4 ms·

This program started in 2007 with children between the ages of 6 and 10 (primary school age). It is a bit too early to dismiss the project as a failure especial

by cfn 15y ago

This program started in 2007 with children between the ages of 6 and 10 (primary school age). It is a bit too early to dismiss the project as a failure especially on the grounds that motivation and test scores did not go up. These indicators are influenced by many other factors such as teaching quality and poverty levels. I am still hopeful for the long term effects of these projects and I expect that a fair number of these children will be able to raise themselves out of poverty and even become wealthy on the back of being exposed to a computer early in life. I don't expect this to be fulfilled before they reach adulthood.

gwern 15y ago
This sounds like special pleading - so now we have to wait another decade or two before we're allowed to pass judgment? What sort of effects are you expecting to pop up then, that we can't observe now over a sample of <850,000 laptops?
- cfn 15y ago
  There are a few other studies on this matter both indicating effect and lack of effect of the OLPC in Math and Literacy (this study mentions them in introduction). Apparently, the OLPC has not produced very good results in Literacy and Maths in Peru and its use must be reviewed but changes in education always take a long time to produce results, sometimes as much as a full generation, and depend on a number of factors. As for the long term effects: I expect that the children that had access to the OLPC will have a measurable advantage in the labour market when compared with children that did not.
- bergie 15y ago
  I think giving computers to children is a long game. It is unreasonable to expect short-term miracles, but for example I probably wouldn't be programming if we hadn't had computers available for playing and exploration when I was a kid. But from that time it was nearly ten years before I did anything productive with them...

by cfn 15y ago

gwern 15y ago

This sounds like special pleading - so now we have to wait another decade or two before we're allowed to pass judgment? What sort of effects are you expecting to pop up then, that we can't observe now over a sample of <850,000 laptops?

cfn 15y ago
There are a few other studies on this matter both indicating effect and lack of effect of the OLPC in Math and Literacy (this study mentions them in introduction). Apparently, the OLPC has not produced very good results in Literacy and Maths in Peru and its use must be reviewed but changes in education always take a long time to produce results, sometimes as much as a full generation, and depend on a number of factors. As for the long term effects: I expect that the children that had access to the OLPC will have a measurable advantage in the labour market when compared with children that did not.
bergie 15y ago
I think giving computers to children is a long game. It is unreasonable to expect short-term miracles, but for example I probably wouldn't be programming if we hadn't had computers available for playing and exploration when I was a kid. But from that time it was nearly ten years before I did anything productive with them...