Transforming a country with a small laptop

_Through the initiative launched on December 14, 2006 by the Office of the President of the Republic, called the Educational Connectivity Project of Basic Computing for Online Learning (CEIBAL), the Uruguayan government, in a historic decision, takes on the challenge of handing out laptop computers free of charge to all the boys and girls in primary education (1st to 6th grade) and their respective teachers in public schools across the whole country. – _CEIBAL en la Sociedad del Siglo XXI

The question of what to do about education in Chile is a complex one, and of course education is in deep crisis. Of course I’m no expert in education, but I’m one of those who believe that bringing Information Technology into the educational process is an imperative, which is why I’ve been interested in, and have promoted on this blog, everything related to the OLPC project (One Laptop Per Child).

CEIBAL , in Uruguay, is the most ambitious of the projects being deployed with this technology. But it isn’t about handing computers to Uruguayan kids. It’s a more ambitious project, one that sets out to transform Uruguayan society and truly integrate it into the information society.

The photograph shows one of the many teacher training sessions run by the CEIBAL project. I already published a presentation on the pilot experience, which led to one of the most important conclusions: preparing the teachers is vital.

Uruguay is setting an example of how this kind of program should be implemented. No improvising, which only produces embarrassments, and in a wonderful publication, prepared to guide parents and educators, we get to see how the project is being rolled out.

It’s the book CEIBAL en la Sociedad del Siglo XXI (CEIBAL in the 21st-century society), available for download from the project’s official site.

Through this publication we not only learn about the project’s rollout plan, its lines of action and its objectives; we also see a vision that aims to seize this opportunity to carry all of Uruguayan society toward the information society, and that shows parents and educators all the possibilities that open up with the proper use of IT.

Because this isn’t about giving notebooks away to the most diligent, studious kids. For many families this program means truly joining e-government services. Just as is happening in Peru, many Uruguayan children will guide their parents and introduce them to the advantages of using the net to improve their quality of life: getting information, handling paperwork, and taking part in the possibilities the web offers every day.

Because computers aren’t just for kids to play on, or to do their homework. They are also devices that will be transforming those families, turning them into active, educated users who master the necessary minimum and stop being technologically illiterate. They become people better prepared to take advantage of new technologies, who don’t lose their identity, and have no reason to, but who widen their world and have more possibilities thanks to them.

The Uruguayan government is brave and determined. Because handing people these tools for coordination and mass communication can be “dangerous”. Politicians are afraid of this sort of thing. Giving people the chance to communicate and express their ideas, to voice their discontent, through social networks and other media, takes courage.

I’d like our authorities to read this Uruguayan reference, to learn, and to realize how ridiculous the presidential promises of May 21 (the annual state-of-the-nation address) turn out to be.

I invite you to read it, and to appreciate the Uruguayan experience, to see how this document guides and educates parents so they understand the advantages of the internet, the problems they may run into, and the way the project protects the content their children will access.

It’s a very carefully made publication, entertaining and pleasant, with very fun illustrations by Ricardo Pisano Copani, resources you can reach online, glossaries and guides.

You know what? We Chileans are turning into pedants who only argue about what ought to be done, yet are incapable of doing anything. Full of certainties, we get into arguments that aren’t worth having, when we should really be talking less and doing more. Let’s learn from our Uruguayan brothers.