[IAEP] (Safe) Some thoughts RE: The Associated Press on Peru's OLPC project

[Christoph Derndorfer]

Hi Caryl,

the counter on Google News says that the story has already been published
on 165 different news sites so take your pick;-)

And of course I'd also love to see the comment below my OLPC News piece on
the AP story:
http://www.olpcnews.com/countries/peru/associated_press_looks_at_the_past_present_future_of_olpc_peru.html


Cheers,
Christoph

On Tue, Jul 3, 2012 at 7:26 PM, Caryl Bigenho <cbigenho at hotmail.com> wrote:

>  I would love to post this comment somewhere where lots of people will see
> it, but I'm not sure where the best place would be. Any suggestions?
>
> Some Thoughts on the AP Story on Peru's OLPC Project
>
>
> Oscar Becerra's attitude toward teachers is probably one of the biggest
> things holding back progress in the deployment in Peru.  Comments like
> these, attributed to him, and similar ones from others in "high places,"
> pretty much doomed the project to failure.
>
>
> "We knew from the start that it wouldn't be possible to improve the
> teachers."
>
>
> "In a school that's a disgrace, with teachers who are ignorant and lessons
> that are a joke, how is having computers going to improve motivation?"
>
>
> Any perceived failures were probably not the teachers' fault. It most
> likely due to the inadequate training they received. What did the 40
> training hours consist of? Did they learn how to employ the XO as a
> learning tool for themselves as well as their students? Did they learn
> about constructionism? cooperative learning? How about the teacher as a
> learner… being a co-learner with their students? The joy of learning? The
> joy of learning along with their students?
>
>
> Even university-trained teachers in developed countries may fear
> technology until they learn to make it their "own," to use it as a tool to
> make their lives and the lives of their students richer.
>
>
> Teacher training is one of the most important keys. This idea was ignored
> by many fine people involved with OLPC and the project in Peru and other
> countries.
>
>
> Hopefully, things will change for the better. Respect for the teachers as
> professionals, even it their educational background is not ideal, is one of
> the keys to success. Help them succeed. Give them all the tools they need
> to progress and they will.
>
>
> BTW: Mochilla Digital in Mexico did do what appeared to be some excellent
> training in 3-day workshops when they first started out. Their
> teacher-training materials were originally available online, but seem to
> have been removed.
>
>
> Caryl
>
>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2012 15:49:52 +0200
> From: e0425826 at student.tuwien.ac.at
> To: iaep at lists.sugarlabs.org; Marketing at lists.sugarlabs.org;
> support-gang at lists.laptop.org
> Subject: [IAEP] The Associated Press on Peru's OLPC project
>
> Hi all,
>
> just wanted to give you a heads up about a good (IMHO) compilation of the
> broad spectrum of opinions about Peru's Una laptop por niño which AP posted
> earlier today: "Peru's ambitious laptop program gets mixed grades" -
> http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i64_K6m2309EdF4ccQunEkRd9P0Q?docId=51c5e4c6d7d9493aacdb8ed27f7c31e5
>
>
> And since this is AP the story will be all over the globe within the next
> 24 to 48 hours (I'm already seeing it on TIME, Washington Post, Fox News,
> and Sydney Morning Herald).
>
> Cheers,
> Christoph
>
> --
> Christoph Derndorfer
>
> volunteer, OLPC (Austria) [www.olpc.at]
> editor, OLPC News [www.olpcnews.com]
> contributor, TechnikBasteln [www.technikbasteln.net]
>
> e-mail: christoph at derndorfer.eu
>
>
> _______________________________________________ IAEP -- It's An Education
> Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>



-- 
Christoph Derndorfer

volunteer, OLPC (Austria) [www.olpc.at]
editor, OLPC News [www.olpcnews.com]
contributor, TechnikBasteln [www.technikbasteln.net]

e-mail: christoph at derndorfer.eu
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