[IAEP] Free laptops all very well but ..

[mokurai at earthtreasury.org]

On Wed, May 11, 2011 7:08 pm, forster at ozonline.com.au wrote:
> http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/free-laptops-all-very-well-but-how-best-to-use-them-in-testing-times-20110511-1eitv.html
>
> "initiatives that focus primarily on the provision of computers are not
> successful because the computers aren't used to their full potential ...
>
> Putting computers in classrooms is a good first step. But it's the easiest
> step. If we genuinely want this technology to help students then we must
> look beyond the rhetoric of the computer companies and the politicians.

I'm with you so far.

> The federal government needs to start working with schools to map how
> computers can be successful in the complicated environments in which they
> have been placed.

No, emphatically no, neither in Australia, or the US, or anywhere else
except possibly Bhutan. The US Federal government hasn't a clue what real
education is. They cannot fund the research we need, because they have,
officially, no imagination in this area. Things were different in the
heyday of DARPA, but nobody gets to hand out money any more just because
somebody has an interesting idea. I cannot believe from external
indications that the Australian government has any more of a clue on this.

>  We've got the equipment. Let's shift focus to the real
> stuff, learning, and how we can realistically take that to the next level.

Absolutely. But keep governments out of it until after we know what we are
trying to do. Maybe even then.

> For the sake of our students, the government must clarify the type of
> learning it wants to take place in our schools, and how computers can be
> used to support this. And please, let's not allow these decisions to be
> made without consulting schools, teachers and students.

You see, there is the contradiction. Let us consult with schools,
teachers, and students ourselves. This is the aim of the Sugar Labs 
Replacing Textbooks project, which aims to create Open Education Resources
(OER) taking advantage of computer capabilities. Not just PDFs of
dead-tree textbooks.

We no longer live in the age of students learning the same lesson from the
same government-approved book on the same day, and nothing else. We live
in an Age of Information, where we are awash in connections. And yet
schoolchildren are kept almost entirely out of it, for fear of pedophiles.

> We need their help
> to make it work. Australia is relying on it."
>
> Dr Joanne Orlando is a lecturer in education at the University of Western
> Sydney.
>
> _______________________________________________
> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>


-- 
Edward Mokurai
(默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر
ج) Cherlin
Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation.
The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination.
http://www.earthtreasury.org/