Blog Post #12

Blog Post Assignment #12

1. Watch the following video One Laptop Per Child, New York Times Review A New York Times Reporter introduces a new laptop that costs around $188 and was developed to be given to children in developing nations in support of the 1:1 initiative.

2. Watch the following video Laptop Initiative for Every Child in Rwanda The Rwandan President wants all of their children in his country to have a laptop.

3. Watch the following video Nicholas Negroponte with OLPC Foundation This is the company that makes the laptops for students.

4. Pick three laptop initiative videos of interest to you in regard to children in the US. Post one in your blog in lieu of a blog picture.

In response to these videos, please answer the following questions.

Question 1.) Rwanda's President has held a press conference and made a big production about his personal goal for all children in his country to have a computer. How many local leaders have you seen on television or in the news support this initiative in the US?

Answer 1.) I have not seen any local leaders in our area support this initiative.

Question 2.) In the Rwandan video, they noted the classroom attendance was up due to the computer program. Do you think children in the US would benefit from this laptop program?

Answer 2.) Yes, I definitely think children would enjoy going to school if they received a computer and were able to take it home with them in the afternoon. I think children would also share it with their family in the afternoons. What would America look like if every home had a laptop they could use?

Question 3.) We can probably assume most all professionals today have a personal computer and use it everyday in their workplace. In addition to professionals, retail sales, mechanics, factory workers, etc. all use computers as well. The United States is not a developing nation. According to Warren Buffet, we do not build many things any more. Our jobs are becoming more service oriented.

Our jobs are becoming more complex in nature. What benefit are we providing children when we teach them with pen and paper for thirteen years? Should we expect them to compete globally for jobs with children who have had their own personal computer for thirteen years?

Answer 3.) I do not think it is realistic to teach children to do all traditional book work anymore. We should be preparing children for the real workplace. In the current workplace, most people use computers everyday for most everything. The last time I hand wrote anything was in a personal thank you note. Everything else I do on a day to day basis is email, text, websites, etc. If I do not know an answer to something, I look it up online. If I need a phone number, I look it up online. Companies post corporate manuals and references online for their employees. Even if I need to know which doctor is in my companies insurance network, I look it up online. I could go on and on, but I will stop here and just say the following.

I hope all of the children I will be teaching will have a computer. I support the 1:1 initiative.