teachers see much improved conduct. One child (who often arrives hungry) who has been sad and aggressive now loves to work on the OLPC. He is working more with other children and his behavior has improved.
One of the children has vision problems; is cross eyed and has one damaged eye (Carla will remember the child, I'm sure). Using the laptop has improved the child's ability to focus her eyes and work.
Another teacher noted that small children, ages 6-7, are learning much faster. The web browser is the most popular/important activity, followed by the camera.
The activities they use most are the browser, paint, calculator, write.
The children use the internet to find information of interest.
One child, who is from Lima, has learned much in Arahuay and is very happy about the OLPC.
Another teacher said the children have changed: they have more concentration, mental ability.
The children's concept reception is much better than before. Despite the use of US keyboards (all we had at the time), the children have had little problem adapting, and have figured out all they keys.
A third teacher said the internet is the most interesting.
The children are showing more abilities, are more creative, their behavior is better.
The children were selfish about the computers at first, but now share and discover with them, showing the teachers and other students what they have discovered.
Children who had previously been interested in power (bully?) have forgotten power and are sharing.
The children are showing better attention and organization.
Students are learning about the world, and now feel part of it. They are now interested in learning other languages, which they had not wanted to do before. Creating a web site on Arahuay has made them feel part of the world. Impact on the teachers:
They have started to research topics on the internet and have practiced to use the computer.
The teachers have more ways to plan and improve the class.
Another teacher said the computer was wonderful for her. Information on the internet had improved both her and the children.
Their jobs are easier now.
One of the teachers asked for mind-mapper software, which they have used. We should install freemind on the servers and explore how feasible it is for packaging as an activity (it is Java based).
But the high point was the eight year old girl who came up to me shyly and gave me a kiss....
BTW, if anyone speaks Quechua or Aymara (or other languages), please help at: https://dev.laptop.org/translate/.
Please come help!
- Jim Gettys, OLPC
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As for the we-should-worry-about-their-food-first crowd, well, appears Abraham Maslow still has something to teach us.
Re:Having visited Arahuay in October. (Score:5, Interesting)
Thanks for the notes, and I'm delighted to hear about the successes that OLPC is having (even if you haven't yet met your initial distribution goals). It is great to read articles like this one about improving the lives of thousands of kids in Peru.
Given the network capabilities of this machine, we are working to ensure that the Nmap Security Scanner [insecure.org] continues to work well on the OLPC. Maybe someday it can be included, though that raises the issue of kids using it responsibly. Still, it can be quite useful for debugging network connectivity issues as well as testing that their own machines are secure. A side effect of this work is that keeps Nmap lean and working well on low-resource PCs, phones, and PDAs besides the OLPC.
On Friday we received the three units we ordered through give-one-get-one and I've been playing with mine ever since! Yesterday I took and posted a bunch of pictures of the device [insecure.org].
Keep up the good work!
Fyodor [insecure.org]
Thanks for sharing that (Score:2)
And sorry, I don't speak Quechua or Aymara but I do know a few Elvish phrases.
XO display vs. e-ink (Score:4, Interesting)
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Really? Where did you get your XO? Mine just popped up out of FedEx and it has a backlit color screen. Quite nice, actually, but my impression was that they were greyscale....
Did I miss something (again)?
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This little guy just blows me away.
Nah, I couldn't wait for Christmas.
Who would thought I was sentimental? (Score:5, Insightful)
What is the impact on education? (Score:3, Interesting)
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For instance, what exactly is the educational value of a network-aware paint application? Considering that the most commonly used applications are pai
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And although using the Internet is quite frequently like taking a drink from the firehose, there really is surprisingly little free (and good) educational content out there geared at younger audiences that doesn't also require things like textbooks and encyclopedias.
"Free as in speech" textbooks would also certainly give the US-based textbook manufacturers a much-needed kick in the pants.
Full report by Carla Gomez, with pictures (Score:5, Informative)
But, I found that all of what he said is present in detail, and pictures, on Carla Gomez's OLPC in Arahuay [laptop.org].
Really eye opening. Keep up the good work all.
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Re:I'm sure technology helps, but... (Score:4, Informative)
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What you are describing is a propaganda tool, not an educational tool. These kids need to learn to read and write and do math and understand mechanical concepts before they hit the Interweb to start a
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So their education will be what they randomly find on the internet? That doesn't sound like a recipe for success.
The internet is a great educational tool, with guidance. But is that guidance going to be provided in Peru, or are they just throwing hardware at the problem of their poor educational system and hoping
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* More teachers.
* Better educated teachers.
* Better teaching facilities (nice laptop, too bad you don't have a desk).
* Improved teaching materials (textbooks from 1843 don't really cut it, although good books don't have to be this year's edition, either).
I could always be wrong, but I don't think I am. Sadly, the
Re:I'm sure technology helps, but... (Score:4, Insightful)
Looking back on grade school, having a desk and no laptop, no Internet...
...man that sucked.
Re:I'm sure technology helps, but... (Score:4, Informative)
Who are you to say what the educational needs of "these people" are?
Should they only be taught the skills they need to stay poor as another poster put it?
The goal of the OLPC and any good education program should not be to somehow inject students with information in the hope that they learn something but to enable them to discover the joys of learning on their own.
I think this is a great program because it mirrors my own early interest in computers. We were using the Commodore Pet computers in the computer lab in elementary school. Even with the primitive cassette tape drives and monochrome green monitors of the day it was enough to inspire me to want to have a computer of my own more than anything else in the world. Now did I NEED to have a computer? I don't think so. But as someone reading a site proclaiming "News for nerds, stuff that matters" the need to worship technology goes hand in hand with knowledge. Without a computer at that age I probably wouldn't have had the exposure to the immense amount of knowledge that pushed me in the direction that led me to become a professional developer.
With the OLPC which you called a "little toy," students can shoot photos, make movies, draw, create music and even learn to program. Given these opportunities that they wouldn't normally have I think there is a much better chance of the students growing beyond where they would be with only being taught the bare minimum basic education.
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Re:So get this (Score:5, Insightful)
Your 'American kid' has far more resources to draw on that the target audience of these laptops. You, the dad, has the resources and ability to basically build her a laptop for cheap. You already have a 24/7 internet connection, ready for this laptop to connect to. She has PC's in school...all her friends (and their parent) have PC's at home. She can very easily go to the local library to use the computers there. If you work in any medium size company, you can probably scam an older laptop for free (I have 3 such laying around).
You popping for a brand new, dual core, multi gigbyte HD laptop for under $600 is far less of a financial impact than an OLPC would be for any of the target audience.
Or...you popping for a $399 OLPC (and a tax deduction of $200) is far less of a financial hit as well.
Should we also be bitching because the 'good African kids' also get free rice and 'bad American kids' don't? Or that 'good African kids' get a well dug in their town by the Peace Corps, and YOU, the downtrodden, poor American, has to actually pay taxes for clean, filtered, unlimited, water delivered to the multiple taps in your house at any temperature you desire.
Oh...and if you happen to come across a cheap/free laptop, you (Mr. computer wizard) can install the OLPC image on it and your daughter can have almost exactly the same thing. (unfortunately, that image is outdated. I hope they publish a current one soon)
Quit yer bitching.
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Yeah, poor kid of yours, who is discriminated against because her parents have the resources to buy her an OLPC themselves, or any of the competing ubercheap laptops. My heart weeps for the poor girl, it really does.
I suppose your child has earned herself an OLPC, by having the self-discipline and foresight to be born to comparatively rich parents.
If you think a kid-friendly laptop would benefit her, buy her one. The G1G1 program is still open [laptopgiving.org]. Oh, wait, you don't want any
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You cant think of it in terms of the same cost to run down to the local A&P.
Re:I bet its a hit (Score:4, Insightful)
Providing the OLPC is something like providing a basic infrastructure like roads or water, except in this case it is information. Money for these things could always be spent in other ways to meet short term needs, but they are far better off investing in infrastructure that will have long term positive impacts for many years to come.
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Re:Call me Scrooge but... (Score:4, Informative)
Going outside and kicking a ball isn't necessarily about going on the fast track to sports stardom. Just like being on a computer can teach a child a variety of skills, going outside and kicking a ball around can also do the same.