One Laptop Per Child: Why We Do What We Do
Was at my buddy Amir’s place last night and he had Tivo’ed a 60 Minutes segment for me about Nicholas Negroponte’s One Laptop Per Child initiative. Watch it and prepare to get chills.
What If Every Child Had A Laptop?
The possibilities here are endless. This will change the world. I’ve written about this before in our first blog post on Edurev as well as in some posts inspired by the book The End of Poverty over on LearnOutLoud.
My eyes got misty last night thinking about what this all means. A real possibility to lift millions of people out of poverty and allow them to learn the things that will allow them to become self-sufficient and break the cycle of economic hardship. This can happen within our lifetime. I can’t think of a better legacy to leave to future generations. Time to get back to work.
4 Comments
- 1. Patrick said:
Jon,
Can you imagine the drastic shift that would have to take place in terms of professional development? Inasmuch as the possibility for providing an end to not only the cycle you speak about in your post, but also cycles of that often accompany lives affected by economic hardship really excites me.
Also, did I hear today that Dell has come out with a $399 machine? Even that is within the reach of most districts within the U.S. and abroad.
posted July 25th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
- 2. Dave Trager said:
I agree wholeheartedly with your confirming ‘misty eyes’ that edu rev is going to play a huge role in ending poverty on earth.
On another note, I do kinda wish *my* pc could be powered with a crank…
posted July 25th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
- 3. Dave Trager said:
Patrick,
I too have been really impressed with the quality of computers you can get from dell for really reasonable prices. When my friend told me he needed a new pc, and asked how much it would cost to get a nice laptop– I told him $800, only to find what he wanted only cost $499 from Dell. Incredible stuff.
posted July 25th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
- 4. lindsay said:
I am new to your site, but not the to the cause. What I fail to understand is how this technology is going to miraculously bridge any gap. We will be left with a generation of people who are great at solitaire and instant messaging and have no knowledge of how to solve a simple algebraic formula.
My favorite quote from the article is probably:
“You’re saying give them a laptop even if they don’t go to school?” Stahl asks.
“Especially if they don’t go to school. If they don’t go to school, this is school in a box.”
While I agree that this is a revolutionary idea on some account I also believe that there is simply no substitute for a good teacher. Sorry, bots do not count in my book.
posted August 3rd, 2007 at 12:58 pm
