[puppybeard]

The abstract of the actual research:

"Although many countries are aggressively implementing the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) program, there is a lack of empirical evidence on its effects. This paper presents the impact of the first large-scale randomized evaluation of the OLPC program, using data collected after 15 months of implementation in 319 primary schools in rural Peru. The results indicate that the program increased the ratio of computers per student from 0.12 to 1.18 in treatment schools. This expansion in access translated into substantial increases in use both at school and at home. No evidence is found of effects on enrollment and test scores in Math and Language. Some positive effects are found, however, in general cognitive skills as measured by Raven’s Progressive Matrices, a verbal fluency test and a Coding test." - http://www.iadb.org/en/research-and-data/publication-details...

So, rather than it being a failure, all we're told is that, after 15 months, maths and reading don't show improvements, but other areas do. So overall, it's positive.

But hey, what's an attentive reading of scientific studies worth against a link-baiting article that can be knocked up in ten minutes?

[bgilroy26]

I think your instincts are spot on. There can be no definitive word on OLPC at this early stage. Certainly you like to check in as early and as often as possible, but anyone with any in-school experience at all, even experience solely as a student, knows that teachers as a group cannot change their methods in a years time.

Any thinking that the writer here did was with a sociologist hat on rather than that of a domestic education policy wonk.