Vlady Fresh

A few days ago I sent an update to our prayer supporters sharing about One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). In response, a good friend asked, “I was wondering what you think are the primary benefits of this program and why we should support it. Why not, for instance, support building libraries with computers? It sounds like a worthy cause, but I also wasn’t sure what YOU thought were the reasons why we should support it.”

I’m so glad she asked! Here are 7 reasons why I’m excited about the OLPC program … at least at this experimental stage. Please feel free to critique my arguments since I always appreciate having my thoughts challenged by others.

1. Infrastructure: The OLPC program doesn’t rely heavily on infrastructure. If the web is available, the XO laptops can take advantage of it. If it’s not, that’s fine too. The laptops are able to create mesh networks on their own, without the need for the Internet. So school children can communicate, collaborate, and share without the need for telecommunications infrastructure. They also use nominal amounts of electricity as compared to regular laptops and desktops which will help not to overload already stressed out electrical infrastructure.
2. Environment: Environments like Cambodia severely shorten a computer’s lifespan. This is due in part to the heat, in part to the dust, and in part to insects which love to climb around inside computers. OLPC laptops are engineered with this in mind and are built with less parts, and without the parts that break most often, so they are more suitable for this environment.
3. Theft: If a country is saturated with the same product, it should (hopefully) be less tempting to steal. Typical computers, especially laptops, are very tempting to steal but, if every child in Cambodia has one already, it might be less of a problem. The XO laptops’ unique design and color are also deterrents to theft or redirection into the black market.
4. Pedagogy: Children are natural learners and have an amazing ability to learn by doing and playing. Giving a child their own laptop enables him/her to become comfortable enough with it that they can play with it, tweak it, and learn how it works. I’ve seen the alternative (training adults how to use specific programs like Excel) and it is amazingly ineffective. This method produces automatons who lack intuition for how computers work and are afraid to try something novel with software that they use every day.
5. Liberation: Cambodia is addicted to Microsoft. Unfortunately, it can’t afford this addiction since one legally licensed version of MS Office costs a year’s salary. There is also the ethical problem of piracy. Cambodians are forced to buy pirated software because legal software cannot be found. (I wrote Microsoft to ask them if they had an authorized reseller in Cambodia and they told me the closest reseller was in Thailand.) In addition to the economic and ethical problems with using Microsoft software here, there is a linguistic problem. There is a complete Linux distribution entirely in Khmer but MS doesn’t sell an OS or even a program for Khmer. There are additional technical problems surrounding the typing of Khmer script which I won’t get into here except to say that MS is again holding back the development of computer literacy while Linux would allow it to quickly accelerate. All of this relates back to the OLPC program because the XO laptop uses open source software, which for numerous reasons in addition to those mentioned above, is the only real option for Cambodia’s future.
6. Population: There are only 14-15 million Khmer speakers in the world. Even if most were literate (they are not) and wealthy enough to purchase textbooks (they are not), it would be a challenge to find ways to print teaching materials in a cost effective manner. Using E-books, like the XO, allows for the rapid dissemination of new books, information updates, etc. It also eliminates the economic waste of books ruined due to flooding, consumption by insects, etc. Not incidentally and leading directly into the following point, the small population size makes it a manageable size case study.
7. Ideal Case Study: While there are poorer countries in the world, it’s unlikely that many are less educated or have a writing system less well adapted to computer use. If the OLPC program can produce some quantitatively measurable educational success here, then I think it is fair to say that it could have success anywhere.

Whoa, I’ve convinced myself that this really is a good idea. I’m going to buy an XO laptop today. =)