ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD VISION...

One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is a project supported by the Miami-based One Laptop per Child Association (OLPCA) and the Cambridge-based OLPC Foundation (OLPCF) with the aim of empowering the world's poorest child through education. The laptops are sold to governments targeting a price of lower than $150, to be distributed through the ministries of education with the goal of distributing "one laptop per child". The laptops are given to students, similar to school uniforms and ultimately remain the property of the child. The operating system and software is localized to the languages of the participating countries. The program aimed to be available worldwide. Laptops could be delivered in the USA, in Canada and in more than 30 European countries, as well as in some Central and South American countries (Colombia, Haiti, Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay), African countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Madagascar, Rwanda) and Asian countries (Afghanistan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Nepal).

Every child has dreams and therefore education directs the child’s passion, creativity and energy for these dreams into a new user interface that has 12 dreams. Such dreams include “I want to be” an artist, a musician and a scientist. Each dream features a rich learning experience and applications, books, games and videos that allow children ages 3 to 12 to naturally explore their dreams and learn at the same time. Content within a dream has three levels, so as the child advances in his/her learning, there is no need to pay for additional apps or content. Every dream features a “hero”, a real person who personifies the dream.The OLPC  vision provides access to affordable education materials and devices to poor children in underdeveloped and developing world. As the pace of change in the world increases dramatically, the urgency to prepare all children to be full citizens of the emerging world also increases dramatically. No one can predict the world our children will inherit. The best preparation for children is to develop the passion for learning and the ability to learn how to learn. The root cause of the rapid change, digital technology, also provides a solution. When every child has a connected laptop, they have in their hands the key to full development and participation. Limits are erased as they can learn to work with others around the world, to access high-quality, modern materials, to engage their passions and develop their expertise.

What children lack is not capability, it is opportunity and resources. The tool with which to unlock their potential. Put this ultra-low-cost, powerful, rugged, low-power, ecological laptop in their hands and contribute to making a better world.Many  previously marginalized children learn, achieve and begin to transform their communities. There have been much improvement in many children's performances in schools enhanced by the initiative. 

At the same time the vision could be unrealistic to the underdeveloped countries.This might be a nightmare to them as people are living below poverty lines and therefore a small laptop would be meaningless in a place where people are starving and dying of hunger and diseases like malaria, high infant mortality rates and poor education incentives. Malaria has been a chronic disease in most places in Africa and parts of Asia costing the lives of many kids especially below 12 years. HIV/AIDS is also a major challenge leaving many kids orphans and desperate. Therefore, a need to help this kids by providing them with food, shelter and clothing is much better than an electronic gadget that they may have never seen before. These countries need the basic needs for survival more than any other thing,therefore it will be unrealistic for a government to emphasize more on providing laptops than making these readily available. A well set up education system  to make sure that all kids have an access to free and fair  education, improved health sectors, job creation and poverty eradication should be well looked at.  

While this noble initiative is put into practise, It would be much better if the governments in the underdeveloped countries especially those in Africa and Asia would first of all play their role in providing the basic human needs so that all the kids irrespective of their economic status, backgrounds and color be able to have access to a better education and then the one laptop per child can come later on.


References:

Nicholas Negroponte,2010,One laptop per child mission, 15th January 2012, http://one.laptop.org/about/mission