[Its.an.education.project] Too much "sugar" and too little "coffee": The real risks of failure for the OLPC project

[Kevin Cole]

I'm not at all versed in educational theory, and hadn't even
heard/read the word "Constructionism" until I started reading the
various OLPC mailing lists.

But, from the little I've gleaned, I'd have to say "That's the way *I*
learn best."  With no personal investigation or evidence, I cannot say
for certain what works best for all (or most), but I would think that
the "hands-on" approach would be greatest good for the greatest
number. It not only "burns info into the brain" better, but there's a
pride in discovering, accomplishing, and creating "all by myself!"
There's a lot of fun to be had in peer learning, both through
collaboration and competition, as well.  Hobbyists and user groups
know this better than most.

Certainly, a lot of early learning is learning how to learn, and
there's some benefit to having that structured and guided, and perhaps
occasionally even dare I say "limited".  But innovation doesn't come
from thinking inside the box.  The technologies of tomorrow are
eventually going to come from the children and people who believe the
status quo can be improved upon. Open source, and all its kin, will
just speed that process along.

(Closed source, and other such drek often remind me of a Harry Chapin
song about an imaginative child who is stuck with a teacher who only
knows a dogmatic approach to art, and how this teacher wears the child
down to the point that when he's with a new imaginative teacher, their
roles are reversed, and the child has become a zombie of dogma[1].
Tragic.)

References:
1. Flowers Are Red (Harry Chapin)
    http://www.harrychapin.com/music/flowers.shtml