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Australian Government Backs OLPC

Posted by Soulskill on from the they-even-work-upside-down dept.

angry tapir writes "One Laptop Per Child Australia had a win in the recent Australian budget, receiving federal government funding for the first time. OLPC Australia will benefit from $11.7 million of funding, which will be used to purchase 50,000 laptops to distribute to students. The organization recently launched a new initiative that builds an educational ecosystem around the laptops, to help integrate them into the learning process."

12 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    that's around $234 a piece, for that amount you can get a netbook with better specs compared to olpc

    1. Re:what? by bane2571 · · Score: 2

      you missed the "educational ecosystem" Which I assume to mean "actually helpful software"

    2. Re:what? by Gadget_Guy · · Score: 4, Informative

      So you could get a cheaper computer. Then what? You need them configured, a support structure, additional software etc. All that costs money. You can't just take the experience of someone buying a computer for themselves and translate it to the needs of the government buying 50,000 units.

      Like you, I did the calculations and was frankly surprised at how cheap it worked out to be.

    3. Re:what? by iamhassi · · Score: 2

      that's around $234 a piece, for that amount you can get a netbook with better specs compared to olpc

      I thought the same thing, but they have a program where the children learn how to replace motherboards and LCDs in the olpc.. Can't do that with a dell netbook, and I'm sure the kids appreciate them more when they realize they'll have to replace the screen themselves if they slam it against a wall. Besides an olpc is a bit more robust than a walmart netbook, I'd compare it more to a toughbook then a normal netbook and you can't buy a new toughbook for anywhere near $200

      --
      my karma will be here long after I'm gone
  2. A good thing by Gadget_Guy · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is exactly what the OLPC was made for - distribution in third world countries!

    But seriously, it always makes me angry when I see the notebook computers that some schools force their students to use. Big heavy 15" models are stupid to be carried every single day even by adults, let alone small children. You would think that inexpensive, small netbooks should be a no-brainer.

    1. Re:A good thing by dark12222000 · · Score: 2

      Your core point here is fair enough, and I agree with it, but there are a lot of factors you aren't considering.

      Notebooks tend to have much more power, are much easier to work with, and have CD/DVD drives. Netbooks don't.

      Now, I loved my netbook for years, but most educational software is still disc based, and a lot of educational software is a bit bloated and requires a bit of horsepower. When you look at math and graphing tools, the need for power is even more important.

      Also, most major computer companies are more familiar with, and more likely to, sell 5000 notebooks then 5000 netbooks simply because they're used to large orders of notebooks for enterprise clients. Enterprise clients don't use netbooks. If you're an educational entity bulk buying computers, you're likely to get a steeper discount on notebooks then netbooks (since netbooks have a pretty low profit margin as is), and you may find notebooks to actually be cheaper per unit - plus, much more customizable then netbooks.

    2. Re:A good thing by duk242 · · Score: 4, Informative

      As an IT guy for a school, CD Drives are completely unnecessary in student laptops/netbooks. While most software publishers send the software to us on CD, I rip it off the CD and package it into an app that'll run fine on the computer (usually there's no copy protection to worry about) then it's just as simple as rolling it out over the network.

    3. Re:A good thing by duk242 · · Score: 2

      Oh, we always do it with the permission of the publishers. We always buy X number of licences and they allow us to install it on X number of machines in the school, there's no trickery here :P

    4. Re:A good thing by stepho-wrs · · Score: 2

      s/in the butt/up the arse/

  3. Re:OLPC failure by azalin · · Score: 2, Informative

    The price is probably not just the hardware but also some sort of supporting infrastructure as well.

  4. Re:knowing is half the battle by azalin · · Score: 2

    Once you hand out a computer to everybody, you can expect them to use it. You can start sending assignments per email, or require the to do online research without having to first check if every time if all your pupils have access to a computer.

  5. Re:Aboriginal communities 3rd World by mathew42 · · Score: 2

    Unfortunately and shamefully many Aboriginal Communities in the outback have health and other standards that are 3rd world.

    Here are a couple of links:
    * http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/304648/olpc_boosts_outback_education_laptop_deployment/ (2012)
    * http://www.itnews.com.au/News/300029,indigenous-communities-get-olpc-boost.aspx (2009)
    And some research by Gina Milgate to put it into context.