The Open EDge

The following is a follow up on to the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative post from last week, and is in response to concerns raised by a CETPA member:

Several of the concerns have already been considered, and while some of the solutions may not be ideal, they are at the very least a step in the right direction. Conditions on the ground will always be a factor, and there will always be differences from country to country. Ultimately, getting the devices in the field will be the proving ground for these theories, and I am certain that they will see much revision. The following is my understanding, from reviewing the project materials and full text of the comments and presentations of the project group, of the appropriate responses to the questions (listed below) about OLPC:

Q - How will these devices be maintained? They will break, everything breaks, and these will be in the worst of environments for electronic devices. I don't think parts distribution is part of the current plan, at least not in anything that I've read.

In recent days, significant media attention has been given to MIT's One Laptop per Child initiative, including a good deal of, in my opinion, unwarranted criticism. The following is my personal take on the matter, as posted on the California Education Technology Processors Association (CETPA) mailing list:

When considering the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative, we must bear in mind the real purpose of the initiative, along with the problems that these countries face with regard to education. I can understand how one might be tempted to evaluate the potential effectiveness of OLPC solely based on the technical specifications of the tool, mistakenly basing their conclusions on their personal experiences in the classrooms of the richest country in the world. Before we pass judgement on it, we must first study the project itself, discover who is behind it, evaluate the educational needs of the rest of the world without personal bias, and consider the tool as it applies to the goal, rather than our personal desires or experiences.

Yesterday (3/27) I presented on Open Technologies in the Education Enterprise at the annual TechEd International Conference and Expo in Pasadena, California, to a great crowd! Several requested electronic versions of the presentation and supporting documents, as well as links to additional resources, which are attached to this blog post. Thanks to everyone who attended and took part in this lively discussion on open technologies!

• Open Technologies In Education application/pdf - Overview of Open Technologies and their relationship to education
• OpenSourceProjects application/pdf - Categorized listing of open source projects for a variety of tasks
• OpenCDInfo application/pdf - Information on the programs that come with the freely available, downloadable OpenCD at http://www.theopencd.org
• TechEd2006Pres application/pdf - Pdf copy of the slides from the presentation

I would also recommend the SUSD Open Technologies pages at http://www.saugus.k12.ca.us/migration for more information about our specific experiences, as well as great resources and advice about migrating to open technologies at your school or district.

eSchoolNews has a good article on boosting school communication in their March edition. The seven key technology tools for boosting communication includes many of the technologies we are pioneering here at SUSD, including weblogs, webcasts, podcasts, enewsletters, and the like. We currently have nearly all of these resources available. Definitely some good food for thought.