A few spoil sports pointed out how the same claims were made for the Commodore 64 with its huge raft of educational software, and how long ago was this…30 years ago? (The same claims were made later for educational CD-ROMs). So why is our educational system such a mess?

The idea that kids need no supervision and will just “teach themselves” reminds me of this “innovative” school I went to where kids were allowed to be “self-guided” and were not required to attend any classes. The school didn’t last long, and kids who stayed at that school too long had to take grades over.

When kids have computers at home, what do they spend most of their time on…”educational games” or Facebook?

Just goes to show that old lies never die, they just get more funding.

Apparently there is a “sneaker net” (not 100% sure what that is but I assume a form of wifi as that is what those devices are going to have in built-in hardware) so technicians from the project can load more apps later. As to them using of English language only rather than their native language according to one article this was at the Ethiopian Government’s request.

What I feel that these articles on this story are lacking are real details of what is going on and most importantly the words of the children themselves and their parents.

That will be very cool than sending guns for the rest of african too.
Education is the power for democracy and for freedom.
If the people lacking the knowledge they will come up with the idea of force .
help by giving tablets than teachers, we are unable to pay teachers salary and expanse. Send tablets and Ai software for teaching.
We know how to power on/off the tablets.

Maybe attendance for K-12 can’t be completely ended, but if we can reduce expenses 80-90% by reducing most personnel and the need for attendance for most children, it will greatly help the budgets of every community in the U.S., or world, that verge on economic collapse.

There’d be a huge new discovery overturning the previously held belief “overuse” of eyes doesn’t cause damage. It’s another myth that continues to hold like that of wearing someone else’s glasses causes harm.

If it does work it will be very cool, but I’m not sure what problem it is actually solving. Why chose to eliminate teachers from the picture entirely? There are now less than 10% of students worldwide still out of school. It would actually be more cost effective and sustainable to empower teachers with technology like Khan Academy and others than it would be to spend $100 per student on a 100% student-centric model. At least at the primary level, it will be a blended learning (teacher + tech) that will most likely come out on top…

part 1 of 11 total, (now free online). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuEOOCTmR-k&feature=related

I don’t want to make the argument that so far this experiment DOESN’T show lots of promise. I wouldn’t mind seeing this carried forward throughout the lives of these children. Or, indeed, seeing it spread to the other members of their community. I think it’s very early to start congratulating ourselves for saving lives.

And, really, if it’s such a boon, why isn’t the experiment being replicated in English-speaking territories, like the United States?

Bravo to anyone who can improve the learning experience for anyone. But this seems like less than a real-world test and more like a controlled environment with a screening process for the participants.

Just my $.02.