One Laptop per Child

First of all, I found a website that discusses current news relating to the OLPC program - http://www.olpcnews.com/. There are some interesting articles here.



The OLPC program is an excellent idea and means of trying to bridge the digital divide between the developed and developing worlds. However, I think it's very important to consider the lack of technological experience that people using these laptops probably have. As we've discussed multiple times in class, having the technology is not enough. Learning takes time, and it's very difficult to learn for a person that hasn't grown up using technology. I guess the program targets children though, so that would be the best age group to start teaching this type of skill. Still, it seems like all of the information describing the program fails to acknowledge that even though the technology is inexpensive and relatively easy to acquire a specific skill-set is required to operate and effectively use the laptops. A large number of jobs could probably be created in order to teach people how to use the technology, which could be a large benefit to citizens of these developing nations.