Monday, September 24, 2007
Dream-Maker Succeeding!...(for now)
It looks like the One Laptop Per Child initiative led by Nicholas Negroponte, which I first wrote about back in January '07, is underway.
If I had a job, who knows? Maybe I'd buy one of those cute, little green-and-white machines and hand-crank my laptop to a start in Prospect Park. I wouldn't have to worry about the glare because of the sunlight readable display. For that matter, I could throw the damn thing in the lake because of its water-proof chassis.
And somewhere in the world, in some participating, UN-registered Least-Developed (LD) nation, a child would receive a little green-and-white machine, or more likely, a school or town would receive it for the use of many children.
Is access to a laptop the most important factor in a child's education-- more than his/her teacher, school-infrastructure, curriculum? No. Is it going to thrust LD Nations into globally-competitive, high-tech economies? Highly friggin unlikely. But will it bring a smile of joy to a child's face who does not have a computer to sit in front of all day the way we do? Mioght the child be fascinated and curious about how the machine works and what its capabilities are? Methinks so.
For that, I still assert Nicholas Negroponte as an inspirational example of turning a dream, a dream that many said was impossible, into reality.
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If I had a job, who knows? Maybe I'd buy one of those cute, little green-and-white machines and hand-crank my laptop to a start in Prospect Park. I wouldn't have to worry about the glare because of the sunlight readable display. For that matter, I could throw the damn thing in the lake because of its water-proof chassis.
And somewhere in the world, in some participating, UN-registered Least-Developed (LD) nation, a child would receive a little green-and-white machine, or more likely, a school or town would receive it for the use of many children.
Is access to a laptop the most important factor in a child's education-- more than his/her teacher, school-infrastructure, curriculum? No. Is it going to thrust LD Nations into globally-competitive, high-tech economies? Highly friggin unlikely. But will it bring a smile of joy to a child's face who does not have a computer to sit in front of all day the way we do? Mioght the child be fascinated and curious about how the machine works and what its capabilities are? Methinks so.
For that, I still assert Nicholas Negroponte as an inspirational example of turning a dream, a dream that many said was impossible, into reality.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Far too long!
Hello all, and sorry for the super-long hiatus that Optimism has taken over the summer. So much work and all...
Props to all you for a most magnificent weekend up in the Catskills. Caitie and I were talking about making it a yearly gathering; that is, if the Stovers would be willing. Wasn't having Renee around the whole weekend awesome?
The brainstorming session around tent city gave has got me t
hinking about Renee's idea for a large central tent in the back. What do you guys think? Something large enough to fit 30 or 40 people under comfortably, a place to go in case it rains, with tables for eating and playing games...Ideas, ideas!!
This size tent will cost about $450 - transportation and set up included...
