[K12OSN] Interesting blog post about OLPC & technology in education in general

[Eric Harrison]

http://webapps.saugus.k12.ca.us/community/jklein/weblog/470.html


> What we are forgetting is that critics are bringing their world view 
> with them, which is always jaded by personal/corporate experience. 
> Anyone who has used a modern computer has had trouble with it, and 
> will naturally be prone to assume that the OLPC experience will be no
>  different. Their view of computing is highly structured and 
> institutional, with layers of control coming in to play at every 
> level. At the top there is the software company which exists to 
> provide both software and support to the institution who is 
> purchasing it. Next, there is the institution, who has purchased the 
> software to meet some institutional goal or need and is providing the
>  staff to support the software, as well as to seek support from the 
> software company. Finally, at some point, the users gain access to 
> the software, which in the end is painfully difficult to use because 
> it was designed to meet the needs of the institution, largely 
> forgetting the needs of the people who are actually using it. The 
> traditional design is hierarchical, top-down, cumbered about by 
> layers of control.
....
> The learner is the goal - not the teacher, institution, or
> government, but the learner. And empowering the learner always has,
> and always will, generate more knowledge, skill, and ability than any
> institution or government can provide.