Bringing high-quality education to children, one laptop at a time

With the goal of bringing high-quality education to students in remote locations in the world’s least-developed countries, the One Laptop per Child initiative is developing a high-quality, low-cost computer designed expressly for children to promote learning.

The 2B1 computer, formerly known as the $100 laptop, includes groundbreaking features that allow it to be used in rugged conditions — such as its own wireless router so children and teachers in remote locations around the world can connect to each other to form their own ad hoc local area networks. The next step is exploring ways to connect users to the backbone of the Internet at very low cost. The developers also focused on power-saving and power-generating solutions so that users do not have to have electricity to recharge the computer.

The laptop is still in the development stages, but several nations, including Brazil, Argentina, Libya, Nigeria and Thailand, already are in detailed discussions with the initiative about launching the program. The group intends to sell the laptops to governments, which will distribute the laptops to schools and students on the basis of one laptop per child. In addition, plans for a commercial version for more developed nations also are being considered.

To invite feedback from the public on hardware and software components, the educational content, and plans for launch, the initiative has set up a wiki that provides the latest news and information on the project.

www.laptop.org