$100 Laptops To Debut With Thai Kids

[moonoi]

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) programme is just one million laptops away from beginning production, as the group confirmed that Brazil, Argentina and Thailand have each placed orders for a million machines, according to DesktopLinux.com.

OLPC says it will begin production when it has orders for between five million and 10m laptops. Last week, it announced that Nigeria had signed on to the scheme, taking the total pre-ordered to four million.

OLPC program director for Middle East and Africa, Khaled Hassounah, told the news site that the Nigerian deal was not yet finalised, but that the organisation was in close talks with Nigerian officials and the deal was almost completed.

"We are actively moving ahead with Brazil, Argentina and Thailand. Others (countries) are being considered," he added.

Last week, India said it would not get on board with the programme, calling it "pedagogically suspect". Education Secretary Sudeep Banerjee said the country needed to put teachers in classrooms before worrying about buying laptops for students.

Original article available here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/01/olpc_orders/

I think Thailand should be more concerned with getting kids into school, staying at school and improving the quality of education here rather than providing a laptop to every kid. Technology does not necessarily improve the quality of education IMHO

EDIT: I posted this here as I can't post in the news section and thought it might be interesting to a wider audience than just the Computers and Internet Forum.

[Sing_Sling]

I wonder whose kids will get the laptops . . . surely it will be the needy country school's kids. I'd say Isaan will get the majority, to be handed out by NGOs . . .

Hang on, what did the Indian guy say?:

Last week, India said it would not get on board with the programme, calling it "pedagogically suspect". Education Secretary Sudeep Banerjee said the country needed to put teachers in classrooms before worrying about buying laptops for students.

Wow . . . teachers before laptops? This is a breakthrough in thinking, but Thailand hasn't quite got the hang of that one yet . . . too many guys with conenctions looking forward to their new Dell.

Thailand and Nigeria . . . two countries above suspicion of nepotism and inequality.

[Moonfruit]

cant we think about feeding the kids before plying them with sh+*e that they dont need.

surely, the basics of life come before the sundries, and for anyone who has seen the real klong toei life, this is just a pie in the sky idea of unbelievable naievity.

TIT

[Michael W]

I agree with everything that's been said about this being a misguided, naive, and just plain lame program. One thing I will give Bill Gates credit for is having the intelligence to recognize this early on when he started his foundation. What good are laptops or Internet access when people are starving or dieing from disease. By far a greater use of the money this program is using is where people have spending all along: education, healthcare, sustainable farming and industrial development, and disease research. I just shake my head every time I see another story about the $100 laptop with the crankup power supply.

[astral]

I agree with everything that's been said about this being a misguided, naive, and just plain lame program. One thing I will give Bill Gates credit for is having the intelligence to recognize this early on when he started his foundation. What good are laptops or Internet access when people are starving or dieing from disease. By far a greater use of the money this program is using is where people have spending all along: education, healthcare, sustainable farming and industrial development, and disease research. I just shake my head every time I see another story about the $100 laptop with the crankup power supply.

Yes but it does make good publicity, which is the real aim.

[chownah]

I agree with everything that's been said about this being a misguided, naive, and just plain lame program. One thing I will give Bill Gates credit for is having the intelligence to recognize this early on when he started his foundation. What good are laptops or Internet access when people are starving or dieing from disease. By far a greater use of the money this program is using is where people have spending all along: education, healthcare, sustainable farming and industrial development, and disease research. I just shake my head every time I see another story about the $100 laptop with the crankup power supply.

I'm not sure what you are implying in your post. If you are implying that people in Thailand are starving or dieing in large numbers from disease then you are wrong. There are no starving people in Thailand....except perhaps for a very very small number of people who are disabled and have no family....at any rate it is a very tiny number of people.....and there is no wide spread disease problem in the country....there is some malaria and dengue fever but it is not wide spread.

I don't know if the laptops will benefit those who receive them but I definitely think that to say that there are starving people and people dieing from diseases gives a very very distorted view of the situation in Thailand.

[Sing_Sling]

I agree with everything that's been said about this being a misguided, naive, and just plain lame program. One thing I will give Bill Gates credit for is having the intelligence to recognize this early on when he started his foundation. What good are laptops or Internet access when people are starving or dieing from disease. By far a greater use of the money this program is using is where people have spending all along: education, healthcare, sustainable farming and industrial development, and disease research. I just shake my head every time I see another story about the $100 laptop with the crankup power supply.

I'm not sure what you are implying in your post. If you are implying that people in Thailand are starving or dieing in large numbers from disease then you are wrong. There are no starving people in Thailand....except perhaps for a very very small number of people who are disabled and have no family....at any rate it is a very tiny number of people.....and there is no wide spread disease problem in the country....there is some malaria and dengue fever but it is not wide spread.

I don't know if the laptops will benefit those who receive them but I definitely think that to say that there are starving people and people dieing from diseases gives a very very distorted view of the situation in Thailand.

I believe Michael was speaking in general terms, not specifically about Thailand.

[Plus]

I think they CAN find a million kids here who could benefit from these computers, but they won't do it, they'll give them to starving, or to those who have nice computers already.

[Colonel_Mustard]

I think they CAN find a million kids here who could benefit from these computers, but they won't do it, they'll give them to starving, or to those who have nice computers already.

Don't think there are too many people straving here but even if there were, they could sell the laptops and then they wouldn't be starving anymore. Therefore such people would benefit.

[moonoi]

Nice to see Bangkok Post rapidly reporting the news

This just in on todays "Breaking News" section

India says 'no' to $100 laptops

India has become the first country to officially turn down the chance to purchase a million laptop computers especially designed for children on the other side of the digital divide.

India's minister of education Sudeep Banerjee said India would not be buying the laptop proposed by MIT's Nicholas Negroponte, a project called One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). Mr Banerjee called the plan "pedagogically suspect."

The proposal needs government orders of five-to-10 million machines to get into production. Mr Negroponte had been counting on India as one country come up with the cash.

He also considers that Thailand will buy the machines, although that is almost as unlikely as India.

The subcontinent figures it needs conventional teachers and classrooms much more than it needs "fancy tools," according to the minister.

Banerjee told the Hindu newspaper: "We do not think that the idea of Professor Negroponte is mature enough to be taken seriously at this stage and no major country is presently following this. Even inside America, there is not much enthusiasm about this."

Completely the opposite to what the original report said last week.....whos' telling the truth? Personally I think its an editorial comment as OLPC has confirmed an order from Thailand...but who knows?

[jdinasia]

$100 laptops to debut with Thai kids

Thursday, August 17, 2006 Posted: 1431 GMT (2231 HKT)

The "one-hundred dollar laptop" is designed for use by schoolchildren in developing countries.YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS

Nicholas Negroponte

Thailand

Massachusetts

or Create Your Own

Manage Alerts | What Is This? (AP) -- The ambitious project to provide low-cost laptop computers to poor children around the world is about to take a small step forward.

More than 500 children in Thailand are expected to receive the machines in October and November for quality testing and debugging.

The One Laptop Per Child program, which began at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab and now is a separate nonprofit organization, hopes to deploy 5 million to 7 million machines in Thailand, Nigeria, Brazil and Argentina in 2007.

Thailand's government is expected to buy 1 million in the first year.

But Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced in a nationwide radio broadcast that "if this project is completed" it would reach all Thai elementary students. He said each student would get a free computer "instead of books, because books will be found and can be read on computers."

The creator of the laptop program, Nicholas Negroponte, has set a goal of making the laptops for about $100 each, though he expects the initial figure to be slightly higher and the long-term cost slightly lower.

The machines will use the free Linux operating system, include flash memory instead of a hard drive and run on electricity created by a hand or foot pump.

China and Egypt have also expressed interest, but at least one country initially expected to take part, India, has decided not to be in the first round.

Walter Bender, a Media Lab founder who serves as One Laptop Per Child's president of software and content, said the organization still is talking with Indian officials and non-governmental agencies.

"While India will not be part of the year-one launch, with 25 percent of the world's children, it is within our mission to work with India down the road," Bender said in an e-mail this week.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/08/...s.ap/index.html

[moonoi]

Old news matey

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=77625

Quite a joke really. Should sort out the education system first....throwing technology at kids isn't the solution

EDIT: Sorry link didn't work!!!!

I especially like this previous news about it:

India says 'no' to $100 laptops

India has become the first country to officially turn down the chance to purchase a million laptop computers especially designed for children on the other side of the digital divide.

India's minister of education Sudeep Banerjee said India would not be buying the laptop proposed by MIT's Nicholas Negroponte, a project called One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). Mr Banerjee called the plan "pedagogically suspect."

The proposal needs government orders of five-to-10 million machines to get into production. Mr Negroponte had been counting on India as one country come up with the cash.

He also considers that Thailand will buy the machines, although that is almost as unlikely as India.

The subcontinent figures it needs conventional teachers and classrooms much more than it needs "fancy tools," according to the minister.

Banerjee told the Hindu newspaper: "We do not think that the idea of Professor Negroponte is mature enough to be taken seriously at this stage and no major country is presently following this. Even inside America, there is not much enthusiasm about this."

[britmaveric]

Hmmmmm why do I think this will be a disaster????

[alexth]

Hmmmmm why do I think this will be a disaster????

Why do I think he'll soon be an investor in the IT field? This guy is a real fun

[Guest endure]

Why does the announcement make me think of the word 'tea'?

[alexth]

Why does the announcement make me think of the word 'tea'?

Because it's late and a warm tea is a very healthy before going to sleep?

[moonoi]

Why does the announcement make me think of the word 'tea'?

Because it's late and a warm tea is a very healthy before going to sleep?

Darjiling or Earl Grey?

[stumonster]

$100 laptops to debut with Thai kids

Thursday, August 17, 2006 Posted: 1431 GMT (2231 HKT)

The "one-hundred dollar laptop" is designed for use by schoolchildren in developing countries.

(AP) -- The ambitious project to provide low-cost laptop computers to poor children around the world is about to take a small step forward.

More than 500 children in Thailand are expected to receive the machines in October and November for quality testing and debugging.

The One Laptop Per Child program, which began at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab and now is a separate nonprofit organization, hopes to deploy 5 million to 7 million machines in Thailand, Nigeria, Brazil and Argentina in 2007.

Thailand's government is expected to buy 1 million in the first year.

But Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced in a nationwide radio broadcast that "if this project is completed" it would reach all Thai elementary students. He said each student would get a free computer "instead of books, because books will be found and can be read on computers."

The creator of the laptop program, Nicholas Negroponte, has set a goal of making the laptops for about $100 each, though he expects the initial figure to be slightly higher and the long-term cost slightly lower.

The machines will use the free Linux operating system, include flash memory instead of a hard drive and run on electricity created by a hand or foot pump.

story continued here

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/08/...s.ap/index.html

[COBBER]

You could bet your last baht that these computers will go to children of politicians, Millitary cheifs etc. instead of the poor famillies that really need them.

[astral]

Who is going to maintain all these computers?

I have enough problems keeping my son's desktop in working order as it is.

Within a few months most of the machines will be sitting in a corner, unused and unusable.

Improving education standards and opportunities first would be a much better priority.

[chownah]

You could bet your last baht that these computers will go to children of politicians, Millitary cheifs etc. instead of the poor famillies that really need them.

I think that military chiefs and politicians can mostly afford to buy much better quality computers for their children....I might be wrong.

[Jai Dee]

Topic moved to News Forum.

/Moved.

[Simmo]

Next years headline.

Corruption probe in $100 student computer scam.

[Jai Dee]

Duplicate topics merged into one thread.

[sriracha john]

UPDATE... the Thaksin lunacy has the brakes put on it:

Education Ministry axes 3 schemes

Ex-government's pet projects left out of budget plan

The Education Ministry has axed the ousted Thaksin Shinawatra administration's three pet projects, with a combined value of more than 10 billion baht, claiming that they were intended to win political support. Education Minister Wijit Srisa-arn said yesterday that the three schemes have been left out of the 2007 fiscal budget plan as they have little to do with improving the quality of education.

The three schemes are the one-notebook-per-child programme aimed at providing a cheap notebook computer for all primary school children, the distribution of 250,000 computer units and installation of a high-speed internet service at every primary and secondary school, and the essay competition scholarship funded by the two and three-digit lottery sale. The computer and Internet access scheme would have cost 8.6 billion baht while the cost of the three-year scholarship scheme, which ends this year, was estimated at two billion baht.

''These projects are not urgent and not in my education reform plan. One thing I want to realise in the one-year time-frame is improving education quality for teachers and students,'' Mr Wijit said.

Investments in technology hardware and infrastructure should proceed when basic education standards have been achieved and the state is financially ready, he said.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/28Nov2006_news04.php

[chownah]

Computers can be a very very powerful learning tool when used in a properly designed curriculum......or they can be useless distractions when used inappropriately.....and there is an entire spectrum of possibilities inbetween.

Where do you think Thailand would land on this spectrum if the computers were made available?

Chownah

[chownah]

Books can be a very very powerful learning tool when used in a properly designed curriculum......or they can be useless distractions when used inappropriately.....and there is an entire spectrum of possibilities inbetween.

Where do you think Thailand would land on this spectrum if books were made available?

Chownah

[chownah]

Pencils and paper can be a very very powerful learning tool when used in a properly designed curriculum......or they can be useless distractions when used inappropriately.....and there is an entire spectrum of possibilities inbetween.

Where do you think Thailand would land on this spectrum if pencils and paper were made available?

Chownah

[sriracha john]

I believe the "1,000,000th Thaivisa Post" competition was concluded earlier today in another thread.

[girlx]

Thailand's new junta-appointed Education Minister has cancelled Thailand's participation in the One Laptop Per Child project and scrapped a plan to give a 2B1 laptop to every primary school student. He has also cancelled plans to roll out computers and a broadband connection to every single school in Thailand. The cancellation of half a million scholarships for needy students is being studied. He cited the lack of readiness of teachers and the need to focus on basic education standards. 'We will not focus too much on technology and materials. We will focus on substance,' he said. This comes on the heels of the cancellation of the Thai government's open source policy."

from slashdot