Last week I covered a story about how the One Laptop per Child Foundation’s XO Notebook was facing some challenges in Peru with the implementation and use of the XO in the poor areas of the country where even electricity is scarce. One of the biggest problems facing the XO in Peru isn’t the lack of electricity or the lack of internet connectivity, but the lack of teachers educated enough to use the XO themselves and teach the children to use them.
The same week I wrote that story I was at my son’s school and noticed that the single PC for his entire class is an old, slow desktop machine that would have likely been retired if it was being used for business. The area we live in would be considered more rural than urban for sure with a population of about 30,000 in our town but it is only a few miles from the economic center of the area with a town of about 150,000 people. Even though considered rural by many standards, this is a wealthy area with lots of old oil money. A long ago issue of Texas Monthly claimed that this area of East Texas has more millionaires per capita than Beverly Hills. I mention this to illustrate the point that the school district here and most of the families are not considered poor.
As I sat thinking about how I would have tossed the machine his class had to use out of my home a long time ago to upgrade I began to think. Why is it that we don’t get the outpouring of demand to equip our own children in America with computers to help them learn that we get to equip children in developing nations?
Sure kids here in America are more likely to have computers in their homes, but are they more likely to have parents with the skill or desire to help them learn how to use a computer? Several of my son’s classmates live in our neighborhood and I know that when Friday rolls around – the only day of the week they get to use the computer — it is one of the things they look forward to with as much verve as lunch or recess.
With the state of the educational system here in America shouldn’t we be looking to give our own children every edge they can get? Shouldn’t we be looking to provide our kids with the tools that get them excited about learning and going to class? I don’t think there is a parent out there that would disagree that we shouldn’t be doing this.
The reason each kid in my son’s school doesn’t have a computer to use in the class is twofold — money and it’s simply not in the curriculum. The funds aren’t there for more computers, which is also the reason the one in the class room is so old. Some of the new teachers at the school don’t even have computers in their rooms at all. Even if they did have computers, the school district hasn’t implemented a significant amount of computer based education.
While I certainly don’t have a problem with the idea of providing computers to children in poor countries; I honestly think it’s a good idea, even if it faces significant challenges. The mere fact that we are pushing so hard in America to provide technology and computer literacy to other countries means that many Americans understand how technology can help kids learn. Why don’t we do that at home?
I look at it this way. If a tornado came though and leveled my neighborhood I would help my neighbors. However, before I helped them you can bet I would be sure my own family was safe. While we help children in other countries shouldn’t we be helping our own kids as well? Even if I have more money than the vast majority of families in 3rd world countries, my son and his classmates deserve the best tools for education they can get and I think it’s time our kids start getting them. Don’t you?