One laptop per child. The XO laptop has been through many changes since its conception (it's no longer the "$100 laptop" and the iconic hand crank has been replaced, for example), but the mission and vision behind it have stayed on course: "to provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves." Through December 31st, you have the opportunity to participate in this endeavor by donating a laptop to a child and receiving one for a child in your life, too.
A donation of $399 ($200 of which is tax-deductible) will provide a laptop to a child who would otherwise not have access to such technology, nor access to the world through the internet. You'll also be sent a second laptop for your own child. A donation of $200 will simply send an XO laptop to a child in need somewhere in the world (this method of giving does not expire on 12/31).
It's not a coincidence that the XO is the color green either - it has been designed to be extremely energy efficient. Learn more about the laptop's features and specifications here. Read more about One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) here.
One interesting use I heard Nicholas Negroponte discuss in an interview on NPR is using the camera built into the laptop as a communication device between schools/teachers and parents, pareticularly parents who are not literate (or literate in the language the child is being educated in). He discussed how teachers in one of the pilot projects somewhere in Africa (I don't recall where) are recording regular updates for parents, and how parents are recording questions/comments for the teachers. The laptop becomes a way for parents to be more involved in their children's education. I thought that idea was way cooler than many of the 'kids can use the internet' aspects of the project that often get mentioned in the media.
S
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