OLPC News posting

Sat Jun 23 01:35:49 CST 2007

I just posted this on OLPC News: http://www.olpcnews.com/

Bob

One
<http://www.olpcnews.com/use_cases/education/one_laptop_per_child_education.
html>  Laptop Per Child and Education Reform

Posted on June 22, 2007 by Guest Writer in Use Cases
<http://www.olpcnews.com/use_cases/> : Education
<http://www.olpcnews.com/use_cases/education/> , People
<http://www.olpcnews.com/people/> : Negroponte
<http://www.olpcnews.com/people/negroponte/>  

 <http://robertkozma.com/index.html> olpc robert kozma
Robert Kozma

I am Robert B. Kozma, Ph.D., an international consultant on technology in
service of developing countries. I have just returned from Kenya where I
where I attended the eLearning Africa Conference
<http://www.elearning-africa.com/conference.php>  in Nairobi from May 28-30.

The OLPC XO machine was displayed in the vendor area and several
presentations referenced it. Having worked in Africa and other developing
countries over the past ten years, I was prompted to reflect on the
implications that One Laptop Per Child has for education improvement in
these countries.

The OLPC group has come up with some truly novel features meant to address
the specific constraints of users in developing countries, such as the mesh
network <http://www.olpcnews.com/hardware/wireless/> , the dual-mode display
<http://www.olpcnews.com/hardware/screen/> , and a range off-grid power
<http://www.olpcnews.com/hardware/power_supply/>  sources, although the
latter are yet to be fully developed. This is not surprising, given its MIT
Media Lab origins. 

But Professor Negroponte consistently points out that, "This is an education
project, not a laptop project." And this is where my reservations begin.
Based on my 35 years of studying educational applications of technology in
developed (the U.S. and a range of OECD countries) and developing countries
(Thailand <http://www.olpcnews.com/countries/thailand/> , Chile
<http://www.olpcnews.com/countries/chile/> , Jordan, Egypt
<http://www.bellybuttonwindow.com/2007/egypt/> , Uganda
<http://www.bellybuttonwindow.com/2003/uganda/> , Tanzania
<http://www.bellybuttonwindow.com/2003/tanzania/>  and Kenya
<http://www.bellybuttonwindow.com/2007/kenya/> ), I have to say that as an
"education
<http://www.olpcnews.com/commentary/press/debate_laptop_education.html>
project" OLPC is fundamentally incomplete.

 <http://www.flickr.com/photos/hendry/547579595/> olpc screen b&w
Screen technology isn't enough

Numerous research studies and my personal experience in many countries
suggest that the mere introduction of computers into schools will not bring
about educational improvement. Reforming education is hard work that
involves making coordinated changes in pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, and
teacher training, as well as technology. 

While any one of these factors - such as technology - can be used as a lever
to launch other changes, reform has to be viewed as systemic change. Without
coordinating all of the components, it is more likely that change in a
single factor - such as technology - will be merely assimilated into the
current system unreformed or be rejected altogether. 

But the OLPC education philosophy does not address the education system at
all. The entire OLPC enterprise is based on the premise that if given the
proper resources - in this case "appropriately designed" hardware and
software - children will learn how to learn on their own. There is no
consideration of how this intervention fits or does not fit with the current
curriculum, assessment, or pedagogical practices. 

The goal of the OLPC is laudable but I sincerely doubt that the pervasive
use of computers envisioned by OLPC will be realized without addressing
these overriding factors in the education system. Let me give two personal
experiences that support my conclusion.

 <http://www.flickr.com/photos/jkrauss/552445962/> olpc nigeria
Rural school OLPC XO usage

Several years ago, I visited a secondary school in rural Uganda while
evaluating the World Links for Development <http://www.world-links.org/>
program for the World Bank. A teacher was describing how excited his
students were about projects they were doing with other students in Canada
and South Africa. We were standing in the middle of the computer lab filled
with twelve brand new work stations. 

Yet it was the middle of the school day and the lab was totally empty of
students. I pointed this out to the teacher and he said that since computers
were not part of the curriculum and were not covered by the examination he
could not use them during the school day. 

In the second case, I was visiting a secondary school in Alexandria,
<http://www.bellybuttonwindow.com/2007/egypt/friday_in_alexandria.html>
Egypt and a social studies teacher was showing the exciting collaborative
projects that students were doing in the computer lab. I happen to be
accompanied by an inspector from the Ministry of Education who jumped at the
teacher and berated him in front of all his students for deviating from the
established curriculum for that day. 

The dedication of these teachers was sincere and the enthusiasm of their
students was clear. But I doubt that either these teachers or their students
will be able to sustain their efforts without important changes being made
in the system that they confront daily. To bring about education reform in
developing countries, curricula need to be changed to move from rote
learning to problem solving, creative thinking, and team skills. 

National examinations need to move from the recall of facts to complex,
collaborative tasks that involve the use of technology. And teachers need
training in new pedagogical approaches. But Professor Negroponte shows only
distain for teachers and the educational system, as evidenced by these
quotes:

 <http://www.flickr.com/photos/olin/565263456/> olpc code jam
Children learn learning solo?

"Teachers teach the kids? Give me a break." (Negroponte, 2006, LinuxWorld
<http://news.com.com/Negroponte+Slimmer+Linux+needed+for+100+laptop/2100-734
6_3-6057456.html>  Conference and Expo, Boston). 

"In many countries, school is a treat. Teachers often don't show up."
(Negroponte, 2007, UCLA <http://www.today.ucla.edu/news/070221_laptop/> ,
Los Angeles)

"In some countries, which I'll leave unnamed, as many of as one-third of the
teachers never show up at school. And some show up drunk" (Negroponte, 2006,
NetEvents
<http://www.olpctalks.com/nicholas_negroponte/negroponte_netevents.html>
Conference, Hong Kong).

AIDS and malaria are common problems among teachers, as they are among the
African population more generally, and they contribute significantly to
absenteeism in the workforce. But I have met many teachers in Africa and I
have yet to meet one that was drunk. 

If only Professor Negroponte held the same level of positive regard for
teachers and unbounded faith in their human potential as he does for
students. Yet in many of his statements, Negroponte's attitude about
teachers borders on contempt. It is difficult to see how the OLPC program
can bring about positive change in education systems with this kind of
cynical attitude at its core.

Which raises the question, why it is that OLPC is working with education
systems at all? Instead, why are they not working through after-school
programs where children can explore their own projects free of the
constraints of the established curriculum, much as is done in developing
countries with the Computer Clubhouse <http://www.computerclubhouse.org/>
program? 

The answer is that the business model demands that they work with the
education system. In order to get the desired features of the XO laptop at a
low price, OLPC needs the hundreds of millions of customers that can only be
delivered by Ministries of Education (Negroponte, 2004, NetEvents
<http://www.olpctalks.com/nicholas_negroponte/negroponte_netevents.html>
European Press Summit). 

This brings us back to the original question: Is this an education project
or merely a laptop project? We know Lee
<http://www.olpcnews.com/commentary/press/debate_laptop_education.html>
Felsenstein's opinion. What's yours?

____________________

Robert B. Kozma, Ph.D.

Emeritus Director and Principal Scientist

Center for Technology in Learning

SRI International

2151 Filbert St.

San Francisco, CA 94123

USA

CTL Website:  <http://ctl.sri.com> http://ctl.sri.com

Personal Website: http://robertkozma.com

Phone +1 415 292 2471

Mobile +1 415 623 4340

Fax: +1 415 651 9954

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