September 3rd, 2008
The One Laptop Per Child program has reached a milestone. The Pacific island nation of Niue now has a laptop for each of its children, and is the first country to have complete saturation. With a total population of only 1500, the 500 laptops will likely leave a few spares for adults too.
According to their Mission Statement, the aim of the One Laptop Per Child program is “To create educational opportunities for the world’s poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning.”
And rugged the laptops certainly are. The XO laptops are waterproof, with 50% thicker plastic than standard laptops. The laptops can be charged by crank, pedal, or solar panel when no electricity is available. When no Internet is available, the laptops create a “mesh network,” with each laptop acting as a router linking to nearby XO laptops.
Although the technical and altruistic aspects of the program are laudable, it is difficult to state if the program will have a measurable result on child education in developing nations. Will the Niuean students have real opportunities for advancement and learning? Or will the Facebook population simply jump by a few hundred?
-Kai