The $100 Laptop Revisted
It's good to see that the $100 laptop for educational use by kids is moving closer to reality. (See my post dated September 29, 2005.) Here are a few things we know at present about this project:
- The machine will come with an open source operating system. That leaves out Microsoft and Apple, both of whom have shown interest in the project. Maybe a way will be found to bring their immense resources to bear.
- Software will include a word processor, web browser, email, and a programming system.
- How the $100 laptop will be used in the classroom to improve teaching and learning is still unclear.
- Computing power will be supplied by AMD rather than Intel.
- Critics of the project worry that $100 will not be sufficient to provide the computer with sufficient functionality.
So, what we know is that the project is going foward, but that lots of issues remain to be settled. I would think that the $100 laptop, when combined with Google's efforts to digitize a slew of books would mean that each kid in every third world country would have access to a library of resources not enjoyed by kids in even the wealthiest school district a few years ago. That's a no brainer. The hard part is going to be developing meaningful assignments that make use of the computer's power. That means a rethinking of pedagogy. Until the pedagogy issues are settled, I opine that the $100 laptop is a project with unproven promise.
posted by Ronald M. Ayers at 5:32 PM
2 Comments:
The Wired interview with Negroponte suggests that the hope is that students will learn by doing, i.e., they'll learn to become programmers. It will be interesting to see what happens--if the notebook will be a notebook for creative communications with the machine, or a repository for software.
As wonderful as it would be for every college student to have their own laptop, what concerns me is the loss of written language. Many of my friends cannot read written cursive, let alone write it. I'm not saying we should get rid of typing, but the ability to write well, in both the literal and visual sense, is still an important skill.
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