One Laptop per Child Initiative
Nicholas Negroponte deserves the credit for taking the concept of one laptop per child from ideal dream to reality. In our sometimes myopic focus on public K-12 education, some of us lose sight that there are dozens and dozens of countries where children still do not have access to even a substandard education. Addressing substandard education in the U.S. and supporting access to basic education across the world are not mutually exclusive goals.
The One Laptop per Child initiative makes inexpensive ($199/child) computers available to schools and communities around the world including the U.S. According to the group’s website, their mission 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.
Check out their website and watch the following TED talk by Negroponte about the group’s work in Columbia.
Posted in: K-12 Education |
