Hblog

The $100 laptop

I've just been at a presentation by Alan Kay who launched the $100 laptop yesterday. It's a small machine (for small hands) and even has a crank for power. But the most interesting thing about this product is the software that's being designed for it. Kay has some great ideas about learning. He pointed to a page on 'gravity' on wikipedia and said that although he likes the wikipedia idea, he doesn't like the way that the page is 'just a bunch of claims linked to other claims' and not a great way to learn about science. 'Science means you don’t have to trust the experts. It's exactly the opposite of religion.' He pointed to some incredible software that enables kids to test the theory of gravity themselves. Check out some of it here.

creative commons educational license is hammered out

Today marks the final day of deliberation for the creation of a creative commons educational license. After 8 months of heated exchanges, great insight, and countless hours of careful thought that have been invested in the numerous posts, the group will have to reach a compromise on the wording of the license. The main disagreement was around the issue of using the term 'educational institutions' in the license wording. Many believed that this would be too restrictive and would leave out the many informal learning channels that exist - especially on the Internet - today. The problem was that, if you use other terminology to include as wide a range of possible users as possible, you create a license that is basically meaningless and you exclude the companies, organisations and institutions who may want to make their material available only for educational use. Unfortunately 'educational use' can only legally have meaning if it is associated with a legal body. As a compromise, David Wiley, project lead and director of the OSLO (Open Sustainable Learning Opportunity) research group, added an option for users to choose whether they wanted to restrict use to educational institutions and non-profit groups or whether they wanted to open their materials to everyone associated with the learning process. It seems that, for some people, this is not enough and, after 8 months or deliberation and a considerable degree of compromise, 'tyranny' has still been proclaimed. It makes me realise how pliable the word 'democracy' has come to be. And how difficult it is for a new movement to appease a vast number of different interest groups in an effort to become a really strong alternative. Also, how alternatives are so dearly required by so many groups.

We'll be running a research project to track use of the licenses - and to see whether the needs of informal learning channels are not being adequately met by the current cc licenses.

Technology's False Promise

The Flickering Mind: The False Promise of Technology in the Classroom and How Learning Can Be Saved looks like a really interesting read - especially his point about computers in poorer schools widening, rather than improving the 'Digital Divide'.

'By and large, computers have given schools an easy way to neglect the hard work of teaching and learning, replacing it with shortcuts and high-tech tricks that have entranced both teachers and parents. What we've done, Oppenheimer argues, is "fool the poor with computers." Aggravating these intellectual inequities are continuing financial inequities in the schools, which have widened in recent years.'

and

'Teachers in poor schools are often under-trained and overburdened. When computers arrive on this scene, the teachers typically see them as a savior, a device that will finally command their students' attention. The reality is that the computer's conveniences become a shortcut around the carefully layered intellectual work-with books and test tubes and pencil and paper-that are education's fundamental building blocks. Even teachers who know this often can't do much about it. Most of their time in computerized classes must go to managing technical hassles the schools can't afford to fix, and watching for cheating, instant messaging tricks, and illicit material-to say nothing of the ongoing challenge of just maintaining order.'

Oppenheimer says that schools are spending vast amounts of money on computer equipment to the detriment of programs such as music, art, shop and other extra-curricula activities. Schools are also increasingly becoming subject to corruption as technology companies inflate their prices -

'That leaves educators dependent on the software manufacturer's advice on what gear to buy, what kind of academic work should be done with it, and what constitutes success. But the priority of these manufacturers isn't teaching. It's selling.'

I agree with a great deal of what Oppenheimer is saying, but I still think that by empowing educators to make use of technology in sustainable ways, we can improve learning in more ways using technology than he proposes. If I had a school budget, I'd rather spend it on computers only for teachers and the rest in training them how to use them to make learning and curriculum development more efficient.