You perhaps have seen mention of this program in the news recently.
One Laptop per Child (OLPC): http://www.laptop.org/index.shtml (a wonderfully designed website by the way!)
Organized with a focus on grassroots innovations, this non-profit organization, led by Nicholas Negroponte and others formerly part of the MIT Media Lab,has the following goal:
"The mission of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) movement is to ensure that every school-aged child in the lesser-developed parts of the world is able to engage effectively with their own personal laptop, networked to the world, so that they, their families and their communities can openly learn and learn about learning."
They propose to meet this goal through the XO laptop, which is described as "a unique harmony of form and function; a flexible, ultra low-cost, power-efficient, responsive, and durable machine with which nations of the emerging world can leapfrog decades of development-immediately transforming the content and quality of their children's learning."
The laptop cost will start near $100 and then steadily decrease. Negroponte has been quoted as saying, "This is an education project, not a laptop project" (radioopensource). This link follows with some interesting opinions on the love/hate continuum in terms of opinions on the program. It seems a lofty goal with good intentions and it will be interesting to see how it pans out.
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2 comments:
Ann, I had heard of this initiative, but I must admit I was not well versed on it.
As you said, the site is a very nice site. It is attractive and presents information in a very effective way.
I complain because we don't have enough money in our budget to buy the technology we need in our schools, but to imagine that schools in other countries can't even afford twenty dollars on a child is so sad. I think the project is a very humanitarian one, but do you think it will truly survive? I hope so.
What I liked best was that the OLPC does not intend to market its XO laptop in a commercial setting. This proves their committment to education. Wonder if they will ever market it if the contributions stop pouring in?
I read about this; it made me sick the first time I read it, and it continues to do so each time it is brought up. To me, this just seems to be emblematic of people's short-sightedness when it comes to technology.
What strikes me is that people can figure out how to make one of the most technologically advanced pieces of machinery in mankind's history, yet we can't figure out how to get grains to some of these countries.
I've always believed it is far more beneficial to "teach a man to fish" rather than "give him a fish," but why are we giving people yachts when they don't have bait?
The intentions are good. The priorities are whack.
And yes, I did say whack.
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