OLPC
One Laptop per Child, a nonprofit initiative founded by MIT Media Lab's Nicholas Negroponte, aimed at providing children in developing countries with the low-cost XO-1 laptop computer at approximately one hundred dollars, with the goal of bridging the global digital divide.
Timeline (last 90 days)
The OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) initiative was championed by Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the MIT Media Lab.
OLPC promised to create a laptop costing only $100, designed specifically for children in developing countries.
The OLPC project made its first public appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2005.
The actual production cost of OLPC long remained above the promised $100 price.
Multiple independent evaluations, including those by the World Bank and the Peruvian government, showed that the large-scale rollout of OLPC did not lead to significant improvements in academic achievement.
Intel launched the Classmate PC project targeting developing countries, directly competing with OLPC.
Intel at one point joined the OLPC board of directors and later withdrew.
The widespread adoption of netbooks and smartphones dissolved, at the market level, the distinctiveness of the proposition of "building a cheap computer specifically for poor children."
Technology investment divorced from institutional building and the cultivation of local capacity is unlikely to produce sustainable educational outcomes on its own.
All Facts (9)
Technology investment divorced from institutional building and the cultivation of local capacity is unlikely to produce sustainable educational outcomes on its own.
50%UnverifiedOLPC promised to create a laptop costing only $100, designed specifically for children in developing countries.
50%UnverifiedThe widespread adoption of netbooks and smartphones dissolved, at the market level, the distinctiveness of the proposition of "building a cheap computer specifically for poor children."
50%UnverifiedThe OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) initiative was championed by Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the MIT Media Lab.
50%UnverifiedThe actual production cost of OLPC long remained above the promised $100 price.
50%UnverifiedMultiple independent evaluations, including those by the World Bank and the Peruvian government, showed that the large-scale rollout of OLPC did not lead to significant improvements in academic achievement.
50%UnverifiedIntel launched the Classmate PC project targeting developing countries, directly competing with OLPC.
50%UnverifiedThe OLPC project made its first public appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2005.
50%UnverifiedIntel at one point joined the OLPC board of directors and later withdrew.
50%