Laptops? Really?

Submitted by Taran Rampersad on Thu, 06/03/2010 - 13:26

So the People's Partnership promised laptops for children who recently did the SEA. It was the first promise made in their manifesto for the first 120 days.

But what do we really know about that promise? What sort of laptops will they be? How will they be used in conjunction with the education system to increase the potential of these students to do well? 

How do we know if the laptop distribution will be a 'success'? How was success defined? Was 'success' defined? It doesn't seem that way.

Why is the government going to spend money on something that doesn't have a measurable result? And another question: Why is it that so many people blindly support this move without more information?

Earlier this decade, the concept of giving laptops to children came into being - mainly through Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child initiative. The OLPC. Oddly, it seems that this idea has roots from around the same time - when Negroponte was marketing the laptop to governments. The idea seemed to take root within that timeframe - and perhaps it is the OLPC that the government plans to hand out to students. Apparently, those who are marketing the idea locally haven't been following the discussion. Here's one link worth reading up on - and you'll note me in the comments. Read that, become informed (there are pro and con positions) and make up your own mind. I've been involved in the discussion since the onset of the OLPC on a variety of lists and my issues with the project not only remain the same - to some extent they have been proven.

Of course, it could be some local supplier who will sell some laptops to the government. On the main Computing email list of  Trinidad and Tobago, the number of students was suggested to be about 17,000. I don't know if that is the actual number - it could be arbitrary - but it seems realistic and if it isn't, it still works for this demonstration.

Let us say, hypothetically, that the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is willing to spend $200 U.S. per laptop. With 17,000 students, that translates to $3,400,000 U.S. dollars. Or, in TT dollars, roughly $21,556,000.

Now - here's the magic part. If you had $21,556,000 dollars to play with to assist education in Trinidad and Tobago... would you spend it on laptops? 

Schools. Infrastructure that supports broadband internet access - not just in urbanized areas but throughout the nation. Subsidize it.

And bear in mind, this is coming from someone who believes in the use of technology. I believe early access to technology will prepare children for the future. I am not, by any stretch, a Luddite. But I'm also someone who, after having seen lots of technology thrown at problems as will be done by the current government, is wary of projects with no measurable result.

Some people on the email list disagreed, and they believe their arguments are good. Obviously I don't - but you'd be surprised on what everyone agreed on: Education in Trinidad and Tobago has issues, and the main issues will not be solved by... you guessed it... laptops.

We won't talk about how many laptops will be stolen, if any. Or who will provide the maintenance for the machines. Or who will train the educators on how to adapt the curriculum to the new technology... or train the new educators on the new technology, period!

My opinion - a band aid solution to a developmental problem and as such is a waste of money and resources that could be used on more pressing things within education. But don't believe me.

Ask them. Ask them what they intend to accomplish with this. Unless, of course, your child gets a free laptop. If they are dumb enough to hand them out and the rest of the nation is dumb enough to let them, you're not wrong to get a laptop for your child. I'd do it.

But how about assuring teachers have laptops? Or know how to use them? Would you like a better infrastructure that includes broadband so that your children really have a shot? It really is up to you.

Personally, I like treating a disease - not the symptoms.

Blog: 
Trinidad and Tobago
People's Partnership
laptop
SEA
education
student

Comments

Submitted by Edmund Gall on Thu, 06/03/2010 - 16:44.

... in the Trinidad Express from Shannon Nanan, who recommends that desktops be issued instead of laptops: http://www.trinivoices.com/index.pl/article?id=302478

My opinion not fully formed yet - will read the links you've provided. My initial thoughts:

  • I'd like as many children to have appropriate access to computers as early as possible - even kindergarten - as a tool to help them develop research and general IT skills 
  • Since TSTT currently has the best Internet packages, I'm seeing us (i.e. the government) making back some of the money through an upsurge in families subscribing for blink broadband (or other providers starting a price war to get a share of the action, to the benefit of everyone) - but what happens to those children whose families can't afford Internet at home?
  • I have concerns about the availability of teachers skilled enough to integrate computers with their lesson plans to give real benefits
  • Cost concerns - to help with maintenance, I would hope they get 3-yr leases rather than buy but ensure the interest rate is competitive and negotiate enforceable standards for repair/replace time-frames and other vendor support
  • To keep maintenance costs down, you ideally want a single brand, but if they award the tender to a single supplier, I would be concerned about corruption and single-point-of-failure
  • I'm hoping they do a proper feasibility study and consider all associated costs, e.g. electricity, projectors, screens/whiteboards, servers, backups, cost to a/c classrooms (forty laptops running in a hot classroom won't be good in the long run), beefed up physical security, printing, new fire hazards, teacher training, and since this will be extended to future SEA graduates, the costs would step-increase each year for the next 5-7 years
  • If I were the government, I'd probably negotiate for a significant discount in return for allowing the vendor to gain some PR out of it e.g. 'official supplier of SEA laptops'
  • I know the government has invested a lot in the last few years on its IT network - they're in the middle of a programme involving Fujitsu - so providing Internet access to schools should not be a problem
  • I'm very concerned about IT security, including access to inappropriate material on the Internet, child protection issues if they're allowed to access social networking or e-mail services (Internet grooming by paedophiles), privacy issues (will the laptops have webcams?), the state's monitoring of IT security incidents (including inappropriate monitoring, as happened in the USA recently)
  • I'm concerned about personal security (children already face mugging risks without having to travel to/from school with an expensive laptop) and the children's ability to treat laptops with due care (don't see them going for ruggedised laptops since these aren't cheap)
  • I share your concern about what underlying research exists to show that computer access gives some benefit that we don't currently have and their measuring of success, which was a similar concern with the ex-government's other education initiative regarding same-sex schooling
  • Are parents going to be given basic training - and made to sign an IT policy, just like employees do - to give them shared responsibility for the laptops before they're given to the children? - Just because they're taxpayers it shouldn't given their children free reign to damage or misuse the laptops without consequences
  • What about those children whose performance may, for whatever reason, decline with computer use? - a child with literacy or dyslexia issues may still face the same educational obstacles with or without laptops (and I'm not aware of any meaningful plan to tackle our literacy and numeracy issues in T&T)
  • When you spend a lot of time on computers, you lose your writing skills - O'Level and A'Levels are still written exams
  • I hope teachers don't kill children with PowerPoint, and also plan for power-cuts (I don't want any slack teacher saying a power outage caused them to stop teaching any more than a child saying T&TEC ate their homework)
  • Computers in class can be distracting as well as boring if badly used
  • If employees spend a significant amount of time using computers, employers here normally pay for their employees to have one free eye-test per year - would that be required (at a cost) for the children and teachers?

Hmmm... If this is off the top of my head, my head's looking too big now.

Submitted by Taran Rampersad on Thu, 06/03/2010 - 17:41.

I wonder what the secondhand laptop market will look like...

Submitted by Edmund Gall on Thu, 06/03/2010 - 21:07.

... In three years' time: flooded.  With whatever they give this year's SEA graduates. If you have that brand, sell by 2012.

Submitted by From Foreign (not verified) on Thu, 06/03/2010 - 20:23.

This new government will have bloggers like you very busy. Looks like every day they'll be proclaiming new ideas (good, bad, ugly)...

Submitted by Taran Rampersad on Thu, 06/03/2010 - 20:40.

Scary. But some say that has been happening for the previous decades anyway... we don't get paid, though. Or get to hang out in the Red House.

On the other hand, when we get things wrong we don't lose a seat in Parliament. It helps that we never had one to start with, I suppose. :-)

Submitted by From Foreign (not verified) on Thu, 06/03/2010 - 20:52.

Except during the occasional snap election and so on and so forth..

Submitted by Taran Rampersad on Thu, 06/03/2010 - 21:22.

Conceded. :-)

Submitted by Global Voices i... (not verified) on Fri, 06/04/2010 - 16:51.

[...] of Trinidad and Tobago has promised free laptops for children about to enter secondary school; KnowTnT.com has a better idea: “Schools. Infrastructure that supports broadband internet access - not [...]

Submitted by From Foreign (not verified) on Fri, 06/04/2010 - 18:24.

To give away laptops to students just like that - is a totally wrong way to go.

Of course it can sound good at first, but stop and think about it.

First of all, what are the laptops going to be used for? Will it be connected to the work at school?

Software - to be able to do school work, the correct software is needed, and that does not come for free.

Service and support - Laptops with moving parts like harddrives and CD/DVD players built-in are easilly damamged. If the laptop is moved while power is on, its more a surprice if something dont go wrong. 99% of laptops today dont have any protection against this type of damage - only the most expensive ones - and we all know that is not what students will get.

Ok - I wont just be negative here - what I dont get - is the "package" around the laptops... There had to be a lot of things needed to be in place - from tuition till maintenance and repairs of the computers. So far i havent seen or heard anything about it.

One better approach - would be to give a laptop containing NO moving parts - f.ex some low-end OLPC - and give them a memory stick with preloaded educational software, BUT ONLY to students who go through courses/classes and pass some test of how to use it and how to take care of it. Otherwise it would make no sence.

It can be a big success - but it would require planning and follow-up by the right people.

Submitted by From Foreign (not verified) on Sat, 06/05/2010 - 08:44.

It was in their top 5 list from their 2007 manifesto. Therefore, I'd like the COP leader and conveniently Finance Minister to explain this pending laptop fiasco and how it will work and be sustainable given our fiscal constraints.

Submitted by Taran Rampersad on Sun, 06/06/2010 - 12:25.

The COP, in my opinion, did not think this through.

And I wonder, too, if the People's Partnership was so busy trying to win an election that they didn't think through the meta issues of their own promises. After all, they put it in their manifesto - so some responsibility must rest with the People's Partnership. They could have simply not made this particular promise.

Submitted by Laptops? Really... (not verified) on Sun, 06/06/2010 - 07:51.

[...] more: Laptops? Really? | KnowTnT.com (Beta) Share and [...]

Submitted by From Foreign (not verified) on Sun, 06/06/2010 - 09:20.

My name is Dinah Lovett and I am doing a quick feature article about what the "man on the street" is saying about Ms. Persad's first few months in office.

Looking for an original quote from you -- non-partisan please -- this is a personal point of view. A ouple of sentences is all I can use. I emailed you because of your thought-provoking comments in the near past.

Please ping me back with your name and email address so that I can let you know when and if the piece is printed.

Thanks for you QUICK RESPONSE! Email me at dlovett@austin.rr.com and copy dinahlamb@aol.com.

Thanks again, Dinah

Submitted by Taran Rampersad on Sun, 06/06/2010 - 12:26.

The last paragraph of my email, for those in the nose bleed section, was:

"What is clear is that Mrs. Persad-Bissessar has a lot of promises to fulfill which, in my opinion, were unnecessary for a victory during the last general election and which may squander her political equity if she and her party are not careful."

Submitted by Edmund Gall on Fri, 07/23/2010 - 12:18.

Trinidad Guardian (02 Jun 2010), Computers in school, not free sea laptops, a letter from Dr Noel Kalicharan, Senior Lecturer, Computer Science, UWI.

Trinidad Express (05 Jun 2010), Laptop issues, a column by Rawatee Maharaj-Sharma, Lecturer, School of Education, UWI in agreement with Dr Kalicharan's letter above.

Lisle Waldron posted a link to the International Journal of Education and Development using ICT - Vol. 5, No. 4 (2009) on a facebook forum (07 Jun 2010):
- She wrote: 'Without going into too much detail I think what the masses have missed here is that laptops in our schools without a fundamental change in the curriculum and mode of instruction would perhaps become a wasted investment. That being said its a common misnomer that the introduction of technology drives learning. The reality is that the pedagogical need is what should drive the want/need for technology.'

Trinidad Express (11 Jun 2010), Laptops dance with danger, a column by Kevin Baldeosingh, with his usual mix of satire, sarcasm and sense (or nonsense, depending on your views).

BC Raw (23 Jul 2010), DOES NOT COMPUTE, BC Pires's TGIF column.

Submitted by One Hand Doesn&... (not verified) on Thu, 06/10/2010 - 13:45.

[...]  Really? So what exactly is it about the laptop issue that doesn't make it an ill-conceived handout? [...]

Submitted by XO Laptops for ... (not verified) on Tue, 08/03/2010 - 16:43.

[...] Taran Rampersad often writes about OLPC and originally published this post as Laptops? Really? [...]