What benefits does open platform education entail?
• Cost savings for the school district • Time savings for teacher (less prep, grading and lecturing) • Time savings for student (no down time waiting on the class) • More one on one interaction • Easy integration of group projects • Better support for children with disabilities • Excellent compatibility with homeschooling • Easier administrative transfer of students • More available resources • Safe and secure internet and course access • Easy modification and expansion of curricula • Ability to print textbooks for free or use ebooks/wikibooks • Larger selection of elective courses • Less dependence on teacher’s experience/training • Effective in remote locations using OLPC laptops • Accessible to sick or vacationing students Won’t it be expensive? No. A single classroom server (teacher workstation) and network components could cost <$1000 while student workstations can be had for <$200 each. This is often a non-issue as many companies are willing to donate used hardware for this task.
