Changes

==Practice==

==Practice==

Previous attempts at major education reform have foundered on the impossibility of rewriting all textbooks and retraining all teachers simultaneously, on the blank incomprehension of parents, and on political opposition to these new-fangled ideas. The XO gets around these obstacles by not confronting them. In particular, the XO provides access to the diversity of the Internet, without changes to textbooks or curricula, and without major retraining of teachers. New textbooks will come in due course, and teacher training will eventually catch up. With computers and Internet, children can show parents what they are learning. This genie will not go back into the bottle. Political opponents of educational advances are already in retreat to private schools and home schooling to a degree. We cannot predict how the political fight will turn out, because of its complexities and because it is a battle of ideas and organization, whose working we do not understand at all well. In such a case, it is prudent to organize support before the need is urgent. A degree of support will arise almost automatically from those whose children start to get a real education for the first time. Organizing that support appropriately is a daunting challenge, but some will turn up with the desire and ability to do various parts of it.

Previous attempts at major education reform have foundered on the impossibility of rewriting all textbooks and retraining all teachers simultaneously, on the blank incomprehension of parents, and on political opposition to these new-fangled ideas. Sugar gets around these obstacles by not confronting them. In particular, Sugar can provide the collaborative experience we associate with the Internet, without changes to textbooks or curricula, and without major retraining of teachers. New textbooks will come in due course, and teacher training will eventually catch up. With computers and Internet, children can show parents what they are learning. This genie will not go back into the bottle. Political opponents of educational advances are already in retreat to private schools and home schooling to a degree. We cannot predict how the political fight will turn out, because of its complexities and because it is a battle of ideas and organization, whose working we do not understand at all well. In such a case, it is prudent to organize support before the need is urgent. A degree of support will arise almost automatically from those whose children start to get a real education for the first time. Organizing that support appropriately is a daunting challenge, but some will turn up with the desire and ability to do various parts of it.

==Computers==

==Computers==