One Laptop per Child Program and its Effects on Education in Impoverished Countries


Throughout the developed world there have been numerous attempts to improve the educational systems that are available to students in third world countries. It is widely accepted that improving a child's access to education has a direct effect on the future success of their country and region. One of the most recently developed programs trying to improve international education standards is Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop per Child program (OLPC-Mission). Negroponte's program aims to give laptops to children in third world countries with the hope of broadening their horizons and giving them access to an entire world of material. However, as prevalent as youth education is, many still overlook the fact that young girls often do not receive the same educational opportunities as their male counterparts (UNICEF).

The OLPC program focuses its operation around the famed One Hundred Dollar Laptop or HDL. These computers have been specifically designed to withstand the harshest conditions, worst treatment, limited power supply and limited to no internet connectivity. Due to common technical difficulties and maintenance that isn't available to third world schools, the OLPC installs open interface software such as Linux on their HDL to limit the degree of upkeep the laptops will need. As well as needing very little upkeep, Linux software was chosen because it gives children the opportunity to design their own programs and build their own learning experiences- something not easily available to them through other operating systems (OLPC-Interface). Although an open source operating system is included, there is no other educational software included in the HDL's. They are completely lacking programs which assist with literacy, typing, speech, geography, graphs, photographs, reference material or any other educational content. It is the responsibility of the government who creates the HDL contracts with the OLPC to provide such educational software (Negroponte).

Contracts are negotiated and signed between the OLPC and the governments attempting to improve education. After the government agrees to pay the OLPC millions of dollars, a feat that is difficult for poorer third world countries, it is the government that decides how the computers are dispersed. The money that these governments promise to the OLPC is taken from their already dilapidated education systems that would have otherwise gone to build schools and pay teachers’ salaries. Throughout history, governments have been known to hoard aid to their people in order to maintain the status quo. Myanmar, for example, has hoarded international aid sent for natural disaster relief (McNern). The Iraq government has been known to hoard medical aid to its people (United Nations Foundation). Of the 1.3 billion dollars in aid that was sent to Ghana in 2001-2003, 1.2 billion remained in its national bank rather than spent on its people (The Economist). When it is the job of the governments to distribute the HDLs, it is not far fetched to believe that these same governments will do similar hoarding with their educational aid.

As already mentioned, governments have to provide the computers with programs that will make them useful to the students, beyond just basic internet access (Negroponte). This gives the governments even more power to control the educational system and prevent topics they don't feel should be taught to children, specifically to young girls. Singapore has taken steps to create laws that limit/prohibit certain religious, political and pornographic material available to its citizens from the internet (Aguilar). China has been the focus of Amnesty International with is censorship of internet and educational material through its national internet providers (Amnesty). Tunisia and Egypt have prohibited their citizens from viewing websites for political and other arbitrary reasons (Asiaing). Multiple countries in the Middle East prohibit the teaching of many western writers and historical events such as the Holocaust (Noman). Censorship from governments can prevent young girls from learning about their own bodies and topics such as female genital mutilation. Stringent government control prevents the overall purpose of the OLPC program which is to give children access to the World Wide Web and it's never ending resources (Fletcher).

Beyond these first few boundaries that the OLPC faces with its distribution and lack of educational content lies the problem of the sustainability of the HDLs. The computers are built to sustain as much damage as possible without being internally damaged. However, software problems can still occur that would render the computer useless. Without the maintenance base that only developed countries can afford, the HDLs cannot have a life expectancy that exceeds their need in the communities they are delivered to. The HDL is expected to last 5 years under standard use (OLPC-Hardware). This is assuming their power source, which has yet to be tested over an extended period of time, will last. However, knowing that some HDLs will receive heavier than expected use from children, they can be given a conservative life span of 3-4 years. This is also assuming its power source, generator or hand crank, remains unharmed. Even Kofi Anan, an avid supporter of the OLPC program, broke the power crank handle on the HDL he was shown when he first tried to use it (Zuckerman). Except for Ghana with 31 million and Ethiopia with 62 million, the other governments in need of HDLs have lower than a 15 million dollar GDP, making purchasing more laptops after 4 years nearly impossible (International Monetary Fund). Lack of power sources to charge the HDL’s has also proven to be problematic. They have attempted to build HDLs that are self powered or motion generated. However, these models proved harder to maintain and more expensive to produce making it even more difficult for the already economically strapped governments to purchase large amounts of them (Bullis). A parasitic type of power source is now being used; however, it too has maintenance problems that can drastically reduce the computer’s life expectancy.These parasitic power sources can be things such as car batteries or a common classroom generator (OLPC-Hardware). However, for the communities without cars, common in third world countries, there is just the self-powered generator. If the generator powered by a pull cord were to break, not far fetched with multiple children using it daily, an entire village of laptops would be rendered useless until a new generator could be purchased.

The 'off the grid' system used with the HDLs to try and provide Internet access to a larger population base depends on the upkeep of the HDLs in rural communities. The internet signal is transmitted from one computer to the next to create a base network that doesn't require more than one central server (OLPC-Hardware). It is done this way because in third world rural communities there are not enough servers or towers to transmit signal to an entire region. The use of the HDL as a receiver and transmitter allows the internet signal to reach a much larger area. With this setup however, if a few HDLs closest to the central Internet provider become inactive, Internet service can become extremely limited and in some cases unavailable to the wider rural population since the HDLs have a smaller range than the distance between many rural communities. If a rural community depends on one or two HDLs closest to it to receive Internet, the entire community can lose signal if these HDLs become inactive. The OLPC site offers an interactive demo to show how its network set-up works. With this demo it is not difficult to create a situation where an entire group of HDLs depend on one or two for their internet signal (OLPC-Hardware). Because of this fragile system of information transmission, small hiccups in the maintenance and upkeep of the computers can affect an entire region of children who depend on them for the majority of their educational material.


Other problems that the OLPC has to face can prevent it from truly changing the face of education in developing countries. Since OLPC's development of the Hundred Dollar Laptop, other companies have begun to produce and market their own low cost, high impact computers for the third world. These other companies, such as Intel, provide software with their computers that many, even in the third world, recognize and are more comfortable with such as Windows. Contracts with the OLPC were denied because of this lack of familiar software (Koman). In the meantime other HDL producers were able to obtain contracts that the OLPC has been unable to match even after they switched some of their units to Windows based software. With the higher popularity of these computers now becoming a threat in a market that had never had competition before, the OLPC is finding it harder and harder to secure contracts with governments to buy their HDLs. With lower sales in computers than expected, the price of manufacturing rises creating a downward spiral which the OLPC is nearly powerless to prevent. Also, with recognition of opportunity in the new 'under privileged' market, many corporations which once worked with and backed the OLPC have branched off on their own or gone to help competitors with their products. Without sufficient corporate backing and the support of third world governments, the OLPC is unable to reach the mark needed to produce the laptops at an affordable rate, therefore making them incapable of changing the face of global education(Tripathi).

The main problem of the OLPC program is its distribution through third world governments to children already in school. In the West, girls and boys attend school at fairly similar rates. As seen in the United States, women count for 54% of all college students (Mather). However, in the third world this is not the case. The US State Department reports that 60% of children not attending school in Africa are girls. That figure jumps to 80% in Afghanistan (Dobrianski). For every 100 boys not enrolled in school in Yemen there are 270 girls, 316 in Iraq, 426 in India and 257 in Benin (World Bank). Alarmingly, two thirds of the world’s illiterates are female (CIDA). The gender gap in literacy for different world regions can be seen in Figure 1 (CIDA). For one to use enrollment statistics as a means for comparison, as many studies do, all young girls would have to be able to easily attend school. However, in third world countries girls' attendance rates are lower than their enrollment rates (UNICEF). These statistics show there are barriers placed on young girls based on gender that prevent them from obtaining an education. There is no physical reason why young girls should have a lower attendance rate than their male counterparts. The OLPC fails to recognize this gender disparity in its mission to change the outlook of education on the world.

Literacy rate
(percentage of population age 15 and over)


Figure 1


Since the HDLs are sold to governments who then distribute them to the schools, only students who already attend school will get a laptop (Einhorn). With the lower rates of girls attending school compared to boys, it is not hard to realize that this will only further the gender gap in terms of educational opportunities. It also affects the extreme poor who are not able to send their children to school. Children who truly need the HDL to obtain educational opportunities will not receive it (Stern). As discussed by Mitra Sugata, technology such as this only has a large positive effect when introduced to poorer rural communities, not when it is given to those who are already receiving classroom education (Sugata).

The OLPC's vision to provide every child with a laptop was one that was supposed to change the world and how children learn in it. However, the HDLs lack of educational content, the responsibilities of dispersal being given to governments, and the lack of maintenance support will not change the face of education at all - in fact it will do quite the opposite. Children who already have access to education will receive even more materials. As seen in reports by the UN and the US State Department, the children who are able to attend schools are, on average, male. This discrepancy in attendance along with the method in which the computers are distributed only furthers the gap between the educational opportunities of girls compared to boys. The OLPC program does not address the unequal or segregated education that is prevalent in poor societies. Without recognition of this problem and direct work towards its reversal, no amount of technology will help girls obtain the same opportunities as boys. While an education with access to the Internet may help young girls gain the same knowledge base as young boys, it does little to help girls when they are not the ones receiving the technology. It also widens the gap between those in urban centers who have access to schools compared to those in rural communities where schools are less easily reached. It is much harder for a family in a distant village to send their children to school compared to a poor family living in or near a city center. This gives the children in urban areas where schools are more available a better chance at quality education while the rural children are left behind. The money that the governments put into the contracts with the OLPC could be used to build more schools in rural societies, pay the teachers better wages or hire more teachers to improve the already dismal teacher to student ratios. Instead, the money is used for technology that these societies aren't yet ready for (Posner).

There has been a plethora of research done to show the effects of computer based education on students. Recently, however, researchers have been performing studies on third world children to see if the effect is different on those who have never experienced a media involved curriculum. As Banarjee found, math scores were significantly higher with the students who used CBE compared to those who did not. She states that it seems to have “no measurable impact on language test scores” (Banarjee). A similar study performed by Michael Macaulay discovered the same results. However, Macaulay points out that computer based education, or CBE, has little to no effect on children who already have access to an education, or pre-knowledge of the subject. On the other hand, children without prior knowledge of the given subject, CBE has a greater effect on their test scores (Macaulay). This opinion is shared by Sugata Mitra who states that CBE will only work from the bottom up. He also states that CBE needs to be given to children in far rural communities who do not have access to education. However, this is completely the opposite of how the HDLs through Nicholas Negroponte’s OLPC are being distributed.

With the multiple problems in third world education that the OLPC does not address or rectify, it has at least opened a new market to the world. It has helped companies realize there is a market for technology that is durable, without the bells and whistles that have become standard luxuries in our society but not needed in the majority of the world (Pontin). In the future when the educational systems of third world countries reach gender discrepancies and percentages of attendance levels that are closer to those in the developed world, then perhaps the HDL started by the OLPC will have a positive effect on impoverished children's education. Until then it will only perpetuate the cycle of governments controlling information, preventing young girls from reaching their potential, and widen the discrepancy between the rich and poor.



Annotated Bibliography

Aguilar, Rose “Singapore Law Restricts Internet” 11 July 1996. CNET News. 25 November 2008
< http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-217236.html>
This article talks about the restrictions imposed on the Singapore people, specifically though the control of the internet and how it is censored.

Amnesty International USA “Censorship in China” 2008. Internet Censorship. 25 November 2008
<http://www.amnestyusa.org/business-and-human-rights/internet-censorship/page.do?id=1101572>
This article discusses the censorship of the Chinese people and their internet and the different companies that have helped the Chinese Republic continue to censor their information.

Asiaing.com “False Freedom: Online Censorship in the Middle East and North Africa” 28 September 2008 Media 25 November 2008 <http://www.asiaing.com/false-freedom-online-censorship-in-the-middle-east-and-north-africa.html>
This article discusses the type and breadth of censor ship found through the MENA region.

Banarjee, Abhijit et al "Computer-Assisted Learning project" Oct 2003 Poverty Action Lab. 19 Oct 2008
<http://www.povertyactionlab.com/projects/project.php?pid=6>
This is a study of how computer based learning affects children's development in poor societies.

Bullis, Kevin “Powering the $100 Laptop” 24 July 2006. Technology Review. MIT. 24 November 2008
<http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17194&ch=infotech&a=f>
Kevin Bullis discusses how the HDL with the OLPC will be charged and the different methods they have used.

Canadian International Development Agency(CIDA) “Education” 2008. Canadian Geographic Enterprises. 24 November 2008 <http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/worldmap/cida/education.asp>
This site offers statistics on girls education in the developing world as well as providing graphs showing the world literacy rates by gender and region.

Dobriansky, Paula “The Education of Girls in the Developed World” 25 September 2006. US Department of State. 24 November 2008 <http://www.state.gov/g/rls/rm/73283.htm>
This article mentions statistics of girls education in third world countries including world literacy rates and percent of girls who are out of school in different regions.

Einhorn, Bruce. "A Crusade to Connect Children" Business Week Online 17 Aug 2006 15-15
This article discusses the political walls that OLPC has to face in order to distribute HDLs to children throughout the impoverished world.

Fletcher, Geoffrey H. "It's a Vision Thing." T H E Journal 33:13 (Aug 2006) 16-17
This article lays out potential problems with distribution, social politics with HDLs and how different education systems can help to develop the OLPC program.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) “Nominal GDP List of Countries” October 2008. World Economies Outlook Database. 24 November 2008. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_gdp>
This site offers a ranked list of the world’s countries and their GDPs.

Koman, Richard. "XP on XO: Negroponte has lost his bearings" 16 May 2008 ZDNet. 19 Oct 2008. <http://government.zdnet.com/?p=3824>
This is a blog written by a well-known writer in the technology field. He gives a critique on the OLPC program and why it has a different direction than was initially intended.

Macaulay, Michael “The Effects of Multimedia on Learning in Third World Children” Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia. 12:2 (April 2003)
This article studies the effects of multimedia education on third world children who had never been given access to such technology before.

Mather, Mark & Adams, Dia “The Crossover in Female-Male College Enrollment Rates” 2008. Population Reference Bureau. 24 November 2008 <http://www.prb.org/Articles/2007/CrossoverinFemaleMaleCollegeEnrollmentRates.aspx>
This site offers information and statistics on the rate of women attending college in the USA and how the data has shifted over the last 30 years.

McNern, Ethan & Hla Tun, Aung “Junta Hoarding Aid from Abroad” 14 May 2008. The Scottsman. 26 Nov 2008
<http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/world/Junta-39hoarding-aid-from-abroad39.4079576.jp>
This website discusses Myanmar’s hoarding of foreign aid sent for cyclone relief.

Mitra, Sugata “Can Kids Teach Themselves?” February 2007. Technology, Education, Design. 25 November 2008
<http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/sugata_mitra_shows_how_kids_teach_themselves.html>
In this discussion Sugata Mitra talks about how children, even with no prior knowledge of technology, can use multimedia to learn.

Negroponte, Nicholas "Nicholas Negroponte: The vision behind one laptop per child" Aug 2006. Technology, Entertainment, Design. 19 Oct 2008. <http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/nicholas_negroponte_on_one_laptop_per_child.html> This is a video of Nicholas Negroponte giving a presentation at TED about his program OLPC. He discusses how they plan to implement it and what it means to the educational structure in developing nations.

Noman, Helmi & Zarwan, Elijah “Internet in the Middle East and North Africa” 2008. OpenNet Initiative. 26 November 2008 <http://opennet.net/research/regions/mena>
This piece talks about the censorship of the internet within the MENA and abroad.

One Laptop Per Child “Hardware-Features” 25 November 2008
<http://laptop.org/en/laptop/hardware/features.shtml>
This section of the official OLPC site discusses what is used in the HDL and why. It also offers a demo on the left side bar to show how the mesh internet network functions.

One Laptop Per Child. "Mission" 19 Oct 2008 <http://laptop.org/en/vision/mission/index.shtml>
This is the official OLPC site. It offers the direct mission of the organization. It also provides an example of how the mission has change from earlier reports and speeches by Nicholas Negroponte.

One Laptop Per Child "Interface" 19 Oct 2008 <http://laptop.org/en/laptop/interface/>
This section of the official OLPC website offers the explanation for the use of Linux and open interface software on the laptops.

Pontin, Jason. "Mediating Poverty" Technology Review. 108:8 (Aug 2005) 14-14
This article discusses how Negroponte's vision has changed the market for education distribution of the HDLs to children throughout the world.

Posner, Eric. "The Strange Case of One Laptop Per Child" 7 Jan 2008 University of Chicago Law School. 19 Oct 2008
<http://uchicagolaw.typepad.com/faculty/2008/01/the-strange-cas.html>
This is a very critical look at the OLPC program by a law professor at the University of Chicago. He views the need for a laptop as trivial compared to other needs in reference to impoverished education.

Stern, Joan. "Can the $100 Laptop Change the World?" 24 April 2007 LAPTOP 19 Oct 2008 <http://archive.laptopmag.com/News/Notebooks/Can-the-100-Laptop-Change-the-World.htm>
This interview directs questions to Mr. Negroponte about issues in the developing world and asks how his OLPC program will address such concerns.

The Economist “Foreign Aid- The Non-Aligned Movement” 4 April 2007. How to Make Aid Work. 25 November 2008. <http://legatum.mit.edu/Article_Foreign_aid>
This site discusses aid efforts around the world and mentions the amount of aid sent to Ghana.

Tripathi, Salil. "War of the $100 Laptops" New Statesman. 137:4880 (Jan 2008) 22-22
This article discusses the effects of competing entities on the OLPC program and why it has diminished the potential success of OLPC.

UNICEF. "Children Out of School" Child Info-Education. 2007. 9 Nov 2008 <http://www.childinfo.org/education_outofschool.php>
This website shows the ratio of children attending school in every country in the world. It also breaks down attendance and enrollment by gender showing the disparity in education in many countries.

United Nations Foundation “UN Official says Gov’t is hoarding medical supplies” 13 November 2008. UN Wire. 26 November 2008 < http://www.unwire.org/unwire/19990513/2586_story.asp>
This website discuses the Iraqi governments role in hoarding medical aid from it’s people.

World Bank “Girls’ Education” 2008. Education and Human Development. 24 November 2008
<http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTEDUCATION/0,,contentMDK:20298916~menuPK:617572~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:282386,00.html>
This site talks about the importance of education young girls and gives brief statistics on girls in school in third world countries.

Zuckerman, Ethan “It’s Cute. It’s Orange. It’s Got Bunny Ears. An Update on the OLPC Project” 1 June 2006. My Heart’s in Accra. 25 November 2008 <http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2006/06/01/its-cute-its-orange-its-got-bunny-ears-an-update-on-the-one-laptop-per-child-project/> This blogger discusses his opinions on the HDL and whether or not it will last when used by children.