[Air-l] India Rejects One Laptop Per Child

[Jeremy Hunsinger]

the argument was 'we do not have the money, and the money we do have  
is better spent elsewhere',  which is true for all countries.   it is  
more important to give their children healthcare, primary and  
secondary education with access to computing through those venues,  
than to invest in an underconceptualized program.

why do you think the newspaper might have published those other  
'positions' without sharing the context of the rest of the report?    
without providing you the opportunity to judge the full merit of the  
position?  might they have been structuring their news in a way to  
generate just the response that you gave them?  I think they did and  
i think the article is meant to be critical of the decision though it  
appears to be objective.

as for their second argument that you dismiss, i think it really hits  
the nail on the head.   why doesn't the u.s. have a one laptop per  
child program...   what happened to the one laptop per child program  
in maine,?  why doesn't france have one, or germany?   have there  
been experiments with this in terms of large scale policy? (hint, the  
answer is yes), what did they show?

I tend to think that bureaucrats in India have done the homework. and  
beyond that India has had many successful computer education programs  
based on other models, the kiosk program and the private training  
program come to mind.  Perhaps in their mind.... it is more important  
for india to educate its students(6-12) to become other things than  
computer users given that you can gain computer competencies at  
nearly any stage in life.

Let's also remember that India has a history with universal  
computing, not just for children, but for everyone, the simputer case  
is instructive.



On Jul 27, 2006, at 12:49 AM, Wojciech Gryc wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Keeping in mind the long discussion that was posted a few weeks ago  
> with
> regards to the merits (or lack thereof) of the One Laptop Per Child  
> project,
> I thought this may interest subscribers of this list:
>
> HRD rubbishes MIT's laptop scheme for kids
> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/ 
> msid-1698603,curpg-1.cms
>
> So India has decided against the One Laptop Per Child Project (for  
> now). Two
> arguments that stood out for me:
>
>    1. Poor rural children often have health problems that may be
>    exacerbated by laptop use, especially those affecting eyesight and
>    children's backs.
>    2. No developed country has universalized laptops for children,  
> so why
>    should India?
>
> I must say that the first argument is a perfect example of how  
> people in
> developed countries often lack the foresight and local knowledge  
> required to
> adequately decide whether a technology truly is "appropriate".  
> Forget the
> merits to education or the potential for employability skills --  
> those are
> secondary to the potentially negative health effects of the laptops.
>
> Thanks,
> Wojciech Gryc
>
> -- 
>
> Five Minutes to Midnight:
> Youth on human rights and current affairs
> http://www.fiveminutestomidnight.org/
> _______________________________________________
> The air-l at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http:// 
> listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
>
> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> http://www.aoir.org/

Jeremy Hunsinger
Center for Digital Discourse and Culture
() ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail
/\ - against microsoft attachments

http://www.aoir.org The Association of Internet Researchers
http://www.stswiki.org/ stswiki
http://cfp.learning-inquiry.info/  LI-the journal
http://transdisciplinarystudies.tmttlt.com/  Transdisciplinary  
Studies:the book series