What If Every Child Had A Laptop?

Lesley Stahl Reports On The Dream And The Difficulties Of Getting A Computer To Every Child

(CBS)  This segment was originally broadcast on May 20, 2007. It was updated on Nov. 30, 2007.

There's a new laptop on the market that's being snapped up by parents looking for a unique holiday gift for their kids. It’s only $200, and it isn’t like any computer you've ever seen. But there's a catch: in order to buy one for your child, you also have to buy one for a child in a poor country.

And that was the whole point behind these new laptops: to get them to kids in the most impoverished places, so they can become educated and part of the modern world.

As correspondent Lesley Stahl first reported last spring, the laptop, called the XO, was the brainchild of Nicholas Negroponte, a professor at MIT.

Two years ago he founded a non-profit organization called "One Laptop Per Child," through which he recruited a cadre of geeks to design a low-cost computer specifically for poor children.

Negroponte had a dream, a big one: that every child on the planet have a laptop, and along with it, the possibility of a better future.

Negroponte's dream was born in Cambodia.

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The idea came to him in a remote village called Reaksmy - a four-hour drive on a dirt road from the nearest town. It’s as far from MIT as you can get. They don’t even have running water.

Negroponte and his family founded a school here in 1999, putting in a satellite dish and generators. Then they gave the children laptops. Instantly, school became a lot more popular.

Kids who had never seen a computer before were now crossing the digital divide. Negroponte was knocked out.

"The first English word of every child in that village was 'Google'," he says. "The village has no electricity, no telephone, no television. And the children take laptops home that are connected broadband to the Internet."

When they take the laptops home, the kids often teach the whole family how to use it. Negroponte says the families loved the computers because, in a village with no electricity, it was the brightest light source in the house.

"Talk about a metaphor and a reality simultaneously," he says. "It just illuminated that household."

Once the computers were there, school attendance went way up.

Negroponte says that in Cambodia this year 50 percent more children showed up for the first grade because the kids who were in first grade last year told the other kids that "school is pretty cool."

Negroponte wanted this for all children, everywhere, but he realized conventional computers were too expensive. And so his dream of a hundred-dollar laptop was born.

And this is it!

A low-budget computer for children, like a group of second graders in a poor school in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Each child has been given his or her own machine - as part of a test for the Brazilian government to see if they should buy them for all their school children.

"It’s very exciting," Negroponte says. "It’s very gratifying. It’s been two years in the making."

The children seemed to especially like the built-in camera that takes stills and video. It also has Wi-Fi.

Negroponte's idea was that kids don’t need teachers to learn the how to use the computer. They can pick it up by experimenting on their own - with help from a friend.

"That is what we are doing… is that that kid is showing this kid - that is key," he says. "They get it instantly. It takes a 10-year-old child about three minutes."

When Stahl asks if he means children who have never used any computer before, Negroponte responds, "Children who’ve never, in some cases, seen electricity."

"You go into countries where there may not be enough food, where the children may not have good enough education to even teach them to read, why a laptop?" Stahl asks. "It almost sounds like a luxury for these people who need so much more than that."

"Let me take two countries, Pakistan and Nigeria. Fifty per cent of the children in both of those countries are not in school," Negroponte says. "At all. They have no schools, they don’t even have trees under which a teacher might stand…"

[tnelso00]

I think that it would be great if every child was able to have access to a computer. I think that it was a great and very generous idea, but I think that we need to worry about the economic status and needs of children of our own country first. There are many schools in America that need school funding for computers and other things, too. Children in third world countries, as the article stated, don't even have electricity or schools at all. I feel that there are other, more important worries for children in foreign countries to worry about, such as food, water, and shelter.
Tera Nelson

[richcheryl]

All I can say is I''m blessed to have a computer; and I want to buy and bless; may this man get the best seat in heaven!
Now, I have the nerve to be slow with the surf process; so could some tell me how to order and is it true I only have to the end of the month? thank God for this man; because of him I''m on the computer trying to find some info...Hayyyyyy for Negroponte

[michellem99-2009]

spoiled..I grew up with very little lass. We used the outhouse. Bathed in a tub in the middle of the floor. Had 2 outs to wear. No sp needs items that would have helped me. I can''t relate to the fancy stuff kids have. No all kids in America have every thing even tho yer think other wise.

[bigguy102]

Have you interviewed anyone from the technical community regarding the functionality of these laptops? These are really only web appliances and not real laptops. When I posed technical questions to the laptopgiving.org website, I got back the following form response: "Please refer any technical questions to www.technology.org". This website referred to is just a bunch of ads for things and not technical service for the OLPC laptop. In the 60 minutes presentation, Negroponte said that these laptops have no holes in the case. If that were true then how could they have plugged in the headphones, microphone and USB devices as shown in your presentation? By the way, are these laptops WEP or WPA enabled or do they use the even more risky practice of Ad Hoc?

[corri86]

I get so tired of people fussing about American children not having this and that. They are so spoiled in this country. I am like another reader, how could one say negative things about what he is doing? I am opening a school and every student will have one of these and send a personal note to a student in another country to say hello. I pray he keeps doing what he is, and God allows him to continue to do bless others.

[mcaria2405]

I wonder what Negroponte has to say to all messages sent in 3 days, AMERICAN CHILDREN should be considered
among the 100% children of the world needing computers.
yet you do with your money as you please. but do not misrepresent Charity with make believe.
The Science used in building such marvelous cheap Laptop, belongs to all who could use it for the benefit of humanity, Like software Linus free for all to use!

[michellem99-2009]

That man can do as he see fit. I feel help our children here. I am not against the 3 world nations. But and I say But..Yer sent the jobs over seas as a nation we can''t make things like we use to. What happened to made in America. Yer have no idea who hands them laptops will end up in. I would not have my computer if it was not the kindness of a vet who knew the school failed to educate me plus I am legally blind. that means that I can''t use any pc that ye can.

[mhingmhing]

I think its greatwhether here nor there its blessed that we have a strong individual as yourself doing the things that you do. As you can see its posslble for anybody to get them.Contact me I shall take one for them and one for my child.That truly is a blessing anyway you look at it. Please accept this as an order . Thank You and much much appreciated for this project.

[peyaloni]

This is a great humantiarian! I applaud him and his team! This country has all of our children getting an education at the early age of two! We as Americans are practically born with so much priviledge, yet why do some people frown upon someone trying to use his own money, his own intellect and his own team to build a wonderful educational tool for children who don''t have a school in their own country? Let''s see, those who say they are poor American''s? They have electricity, a tv to watch and oh no...a home pc with dial up or DSL! Gee, sounds to me like they''re not so poor! We as American''s have so much luxury and take it all for granted. So, for those poor mouthing in their comments? Just be thankful you''re able to watch tv or even post a comment. My heart went out to this man who wants to do something good in his lifetime can you say the same?

[sprouts7]

I was shocked to see so many negative comments. I thought what this man was doing was great. We already have a ton of charities in this country and what is so wrong about helping kids in the world. They can''t pick where they are born and their financial status. And for all those people claiming to be poor and can barely afford food, etc. how are you typing these comments and obviously you were all in front of a tv last night watching 60 minutes. If you are at work you shouldn''t be typing comments to 60 minutes (you should be working) and if you are at home you have a tv and a computer so how hard on your luck can you be? I know most libraries offer computers for use by the public as well. I think it is a personal thing, if someone wants to buy a computer for their child and a child in need, I think it is a very generous thing to do. The great thing about our country is we can donate to whatever charities we want so we should!

[alwoodar]

I am a 6th grade language arts teacher. I teach in a school where 85% of our students are on free or reduced lunches. My students cannot afford laptops. If they do have a computer (often outdated) they do not have access to the internet or to current software. We have implemented a new program at our campus that gives a computer to every 6th grade student. We paid over $500 per unit. It is not fair that there is technology out there that could have saved our school so much money.

[frogfarm-2009]

Mr. Negroponte is a hero. What an extrodinary man to take on such a mission. The world is getting smaller very day. The sooner we educate all our children, maybe, just maybe, we will have a world full of people that will listen and talk to each other instead of bickering and fighting with each other. I feel this is a step in the right direction. Try and see the BIG picture. One more point I would like to make. In America we have options that children in poverty stricken countries do not have, so, help your child find them. Don''t give them excuses to fail. Give them reasons to succeed. Thank you, from a parent who raised 2 boys by herself, that are now very successful young men...without a computer in their home.

[joegyo]

While I certainly understand the frustration of my American sisters and brothers who are unable to afford laptops (or desktops, for that matter) for their children, I have to remind them that they do at least have access to them -- after all, how was this person able to post her concern in the first place? Please try to remember -- the difference between even our poorest and the poor of a developing nation is huge. Even among our poorest poor most if not all, will have access to running water, electricity, a TV and/or radio, a school and a public library if all else fails. And if not, then the shame rests with us, not with the rich (and often not so rich!) donors -- for how can it be that the richest nation in the world has not provided for its children all the tools needed for a good education and a successful life? If the US had the will to do it, if the population demanded it, if the powers that be valued education and peace equally to "security" and war, it would have been done. We could easily supply every student in the nation with laptops, and much more. The shame is in why we have not done so.

[willidx]

Hello,

It is extremely generous to give children in other countries a chance to learn, using a laptop and an

extremely nice gesture on the part of Mr. Negroponte, who I imagine is wealthy enough to afford to do that. But,

my question is, what about the children in the United States that are in poverty?, Whose parents cannot afford even

a desktop computer for their children? I am a single parent with two children in middle school and a full time job and still

cannot afford to get a computer for my children to do their homework. My boyfriend is a single parent with four kids in

school, and he works 3 jobs just to make sure they have clothes and food. There are a hugh number of extremely poor

just in the United States, and no one goes out of the way to help us. In fact, most of the time , we get harassment if you

even try to ask for help. This Christmas , I cannot buy my kids any presents because I just won%u2019t have the money.

[mslesa]

Hello,

I myself seen this story and was truly touched, tearful, and ashmed. I myself have been a single parent for the last 9 years and have instilled Education into my only child;''s brain.And for years i have been a single working mom working paycheck to paycheck holiday to holiday , and have been so UNFORTNATE to give my daughter tyhings laptops graduation giftes prom dresses etc... When wealthy american''s rather help unconditional countries and not open there eyes to alot of children in there own country to assit i get angry.
I truly know there is a lot of hustlers, con artist minuplators out there , but, i tend to keep on doing the best i can and just pray for the ignorant. My daughter has now graduated and signed up for classes at he community college , we share my vehicle she has to spend long days and evening at the library to do hoemwork.I wanted to enter this BLOG as information of how yes, it was a truly good thing that Mr.Negroponte, has done but, WHY ARE ALL AMERICAN.
CHILNDREN BEING OVER LOOKED ?

I turly have always prayed for one day when i am called to leave this earth that it will be a better place for my daughter to grow up in . Someone out there have got to feel the same.

[giveysmom]

The program said this was non-profit. Are the other companies who are now making the computors for the kids,
also non-profit or is someone making money on this?

[gingram328]

I have been tutoring students for the last four years by using my laptop to re-enforce skills and state standards. The students love using the computer. When I provide games as an incentive to complete lessons, the students remain focused on the immediate task. Teachers would eliminate discipline problems and make learning fun just by integrating technology into the curriculum. I admit that the teacher would work hard initially, but the reward to the teachers and the students is well worth the labor. Once the program is implemented, the hard work is over. No child would be left behind because each child would be assessed to determine if a skill was mastered before moving to the next skill. Upon mastery, the child would move to the skill as directed by the teacher. The fast learners would move to the next skill as opposed to being bored and creating havoc. No one would know if a child was a slow learner, so there would be less teasing or bullying. Parents, students and the school staff would be able to view the student''s process at any time and any place. Students could work on the curriculum as directed by the teacher at any time and any place. This small process would change the schools from continuing to conduct business as they did in the 40''s and 50''s. What other industry has continued to perform the same as in the 50%u2019s? Integrating technology into the curriculum is a no-brainer to me.

[mcaria2405]

i basically agree that every child with a computer is a great idea, but after they have good healthy water to drink, and food, there are priorities, we used to write with chalkboards and perhaps one notebook with a pendcil, Mr Negropointe is missing reality, is that how he plans to pay back all grants received by MIT? Making deals with Intel? Why not make them available to our own kids at school and make them earn them through hard work and good grades? and zero absences from school?
How about our troops who cannot communicate with their family kids and need to spend their whole salary trying to talk or communicate with them some how.? Charity starts at home. It is insulting to bribe us who would like to buy or donate one laptop for a poor child in our block to have to buy 2 computers for who knows whom somewhere, Fraud has become one of the most continuous happennings in our daily life. Lets include the AMERICAN CHILDREN WITH COMPUTERS AMONG ALL THE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD. Jacksonville, Fl

[michellem99-2009]

I told a young male to *pull yer pants up as I do want to see yer underweae*. The young male''s Mum asked me*you gonna buy him a belt to hold his pants up*. I said *No lady that yer job*. That lady cussed me out worse than any man would. I am paying to educate that. I am 53. Poor. The sighted whine. I WAS ROBBED OF FAMILY. I was barred from school until I was 10 and I am white. This was pre computer. I WAS BARRED FOR..being legally blind with other handicaps.Being a girl. I was put in sp ed. I was the only pupil with my set of sp needs. A foster child. At 10 I entered school to be a pupil. I could not read,write,spell.etc. I was told by teachers I won''t/can''t teach yer. I was pissed and hurt. My magnifiers were kelp from me. There was no large print for me. It would have been different had I been a boy. CHARITY STARTS AT HOME NOT ABROAD FIRST. I was taught this as child. I still believe that.

[lharlan4]

I too would like each child to have a laptop. Before we take them all out of the country it would be nice to serve our own children in the United States first. May don''t even have them in their own schools let alone one to take home.