This was perhaps the most complicated interface design project since the Mosaic browser was designed for point and click access to the web. The interface they came up with totally baffles me, due to its reliance on entirely graphical clickable regions.
It's really tough to imagine the semiotic domain wherein a computer interface would be a wholly foreign concept. Yet, according to the story, the children immediately "took to" their new (cough, cough) educational toys.
About two years ago I had the opportunity to work on a documentary on the Garifuna culture in northeast Honduras. One of the more interesting aspects of the project was figuring out how to engage the villagers in what we hoped to accomplish. As recompense for gaining access to the village, I had to give the kids in the small school English lessons.
We found the children really took to the camera. So we tried to incorporate basic film theory and production in to the lessons. As constructivist learning theory would suggest, the students were much more engaged when we simply handed over the means of production.
-Rest in Peace, Kurt Vonnegut (1923-2007)
3 comments:
I’ll always oppose the one laptop project. You might have seen my standpoint some time ago. And you just gave another pitfall of the project.
I was really annoyed by features of this OLPC; take remote kill switch for example This news headline ( http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070212/180516.shtml) is simply irony to me. Would they be happy if these kids can really resell their educational toy online? I mean at least they know how to start their own business…
Honestly, I hadn't really considered the ethics or external motivations of the project. In reading the link you provided, I'm not honestly sure what side of the fence I would fall on. I don't really doubt the content of the article, but I would certainly like to hear the other side of the kill switch argument. I could easily see it being a compromise that potential subsidizers (is that really a word?) of the project would require in order to "protect their investment."
In reference to what I saw in Honduras, I could see OLPC being an incredible opportunity for the remarkably poor students. On the other hand, I could also see it being the 'steel axe' that utterly destroys the social structure and mythos of their culture.
-teetering
Thanks for writing this.
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