blog
ICT4D

ICT for Development

Entries Tagged as 'olpc'

12 Apr 2012

An Inter-American Development Bank Working Paper (if you encounter difficulties in opening the document after clicking on the link, please simply copy the link address into a new browser window and hit enter)  reports results of an evaluation of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative in Peru.

“Although many countries are aggressively implementing the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) program, there is a lack of empirical evidence on its effects. This paper presents the impact of the first large-scale randomized evaluation of the OLPC program, using data collected after 15 months of implementation in 319 primary schools in rural Peru. The results indicate that the program increased the ratio of computers per student from 0.12 to 1.18 in treatment schools. This expansion in access translated into substantial increases in use both at school and at home. No evidence is found of effects on enrollment and test scores in Math and Language. Some positive effects are found, however, in general cognitive skills as measured by Raven’s Progressive Matrices, a verbal fluency test and a Coding test.”

0 comments

Posted by Anja Kiefer

10 Feb 2009

 

The last issue of Rural 21 (No. 42 – 6/2008) focused on the still untapped potential of ICT in rural regions. The authors – most of them members of our ICT4D Community – show many interesting project examples:

Koda A. Traoré (CTA – Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation, The Netherlands) describes  ICTs that are offering new opportunities for sustainable development and livelihoods improvement: http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_Telecentres_0608.pdf

Albrecht Wald and Dr. Reiner Koblo (KfW, Germany) discuss how the use of mobile telecommunication can facilitate efforts to reduce poverty in a variety of ways: http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_Productive_agriculture_with_GPS_and_databases_0608.pdf

Thorsten Scherf (BMZ, Germany) describes how Universal Access Funds coupled with “smart subsidies” are a useful tool to provide telecommunications services to rural areas: http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_Universal_Access_Funds_0608.pdf

Dion Jerling (CONNECT AFRICA, Johannesburg/South Africa) highlights the important role of (renewable) energy supply for ICT: http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_Without_energy_no_ICT__0608.pdf

Peter Rave (GTZ, Germany) describes the use of some innovative ICT-applications for knowledge transfer: http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_ICT_as_a_tool_for_knowledge_transfer_0608.pdf 

Ednah Karamagi (BROSDI – Busoga Rural Open Source & Development Initiative, Kampala, Uganda) discusses how the use of Web 2.0 might improve rural livelihoods when there is very limited internet connectivity: http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_Web_2.0_in_rural_areas_0608.pdf

Dean Mulozi (ZA-ICT/SATNET, Lusaka, Zambia) describes how some of the existing regional telecentre networks established in African regions during the past five years can contribute positively to national and regional development in African countries: http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_Telecentres_0608.pdf

Elizabeth Corley (Development Gateway Foundation, Washington D.C., USA) and Ingo Imhoff (GTZ, Germany) describe how joint efforts of recipient and donor countries for more aid effectiveness imply also a demand for more effective ICT solutions: http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_Improving_aid_effectiveness_by_e-government__0608.pdf

Dr. Reiner Koblo (KfW, Germany) presents with an example from Georgia how ICT (here: GPS) can be of enormous help in ensuring that land reforms are successful: http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_Productive_agriculture_with_GPS_and_databases_0608.pdf

Geraldine de Bastion (newthinking communications GmbH, Germany) and Thomas Rolf (GTZ, Ethiopia) discuss whether and how low-cost devices (e.g. “100$-laptop”) might promote development (in future): http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_Low-cost_ICT_devices___new_solutions…_0608.pdf

0 comments

Posted by Peter Rave

02 Feb 2009

We have learned in the past that the cheapest cars in the world now come from India. A story on Spiegel online indicates that the same may be true for the laptop – apparently the Indian government talks about prices below € 20. A hoax? Or should India succeed over the OLPC….?

http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/tech/0,1518,604929,00.html

1 comment

Posted by Ingo Imhoff

01 Sep 2008

The United Nations technology agency (ITU) announced today that it will give away free laptops to each of the young participants attending its Asia conference in Bangkok this weekend.

read full article

0 comments

Posted by Anna Rau

07 Aug 2008

This project was proposed to the International Development Design Summit (IDDS) 2008 by Derek Lomas. Low-quality public schools create a vast need for supplemental education for the roughly 135 million households in our target markets of India, Brazil, and Ghana.
This need can be met through private schools and tutoring, but is expensive and varies greatly in quality. Computer-Aided Learning has been shown to be an effective teaching mechanism, but the cost (>$250) has kept computers out of reach for most families and schools. Furthermore, all of these countries are facing a lack of skilled workers as their economies grow and need inexpensive training tools.
This IDDS project developed a business plan to market TV Computers (TVCs) to homes and schools that could not previously dream of owning a computer. The TVC can enable parents and educators to provide children with supplemental education at a price that’s affordable for low-income groups. Increased access to education that’s both fun and engaging will help the millions of people in our target markets grow their professional and personal skills and increase their future opportunities.
                              Read more:  http://design4dev.wetpaint.com/page/TV+Computer

0 comments

Posted by Herbert Henke

20 May 2008

The olpc project under a lot of criticism. Check these articles:

5 comments

Posted by Christian Kreutz

09 May 2008

What began as a do-gooder effort in the Third World has quietly become cutthroat competition. Now one firm, Intel, has broken ranks with other behemoths trying to develop technology that is both affordable to buy and build.

Rest of article

0 comments

Posted by Christian Kreutz

28 Dec 2007

Dear Colleagues,

Please find below a link to a recent report on the introduction of the XO Laptop in Nigeria. Thanks to Franziska Fürst for pointing it out.  http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=76023

All the best,

Ingo

0 comments

Posted by Ingo Imhoff