Australian Government Backs OLPC 60
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."
what? (Score:4, Insightful)
that's around $234 a piece, for that amount you can get a netbook with better specs compared to olpc
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so these OLPC's will all come with Windows 7?
Re:what? (Score:5, 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.
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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. [techworld.com.au]. 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 [google.com] then a normal netbook and you can't buy a new toughbook for anywhere near $200
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that's around $234 a piece, for that amount you can get a netbook with better specs compared to olpc
Higher spec netbooks cost a bit more than that in Oz.
Re:what? use OLPC to teach repair? (Score:1)
Using an OLPC to teach repair is just so flat out stupid I could spit. Teaching a student how to take apart and put together a specific laptop (keyboard, screen, case, mainboard) that has all of the complexity of an eight piece lego set is pointless. Better off, collect random broken toasters, provide tools, and challenge the students to put together one that can toast bread.
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A good thing (Score:5, 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.
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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 c
Re:A good thing (Score:4, Informative)
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Notebooks tend to have much more power, are much easier to work with, and have CD/DVD drives. Netbooks don't.
The student laptops that I have seen didn't really have much non-standard software (non-office products). The education software that it did have did not require a CD to install. I know this because I was given the software to install on the mother's work computer, to which I said to go get stuffed! Remember the schools get to dictate which software is used. If it doesn't work on their school mandated computers then they will choose other software.
As for not being powerful enough, I just finished playing th
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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.
Math and graphing? You do realize that a TI-89 has 16mhz and 256 kbyte RAM, right? [wikipedia.org]. I think any modern CPU can handle math and graphing.
Honestly the laptops they sell now are far more powerful than what we need 99% of the time since all most people want is a browser.
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I see you're not familiar with the laptops the Australian government foisted onto students a few years ago - cheap 10" netbooks which were too slow to be useful the day they were built.
Now the batteries are shot, they're falling apart, and they haven't gotten any faster...
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I see you're not familiar with the laptops the Australian government foisted onto students a few years ago - cheap 10" netbooks which were too slow to be useful the day they were built.
It is true that I am not familiar with them, because they didn't seem to make it to the students that I know. They all had big-arse laptops.
Now the batteries are shot, they're falling apart, and they haven't gotten any faster...
They don't need to last too long. That's the point of cheap, disposable computers. As to them not getting faster, why would they?
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Heh. You may joke but there's considerable poverty in some of the more remote communities in Oz, this could be a considerable educational boost to some of the deprived, rural towns I passed through on my travels here a couple of years back.
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This is exactly what the OLPC was made for - distribution in third world countries!
This is an insult to Australia and will punished by a good kicking in the butt. Be glad you didn't question the water rotation in the local toilets. The last time that happened the US embassy had to be evacuated.
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s/in the butt/up the arse/
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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.
Netbooks are out of the question because they are almost impossible to work with on a day-to-day basis (particularly for students with vision problems). That only leaves small, inexpensive laptops, which as I understand it don't exist yet. Ideally you'd be looking at a 12-13" laptop, but they're too damn expensive when you put them up against the 15-17" monsters. To be honest a 15" laptop isn't that big a deal, I have one sitting on my desk which is approximately 1.2kg with the battery in, vs. 1.1kg for an
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To be honest a 15" laptop isn't that big a deal, I have one sitting on my desk which is approximately 1.2kg with the battery in, vs. 1.1kg for an average size maths textbook.
That must one hell of a 15" laptop you have there, in fact, it's so good that I strongly suspect that its from the future. Seriously which make/model is it?
The Asus UX21 is a 1.1Kg ultrabook with a 11.6" screen, and costs clear of $1000. It's almost identical to the 11 inch Maxbook Air in everything (including price) but is marginally f
Re:Aboriginal communities 3rd World (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/ [computerworld.com.au] (2012)
* http://www.itnews.com.au/News/300029,indigenous-communities-get-olpc-boost.aspx [itnews.com.au] (2009)
And some research by Gina Milgate [acer.edu.au] to put it into context.
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Give a family that makes 5 grand a year because the dad is a meth addict and the mom is a compulsive gambler (this is just one of the stories I've heard from students) hardware worth (figure 2-3 kids per family, even low end laptops add up) $500 at the pawn shop and what do you think will happen?
I was thinking along the lines of other posters that I'd spend the money on standard hardware instead of a OLPC device, until I read your comment.
I do agree with your comments (and others) who have said that simply handing out laptops to everyone isn't a magic cure, it does seem worth pointing out that going for OLPC rather than something you'd get at a local computer store will help mitigate the risk of the devices being sold off or disappearing because a OLPC device isn't going to be worth anything like $
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Well it's a token effort, being about 1% of the $1.5B surplus for which the government is budgeting.
Still, it's a tax deduction for those who'd channel money into the noble cause of the education of Aboriginal children.
In perspective, the current cyncism is that the government is vote-bribing parents of teenage children to the tune of $820. Hence buying an OLPC for a few kids in the bush is comparative pocket change.
OLPC failure (Score:2)
The goal of OLPC was to produce a sub-hundred dollar netbook to be distributed to the poor at a price point where charity is possible. This a $234 dollar laptop. Not only is this greater than the $100 goldilocks price point, but their for profit competitors are now cheaper!
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Hello? Tech Support??? (Score:2)
I'm sorry to say, but this will turn to shit.
My daughter was part Kevin 07s laptop trial program a couple of years ago in a Victorian primary school.
They gave every student in her year a netbook for $150 with everything on it. Win 7, Office etc. and they used them in just about every class.
It was a really, really good initiative.... until they broke.
The schools had enough seed money to pay a tech to come in and set them up initially, after that there was no more support. Teachers who were technically mind
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The OLPC project specifically addresses tech support and is included in the budget. Also the software stackis totally different to a standard PC. It is focussed on collaborative learning and is totally open-sourced. It is very different to a standard commercial software distribution with canned teaching.
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