Been meaning to blog about this for a while, especially after listening to this podcast episode: Open Source » Blog Archive » One Laptop Per Child? Quite insightful, in my mind, and they did touch on several of the important issues.
[Been sitting on this one for a little while. Better RERO it, I guess.] Sticking My Neck Out (Executive Summary) I think that participants in many technology-enthusiastic movements which carry the term “social” would do well to learn some social science. Furthermore, my guess is that ethnographic disciplines are very well-suited to the task of … Continue reading “The Need for Social Science in Social Web/Marketing/Media (Draft)”
I’m still giving Diigo.com a try, so this is partly an excuse to try out the “send to blog” feature. These are selected links to blogposts and articles about issues related to the One Laptop Per Child project, with my embedded annotations. graphpaper.com – Challenge: If You Can’t Say Something Nice about OLPC… tags: OLPC … Continue reading “OLPC Linkfest”
Ok, it probably shouldn’t become part of my habits but this is another repost of a blog comment motivated by the OLPC XO. This time, it’s a reply to Niti Bhan’s enthusiastic blogpost about the eeePC: Perspective 2.0: The little eeePC that could has become the real “iPod” of personal computing This time, I’m heavily … Continue reading “Handhelds for the Rest of Us?”
To say the least, I’ve been ambivalent about the One Laptop Per Child project. And I was not alone in my OLPC discomfort. But now, I feel optimistic. Not about the OLPC project. But because that project is enabling something important.
Been thinking about blogging on my use of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) for a little while. Here’s my chance: There’s simply no market these days for the traditional PDA, as even basic mobile phones can do everything a PDA can do, just with more style. Report: Apple developing OS X minitablet | One More Thing … Continue reading “Uses for PDAs”
Lots to mull over. Haven’t read this report by Daniel Miller and Heather Horst (PDF) yet, but it does sound quite insightful: The whole report is full of examples for ethnography’s ability to check (and often disprove) common-sense beliefs concerning the benefits of new technologies Rich ethnographic reports about the uses of ICT in low-income … Continue reading “One Cellphone Per Child? Ethnographic Insight and Individualism”
Something I just posted on a forum about the Moodle course management system. Using Moodle: Thinking Through Groups Here are some comments and observations about the “Groups” interface (where an instructor can put participants in distinct groups) and other group-related features in Moodle. I’m currently teaching a smallish ethnomusicology seminar and a large (170 students) … Continue reading “Moodle and Collaborative Learning”
Been quite taken by the last episode of Les années lumière, Radio-Canada’s scientific radio show. Made me think about scientists as human beings. Of course, there are several anthropologists working with scientists as groups, including Cultural Critique Michael M.J. Fischer and Maggie Paxson. My goal here is quite limited. It’s fascinating to hear Ethiopian-born paleoanthropologist … Continue reading “Worldly Scholars”
