Libyan children to get wired
Libya has reportedly reached an agreement with the American nonprofit organization, One Laptop per Child, to provide all of its 1.2 million schoolchildren with inexpensive laptop computers. The foldable, lime green $100 laptop, which, has the support of the UN Development Program, was developed by MIT’s Nicholas Negroponte a year ago. The idea grew out ...
Libya has reportedly reached an agreement with the American nonprofit organization, One Laptop per Child, to provide all of its 1.2 million schoolchildren with inexpensive laptop computers. The foldable, lime green $100 laptop, which, has the support of the UN Development Program, was developed by MIT's Nicholas Negroponte a year ago. The idea grew out of his experience in rural Cambodia, where after giving children Internet-connected laptops, their first English word was "Google." (Hmm, is that actually a positive effect of the attempt to bridge the digital divide?)
In return for its $250 million investment, Libya will get one server per school, a team of technical advisers, satellite internet service and other infrastructure. Scheduled to be completed in June 2008, the project could make Libya the first nation in which all school-age children are connected to the Internet through educational computers. Looks like Moammar Gadhafi is making good on his agenda to open Libyan society.
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