Learning with the $100 Laptop

Dr. Nicolas Balacheff

 

The coming year should see the start of a world-changing event, through the plan by the Media Lab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with the World Bank, the United Nations, and corporate investors, to provide a $100 laptop to many millions of schoolchildren in developing countries. The computers will not be available for sale, but will be distributed to schools directly though large government initiatives (http://laptop.media.mit.edu). A personal, portable computer is an exciting opportunity for children to explore science and society, to develop new media literacies and to converse and share online. It is also a huge responsibility, to make sure that the initiative really does help children to learn, in ways that are matched to their needs, interests and cultures.

As members of an international community of researchers from more than twenty countries around the world, called G1:1 (globally, one computer for one person), we have been exploring a future in which everyone will have access to a computer for learning. Twenty years of experience with personal computers and education tells us that simply owning a computer is not enough to realize the promise of individualized learning. We have seen failures and successes: from the 1980's when personal computers were dumped in many schools without appropriate software, teacher preparation or supporting learning activities, to the exciting present-day growth of informal learning by young people using mobile phones and home computers for networking, conversation and idea sharing.

The new digital literacy does not come in a package with the computer, but will be provided through many kinds of human support, from friends, teachers, parents, the community and the wider society. We begin with a quest to understand and advance conditions for learning, and then ask how we can invent and deploy technologies for these purposes. We argue for an approach that builds on proven methods of introducing and using technology to support effective learning.

The vision of 1:1 computing is timely, but it needs caution and careful strategy. A pattern continually emerges as we examine previous large investments in technology for learning and communication. Successful transformations emerge when cultural practices of thinking, learning and interacting co-evolve with developments in technologies, establishing a 'virtuous cycle'. A good example of this co-evolution is the phenomenal growth of phone text messaging. Originally developed as a means of passing test messages among engineers, it was introduced on early cell phones as an afterthought. As young people began to buy phones they used text messaging both as a way to save money and to organize their social lives. Phone companies introduced new models and tariffs that made text messaging easier, and so texting blossomed.

The great opportunity is to bring a similar virtuous cycle to learning with laptops, through educational systems and services that encourage a new generation of software designers, computer entrepreneurs and educational innovators. The new products and services they create should lead to a higher standard of living, increased demand for computer-related products and services, and more support for innovative education itself.

Designing a laptop for under $100 is only one of the challenges. We believe that a personal computer for all children may have a good chance of success, but under specific foundational conditions that we summarize as keeping our eyes on the prize. The prize is activating the virtuous cycle. These conditions include designing new open and creative software for learning and knowledge sharing, addressing issues of equity, providing support to educators and the wider community, and adapting the technology and systems to local needs and differences. For the laptop to succeed in the long term, the project should be owned by the children, and by the society as a whole.

We suggest here some practical ways in which children, teachers, parents, communities and governments can build and sustain successful learning with laptops:

• Remove barriers. Insure that girls are able to take a full part, not only in the learning but also the innovation. Make sure that learning with technology is accessible to all children, regardless of ability. Research shows that educational software can be very effective for children with special needs.
• Learn together. Develop collaborative software for learning, to help overcome isolation.
• Encourage success. Offer incentives, certification and recognition in technology for education, for teachers, technicians, and learners.
• Widen access. Find ways for children to develop and access websites in their own language and to communicate across language barriers.
• Foster media literacy. Help young learners to evaluate websites, ethics, privacy, and risks.
• Assist personal learning. Help children to construct knowledge, produce new media, and hold conversations, not just consume teaching content.
• Set up local support. Train local people to provide technical and educational assistance.
• Spread innovation. Observe and promote the successful new ways that children learn with laptops, so as to encourage the virtuous cycle.
• Adapt to local needs. Some communities may want to develop their own software and teaching materials, others may need tools for communication and collaboration, such as voice conferencing over the internet. Local communities know their needs better than governments. They need to be shown not only new technology but also different ways of learning.
• Offer new educational services. New ways of learning with personal technology include collaborative writing, media sharing, tele-mentoring, online tutoring, project-based learning and distance education.

We applaud MIT for their initiative to enable huge opportunities for learning, education and training. For the first time, the possibility exists for children everywhere to own a computer, to learn online, to create, and share knowledge around the world. Our aim is to learn from past successes and failures in educational computing, so that together we evolve best practices and make the $100 laptop a real tool for learning.

Authors of the Open Letter

Alice M. Agogino
Roscoe and Elizabeth Hughes Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering
University of California at Berkeley, USA

Nicolas Balacheff
CNRS senior scientist
Laboratoire Leibniz, France

John Brecht
Center for Technology in Learning
SRI International, USA

Tom H. Brown
Deputy Director: TLEI
University of Pretoria, South Africa

Tak-Wai Chan
Director, Research Center for Science and Technology for Learning
National Central University, Taiwan

Pierre Dillenbourg
Professor of Learning Technologies
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne

Randy J. Hinrichs
Group Program Manager, Technical Computing, Advanced Strategies and Policy
Microsoft Corporation, USA

H. Ulrich Hoppe
Institute for Computer Science and Interactive Systems
University Duisburg-Essen, Germany

Sherry Hsi
Director of Research and Evaluation, Center for Learning and Teaching
The Exploratorium, USA

Kinshuk
Advance Learning Technologies Research Centre
Massey University, New Zealand

Chee-Kit Looi
Head, Learning Sciences Lab
National Institute of Education, Singapore

Rory McGreal
Professor & Associate Vice President Research
Athabasca University - Canada's Open University

Marcelo Milrad
Co-director, Center for Learning and Knowledge Technologies (CeLeKT)
Vaxjo University, Sweden

Cathie Norris
Professor, Department of Cognition and Technology
University of North Texas, USA

Hiroaki Ogata
Associate Professor, Dept. of Information Science and Intelligent Systems,
University of Tokushima, Japan

Claire O'Malley
Professor of Learning Science
University of Nottingham, UK

Charles M. Patton
Senior Researcher, Center for Technology in Learning
SRI International, USA

Roy Pea
Professor & Director, Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning
Stanford University, USA

Peter Reimann
Professor of Education, Computer-supported Learning and Cognition (CoCo) Unit
University of Sydney, Australia

Jeremy Roschelle
Director, Center for Technology in Learning
SRI International, USA

Marlene Scardamalia
Director, Institute for Knowledge Innovation and Technology
OISE/University of Toronto, Canada

Mike Sharples
Professor & Director, Learning Sciences Research Institute
University of Nottingham, UK

Elliot Soloway
Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Dept of EECS, College of Engineering
University of Michigan, USA

Herman van der Merwe
Professor & Director, Telematic Education
Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa

Earl Woodruff
OISE
University of Toronto, Canada

Demetrios Sampson
Professor, Dept of Technology in Education and Digital Systems
University of Piraeus, Greece

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