[Edu-sig] An OLPC comment ("Why Educational Technology Has Failed Schools")

[Bert Freudenberg]

Am Jan 18, 2007 um 19:39  schrieb Paul D. Fernhout:

> I guess you have your work cut out for you then to write one. :-)
>
> Thanks for the comments on Babelfish.
>
> --Paul Fernhout
>
> P.S. [... links ...]

I'll have a look there. I was actually hoping for a personal  
recommendation, but if you don't have any, well, thanks anyway :)

> I know that unschooling or homeschooling is generally not as  
> available in
> Europe as in the USA, but I also think that alternative schools, like
> Montessori, Waldorf, or the Sudbury model are perhaps more common  
> (as you
> yourself discovered already). Personally, I think the "Free school"  
> model
> is the most workable compromise given today's society, and if I  
> lived in
> Europe I would be thinking more about those. I'd even consider it  
> if my
> family lived nearby one here in the USA. I guess there is something  
> I can
> thank the USA's social conservative movement for -- homeschooling laws
> making unschooling possible. :-)

Yes, homeschooling is actually illegal in Germany.

> I can't imagine how much fun it would be to teach Python in such a
> setting, where if the kids are working with you they are doing it  
> out of
> genuine interest (even if it might not be long lasting). Those schools
> tend to expect more parental involvement in the schools, and I know  
> if I
> sent a child to one, as a parent, I'd want to be offering Python (or
> Squeak) programming experiences to all the kids there as a volunteer.

... which is indeed exactly what my wife did (with some general  
assistance from me) in that free Montessori school :)

- Bert -