<html> <head> <style></style></head> <body class='hmmessage'><div dir='ltr'> 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?<div><br></div><div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px">Some Thoughts on the AP Story on Peru's OLPC Project</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">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.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial">"We knew from the start that it wouldn't be possible to improve the teachers."</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px"><br></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial">"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?"</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px"><br></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial">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?</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px"><br></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial">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. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px"><br></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial">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. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px"><br></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial">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.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px"><br></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial">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.</p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial"><br></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial">Caryl</p><div><br></div><br><div><div id="SkyDrivePlaceholder"></div><hr id="stopSpelling">Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2012 15:49:52 +0200<br>From: e0425826@student.tuwien.ac.at<br>To: iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org; Marketing@lists.sugarlabs.org; support-gang@lists.laptop.org<br>Subject: [IAEP] The Associated Press on Peru's OLPC project<br><br><div>Hi all,</div><div><br></div><div>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" - <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i64_K6m2309EdF4ccQunEkRd9P0Q?docId=51c5e4c6d7d9493aacdb8ed27f7c31e5" target="_blank">http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i64_K6m2309EdF4ccQunEkRd9P0Q?docId=51c5e4c6d7d9493aacdb8ed27f7c31e5</a> </div> <div><br></div><div>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).</div><div><br>Cheers,<br> Christoph</div><div><br></div>-- <br>Christoph Derndorfer<div><br></div><div><div>volunteer, OLPC (Austria) [<a href="http://www.olpc.at/" target="_blank">www.olpc.at</a>]<br><div>editor, OLPC News [<a href="http://www.olpcnews.com/" target="_blank">www.olpcnews.com</a>]<br> contributor, TechnikBasteln [<a href="http://www.technikbasteln.net/" target="_blank">www.technikbasteln.net</a>]</div></div><div><br></div><div>e-mail: <a href="mailto:christoph@derndorfer.eu">christoph@derndorfer.eu</a></div> </div><br> <br>_______________________________________________ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep</div></div> </div></body> </html>