Starting about six years ago, a number of dedicated folks had a bright idea: they should build a laptop cheap enough and durable enough that every child in the world could have one.
That vision of One Laptop Per Child hasn’t come true (yet). But they have designed a beautiful $200 laptop that has been distributed to some 2 million kids worldwide. The machines are rugged, low-power, automatically network together for classroom learning, and generally are a sublime example of industrial design. Currently they’re working on a next-generation model that is supposed to cost less than $100.
Computer penetration in Canada is about 80%. That is to say, about 80% of households have at least one computer at home, and 20% of households have none. These 20% of households only have access to computers at school or in libraries.
There’s a very clear difference between people who have grown up with computers at hand, and those who have not. In the same sense as one can achieve working knowledge of a language but not complete fluency, a person who has not grown up around computers will never achieve 100% competence. This is a chance to close that gap for our poorest students (which obviously are going to make up the bulk of that 20% of households).
As it happens, there is a small deployment of OLPC laptops in Canada. That group is distributing laptops in several locations in Aboriginal communities.
I propose that the TDSB provide one laptop per child. Every Grade 3 student would be given a free laptop, to keep and have as their own. The machines are customized for school use, and training is readily available. The 20% of kids who have no computers at home… well, they would now. The cost would be about $5 million per year, which is not a huge amount in the TDSB budget, but not insignificant either. I believe that the money could be found in the budget by reducing purchases of commercial software in favor of open source software, and reducing other computer purchases for the lower grades – unneeded since everyone will have a laptop.
Michael Sims
[...] people can file issues, and watch to see whether they get resolved. He has also proposed using open source software to reduce some of the expenses in local schools. If you read his blog, he shows a curiosity to look [...]