Why There Will Be One Laptop Per Child

January 29th, 2007

The economics of providing computers to students is changing. It used to be that providing every student with a computing device cost as much as an extra teacher or two. However, if the people at the One Laptop per Child Foundation (OLPC) have their way, it should soon cost roughly as much as an expensive high school textbook, something we already provide. OLPC’s goal is to realize the dream of the connected classroom, especially in the developing world. Right here in Edinburgh there’s a similar move afoot aimed at giving every student a hand-held computer. Here’s the story in the Scotsman.The economics no longer beg the question “How many teachers could that pay for?” The question becomes instead, “Is 24 hour individual access to the world wide web worth the cost of a few text books?” Last time I checked, the world wide web had a few more pages.

I am a bibliophile, but this isn’t an either or proposition. We’re nowhere near a paperless classroom. However, the promise of days to come is one in which a student has access to every book ever published–the library of Alexandria in your lap. Now that’s hard to resist as my love for books has more to do with their contents then their covers. Still, this isn’t about replacing books. It’s about new ways of working. The interconnectivity provided by such devices promises to shrink the globe, making classmates of students the world over and colleagues of their teachers.

The next generation of inexpensive mobile devices means that students and teachers will have a larger and more powerful set of tools then ever before. I for one am curious to see what we can do with that. There is relatively little argument over the fact that we provide students with text books, soon too it will be with mobile computers. As far as I’m concerned, the debate is over. The question simply is “What device are we going to provide?”

Entry Filed under: Law, Policy, & Government, Learning & Teaching, Technology