One of my podcasting co-hosts, Mark Gura, and I have been on and off discussing the $ 100+ laptop project for the past two years on our popular biweekly series. If you are not familiar with the $ 100 laptop project; it has been spearheaded by Nicholas Negroponte, a former MIT member. The importance of this is the way it has taken advantage of the wave of adoption of open source software and forced computer manufacturers to develop low-cost netbooks. This education related project has truly transformed the computer industry and the expectations of technology users!
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Negraponte’s project is now called the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project because the basic purpose is to provide low-cost, durable laptops to children in developing countries. The prototype of these laptops has gone through wide variations and has drawn a lot of criticism in recent years and they never claim to be the “do it all” computer.
These are basic models and yet quite revolutionary in several ways. On the one hand, they are very small, they have alternative energy sources, such as manual ones, they can be linked to form an intranet (wireless broadband that can be interconnected in a network) and, above all, they do not suffer what the founder calls “swelling of Microsoft “. “In dedicated efforts to keep the cost so low, the software used is open source, requiring a much smaller installation space and hardware operation requirements.
Summary of the details of the original prototype 2007: 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 wireless broadband that creates a mesh network.
Enter: Wider Public Adoption of Open Source Software!
In several episodes of the Teachers Podcast we discussed the fusion of another of my favorite technology trends with the OLPC phenomenon: development and open source software. Open source development occurs when groups of people openly share source code in the development of programming languages, operating systems, or other applications. The purpose is that the community can test and work collaboratively around the world on the project with many available minds and perspectives that might not otherwise come together and work together. It really is a community and therefore the content and the product remain “open” and are free to use. Very often a Creative Commons code license is used to describe the use and attribution of software.
Probably the most famous current example is the Linux operating system (identified with its mascot, the penguin, also known as Tux). In relation to Linux, which has dozens of programmers working on it around the world, there are also other Linux-like operating systems available which also include Apache, Ubantu, Linspire, and more. For the education sector, open source software has lagged a long way behind in adoption, as schools have been integrated primarily on PCs and a small number on Macs in the younger grades. However, having visited a few educational technology conferences in the last two years, I have seen a different trend where interest is finally paid and the OLPC project could take it even further. Let me explain.
At educational technology conferences we have experienced hands-on demonstrations of Linux or Ubantu network labs which are “dumb terminals” connected to a server and everyone gets access to the Internet and applications from the server. This first-hand experience provides an entry point for many teachers, education technology specialists, and school administrators who might never have otherwise considered these options. In these cases, the participants see that there is not a great loss in function with this configuration, while the cost of this equipment is a small fraction of a conventional school laboratory. This is due to two obvious main factors: 1) the hardware is not standalone computers and 2) the operating system is open source. Hardware costs and upgrade costs are also greatly reduced, as is the fact that licenses and software upgrades are eliminated.
Open source software is no longer just for techies. These platforms are similar to most other point and click programs. And there are thousands of open source programs freely available so that we can meet the needs of business, education, graphics, music composition, media design, applications, to name just a few. Some K-12 superintendents are incorporating open source networks (the they call Open Technologies) in their schools, we are watching the march of penguins, pencils and laptops strutting for education! At a time of increased scrutiny of school budgets and increased accountability, I expect 2009-2010 to be a time when open source software, dumb terminals, and virtual terminals (to be discussed in an upcoming e-zine article) ) will be advancing at a double or triple rate.
Update May 2009
The massive wave of netbooks (Asus, Acer, HP, Dell, and more) that has flooded the computer market in the last 16 months has been a welcome relief for the budgets of consumers and schools alike! We have Dr. Negroponte to thank for transforming the computing industry almost single-handedly by pushing his OLPC project to the forefront of the corporate competition table. The details that were closely revealed about Negroponte’s progress were the Asus group and the launch of the ee pc with Linux on board (originally).
Not just for tech folks, these were released in the standard gray and black colors, but also striking pink, green, and white; we can see that the market was broader than what the standard computing industry had been addressing). Their product was received with enthusiasm and so impacted the public market that major computer manufacturers had to respond quickly. Now, in June 2009, we have netbooks from all the major manufacturers available for under $ 500. The smaller, much less expensive (about 77% reduction in price), and robust hardware selections that we now see around us in computer stores and offices are originally due to OLPC’s reorganization of an optimistic and overrated system.
A related wave of adoption also continues in the spring of 2009, and that is that open source, from Open Office.org to Linux, has had a very good year so far. Not only are we seeing more ads for these products in mainstream publications, but laypeople (not tech-savvy) are asking, requesting, and using them. What does this mean for Microsoft? Will there really be a backlash against high upgrade prices? We’ve talked about frustration for years, but is it time for it to have a significant impact? These are exciting times for the voice of the people!
The connection
As more and more people grasp the vision for netbooks and realize that they don’t need high-end computers for all student classrooms and could instead even provide computers to go home with the kids; it will be the penguins of open source software who will lead that march as well. It has been a long day for our educational system to see that this is a much more economical way to serve teachers and students and, therefore, to be able to serve ALL.
An important aside, which is very worth reading and exploring, Negroponte is so open source that it is now publishing a wiki where it openly shows the production technical notes, the technological requirements, the software, the participating countries, the photos of the prototypes. and much more (see: www.laptop.org). Bringing these tools into the hands of multitudes of schools and students around the world, near and far, can really change who the voices will be and who will be in global conversations in just a few months and in our global political future.
Providing such a tool and an entrance to the outside world not only for students, but also for their families, as it is part of the purpose, can generate a rising tide of social change through many forms of literacy and understanding. When the walls of equity and access are broken down even in these small ways, the opportunities are great for people to rise up into new possibilities. Penguins, open source, education, and the $ 100 laptop have great empowering potential for the world’s children, adults, and nations.