Video - 1:1 initative AWESOME!

Article link with video from 60 minutes

(Thanks Sherry for the video from your blog !)

Charge it with a crank, salad spinner if you run out of battery charge!
Waterproof, heat resistant... Wow!

The video makes great opposing points.. about security, (stolen from a child.. stops working after 24 hours) etc.. What about internet signal? Hidden costs?

There is also some new competition to this program (Intel - classmate, and a computer made in India as well as other companies looking at low cost alternatives).

"Over all goal for the program is for every child in the "world" to have a laptop!" - Nicholas Negroponte

Give 1 to Get 1

Hot off the presses: According to an eSchool News article, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) has revived their program as of May 20th, and has disclosed plans for a second generation of "XO" computers. If you pay $400.00 , you will purchase one laptop for yourself and then you will provide another laptop to a child in a developing country. The original program was trying to offer the computers to each child for $100.00 each. The price right now is estimated\ at $188.00. So far, over 600,000 of them have been sold and 162,000 were purchased through the "give one get one" program. The second round of the "give one to get one" program will begin sometime this summer and anyone can participate.

I think this is a great opportunity to teach children about global issues our world faces today. What would be better than having some type of fundraiser to raise $400.00 for this program. Why not donate both computers? Just something to think about!

Check out this post from the Open Thinking & Digital Pedagogy blog about the 1:1 initiative and how they might be switching the platform over to microsoft windows!

Some people think that laptops for children may not be a good idea. Read this article. What do you think?

Thin Client - Why Not??

Thin Client Video



When watching this video about the thin client produced by HP, I just thought to myself, over and over, why not? Why not have one room to store the "blades" while the "thin client"portion sits on the desks in my room. Just think of all of the free space that would provide for the students. The thin client portion of the computer could be mounted under the desk so the students would not even touch them! All that would need to be housed, would be the screen and a keyboard.

According to a press release from Wyse Technology, announcing Harvard University has gone to the thin client in their Physics department, here are some of the benefits to doing so:

In addition to streamlining their support efforts, the department has also noted the following benefits of deploying thin computing solutions:

* Security – Unlike PCs, thin-clients have no local storage devices so thin clients are not vulnerable to viruses and other malware as long as the servers are protected. Additionally, the data is always safe on the server and compliant with privacy regulations since there is no way to store and remove proprietary information from thin clients.
* Manageability – Thin clients are much easier to deploy, configure, and back up for the simple reason that the software is delivered from – and resides on – the server. So there is very little hands-on legwork required.
* Total Cost of Ownership – The average annual maintenance costs for a PC are four to seven times the acquisition costs, whereas thin clients can save organizations more than $1,000 per seat per year in maintenance costs. This can be as much as a 40 percent savings for most IT departments, according to the IDC whitepaper, Thin Computing ROI: The Untold Story.

I remember seeing a setup of a technology classroom, where the table top opened up to show the display and keyboard. They would pop up out of the table top for the students. They would then lock down when the teacher did not want the students using the computer. What a wonderful set up. Who wouldn't love to lock the computer down some days? "OK Billy, that is enough, you are shut off!", just by flipping down the table top!

I wonder what would make administrators use 50lb. mac's that take up a ton of desk space when they could be running on a linux system, with minimal virus concerns as well as low technical support costs. This system would be great for schools who already have a lot of older computers as well. They can use those old computers and run the new thin client on them, so they do not need to purchase any more hardware. Things never make sense to me when it comes to the "education" world!