Journal Blog 5

One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to bridging the digital divide for children in high poverty areas of the world.  Believing in the Constructivism ideal that children learn by doing, OLPC wants to provide the tools to every child and promote learning learning.  The organization has successfully donated their XO laptops to thousands of students and teachers in Peru, Rwanda, Uruguay, Israel, Ethiopia, as well as many other countries.  OLPC has also provided laptops for some schools in the U.S. as well.  The progress of the organization’s objective, of providing under privileged children, the basic tools to gain knowledge, seems to be growing.  

I believe that the OLPC could be effectively initiated and executed in the U.S. with great success.  It has already been implemented in schools in Birmingham AL and could be used to provide laptops to many of the nation’s youth for a relatively low cost.   As a way to off-set the costs of the units, the states could apply for grants to purchase the low-cost, durable laptops for each child.  If the nation wants to increase standards and raise the bar of education then the states should adopt the same mission as OLPC and strive to close the digital divide within our own nation.