Saturday, January 13, 2007

Thought for the Day 1-13-07: Lives are changed by hope

From a short Edutopia interview with Nicholas Negroponte (of the One Laptop per Child project):
Edutopia: How will the laptops change kids' lives?

Negroponte: Think of these as books, pencils, music machines, and toys to make things with. The children will not be just consumers but will be expected to create things. Lives are changed by hope. (emphasis added)
(Thanks to Christian Long for the link.)

2 comments:

  1. And..."A three-step hope: World peace through the elimination of poverty through education through learning. Education is the goal; learning is the means."
    A great thought for the day!

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  2. I wish more of us (myself included) allowed hope to direct our focus. Too many of us immediately jump to failures of the past and project them onto the future. In our department meetings, new ideas are constantly checked by comments that start with "This is just another..." or "We already tried this and..." Or some people just smile politely and return to the tried and true. I don't mean to preach here--I've been one of the naysayers on more than one occasion.

    Perhaps what we need are more positive reminders and more goal orientation. What's wrong with hope? Emily Dickinson writes that hope is the thing that "sings the tune--without the words"; perhaps the words will fall into place if we're willing to at least listen to the song.

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