Ashish, I don't think it's because of the lack of a powerful GPU that schools in low-income areas are failing. I also don't think the ubiquity of computing devices translates to everyone learning how to tinker and becoming programmers.
I do think you hinted at the real problems. How does one impart a sense of curiosity and a love of learning to a child? How do we generate relevant (and language-specific) content that provably educates students at scale? We can barely do all that in the West with all the money and technology we have, so how can we do it in a rural school in India where we have yet to solve teacher absenteeism? Don't get me wrong. I love to think big, I love technology, and I'm optimistic that we can have some impact on the problems the world faces, but let's pick the right problem to solve and not get ahead of ourselves. From television to the Simputer, history is littered with educational technologies with infinite promise and zero impact on changing the fortunes of the poor. https://edutechdebate.org has lots of resources that do this topic justice. Might be a good place for those interested in this problem to start looking... Yaw On Thu, Jan 26, 2012 at 05:20, ashish makani <ashish.makani at gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Folks > > Just came across news, that Raspberry Pi GPU outperforms iphone 4s's > gpu by 2x & also outperforms Nvidia's Tegra2. > > http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-raspberry-pi-gpu-outperforms-iphone-4s > > This device has amazing potential to create low-cost PCs for children > in the developing world & encourage programming the world over. > > Detailed interview with Eben Upton, RPi's executive director (free > registration required) > http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/digitalfoundry-inside-raspberry-pi > > I am curious to know what other people think of XO3 vs Raspberry Pi Vs > Aakash (the Indian govt.'s low cost tablet) > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8428147.stm > http://asia.cnet.com/what-can-we-learn-from-the-olpc-xo-3-0-tablet-62213156.htm > > 1. Raspberry Pi(RPi) requires monitor + mouse +k/b while XO3 is > self-contained. > 2. RPi is more geared to be a lab machine or a home pc while XO3 is > more of a personal device. > > 3. From a pedagogical viewpoint, IMHO, i think younger kids should not > have a digital device 24x& as they can get "addicted" to it . It is > more important to impart a sense of curiosity ?& learning, & having an > XO3 might hamper ?other social activities - going outdoors & playing > with other kids. > > So i feel younger kids could be exposed to low-cost computers( made of > a RP hi) in school, which are low cost & encourage tinkering (open > source, simple inexpensive hw) > while elder (say high school kids can get their own personal XO3 > > 4. From an Indian perspective, i wish the Indian govt scraps the > crappy Aakash tablet in favour of the XO3. > > http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/01/08/the-inside-story-of-indias-50-computer-tablet/ > http://phonemantra.com/2012/01/olpc-india-head-rips-into-aakash-calls-it-pre-beta-and-questions-its-indian-ness/ > > The vast majority of schools in India are run by the govt & most govt. > schools dont have a computer lab or the computers:students ratio is > abysmal > > 5. Internet connectivity > > http://laptop.org/en/laptop/hardware/specs.shtml > http://www.raspberrypi.org/faqs > http://www.akashtablet.com/ > > The XO3 comes with 802.11b/g &s(mesh) & the concept of school servers, > so kids can download learning content even if access to the larger > public Internet is not available. > > Aakash has GPRS( much slower) & RPi ?supports wired ethernet & USB Wifi > dongles. > > Exciting times ahead for sure & would love to hear from other people. > > cheers > ashish > _______________________________________________ > change mailing list > change at change.washington.edu > http://changemm.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/change
