Photo from OLPC - Laptop.orgI initially wrote about the "One Laptop Per Child" (OLPC) project over a
year ago.
Right now, the project is still a
charity, and there are still many questions I have on the program and will it sink or swim, but I have a lot of faith in the kids. The use of the computers works something like homeschooling, where
kids are naturally motivated because of the nature of the medium. The project has a December 2007
"Give one, Get one" incentive which provides machines at a discount and people are buying and donating
both machines to the project. :)
OLPC has asked affluent American individuals and charitable groups to buy machines and donate them to children in poor countries. Participants in the Give One Get One program pay $400 for two of the machines - one for their own use and the other to be donated. Participants also receive a year of free wireless Internet access at hundreds of public hotspots operated by T-Mobile. A separate program, called Give Many, encourages charities to pay for hundreds or thousands of OLPC laptops. (source Boston.com)
The
design of these little laptops has changed somewhat since the original pics I saw over a year ago, and the interest in the project as demonstrated by foreign governments has been a bit... reserved.
Boston.com has a report on it, and mentions some of its problems (the Nigerian criminal that is trying to sue the charity project has a lot of #&^@^%!). Those who can, probably will if they are aware of the program, for the rest of us, if donating some machines is within the scope of a charity that we know, maybe suggest the charity to donate? According to OLPC, donors are able to designate where the machines they donate are to go.
And, of course, the
homepage of the project is worth a visit!
Labels: compu-internet
© 2006 
