http://www.switched.com/2007/12/10/dvorak-says-we-should-send-rice-not-laptops-to-children/ Switched Comments for Dvorak Says We Should Send Rice, Not Laptops, To Children http://www.switched.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.switched.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.switched.com/2007/12/10/dvorak-says-we-should-send-rice-not-laptops-to-children/http://www.switched.com/2007/12/10/dvorak-says-we-should-send-rice-not-laptops-to-children/
I recently found this picture of mine was being used without attribution. You can find the original photo here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/stewtopia/865496725/.

I like attribution to read as such "(CC) Randy Stewart, blog.stewtopia.com."

Thank you for respecting my Creative Commons license.

Cheers,
Randy Stewart]]>Jul 15th 2009 2:28PMhttp://www.switched.com/2007/12/10/dvorak-says-we-should-send-rice-not-laptops-to-children/http://www.switched.com/2007/12/10/dvorak-says-we-should-send-rice-not-laptops-to-children/
There are perhaps better things to spend the money on than laptops, like school fees (in many places, basic education is not free), teachers, roads and infrastructure. Then again, telecom infrastructure at least will be connected to these things -- wireless is the norm in the developing world.

A better way to think of the OLPC is not as a commodity trinket, the way we tend to think of our electronic gadgets, but as a workbook, a calendar, a calculator, a lamp, (maybe a telephone?) and every textbook and book the child will read from the time they get it to the time they graduate. (5-10 years?)

Consider a bicycle: it's nearly worthless next to a car -- it can't take you as far or carry as many people or as much stuff -- but it's better than walking and it doesn't need gas. That's what you call appropriate technology.

$200 for 5 years of internet access alone is an incredible value. (Let's just say it's a tenth what I'm paying -- not counting the computer itself.) That's access to millions of educational resources... Wikipedia and Project Gutenberg are only scratching the surface. The educational value of a laptop computer connected to the Web is far greater than that of an equal dollar value worth of books -- at least when directed by a teacher.

While other initiatives like well-drilling are important, education is even more so. Throwing money at things like food aid is a band-aid at best.

See also this video about a well-drilling project:
http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/terra-401-the-water-carriers-part-one/4151046/
Note that one of the major problems they faced was getting the villagers to think of the well as their own property and responsibility.

I'm sorry -- Dvorak may now a bit about computers but he needs to do some research on the developing world.]]>Dec 11th 2007 12:55AMhttp://www.switched.com/2007/12/10/dvorak-says-we-should-send-rice-not-laptops-to-children/http://www.switched.com/2007/12/10/dvorak-says-we-should-send-rice-not-laptops-to-children/Dec 15th 2007 2:19PMhttp://www.switched.com/2007/12/10/dvorak-says-we-should-send-rice-not-laptops-to-children/http://www.switched.com/2007/12/10/dvorak-says-we-should-send-rice-not-laptops-to-children/Dec 14th 2007 10:14AMhttp://www.switched.com/2007/12/10/dvorak-says-we-should-send-rice-not-laptops-to-children/http://www.switched.com/2007/12/10/dvorak-says-we-should-send-rice-not-laptops-to-children/Dec 14th 2007 6:36PM