A great organization called One laptop per child is attempting to, along with a laptop manufacturer, create an affordable laptop for countries without the economic clout to purchase them. They have created a laptop that will sell for roughly $100 (yes, it is true). It is a stripped-down laptop (low memory), but it is perfectly suited to use in the classroom. It is also durable, being waterproof and solar powered.
I really applaud this kind of work and I wish them all the success in the world. The divide between the information haves and have-nots has been widening; this type of project (along with those trying to bring sustainable broadband access to developing areas-several projects in the works) is a creative solution to try and remedy that gap.
There is also a BBC article that gives some good background information, as well as a video showing the features of the laptop itself. Click here to check it out.
It seems that Brazil and Nigeria are conducting field tests with the laptops as we speak.
My name is Michael Sean Gallagher. I am a Lecturer in Digital Education at the Centre for Research in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh. I am Co-Founder and Director of Panoply Digital, a consultancy dedicated to ICT and mobile for development (M4D); we have worked with USAID, GSMA, UN Habitat, Cambridge University and more on education and development projects. I was a researcher on the Near Futures Teaching project, a project that explores how teaching at The University of Edinburgh unfold over the coming decades, as technology, social trends, patterns of mobility, new methods and new media continue to shift what it means to be at university. Previously, I was the Research Associate on the NERC, ESRC, and AHRC Global Challenges Research Fund sponsored GCRF Research for Emergency Aftershock Forecasting (REAR) project. I was an Assistant Professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (한국외국어대학교) in Seoul, Korea. I have also completed a doctorate at University College London (formerly the independent Institute of Education, University of London) on mobile learning in the humanities in Korea.
A great organization called One laptop per child is attempting to, along with a laptop manufacturer, create an affordable laptop for countries without the economic clout to purchase them. They have created a laptop that will sell for roughly $100 (yes, it is true). It is a stripped-down laptop (low memory), but it is perfectly suited to use in the classroom. It is also durable, being waterproof and solar powered.