One Laptop Per Child: Creating Opportunities via Computers

Written by on March 5, 2009 in Africa, Asia, Education, Europe, Middle East, North America, Oceania, South America, World - 3 Comments

XO-1 Laptop

Here at Social Earth, we believe education is fundamental to our existence and in the 21st century, that basically means, personal computers are fundamental to our existence. While we here in the ‘developed world’ take education and all its toys (ie. computers)  for granted, there are millions of children around the world who have never seen much less touched a basic PC.

Can you think about that for a second?

Yes.

Very discouraging indeed.

Well One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is a program which is working diligently to reverse this social ill and has made significant progress. We encourage you to check out their program and consider getting involved in the revolution!

Here is Mr. Negroponte at Ted describing the foundation of OLPC.

One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)

olpc_logo

  • One Laptop per Child (OLPC), a non-profit organization, provides educational opportunities for impoverished children around the world via the XO-1 Laptop, a durable, low-cost computer designed for use in developing countries. OLPC, officially organized in 2005 by Nicholas Negroponte, has distributed laptops to children in approximately 40 countries around the globe.
  • Organization Type: Non-Profit
  • Website: www.laptop.org
  • Founder(s):Nicholas Negreponte, Charles Kane, Seymour Papert, Alan Kay
  • Founded: 2005
  • Location:Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
  • See complete company list here

Erik

Erik is a perpetually curious social innovator. As a serial entrepreneur, Erik knows a thing or two about change. As a co-founder of SocialEarth, Erik hopes to channel his passion for social advocacy into an innovative venue of social awareness for others.

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  • http://www.WiHood.com Thomas F. Anglero

    OLPC is a wonderful project to begin bridging the digital divide but their PCs provide a slow end-user experience. To keep the project cost down, OLPC project had to compensate with slow performance from its hardware.

    The use of a virtual desktop service on the OLPC resolves this problem. Virtual desktop services utilize the processing power of computers located on the internet, not on the host PC. These services also include office software and online storage so that the users information is accessible everywhere including on non-OLPC computers.

    One OLPC running a virtual desktop service can provide several children with their own virtual PC desktop each time they use the OLPC. The OLPC is an excellent hardware gateway to providing more then a one-to-one benefit but combined with virtual desktop services, it can help millions more.

    I am the founder of WiHood, a virtual desktop service to bridge the digital divide in emerging markets. The OLPC is an excellent hardware platform to begin helping everyone to benefit from PC and internet technology.

    Thomas F. Anglero, Founder and Managing Director
    WiHood AS
    http://www.WiHood.com

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