Almighty Dad | A stay at home dad blog

XO Computers were designed by One Laptop Per Child, a 501c organization, that intended to find foreign, developing countries to purchase or otherwise be the recipients of the laptops.  They’re built to be rugged, to withstand common conditions in rural areas and third world countries (no paved roads or reliable electricity).  They also have screens designed to be used in bright sunlight due to the lack of actual buildings from which teachers can conduct classes.  The target price per unit was supposed to be 100 dollars.  Unfortunately, since 2007 the price has barely budged.  A recent deal to provide aboriginal kids with the laptops has an estimated cost of $650 per unit including support infrastructure (full report of that deal here).  The design and the intent of these computers is great.  What puzzles me though is why Birmingham and NYC are using them (the laptops can be charged with a hand crank if there’s no electricity).  Are conditions really that bad in Birmingham?        

      

Why Birmingham?        

      

The biggest reason is probably because Birmingham is a relatively poor city with schools that are in dire need of quality administration and funding.  Two years ago Birmingham Mayor, Larry Langford, recognized the need for kids to have access to technology.  He negotiated the purchase of 15,000 XO’s for 287 dollars apiece including 1.3 million for infrastructure upgrades; Birmingham has only 2, out of 38, elementary schools equipped with wireless internet.  While certainly not a third-world environment, Birmingham seems to be on the right track with providing technology to a school system with students who otherwise might not have it.  Now, if the city can manage the needed infrastructure upgrades that will let the XO reach its potential, then I’d say it’s worth the effort.  If not, then another school system will have predictably wasted millions of dollars.       

        

Progress of the XO in the Third-World:     

        

It seems that progress has been steady, but somewhat slow.  The biggest problem preventing rapid adoption is cost.  Nigeria showed interest at the start of the program but it was determined that in order for every child in the country to get a computer (as was planned) would cost 73% of the government’s total yearly income.  Look here for the most recent news regarding OLPC.  It’s seems clear, from reading the news, that things are still moving along with both hardware upgrades, development and public awareness.      

        

Technology for Kids:       

        

Let’s face it.  A kid who doesn’t have access to technology these days is a kid who’s going to have some catching up to do, whether they live in Nigeria or Birmingham.  I’m not talking about Nintendos or iPods.  Those are silly trinkets.  It would be unfathomable 20 years ago to think that computers would be an indispensable part of education, but the fact is that information and communication is growing faster than storage space, and we need computers to help us with the new realities of education.  Nothing replaces basic arithmetic and reading, that’s for sure; but, can you imagine trying to get a job these days without being perfectly comfortable on a computer?  That’s the problem faced by third world and rural areas.  Developed countries are exponentially accelerating past them as technology improves.  We’re living in two worlds that are becoming more and more foreign to one another.  OLPC recognizes that billions of people who don’t have technology are about to be left in the dust, literally.  What they’re doing is good; let’s just hope they can bring the cost down.         

          

What do you think?  Am I overstating the importance of technology for kids?  Do XO computers belong in Birmingham?

Related posts:

1. Developing Math Skill in Kids
2. HOP Master Reader Computer program