One Laptop Per Child for Ghana, West Africa Program

One Laptop Per Child -- Watchdog Site Offers Independent View

Feb 27, 2007 By Tim Blangger

People who follow the news are familiar with something called the news cycle, even if they don't necessarily know its name. An idea comes up, a few people talk about it and, eventually, it goes away.

The Net is transforming the cycle. Ideas don't necessarily disappear the way they once might have. The Net allows them to hang around longer, to change, morph and grow. They're not just loitering, either. In some cases, they're gaining depth and nuance.

That is certainly the case for an ambitious project by a handful of computer professionals whose idea is to get an inexpensive, sturdy laptop computer into the hands of every child on the planet, especially those kids who normally wouldn't have access to a computer, let alone a laptop.

Their idea, One Laptop Per Child, attracted the usual burst of interest last year when it was first announced. But, thanks to the collaborative Internet, there is much more to feast upon. The project, which has an official project Web site devoted to the effort (www.laptop.org), is available in 31 languages and has an FAQ, a Wiki and hyperlinks.

There is also a secondary blog, http://www.olpcnews.com, which isn't connected with the project, but gathers news and bits of information about it.

First, some background. One Laptop is a project directed by Nicholas Negroponte, currently on leave from MIT's Media Lab and widely considered one of the leading thinkers in the digital age. His 1995 book, 'Being Digital,' addresses the issues of the digital age.

The laptops planned for the project should cost $100, although initial models might cost more. They have no moving parts, just a small flash memory (similar to the ones on an iPod Nano or a USB memory stick, for example) and four USB ports. More amazingly, the computers will have a built-in wireless network, so that four computers in a rural African school will be able to communicate with each other, creating a wireless network where none existed before.

The laptops, initially called 2B1's but now referred to as Children's Machine XO, will also run a version of Linux, the open-source operating system. They'll have two screen settings, with one that can be viewed in direct sunlight. They'll also have a DVD player.

Six countries -- Brazil, Argentina, Nigeria, Rwanda, Libya and Thailand -- have entered into agreements with the One Laptop folks.

I sent several e-mails to the One Laptop project, using the press contact link but has not yet received a response.

But, that's OK. The project folks are busy creating what might be one of the most important educational projects of the 21st century.

For my purposes, the second unofficial site is of more immediate interest because it underscores the collaborative powers of the Internet. The blog, One Laptop Per Child News, isn't connected to the original project and tracks the news, some of it quite detailed, on the effort.

I talked with Wayan Vota, one of three people behind the One Laptop Per Child News site (www.olpcnews.com.) He is a dedicated blogger and directs the Washington, D.C.-based IESC Geekcorps, a nonprofit that partners with governments and companies to help with technology issues. Vota's expertise is in technological implementation.

WAYAN VOTA, ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD NEWS

Q: Why did you start the news site?

A: From the onset, as a techie, an uber-Geek even, with experience in and love for the developing world, I've followed OLPC with deepening interest. I also noticed that while there were many articles about the program on various Web sites, there wasn't a single Web site focused on the computer, now called the Children's Machine XO, or its professed goals of changing education. So I started a Web site about it all, One Laptop Per Child News, with the main goals of staying educated on OLPC and to enter into the debate about its merits.

Q: Do you have a sense of who reads and writes on the blog? Are these people North Americans or Europeans who have access to computers and the Net, or are some of them the very sort of people who might benefit indirectly from the project (i.e. the parents of a child who might use a XO laptop)?

A: I've tracked OLPC News readership through Google Analytics and I am very proud to say that we have a 50 percent developed -- versus developing -- world readership. All the current writers for OLPC News have extensive knowledge of the developing world, both (OLPC News co-founder) Jon (Camfield) and I are experienced project managers who have and are/will be working in developing countries. (Blog co-founder) David (Scannell) lives in western Kenya and will give you an earful about the ICT (Information and Communications Technology) problems he faces on a daily basis.

Q: Have the One Laptop Per Child project folks contacted your site directly? Do you know if they read or monitor the posts?

A: While the OLPC leadership does not contact us directly, I've met them at conferences and meetings and they do comment on OLPC News on occasion. Unfortunately, Negroponte has tried to have me ejected from open-to-the-public meetings, but I understand his motivation. We are asking questions that often he does not enjoy having to answer. That being said, I fully respect and actually am in awe of the professional OLPC software and hardware developers. OLPC has the ultimate technology dream team. And they are driving innovation we will all worship in a few years.

Q: There's a sense that you three have some reservations about how well the project will work, and whether it will accomplish what it has set out to do, while supporting the OLPC's overall goals. Is this a fair characterization of your site, a healthy skepticism?

A: Yes, we have a very healthy skepticism. Personally, I fully believe in my quote from the (OLPC News) About page: ''Wayan celebrates the ability of One Laptop Per Child to bring technology to the forefront of economic development, and can't wait to have a XO himself, but he fears the lack of a defined implementation strategy and realistic cost estimates will create great waste and disillusionment with technology.''
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Links for further information:

http://www.laptop.org: The official One Laptop Per Child site, available in 31 languages.

http://www.olpcnews.com: The blog that that closely follows the news about the project, its possibilities and its potential problems. Will the laptops destined for developing students end up on eBay or in the hands of gangsters? Will the laptops ever be legally available to students from wealthier countries? You'll likely read it here first.

Being Digital: Excerpts of Nicholas Negroponte's ground-breaking book, 'Being Digital' are available online at http://www.archives.obs-us.com/obs/english/books/nn/bdcont.htm

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(c) 2007, The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via Newscom.

Photo by Jacob Kaplan-Moss. Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0.