No Child Left Unplugged
I saw Nicholas Negroponte on CNN today blabbing about the XO laptop computer while he waved one around like so much cotton candy. I knew instantly that I wanted one. And that really isn’t the point.
Here’s the point:
But, in the end and after many, many years, the XO was born. And I’ve seen it -- albeit at a televised distance -- and it is beautiful. The rugged little body is a silly, cheery green and it incorporates a rubberized keyboard and trackpad, a built-in camera and networking so revolutionary, you have to read about it for yourself. Another cool feature: because the computers are meant to end up in places where electricity is spotty or non-existent, the XO incorporates a handcrank (!) that offers up 10 minutes of battery life for one minute of cranking. (This is a feature we should be incorporating into all computing devices for children. Think about it: Johnny would totally have to get off the couch if he had to hop up to crank his XBox 360.)
While all of this would be interesting any time at all, right now OLPC has a bit of a call to action: until November 26th if you donate $399, “one XO laptop will be sent to empower a child in a developing nation and one will be sent to the child in your life in recognition of your contribution.” To sweeten things still further, $200 of your donation is tax-deductible.
More information on the XO laptop is here. The “give one, get one” program is here.
Here’s the point:
So Negroponte gathered together his not inconsequential posse and they all put their heads together to come up with the ultimate inexpensive, rugged easy to operate computing device. It was not always an easy road. That story is here.One learning child. One connected child. One laptop at a time.
The mission of One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is to empower the children of developing countries to learn by providing one connected laptop to every school-age child. In order to accomplish our goal, we need people who believe in what we’re doing and want to help make education for the world’s children a priority, not a privilege.
But, in the end and after many, many years, the XO was born. And I’ve seen it -- albeit at a televised distance -- and it is beautiful. The rugged little body is a silly, cheery green and it incorporates a rubberized keyboard and trackpad, a built-in camera and networking so revolutionary, you have to read about it for yourself. Another cool feature: because the computers are meant to end up in places where electricity is spotty or non-existent, the XO incorporates a handcrank (!) that offers up 10 minutes of battery life for one minute of cranking. (This is a feature we should be incorporating into all computing devices for children. Think about it: Johnny would totally have to get off the couch if he had to hop up to crank his XBox 360.)
While all of this would be interesting any time at all, right now OLPC has a bit of a call to action: until November 26th if you donate $399, “one XO laptop will be sent to empower a child in a developing nation and one will be sent to the child in your life in recognition of your contribution.” To sweeten things still further, $200 of your donation is tax-deductible.
More information on the XO laptop is here. The “give one, get one” program is here.
posted by Linda L. Richards at 10:09 PM
2 Comments:
It's even a better deal than that...if you get one through this program, T-Mobile is throwing in a free 1-year subscription to their nationwide hotspot program, giving you free access to wi-fi at a bunch of places...and that normally costs $360. So you end up with the newest and coolest laptop on the planet for $40 bucks, essentially!
Interesting technology, yet I wonder. If we can't teach kids without it, why is this a panacea for learning?
Malcolm
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