No Laptop Left Behind: Conflicting Results in Educational Technology

             In Chapter One of Geek Hersey: Rescuing Social Change From the Cult of Technology, Kentaro Toyama explored how having access to computers effects education, even if other factors that contribute to a person’s education are dismal.  A quote that really stuck out to me was “talent is universal; opportunity is not.”  I feel like that quote could apply to so many different areas and still be true. 

            The part of this chapter about bringing laptops to parts of India reminded me of the One Laptop Per Child program, that developed special laptops bring to schools in developing countries.  There was also a program, which I can’t remember the name of, that put couple of computers in rural areas of developing countries and made it so only children could use them, by adding low overhangs and other barriers that mad it difficult for adults to use.  The idea behind this was to have kids learn and learn about technology, so in theory they could be more competitive globally.  Though these programs may have been helpful in some ways, as Toyama pointed out, just because a child has access to technology, that technology isn’t necessarily going to help them process information any quicker or more effectively.  Toyama explained how education needs to be a “two-way interaction” rather than having kids just learn by looking at a screen.  Even though people can communicate through technology, I think is important for kids to learn from a present person for two reasons.  One is that a person being in front of them teaching will give them more of a personalized education where they can ask specific questions and have special needs met if necessary.  The other is that not only are kids learning academic material in schools, but they are also learning socials skills. In class, we have talked so much about how social media changes how we communicate.  I can’t help but thing what a luxury we had growing up with face-to-face conversations and are now able to recognize these differences.  I think if kids grew up with such a high percentage of their communication through a computer, they would lack basic social skills when they became adults.