OLPC talk:Mission

I don't feel this page actually describes the mission. It answers questions, it doesn't speak to the goals or ambitions. I've had a hard time finding an actual mission page.

Why do children in developing nations need laptops?

This assumes, however, that the "wealth of information on the Internet" is of the same quality as a textbook, something which has yet to be proven (the interesting but problematic case of the Wikipedia/Britanica comparison aside). So the question is: does the creation of a library, money to train/pay teachers, and the development of a physical education infrastructure provide a better environment for children to learn? Given that results of laptop use in schools in the West are inconclusive at best, I fear that this is a massive experiment, costing millions of dollars and thousands of person-hours, that should not be undertaken. What are the economics of creating a physically-based educational infrastructure? How far could one go in that direction with the funds and time that are being put into the OLPC project? Let's perform that experiment first, since the results are at least more conclusive. ---nak

Isn't this project just a techno-Utopian dream? A band aid when more serious surgery needs to be done?

It's true, people don't have a "decent shot" at a good eduction. What are the provisions of the project for the training of teachers and the community on educational use of the laptops? I have heard nothing about this vital part of the project---in fact, this is more important than the technology itself. Who are the people developing the educational software, and do they have experience in schools in the third world? Do they know the needs and desires of the people who the laptops are targeting? Or are they Western-trained, imparting our way of schooling and teaching into places where it might not be appropriate? While you say elsewhere on this page that this is not a "laptop project", all of the talks I've heard so far focus entirely on the technology to the detriment of the educational tools. I need to hear plans for how this will be used, concrete plans, even if those plans might change, in order to be convinced that this project will succeed. For the easy part is the technology; the social implications, and embedding of this new technology into an existing system, is the hard part. ---nak

Here here, the focus of this project isn't helping children learn, it appears to be creating a cheap linux laptop - most of the people involved are technical, and the bulk of the focus on is things like "Getting the customized GNOME interface to work" or "Minimizing the disk image". Where are the people tasked with creating distribution channels that would succeed in getting these things distributed, or installing any sort of infrastructure. The easy part is creating a laptop, the tough part is distributing it and then creating some sort of worldwide support network. This project is Negroponte's technical dream, it may sound good to people living with plumbing and electricity, but wait few years and this will have been the $100 million electronic doorstop project. The social impact of a Laptop is neutral, the social impact of all technology is neutral, while you can predict that it might encourage learning by way of access to information, it could also very well have deleterious health and social side-effects. - t

Is this project really about getting computers to kids?

If this is an education project rather than a laptop project, where is the focus on education, on teachers, on providing textbooks, materials, buildings, training, salaries, etc? I fear that unless you begin to work on these much more difficult problems now, the project will be doomed. ---nak

When and where will it be available?

I live in New Orleans, Louisiana and I saw this in Wired magazine today and I was blown away by this and I just wanted to know if this will be available in the United States Please send me a response at rabidbunnyman@yahoo.com

What are you talking about?

Here's the quote: "Neither band aids nor serious surgery work. What is needed is evolutionary, done in fast time. The basic assumption is that education is at the root of any solution." I guess the question just needs to be asked, what, pray tell, do you mean when you write "done in fast time", and that serious surgery doesn't really work. If education is at the core of any solution, than the question needs to be asked: Why laptops? And, the answer to "Why Laptops?" clearly isn't "The basic assumption is that education is at the root of any solution." That's not even close to an answer. The answer might be something like, "Numerous studies have shown that laptops provide a good foundation for a solid education", but that's not the answer provided.

If you are going to set up a Wiki, don't answer the central question with 1999-ish dot com proclamations like "we're doing it in fast time", and "serious surgery doesn't work". The previous comment is dead on correct, "If this is an education project rather than a laptop project, where is the focus on education, on teachers, on providing textbooks, materials, buildings, training, salaries, etc?" Or, better yet, where is the investment in infrastructure, the economy, on providing meaningful opportunities for parents so that they don't go off and sell the OLPC laptop to pay for something else. Something more essential. I expect a response "in fast time".

Questioning the Premise?

As just an interested outside observer with no particular qualifications relating to education, I'm still surprised to see the level of skepticism being expressed about this project. Certainly it is a very valid question as to whether the provision of a laptop to a child is an effective means for providing education, and whether other methods might be superior. I think that this question would make sense if this program were to be so expensive that choices had to be made between a laptop or a (possibly) more effective educational alternative.

But what's missing is that the cost of this laptop is expected to be the same as for a few textbooks. The fact that it can simply serve the same purpose as a few printed books at roughly the same price might be justification enough to proceed, even if many of the other lofty goals of computerizing education prove to be difficult to achieve (as I expect).

Another valid point is that even 140 dollars is a lot of money to spend per child in the poorer countries of the world. But, let's face it, there is just a lot more excitement about contributing towards providing computers to poor countries as opposed to buying for them an Algebra or History textbook. If we can foster interest in the concept of helping others through a program like this, and it helps to encourage people to contribute money, wouldn't that be a great by-product too?