Hi David
A bit off-topic but I'll give it a go!
As I've oft-stated I'm agnostic and not particularly "down" or "up" on any particular device or piece of technology as opposed to how it is used or embedded within learning or teaching practice.
In the case of devices like the EEE PC I've made cases for and against. There was also a very good thread in this forum back in February started by Philip Griffin:
http://www.handheldlearning.co.uk/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,58/topic,1262.0when it appeared that the new wave of low cost laptops might challenge the notion of handheld computing. This wave has been somewhat stalled as Apple re-invented the handheld computing sector.
This lead to my article titled "
It's the Learning Stupid" which was an attempt to look at impact of low cost laptops (or "craptops" as they seem to be called within certain circles) on learning and access.
Opinion in response to that article, and I quote from Martin Owen, was that "lets not short change our children."
So to answer your direct question "am I so really down on the eeePC". Well for the way they have been adopted and heralded as the second coming then, yes, I am down on the EEE PC along with all their similar cut-down, under-powered pieces of future landfill intended to win BSF and home access programme funding.
Why?
Because they inflict another digital divide on learners by not recognising the very powerful technology that is already available to many learners already as well as what's actually happening outside of the world of PC's and laptops. They are clearly under-powered and under-spec'd and built to a price that allows ICT procurement people to tick boxes without considering the needs of future learners. They're just more technological guano to lay on the existing technological guano of failed learning platforms and VLE's.
When will we be brave enough to clean up the guano?
But don't take my word for it ask children who have used the devices to run Club Penguin, Moshi Monsters, BBC Cbeebies, Bebo, etc. They'll all tire of the rubbish touch pad and buttons that you have to use because the poorly implemented web browser means that they must continuously scroll horizontally as well as vertically.
Of course they can run the versions with cut down versions of Windows XP Home Edition which doesn't have the same connectivity to their school networks as XP Pro and not to mention that XP is being binned in 2010 so what then?
Then what about back-up? Here you have a device that the learner is expected to create and save work that is part of their digital curriculum yet when the device undergoes a hard reset they lose everything. How smart is that?
Sure learners can save all their precious work to a memory stick or SD card but how many of those have you lost not to mention those government officials and agents that now seem to frequently lose them on trains?
Then on the Linux flavour versions - surely in most ways the best option. How do you install native applications?
Maybe they're ok to playback software created in proprietary technologies like Flash but then you can already do that on a more powerful PSP.
The thing is that the original EEE PC that ran on Linux at a sub-£200 price was interesting for a while because it was easily understood by QWERTY keyboard fixated people who had their minds set in the 1990's world of Office applications, web-browsing and learning platforms.
As a second device for checking email and casual web-browsing the device is fine and I know many people who are using the EEE PC and similar devices in this way but this does not mean that it is a good or relevant device for learners.
If you're going to buy the bigger screen version (901) with Windows XP, you might as well buy a proper laptop and be done with it!
However, we're talking about learning here and for the most part, children. Whilst the PC industry is trying hard to be inclusive, the mobile phone and handheld sector is far more inclusive (more people on the planet have a mobile phone than don't).
The first keyboard a child will use will be a phone, a TV remote or a game console. Understanding a QWERTY keyboard and office applications will be about as useful as understanding a typewriter.
Regarding the providing a "device per child" question well I don't think this is ultimately the duty or role of the school. Just because a lot of schools are using EEE PC's doesn't mean they are the right device. All that is happening is that they are being used to perpetuate existing practice. But is this a good thing?
Perhaps only to those who stand to benefit and I don't mean the learners.
Why aren't more schools, colleges and universities seeking to embrace learner mobility by allowing them to use devices and technologies they already have?
We moved on from what constituted a "handheld learner" a long while back. What we're interested in here is the mobility of the learner and their access, via the cloud, to their personal digital life. In those terms it's not about 1:1 access anymore it's about multiple device access.
Cheers
Graham
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