Lug, Is OLPC a good initiative/Project ( i think so) there was a recent Doha style debate in India facilitated by the world bank "Are ICT Investments in Education wasted", and it was won by the guyz for the motion. I passively participated online and i was against the motion.
Many people point to failed ICT projects, and different studies point to 70 - 90% failure rates for IT projects. My view is that despite these failed projects, they are some successes, some chap challenged me to point to a successful project, and i resorted to a statistical hypothetical testing method. In statistics, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. For example if you go to Tsavo National park, and u fail to see a lion, you have no proof that there are no lions, u have to use a better tool to adduce your evidence. some guy suggested that developing countries, need roads, water, rather than computers in education. I was tempted to say, that developed countries like USA need, to concentrate on obesity reduction programs (with CDC estimates at 64% of the US population), but i would have opened a can worms. (I have learnt to select my battles - so i play chess online chess.com) What causes these projects to fail is an amalgamation of complex factors. Every country needs to do a needs assessment, implementation strategy, change management, business plan etc. In conclusion, i think OLPC is good, but it will not take us to the promised land. A combination of other things done right will. Cavin (Inter Milan supporter) the remark about python is also quite striking: slow scripting language? Mmm, i thought it was the hippest thing since sliced bread. Also in Uganda it seems to be a very rare skill (and thus expensive) to find. Still, its a pretty sad story altogether. -- rgds, Reinier Battenberg
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