Defeating Global Poverty

I just ordered two laptop computers ... for a total of $399 plus $25 shipping. One gets shipped to me and one gets delivered to an impoverished child.

NOTE: This is a special offer which started today and goes through Nov 26th only. So, if you're interested in seeing (and supporting) what is an amazing breakthrough in bringing computers to the bottom of the pyramid, check it out @ LaptopGiving.org. You can also just purchase laptops for children if you like @ $200/laptop.

This is the brainchild of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) initiative which I previously wrote about. This has previously been referred to as the "$100 laptop". $100 is still the goal, but will require more volume to achieve that level of cost structure.

Founder Nicholas Negroponte says "It's an education project, not a laptop project." OLPC's goal: To provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves. More...

The laptop truly is a breakthrough in thinking. Read New York Times review or watch the New York Times video review below.



See more videos on OLPC at OLPC.tv

So, do I really need another laptop? No. I'm buying this laptop so that I can be a better ambassador for this initiative. The green laptop will catch a lot of attention!

My challenge: Why don't you consider doing this as well?
Please post a comment if you take on my challenge.

Labels: children, computers, laptop, Negroponte, OLPC, poverty, social enterprise

There is a very interesting experiment going on for the past few years in New Delhi, India called Hole in the Wall. Free-to-use [Windows-powered] computer kiosks with Internet connections are placed in and around a number of slums. The PC's are designed to be industrial-strength with plexi-glass on the front and plastic covered keyboard and a touchpad for a mouse function. They have built in battery backup (for the frequent power outages) and are connected to a satellite receiver on the roof of the building to provide broadband Internet connections. These are public access computers.

The research project (and now NGO) is named so because the first of these kiosks was literally put in a hole in the wall near the office of physicist Sugata Mitra who heads research efforts at New Delhi's NIIT, a fast-growing software and education company. Mitra setup the first kiosk just outside his office and then watched through a webcam as local illiterate children started investigating this new contraption.

What he discovered:

• Children figured out how to use the computer without any assistance ... completely driven out of curiosity
• Children figured out their own "sharing rules" for the computer usage
• Children increased their proficiency in reading (English) and math

Mitra's provocative conclusion/opinion ... that education improves when there are fewer teachers! He contends that children have the innate drive to learn and just need tools (like access to computers) to help them explore and exploit their curiosities.

Here are some additional articles on this research experiment:

• Pulling Themselves Up By Their Keyboards, Ode Magazine
• A "hole in the wall" helps educate India, Christian Science Monitor
• Interview with Sugata Mitra, GreenStar.org
• Some videos, from PBS/Frontline

What do you think?

Labels: children, computers, india, poverty

The project to create an affordable laptop for every child in developing countries which I wrote about earlier, has recently spun out into its own non-profit called One Laptop per Child.

They have made a lot of progress in moving forward this project for concept to reality and will soon be rolling out the first test units in Thailand. They have a map of where they are planning further pilots and where governments have shown interest in purchasing the product.

They have also have hired/appointed a pretty serious management team to take this idea to market with Nicholas Negroponte continuing as chairman.

Check out the One Laptop Per Child wiki site to follow and discuss the progress.

One section I found particularly helpful is their Design Decisions FAQ where they answer some of the critics biggest questions about "why laptops for every child."

Do you think this is a good initiative?

Labels: children, computers, laptop, Negroponte, OLPC, poverty

In July 15th issue of The Economist, there was an interesting article on whether the money being spent on education in developing countries was resulting in children actually learning. Globally, the World Bank alone has spent over $12 billion on primary education since 1990. Pratham, an India educational charity, reported that less than half of children ages 7-14 could read a simple passage in their native language.

One of the most successful programs to date in increasing school enrollment is to not only make primary education free, but to actually pay parents (cash or free meals) if they keep their children in schools. In Nicaragua, a pilot program like this has raised enrollment rates by 22%.

It seems that donors are more interested in school-building than they are in schooling. That is, focused on the inputs -- # of buildings, # of teachers, # of text books, etc. -- rather than the outputs -- are children learning.

Pratham has found one educational experiment that has worked well ... hiring balsakhis (which means "children's friends") who are unqualified high-school graduates to provide remedial education to students falling behind. These mentors were cheap, quick to train and could work in hallways or under trees reducing the need for more buildings. The result in Mumbai is that it raised the chances of fourth-year pupils grasping first-year math by almost 12% and second-year math by almost 10%.

Read article

Labels: children, economist, india, learning, poverty