Dot Learnt

One Laptop Per Child has just unveiled the latest edition to its XO family. The XO 3.0 tablet is the organization’s latest feat: a fully functional tablet created to withstand extreme weather conditions, use reduced energy and be easy on the wallet.

Most impressively, the XO 3.0 is able be fully powered by solar energy or hand-cranks, meaning that the new tablet will provide access and opportunity to isolated communities, independent of the power grid.

The organization, which has granted over 2.4 million children around the world access to technology in over 42 countries in 25 different languages, calls the X0 3.0 a “technological breakthrough” due to its “significant decrease in power consumption,” according to Chief Technology Officer, Edward McNierney.

Talk of the new XO 3.0 inspired me to check out other cost-friendly tablets making waves in the realm of education.

Raspberry Pi will hit the market later this month. The credit-card sized computer can plug into a TV or a computer and is available for just $25 – $35. The Raspberry Pi can be used for word-processing and gaming, and can also play high-definition video. (more…)

During a recent lunch with my friend Sid, we started talking about our first encounters with computers. While I never had much exposure to computers in grade school, I remember vividly the day my father proudly unwrapped our first Mac Classic. Many a suburban afternoons after that were spent playing Brickles, the Oregon Trail and Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego.

Sid, on the other hand, grew up in a small town in North Africa. While he didn’t have a computer at home, he longed for Thursday afternoons when he could go to the library for three hours of unfettered access to his community computers. “When I was a kid, I loved building things, but I couldn’t afford the bits and parts required to do things like make an engine. What was so great about the computer is that I could create things like games (with code) and didn’t need any extra money or parts… I didn’t have a diskette or memory card. So, each week I had to start from scratch! I memorized lines of code and worked things out on paper in-between sessions”. His eyes lit up with excitement recounting the experience—the look of a true amateur (one that does things for the love of it, rather than for compensation).

His story reminded me of the wonderful research done by Sugata Mitra:

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