ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD

(image taken from here)

One Laptop Per Child is an interesting concept. The mission of Nicholas Negroponte 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. When children have access to this type of tool they get engaged in their own education. They learn, share, create, and collaborate. They become connected to each other, to the world and to a brighter future.”

This concept is interesting but at the same time very risky because in my opinion children shouldn’t be accessed to a computer at such a young age. What is becoming of our world? We are so technology driven that we are willing to waste money to give each child a laptop that they might even destroy. This idea seems kind of absurd to me.

(image taken from here)

CNN news takes these words from Negroponte, “If we could get all the children in the world -- 1.2 billion of them between 6 and 12 -- to have a connected laptop that would be success. Roughly, half of those children have no electricity at home or school. The poverty is so extreme, and the environmental conditions are so extreme, we have to focus on them." They see this as a good thing but I see it as a negative point because as we spoke in class regarding the Mansell, "Digital Entitlements,” the digital divide is caused because of the economy and because people can’t buy computers. Therefore, should we give computers to children everywhere or should we use that money for water that people may not have. So that’s were I see the problem in this concept.