Hudl Accessories 2

The Main One Accessories for Hudl per Child (OLPC) project aims to provide an exceptionally cheap computer for elementary schoolchildren in developing countries. The $100 Accessories for Hudl, so named due to the intended price, bring a laptop and e-book, replacing paper textbooks, notebooks, and pencils, designed with the MIT Media Laboratory. The XO, since it is now officially called, carries a wind-up crank power generator for regions with limited use of electricity, and Wi-Fi mesh networking functionality that permits computers to "talk" to nearby computers in areas with limited Access to the internet. In Thailand, Argentina, 2006, Brazil and Libya and Nigeria decided to test prototypes ahead of the planned large-scale distribution to an incredible number of schoolchildren. 1 / 2 of the expense of existing laptops is profit and the other quarter is caused by the excessively premium quality of display and microchip, all of these could be eliminated,. That's the argument driving the intended affordable price. A lot of the ICT community supports the project, including Google, AMD, and Linux. Findings through the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI)--OLPC's Usa precursor, started in 2002--suggest that one hudl accessories per child, instead of computer labs with desktops in school, could bring innovation to teaching and learning. The laptop stimulates children's creativity and collaboration, altering classroom dynamics from teacher-centric, unidirectional knowledge transfer to your more inquisitive, interactive process. Nicholas Negroponte (the cofounder of your Media Lab, founder of OLPC, and younger brother of Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte) promotes the project by saying, "A nation's most precious natural resource is its children." Kofi Annan announced the UN's strong support for your project with the World Summit around the Information Society in 2005. Several countries have expressed curiosity about participating in the OLPC project, but probably the most interesting is Macedonia in southeastern Europe. Macedonia Country Background Macedonia, since its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, is facing severe political and economic challenges: UN economic sanctions, economic blockage by Greece (which opposed the application of the name Macedonia for your new state), an inflow of refugees from Kosovo, and armed conflict in a complex multiethnic society. In 1995, the country's real GDP declined to 78.8 percent of the preindependence level, and has grown only around 2 percent annually within the subsequent decade. Foreign Direct Investment inflows have amounted to a total of just about 1.7 billion dollars since independence. The state unemployment rate is up to 36 percent. Despite, or simply as a result of these obstacles, Macedonia is uniquely positioned to make use of the $100 accessories for hudl project.

ICT Landscape in Macedonia Macedonia offers the world's first wireless Internet service covering 99 percent of the populaPtion, as a result of a United States Of America Agency for International Development (USAID) project that installed a nationwide wireless infrastructure interconnecting schools and dealt with an entrepreneurial telecom operator to offer Wi-Fi services nationwide. USAID argues that this project has introduced competition among telecom providers, driving down the price tag on broadband Internet access from $150 to $10 monthly and increasing Internet penetration rates. However, based on a recent survey by the Strategic Marketing and Media Research Institute (SMMRI), household Internet penetration continues to be only 13 percent, and simply 6 percent for families with monthly income of less than 200 euros (the typical monthly income is 160 euros). It really is too expensive. That is among the top reasons cited for not using the Internet in your house. The wireless infrastructure, despite its high coverage, remains to Hudl Accessories be highly underutilized. The info technology sector's effect on other sectors is also limited; for example, manufacturing productivity, measured by output per employee, has shown no improvement from 2000 to 2004, per their state Statistical Office. A lot of people in Macedonia are hoping that with less expensive Internet and computers access you will find a rise in productivity in other sectors, as has become seen in other countries. Objectives and Policy Measures It comes with an ongoing discussion taking place in the policy level about the best way to stimulate economic growth, improve primary education, and address the poverty problem. The XO continues to be floated by many people as a possible contributor to all three. The project seeks to leverage a commercially sustainable public-private partnership with a three tiered approach: (1) educational reform, (2) partnership with Internet providers (ISPs), and (3) broader industrial policies for your ICT sector. Educational Reform Over the past three years, USAID has supported the roll-out of computer labs to secondary schools. The proposed $100 laptop project would expand the scope of educational reform to primary schools and introduce one laptop per child, potentially bringing further pedagogical improvements. The interface accompanying the XO, called Sugar, is a fundamental departure from your traditional

window and folder-based model because it is based upon an individual-centered "neighborhood" of activities along with other students. Rather than folders, a "journal" is made automatically because the student works, allowing each student to return to previous work. This model resembles more closely just how students interact and learn. Nevertheless the flexible framework should permit a broader-based learning model than one wherein a band of students simply pay attention to an individual teacher. Partnership with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) The traditional procedure for introducing the XO (although no country has implemented it yet) would be that the government would get the laptops and distribute them for free. This might be a large burden for governments, with the great number of children to protect, as well as the consequent have to replace the laptops every 3 to 5 years. An alternate approach is to do business with the private sector. One proposed investment scheme is thru an ISP that could underwrite the price of the laptops, distribute them free of charge, and charge cheap connection fees. Assuming a higher penetration rate, a $3--5 monthly charge could recoup the price tag on a laptop in two or three years. This prices are still significantly less than the actual lowest market price for monthly internet service in Macedonia ($10), but, granted the existing underutilization in the existing infrastructure, the marginal costs for that ISPs of adding additional users can be minimal. Preliminary financial analysis by an UN-sponsored study group suggests a powerful, positive return on an ISP participating in this plan. Broader Industrial Policies Large-scale distribution of laptops could reshape the ICT industry in Macedonia. In 2004, the quantity of computers sold domestically was http://shop.tescomobile.com/ just around thirty thousand. Once laptops are given to every one of Macedonia's 219,000 school children (thus reaching around 30 percent of households) and loved ones start to have internet connection through the child's accessories for hudl, the user base for Internet services would immediately double or triple. This may stimulate local entrepreneurial activities and foreign investment, accelerating rise in the ICT sector (ISP, maintenance, contents and software e-commerce, business-to-business services) when a more favorable business environment is successfully established through necessary policy measures in areas like tax structures, company registration processes, and competition policy. Global Implementation Nearly a dozen countries, including Brazil,Thailand and Nigeria, and Uruguay, have focused on buying the XO laptops. However, several countries, including Brazil, are also exploring classical PCs for his or her students, for example Intel's Classmate PC. In Macedonia, the situation is continuing to move forward. In 2006, an idea for implementation was discussed with government officials such as the deputy prime minister and the minister of education and science. A taskforce was formed between your U . N . Development Programme (UNDP) as well as the government and it is now involving various stakeholders to help the government look at the way forward. UNDP offices in neighboring countries, including Bosnia, Moldova, and Georgia, have revealed interests in taking a similar approach. The UNDP regional office in Bratislava is beginning coordination for any regional initiative. Conclusion

The XO provides the possible ways to revolutionize methods to learning, and stimulate rise in ICT and also other sectors. Working with a public-private partnership approach might help address the poverty issue while assisting to stimulate a stagnant economy over time. However, for your OLPC project to accomplish its long term goal of dramatically increasing access to computers globally, it will need institutional and organizational innovation. schools, Governments and municipalities and teachers should adjust to an important alternation in behaviors and assumptions. To the private sector, serving the poorest and staying profitable requires a creative business structure. Furthermore, it really is eventually around children and teachers to ascertain whether accessories for hudl or not the new technology might be well utilized and may tesco tablet catalyze a new form of learning. policy and Educators makers around the globe are eagerly awaiting the final results.

A " d r e a m t e a m " a s s i s t e d the project: Clea Kaske (John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (KSG)), Ken Kita (MIT Sloan School of Management), Yosuke Kotsuji (Harvard Business School), Tanya Nahman and Kamille Woodbury (Harvard Graduate School of Education), Kazuhiro Numasawa (Fletcher School, Tufts University), advised by Penelopa Gjurcilova (KSG), Professor Calestous Juma (KSG), and Professor Alex "Sandy" Pentland (MIT Sloan School of Management).