the $100 laptop

Just listened to a TED talk by Nicholas Negroponte regarding his 1 laptop per child initiative. Makes for interesting listening.

http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=n_negroponte

His motivations and vision are truly inspiring.

Negroponte's initial comments on schooling really sum up the benefits ICTs bring to education ... up to the age of around 5 we learn by interacting with our environment. We then attend a formalised education system where things change and we expect students to start learning by reading a book or being told how to do something. Is this the most effective and truly empowering method of learning?? ICTs are able to provide experiential learning being driven by the learner.

He uses the example of learning to walk. You don't read a book or get told how to walk and then learn to walk. You learn to walk by actually trying it out and interacting with your environment. So what makes us think that a traditional classroom will produce a generation of really creative thinkers. ICTs take off where traditional teaching method stop allowing the student to get into the 'thinking zone' much more easily.