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The $100 laptop: A well intentioned waste of time?

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Cath Everett ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 22 Nov 2005 11:55 GMT

... out what you're trying to achieve. Improving education seems like a good idea, but what happens to people's expectations if society can't follow through and deliver on them?" says Grimshaw.

The danger is that if people feel let down, the situation can breed "the potential for conflict, unease and unhappiness", which is not only counterproductive but also dangerous as it can disturb community power balances.

Cool technological developments
John Naughton, professor of public understanding of technology at the Open University and director of the Ndiyo Project puts such concerns another way.

"It seems to me to be a continuation of a philosophy that has bedevilled educational technology from day one. This is the mindset that thinks each new cool technological development must, somehow, have an educational use. You could caricature it as the 'technology is the solution, now what's the problem?' mindset," he says.

The main problem in his opinion, however, is that there is little evidence to suggest that computers actually improve learning. "We've invested billions of dollars in the West putting computers into schools on the assumption that it must do some good. But we really don't know if investing in a new computer system brings more educational benefits than hiring a new teacher. It's really faith-based investing," he says.

To back up his point, Naughton cites a former colleague and distinguished educational researcher, who now heads up a leading British research university. He used to say that 'the only piece of educational technology known for sure to work is the school bus'. "And I tend to approach initiatives like OLPC with that in mind," Naughton says.

Faith-based investing
His approach instead would be to ask: "What are the real educational problems that bother people in the developing world, and how — if at all — would OLPC help to solve those problems? If there's a real prospect that OLPC could indeed ameliorate or solve tangible problems, then proceed. Otherwise try and find technological solutions to the problems that really bother people on the ground".

Ndiyo itself is a non-profit organisation, which is developing a low-cost server running open source software that supports ultra-thin client machines and is intended for use as an out-of-the-box four-screen Internet café among other things.

The aim with this particular implementation of the technology is to enable people in the developing world to earn a living by providing community members who cannot afford a computer and Internet connection with online access.

But Practical Action's Grimshaw raises a final point about the need to develop a model for long-term sustainability. "You might say a $100 PC is cheap, it's simple, it's rugged and it will last for maybe five to 10 years. But what happens then? You'll need a new injection of capital or to build sustainability into the project from the outset and that's always been a major issue in the past."