Monday, November 17, 2008

Give a laptop. Get a laptop. Change the world.



Give One. Get One.


Why give a laptop to a child in the emerging world? If you replace the word "laptop" with "education" the answer becomes clear. You don't wait to educate until all other challenges are resolved. You educate at the same time because it's such an important part of all the other solutions. The XO laptop was designed especially for children. So no matter who they are or where they live, this computer has the perfect features and software to get them excited about learning. Just imagine how the world would change if every child had the tools to unleash their full potential. For more about the project explore the links above or visit laptop.org.

What is the XO Laptop?
The XO is a potent learning tool designed and built especially for children in developing countries, living in some of the most remote environments. As such, it has several features you won’t find on any other laptop. For starters, it’s about the size of a small textbook and made with a rugged plastic exterior. It has built-in wireless and a unique screen that works in full color or black and white to make it readable under direct sunlight for children who go to school outdoors. And finally it’s ultra-low power using only about 4 watts of power (most laptops use about 60 watts). This means, when there’s no electricity, it can be recharged with alternate power sources like solar power.

Why Give a Laptop?
Why give a laptop to a child who has no running water? If you replace the word "laptop" with "education" the answer becomes clear. You don't wait to educate until all other challenges are resolved. You educate at the same time because it's such an important part of all the other solutions.

The Children
Currently, there are XO laptops in over 30 countries from India to Mongolia, and everywhere it goes, the results are the same. The laptops help children build on their active interest in the world around them to engage with powerful ideas. When the laptops arrive school attendance goes up, teachers download lesson plans from the web and kids begin teaching each other how to use the machine. With the XO, kids actually learn how to learn.

Product Specifications
The laptop hardware was designed by experts from both education and industry. This team brought together extraordinary talent and decades of collective field experience to create the perfect machine to help carry out our mission. Built in hardware includes:
Wireless Antennae ears
Microphone
Speakers
Webcam
3 USB memory ports
SD memory slot
Game controller
XO comes pre-loaded with free and open-source software. Our commitment to software freedom gives children the opportunity to use their laptops on their own terms. The children—and their teachers—will have the freedom to reshape, reinvent, and reapply their software, hardware, and content.
Pre installed software activities include:
Music editing
Drawing
Writing
Recoding (includes audio, images and video)
Basic computer programming
A simple web browser
Distance and sound wave measurement

The One Laptop Per Child Organization
Founded in 2001 by MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte, the One Laptop Per Child Foundation has a simple mission: to create educational opportunities for the world's poorest children by providing each and every one with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning.
By giving a laptop, you are helping bring education to children in some of the world's most remote areas.
You are connecting them to each other. To us. To hope. And to a better future.

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