One Laptop Per Child Talks

Seymour Papert

Seymour Papert, professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Media Lab and adviser to the One Laptop Per Child project, answered questions about a device that may change education in developing countries in a November 14 USINFO Webchat.

Following is the transcript

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Bureau of International Information Programs USINFO Webchat Transcript

Digital Development: How the $100 Laptop Could Change Education

Guest: Seymour Papert Date: November 14, 2006 Time: 9:30 a.m. EST

IIP Moderator: We'd like to welcome you to today's webchat on the One Laptop Per Child project, for which Dr. Seymour Papert is an advisor, and we'd like to thank Dr. Papert for joining us. You may begin posting questions for Dr. Papert at any time, and then join us between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Nov. 14 to view his responses.

Seymour Papert: Today we'll be talking about an initiative to bring laptop computers to all the children in the whole world. People ask why, why is it that you want to give computers to children in many places where they hardly even have books.

The answer is, that you're asking the wrong question. If you think about people doing knowledge work, knowledge work means anything to do with writing, or numbers, or information, all the people in the world except children have opted to use the computer as the natural medium.

They have found this is the efficient way to do knowledge work. So, if we want to bring the children of the world into the knowledge economy, knowledge society, the computer is the only means of doing that.

QUESTION [MLS86]: If I live in a country where I want to have these laptops, how do I get them? Does my government have to buy them or can each school buy them?

A: For the moment only governments can buy them. Commercial channels to obtain the same or similar machines will be developed later.

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