| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Fluffy |
Posted - 10/19/2006 : 07:43:44 AM
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kIUCTbi_XZs&mode=related&search=
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| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| tericee |
Posted - 10/20/2006 : 4:35:03 PM
Back to the original subject: Did you know you can donate to the Miniature Earth project?
http://www.miniature-earth.com/
In fact, I donated to them so I could download a .exe version their little video for my cousin, who is a teacher. They only have Internet in certain places in her school, and her classroom is not one of them. (Bummer, man!) If the teachers in our TR Task Force would like to do the same, here's the YouSendIt link (good for six more days)
http://www.yousendit.com/download/t6FppA2mUTk%3D |
| tericee |
Posted - 10/20/2006 : 07:16:35 AM
It does seem strange, but they are hoping these laptops can be used to get kids learning early so perhaps they can help to bring all those good things to their own villages and countries one day. They aren't planning for these kids to use the laptops in the same way we use ours.
quote:
You're expecting this to be a magic bullet for poverty.
False: Not at all. It is simply a tool for education and communication and only helps, in part, in contributing to the entirety of aid programs where these laptops are distributed. Nevertheless it provides access to education, health, technology, economic opportunity, and more, and a few children will be able pull themselves out of poverty with no other assistance. (ref http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_myths)
According to their "wiki" site, they are trying think about the bare basics. What 3 things will be most needed in any given part of the world where these laptops are to be distributed? Will it be readin' writin' & 'rithmetic, or will it the basics of digging a well and keeping it clean - presented as pictographs.
In addition to the basics of education, some basic medical and agricultural knowledge could go a long way. A simple database of regional information and practical knowledge would be a gret tool. While from the Western point of view these issues seem like the most important, preventing disease through hygiene, preventing the effects of drought with irrigation, and preventing hunger could also become part of what the laptops are used for.
Nicholas Negroponte, one of the founders of OLPC, did a speech in which he talked about what the pilot program was like. It was in a place where there was no electricity, just like you mention. The kids treated their laptops as prized possessions and their parents like them because they provided a light source in their abode after dark. They had never experienced this before. (If you search on Negroponte in iTunes, the speech may still be available as a podcast.)
While I'm also a little skeptical, I'm also intrigued to see if this OLPC thing can work. It's nice to see my fellow geeks (many of these OLPC folks are from MIT) trying to do something for humanity rather than make a buck.
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| Zachmozach |
Posted - 10/19/2006 : 6:06:56 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Robin
The one laptop per child thing has me a little rattled. I feel like the world is so fast already, and having a certain amount of simplicity with cultures is somehow comforting. That seems so selfish of me. I just wonder what kind of world we are moving towards when technology is the focus. It's just a little unerving, makes me want to live someplace with a slower pace of life. It seems harder and harder. Peace, Robin
That's pretty much what I thought too. I can only imagine living in a place without sanitation treatment in a poor village with little food and someone sends me a laptop. I think I'd be a little confused at first and then go trade it in for food or something. |
| Robin |
Posted - 10/19/2006 : 2:45:15 PM
The one laptop per child thing has me a little rattled. I feel like the world is so fast already, and having a certain amount of simplicity with cultures is somehow comforting. That seems so selfish of me. I just wonder what kind of world we are moving towards when technology is the focus. It's just a little unerving, makes me want to live someplace with a slower pace of life. It seems harder and harder. Peace, Robin |
| Zachmozach |
Posted - 10/19/2006 : 2:15:39 PM
I wonder what the one guy in oceana would do all by himself all the time? Maybe he's the one with aids? |
| Robin |
Posted - 10/19/2006 : 12:44:36 PM
Good spot there teri. My thoughts turned immediately to alternatives to the lifestyle examples given. With so few people the chance to make a real difference in each others quality of life would be huge! Not to mention the earth having a lot of breathing room. I did begin a mental count of how many men would be available to the fifty women, and that was a little daunting. Plus we as a species would probably make a mess of things in no TIMe.It was a thoughtful video thanks for sharing,I'll be toying with the idea all day...Peace, Robin |
| tericee |
Posted - 10/19/2006 : 09:37:08 AM
You're the second person to tell me to watch that today. (One was via e-mail.)
I found it intriguing that while they showed a photograph of a Jew in front of the wailing wall during the statistics about religions, they didn't include Jews as a separate one. They were simply included in the 13% of other faiths.
Also, the statistic about how many would own computers reminded me of the One Laptop Per Child initiative.
A consortium of academia and industry has banded together to create 2B1, a potent learning tool created expressly for the world's poorest children living in its most remote environments.
The goal is to help nations of the emerging world to leapfrog decades of development—immediately transforming the content and quality of their children's learning.
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