Jan 27 2010
Well, the iPad was announced today and I’m in love with it already! OK, OK! I was in love with the iPhone and the iPod Touch forever and never bought either because I couldn’t decide which one was right for me. TRUE.
And, as you can imagine, I’ve already found a flaw with the iPad… no iSight!
(OK, and no built-in camera, either)
What the heck were they thinking?!
Oct 12 2008
There is an interesting post over at The Education Policy Blog on Technology in Education: A ground map part a revision 2.
What are the implications therein for OLPC? The author refers to “old” vs. “new” technologies wherein “new” are the ones whose use is still being negotiated. I suppose that the OLPC fits there under the “new”. But the real question for me is “how is the negotiation of OLPC use going?” What is the process for adopting these “new” technologies in classrooms and why does it take so long? And where and why does it fail?
Then again, the post’s author goes on to state that the discussion is not *just* about “digital technologies”. Fine… & true. Here he evokes Schumacher’s appropriate technology and Donald Norman’s Design of Everyday Things.
Possibly the author needs to think about different uses within different cultural contexts — he gives a mention to socio-economic disparities between have and have-not schools, but could also go deeper into the implications there (OLPC fits here because it is aimed at have-nots and not haves… but many of the people using them in the West are haves). So, it is a good thing that this is what he plans to do next in this series of posts.
Just some thoughts of my own on this.
Jul 26 2008
I saw this on Jasonji’s blog, which is highly appropriate given that he is one of my biggest mentors.
I am such a sap; it made me cry. 
Jun 25 2008
The International Handbook on Virtual Learning Environments, edited by Jasonji, Jeremy, and Joel and in which I have a chapter, has gone virtual. Click here for details
What does that mean? It means you can download chapters in pdf format online if your institution subscribes to it.
Mar 04 2008
First, in case there was any question in your mind, Jasonji’s talk was inspiring. You should have been there. You weren’t. So you don’t deserve to know more. Well, I’m sure that if you ask him about it, he will tell you. I wish we could all be so inspiring.
He has sent me into a tailspin of thought on my favourite topic: rugged hardware! OK, maybe not my favourite… but it’s right up there! Speaking of which, I found an article in the latest edition of Norrag which references me. Yay me!
OK, back to reality… I wanted to show you this video of OLPC at work in Ethiopia. Very kool.
In still other news, World Citizen Reminded me of the fact that this is really about Design for the other 90%.
Jan 06 2008
Before the OLPC, there was the Jhai PC, which gets regular billing on this blog because it was designed with and for a specific community (with input from the community) and then redesigned for others… I have never used one, but I am a fan of the model. Today I received an email from Jhai founder and visionary, Lee Thorn, which starts like this:
—–
Hi All,
This the first email from Hmong village – Phonsavad – off grid areas, wetest IPStar installation, and it seems to be OK as you receive this email.We have IP Star running from car battery with speed of 256/128KB
Cheers,
Vorasone
Vorasone, Jhai Laos Representative and long time friend, sent this from a JhaiPC2.0 (1.5Mhtz, 1Gig RAM, 8 Gig flash, low power, low cost PC/server running Linux (pendrive)) in a village that has no electricity that you reach by a three hour boat ride upriver.
—–
It is nice to know that they are still going strong amidst the OLPC haze.
Jan 01 2008
Jasonji is starting an OLPC Toronto User Group (Click here). The forum has a Canada-wide user group, but Jasonji is promising face to face meetings. So, if you’re getting/got an OLPC check it out!
Dec 30 2007
OK, I’m ready.
* Ordered an OLPC just before the deadline for that.
* Arranged transport to get to and from defense (that would be a ride down and the train back).
Now all I need is a presentation, a mock defense, a haircut, and the right outfit.
Nov 24 2007
OLPC Give one Get one scheme has been extended to Dec. 31. So that means that there is still time for you me to get one.
