Can OLPC Bridge the Digital Divide?
In developed countries, almost every home has at least one computer. In the developing world, on the other hand, less than 30 percent of the population has direct access to computers, and in most of these countries, less than 15 percent have access to the Internet. That is what underlines the whole OLPC project — that computers just like televisions and radios are now a basic necessity for all mankind. Negroponte, who was conceived of the idea after witnessing for himself what impact computers created in a rural Bangladeshi community, believes that computers are one of the greatest modern tools to revolutionize not only the digital gap between developed countries and the developing world, but equally an instrument to dramatically foster education in these parts of the world. “Children will be able to learn by doing, not just through instruction – they will be able to open up new fronts for their education, particularly peer-to-peer learning,” former UN Secretary General, Koffi Anan, w
