Step 1: give every kid a laptop. Step 2: learning begins?

I at one point worked on the OLPC project fixing the laptops.

Lets hope that their tablets do better.

However, I doubt they will. The justification being that in my view the tablet is what the PDA tried to be fully realized. Well suited for work that one cannot sit down to do, but certainly not something I would choose in favor of sitting down to a desktop machine.

As the form factor of a device gets smaller, the quality of the sit-down user experience diminishes. This, if nothing else, is why I don't expect to see the desktop ever truly "Die" as a form factor, because it still makes the most economic (In all senses of the word.) sense for sit-down setups.

It's just that the number of people who want to sit down to a computer has dropped sharply.

Forget the hardware.

What we really need is a way to get Anki (spaced repetition learning software) hooked up with enough logic (AI like?) to allow individualized learning with different instruction methods that tailor themselves to each student based on subject.

Of course, what I am really saying is that Neal Stephenson showed us the way with "The Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" in The Diamond Age.

Now all we have to do is make it.

The metrics for determining the success of OLPC and similar programs should be long term, not short term.

I suspect that few of the HN'ers who started out typing BASIC from magazines into a VIC-20 suddenly had better grades because of it.

Instead, they were learning and developing interests which have had long term benefits - and that's what education should be about (at least in so far as one buys into Dewey).

It could be that those teachers who are spending thirty minutes getting students set up with their computers are spending that time because the computer makes it obvious which students are not prepared for class - i.e. it is easier to ignore a student who shows up without their notebook than one without a computer.

Laptops and tablets are the most distraction-prone pieces of technology yet invented. That anyone would expect dropping them into the hands of children to increase their consumption of traditional rote-learning curricula is just bizarre.

The article's point about basic infrastructure is right on. What allows me to really concentrate and be productive with my $n-thousands of dollars in computing hw/sw is that I'm in a relatively comfortable, relatively calm environment with easy access to a bathroom and snacks.

[That, and I've hacked my way into responsibilities that are adventure-like. Totally agree with fellow-commenter's reference to The Diamond Age.]

Take those things away, and the primary use for my laptop becomes either a) distracting myself from the fact that I'm uncomfortable, or b) using the laptop to procure some combination of peace, bathrooms, and snacks.

Startup idea: "like Foodler, only for toilets and earplugs!"

I could understand a project to give every child a (good quality) e-ink reader. These devices could be semi-locked down, and have minimal specs. That'd reduce the opportunities for use other than reading text books.

People can highlight passages they're finding difficult. There could be basic exercise questions (and these could even be web enabled).

It'd fit in well with open source text books; allowing updating of content when needed, with corrections and improvements over time.

There are a few drawbacks - there's very little interactivity and no chance for video. People with dyslexia aren't going to get best use of these devices, nor are people with learning disabilities or visual impairments etc.

But the cost would be very much cheaper than the current dead-tree text book system.