Let me give some history on the OLPC program. OLPC is a project of the Miami-based One Laptop per Child Association, INC., which is a non-profit organization set up to oversee the creation of an affordable educational device for use in the developing world. The organization was originally funded by member organizations such as AMD, eBay, Google, New Corporation, Red Hat, and Marvell. The current focus is on the development, construction and the deployment of the X0-1 laptop and its successors. At the 2006 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, The United Nations Development Program announced it would back the laptop. UNDP said in a statement that they would work with OLPC to deliver "technology and resources to targeted schools in the least developed countries". The aim of the program was for the computers to cost 100 dollars.
Here is where my problems lay. If a country is struggling to have a stable government, food for the vast majority of it inhabitants, jobs for its inhabitants, and just plain old necessities for their inhabitants. How is it important for these countries to put a computer in each child's hands when in retrospect they can't put a piece of bread in each child's mouth?! It seems as though OLPC is a noble humanitarian effort for the betterment of education. I do not, however, see the benefit of it when the kids who are supposed to operate the computers can not eat daily or have access to modern medicine.
Besides the fact that a lot of the countries that are to implement the OLPC program are struggling with IMO bigger issues, there are other more notable problems with the program it self:
- Issues wit the actual cost (the $100 laptop is no longer called that, because it costs $200)
- Political and governmental resistance from countries to whom OLPC seeks to send the laptops. (IN two cases, Nigeria and Brazil had been seeking local laptops, not imported, but other countries have presented other kinds of resistance.)
- Businesses, such as Intel , who would like to make their own inexpensive laptop
- Grumblings from consumers of wealthy nations ("we want a cheap laptop too!")
- Education ( what value laptops when you don't have pencils? or a teacher?)
There are a number of participating countries and one of which, Uruguay, has successfully ordered enough computers to put one in the hands of all school children between 6 and 12 years old. This fact shocked me when I read about it. When I first heard it i thougth to my self "Wow that is a place I would love to live in. Think about it if they could afford to put a laptop in the hands of every child in the primary schools then there must not be any crime, poverty, homeless, etc." I felt this way because I couldn't understand how so much emphasis could be put on putting a computer in the hands of each child when in retrospect there is no data that shows that by doing so it will have a positive affect on the country.
Another concern of mine is addressed in the cartoon above. What are the benefits of the OLPC computers and how will they affect these countries in which they are being advertised too. You see the kids are no longer playing outside any more, there is no monitoring of the children's online activity, more interest has been taken into games and socializing online then the actual "education" which is being proposed.
In conclusion I must say I just don't understand how we can want to put computers in children's hands before we put food in their mouths and a bandade on their wounds. It seems like a great initiative that should come after some BASIC needs are met first or at least improved. It really hard for me to understand why this could be a positive thing and not something that is really for economic gains!
In conclusion I must say I just don't understand how we can want to put computers in children's hands before we put food in their mouths and a bandade on their wounds. It seems like a great initiative that should come after some BASIC needs are met first or at least improved. It really hard for me to understand why this could be a positive thing and not something that is really for economic gains!
I agree with your sentiment that there are bigger priorities for these developing countries that getting a laptop in each child’s hands. There are many other concerns that should be addressed first, before even the consideration of laptops. In one of the readings we had, there was a debate on cell phones v. laptops. I remember agreeing with the man discussing the positives of cell phones, as with the phones, parents are able to make more money. With more money, they can buy simple necessities that they may not have and focus more on their children’s education. It is at that point that the OLPC program can be effective. Although a positive of a free laptop to a starving child is that he/she can sell it and then buy some food.
ReplyDeleteMalik! So I definitely feel like a lot of people share your sentiment about introducing laptops and similar technologies to developing countries when they don't have basics such as clean water or indoor plumbing. However, today, as is clear from our class, technology is playing such a vital role in the world, on all levels from science to journalism and now education. Developing countries are trying to provide more opportunities to their children so that the gap between them and developed countries will lessen in the future generations. It is clear that the program has its flaws; but do you think that a country could really be a major player at the global level without an economy and culture driven by technology? I think that's the main concern of the leaders of this country; they don't want to fall further behind on the global level and at this moment, laptops (which I agree, may seem superfluous when other needs are more pressing) appear to be an easy way to provide a slice (maybe even a facade) that the country is advancing its economy.
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