On the eve of MLK Day, I am glad I found NicholasNegreponte’s interview Computers for Peace posted on Edutopia. Here my three favorite Q&A’s from the interview:

1. Are there regions of the world where the OLPC model will not work?There are some cultures where it works more naturally, like Brazil, which is a very bottom-up society. There are others where it is harder, like China, not only because it is a teacher-centric and top-down society, but because Confucius would not have advocated laptops. His theories about teaching, the centricity of teachers, and the required obedience of children are pretty strong.
2. Critics of one-to-one laptop programs in the United States say the computers facilitate more in-class distraction (instant messaging, MySpace, and so on) than learning, that they allow children access to inappropriate content, and that the benefits of constant access are so far unproven. Do you share those concerns?We do not share those concerns, but that is not to say they are not real issues. Our kids in Cambodia learn English using chat and MySpace. Children are distracted if the teaching is not interesting. One education minister just said to us, about the $100 laptop, “Finally, education will include learning.”
3. In an ideal world, what is your single greatest hope for this project?A three-step hope: World peace through the elimination of poverty through education through learning. Education is the goal; learning is the means. A lot of learning can happen without teaching. We’re banking on that.

I’ve added a new site to my Bloglines reader: EdTech Live. SteveHargadon has created a bank of podcasts about the power of Web 2.0. I’m listening right now to his December interview with Will Richardson. I’ve shared many times Will’s video with teachers during my Weblogs in the Classroom workshop, but through Steve’s interview I am hearing how Will came on board with blogging – starting with the insights of Pat Delaney, my NWP colleague and mentor – who also brought me into the blogosphere. The word I keep hearing is transformative. Through Web 2.0 I believe the potential is there, but we are just at the tip of the iceberg. Quote from Will: “Once you read, then you have things to blog about.”