You can see students browsing the web and taking notes on laptop computers at anytime on campus. On other parts of the planet, a child is lucky if he gets to see one in his lifetime.
One Laptop Per Child hopes to raise awareness of this problem on Dec 4., with a presentation in the Applied Arts Forum, according to Year of Service Co-Chair Kathryn Adams.
OLPC’s goal is to give children in developing areas a durable laptop for educational needs.
“One Laptop Per Child helps students not just have computers to play with, it’s about giving them access to learning,” said Adams.
“Through the internet, they can access other educational programs. They can learn, and interact with students in other schools in other countries.”
The event planned, as part of the Year of Service, will feature a presentation from OLPC Support Volunteer Caryl Bigenho as well as an area set up with the laptops themselves.
This way students can get a hands on feel for the $199 machines, and then decide if they want to donate money to the program or get involved in the group itself.
Bigenho hopes that they can set up an OLPC university chapter at Moorpark College, and get students and faculty involved with the program.
The laptop itself is called the XO laptop, and it is built with a screen that can be read under direct sunlight, as well as a lime green case that is shock proof.
Bigenho says that despite the name of her organization, very often it’s five children to one laptop.
John Grzywacs-Gray, Year of Service co-chair, says that planning something with OLPC is something he has been thinking about for a long time, and that “this is an important event.”
Adams also says that his event can be an opportunity to expose students to the poor educational conditions in other countries, and how OLPC isn’t about taking away a student’s culture or norms.
“It’s more about giving them a voice in our world,” said Adams. “If we can hear the voice of people in rural areas, and greatly disadvantaged areas then we can be more aware of how the power giants affect other people.”
