I am finding the “debate” quite interesting but maybe we should step back, and take a moment to rethink the frame of our discussion. We have tended to circle around today’s version of a specific technology: eBooks, for this is the assignment our teacher (Wayan) gave us.

But what would happen if we changed the frame for a moment and ask a different question, asking what kinds of systems are needed in the developing world to facilitate learning – at what different levels of learning, for what different skills and knowledge? Let’s take a “systems” perspective and see where that takes us to achieve a Quality and Universal Basic Education (QUBE).

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The advent of low-cost ICT devices is indeed a wonderful opportunity to change the educational landscape. Apart from teaching computer literacy, which is an essential component of education in today’s world, it brings the prospect of higher education and technical training closer to the millions of prospective students who cannot attend, or cannot afford to attend, campus.

I personally believe that both proprietory resources and OERs will have a continuing place in the future, and that convenient and affordable access through the advent of ICT devices will improve the quality of selected resources and enhance competition.

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It is hard to imagine a tenable future in a world that denies its children an education. Thus to make a viable future possible we must ensure a Quality Basic Education for all – especially for our younger ones. Since our traditional ways have failed to even approach that goal, we must try some new ways.

This will require a three-legged stool that provides a global network of quality, free and open k-12 courseware, enables teachers everywhere to use innovative approaches to learning and employs suitable and effective information and communications technologies. These three legs must be balanced and closely linked to achieve a quality and universal basic education.

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While there is much effort & focus on deploying educational hardware in the developing world, much less hype and attention is focusing on the content students will use once these systems are in the hands of hungry young minds. How can educational systems, and the stakeholders that support them, adapt existing and new content onto these devices? Will this adaptation be able to challenge the existing income streams and vested interests of current content production & dissemination models? And should this content focus on ebooks and other electronic media the replicates existing content, or is this an opportunity to change the way in which content is created, teacher’s educate, and students learn?

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I started this discussion with the suggestion that the two dominant models, of computer usage in education were growing stale. 1:1 computer to student saturations push both students and teachers to think critically and creatively, yet computer labs are a fraction the cost to implement and maintain. I was hoping that we could fuse these key benefits into a model that can be deployed in the many educational environments of the developing world.

Reading the resulting commentary, I’d like to declare success. I feel we have found a new model, that is an child of these two parents, mixing genes of both to create a new, better ICT4E model where multiple platforms plus a single learning environment equals more educational beneficiaries.

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In my previous post, I argued that the primary goal of any educational-computing deployment is to get great learning software into the hands of children. I skirted the terminal server vs. one-to-one computing question by pointing out ways in which mobility and form factor impact when, how, and by whom these tools are used. Less […]

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In Walter Bender’s previous post, For Real Learning, Mobility and Saturation Matter, one of his concluding statements was:

“I echo Dukker in being supportive of whatever means we can deploy to get great software into the hands of children, inexpensively.”

I completely agree. Shared computing vs. 1:1 is a false dichotomy. Is it better for every student to have a computer at their fingers at school and at home? Absolutely. But pushing 1:1 as the short-term objective vs. long-term goal sets up unrealistic expectations with schools and governments that just don’t have the funding.

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In September 2007, while I was still working at One Laptop per Child (OLPC), I debated with Stephen Dukker, co-founder of NComputing on the topic, “Will Low-Cost Laptops Help Kids in Developing Countries?” and Dukker made what I thought was the seminal point when he said: “OLPC’s key development in our view is the software […]

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As Wayan appropriately points out in his introduction, a computer is merely a learning tool, albeit an increasingly important tool, in enabling higher quality education. And as Walter Bender pointed out in the insightful WSJ debate Will Low-Cost Laptops Help Kids in Developing Countries? with the CEO of NComputing, Stephen Dukker, “computing is not a […]

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Go to most ICT-enabled schools and you see computer labs set up for student use, which often indicates that “Computers” are taught like a subject (ie. math), or a skill (carpentry). Parents and business leaders look to this model as preparing students with 21st Century skills.

But could there be a better way to distribute computing resources? A 1:1 computer-to-student saturation that encourages private ownership of technology and individual exploration and learning, rather than a limited shared-use of educational tools. Or is a one computer per student model an administrative and financial challenge with limited additional benefit? And could there be a mixed model where shared and private use can co-exist?

For July, the Educational Technology Debate we will examine the two models and look for a blended approach that can be deployed in the many educational environments of the developing world.

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