Changes

My version of the mission is: Whatever turns out to be needed. My self-appointed task is to find the holes in current programs, and fill them, first with my own efforts and second by recruiting others to do the work, research further solutions, and plan where we might go next. Among the critical tasks are village electricity and Internet, redesigning curricula and textbooks, and bringing all of this together into target communities with microfinance, with a flexible, integrated business plan for whole societies to advance societal infrastructure (education, health, clean water, and other essentials), and the private sector (sole proprietorships, sustainable international companies, producer and consumer co-operatives), and shared values.

My version of the mission is: Whatever turns out to be needed. My self-appointed task is to find the holes in current programs, and fill them, first with my own efforts and second by recruiting others to do the work, research further solutions, and plan where we might go next. Among the critical tasks are village electricity and Internet, redesigning curricula and textbooks, and bringing all of this together into target communities with microfinance, with a flexible, integrated business plan for whole societies to advance societal infrastructure (education, health, clean water, and other essentials), and the private sector (sole proprietorships, sustainable international companies, producer and consumer co-operatives), and shared values.

It is no longer practical to impose the illusion of shared values on a society. They must grow out of the situation. The report on OLPC's early [http://www.gg.rhul.ac.uk/ict4d/ethiopia.pdf effects in Ethiopia] gives a glimpse into where we are going. Within a few months, in a highly traditional society that has valued teaching politeness and obedience over subject matter in schools, and where asking questions of a teacher was considered insulting, the XO and its software have opened up a new, collaborative relationship between teachers and students. This is in no small part attributable to the collaborative nature of the XO's Sugar and other software. Access to the information riches of the Internet is another important factor. See [[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Academic_Papers Academic Papers]] on the OLPC Wiki for this and other recent reports.

It is no longer practical to impose the illusion of shared values on a society. They must grow out of the situation. The report on OLPC's early [http://www.gg.rhul.ac.uk/ict4d/ethiopia.pdf effects in Ethiopia] gives a glimpse into where we are going. Within a few months, in a highly traditional society that has valued teaching politeness and obedience over subject matter in schools, and where asking questions of a teacher was considered insulting, the XO and its software have opened up a new, collaborative relationship between teachers and students. This is in no small part attributable to the collaborative nature of the XO's Sugar and other software. Access to the information riches of the Internet is another important factor. See [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Academic_Papers Academic Papers] on the OLPC Wiki for this and other recent reports.

There is more, but that will do to begin with.

There is more, but that will do to begin with.