One of my podcasting co-hosts, Mark Gura, and I have been intermittently discussing the 0+ laptop scheme for the last two years on our favorite bi-weekly series. If you happen not to be familiar with the 0 laptop project; it has been spearheaded by Nicholas Negroponte at one time of Mit. The significance of it is the way it has leveraged opened the tidal wave of adoption of open source software and forced computer manufacturers to institute low cost netbooks. This education-related scheme has truly transformed the computer industry and tech user expectations!
Background
Netbooks
Negraponte's scheme is now called the One Laptop per Child scheme (Olpc) because the basic purpose is to provide low cost, durable laptop computers to the children of developing countries. The prototype of these laptops have gone through wide variations, and brought much annotation over the past few years and they are never meant to be the "does everything" computer.
These are basic models and yet quite revolutionary in several ways. For one, they are very small, have alternate power sources, such as hand powered, can be linked together to form an intranet (wireless broadband that can mesh network) and most of all do not suffer from what the founder dubs "Microsoft bloat." In the dedicated efforts to keep the cost so very low, the software that is used is open source, which requires a much smaller installation footprint and hardware execution requirements.
The traditional Prototype 2007 Details in Brief: Linux-based operating system, a dual-mode display, a 500Mhz processor, 128Mb of Dram and 500Mb of Flash memory. No hard drive, four Usb ports and the wireless broadband that creates a mesh network.
Enter: Wider social Adoption of Open Source Software!
In several episodes of the Teachers Podcast we discuss the merging of someone else one of my favorite technology trends with the Olpc phenomenon- open source development and software. Open source development occurs when groups of people openly share source code in the development of the programming languages, operating systems, or someone else application. The purpose is that the society will be able to test and work collaboratively world-wide on the scheme with many minds and perspectives ready that might not otherwise be able to meet and work together. It truly is a society and thereby the content and the stock remains "open" that is free for use. Very often a Creative Commons code license is used is to report use and attribution of the software.
Probably the most noted current example is the operating principles Linux (identified with by its mascot of the penguin aka Tux). linked to Linux which has scores of programmers working on it around the world, there are also other Linux-like operating systems ready also together with Apache, Ubantu, Linspire and more. For the education sector open source software has been way behind in adoption as schools have stayed mainstreamed primarily on pcs and small amount on macs in the younger grades. However, having visited a few educational technology conferences the past two years I have seen a different trend ultimately being paid interest and the Olpc scheme could push it even much further again! Let me explain.
At ed tech conferences we have experienced hands-on demonstrations of Linux or Ubantu network labs which are "dumb terminals" hooked up to a server and all gaining internet access and applications from the server. This first-hand experience provides a point of entry for many teachers, ed tech specialists and school administrators who might have never otherwise thought about these options. In these cases, participants see that there is no great loss in function with this configuration whereas the cost for this equipment is a small fraction of a accepted school lab. This is because of two positive major factors 1), the hardware are not stand alone computers, and 2) the operating principles is open source. Hardware costs and upgrade costs are also greatly reduced, as well as the fact that software licensing and upgrades are eliminated.
Open source software is no longer just for the tech heads. These platforms are point and click similar to most other programs. And there are thousands of open source programs freely ready for us to meet business, education, graphic, music composition, media design, application needs to name just a few As some K-12 superintendents are bringing in open source networks (they call them Open Technologies) into their schools we are seeing the march of the penguins, pencils and laptops strut their stuff for education! At a time of increased scrutiny of school budgets and greater accountability, I expect that 2009-2010 will be a time when open source software, dumb terminals, as well as virtual terminals (to be discussed in an upcoming e-zine article) will be charging ahead at a double- or triple-time pace.
Update May 2009
The weighty wave of netbooks (Asus, Acer, Hp, Dell, and more) which have flooded the computer store in the last 16 months has been a welcome relief for buyer and school budgets alike! We have Dr Negroponte to thank for transforming the computing industry nearly singular handedly by pushing his Olpc scheme to the forefront of the corporate table of competition. The details unfolded close on the heals of the expand of Negroponte was the Asus group and the release of the ee pc with Linux on board (originally).
Not just for tech people these were released in the proper grey and black colors, but also shocking pink and green, and white-- we can see the store was broader than the proper computer industry had been addressing). Their stock was enthusiastically received and so impacted the social marketplace that the major computer manufacturers had to write back - quickly. Now in June 2009 we have netbooks ready from every major builder ready for under 0. The resulting smaller, much less costly (roughly 77% allowance in price) and robust hardware selections we now see all around us in computer and office stores, is originally due to Olpc shake up of a sanguine, over priced system.
A linked wave of adoption is also chronic in spring 2009, and that is Open source, from Open Office.org to Linux, has seen very good year so far. Not only are we seeing more ads for these products in mainstream publications, but lay people (non-techies) are asking, requesting, and using them. What does this mean for Microsoft? Will there positively be a backlash against steep upgrade prices? We have talked about disappointment for years, but is the time here for it to have a necessary impact? These are arresting times for the voice of the people!
The Connection
As more and more people catch the foresight of netbook and realize they don't need high-end computers for all learner classrooms and instead they could even provide computers to go home with children; it will be open source software penguins leading that march as well. It's been a long day coming for our educational principles to see that this is a much more economically way to serve the teachers and students and thereby be able to serve All of them.
An leading aside- very much worth the read and exploration- Negroponte is so open source he is now publishing a wiki where he is openly displaying the technical yield notes, tech requirements, software, participating countries, photos of the prototypes and much more (see: www.laptop.org ). Bringing such tools into the hands of multitudes of schools and students around the world, near and far, can positively change who the voices will be, and who will be in the global conversations in just a few months and in our global political future.
Providing such a tool and entry to the exterior world for not just students, but also for their families, for that is part of the purpose, can build a growing wave of social change through many forms of literacy and understanding. When the walls of Equity and access are broken down in even in these small ways, the opportunities are many for people to rise in to new possibilities. Penguins, open source, education and 0 laptop have much empowering inherent for the children of the world, adults and nations.
Penguins & Netbooks - allocation Solutions For education Birthed by Innovation!
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