Start a Laptop Project to Change Kids’ Lives Worldwide!

Nonprofit One Laptop per Child is offering free XO Laptop loans and a strong network of dedicated Volunteer Mentors for visionaries of all ages, enabling grassroots projects worldwide.

Over half a million XO Laptops are in the hands of kids worldwide today, in South America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Oceania. These kids are not only changing their own lives, but are also changemakers in their villages, cities and countries. The laptops they receive contain software and content not only to learn academic subjects, but also empowering them to understand the world around them (learning online and off) materially engaging their families, environment and beyond.

  • Do you believe in a worldwide “Science Fair” of organic learning?
  • Do you know a teacher you can work with to create exceptional software?
  • Can you find exceptionally creative persons in your area?

Anyone can contribute: would you mentor a small group of tinkerers, or might you alone write a 21st century textbook to be put on all our laptops?  Simply demonstrate your project furthers innovative education in poor countries, architecting something new — we will then provide the hardware you need to lead the way.

  • Create software, hardware, guides, graphics, testing or support.
  • Advance the state-of-the-art in learning Activities around the environment, languages, health, science, math or humanities.
  • Seed a Community Repair Center or Local Laptop Library inspiring others to contribute.
  • Are you shovel-ready?

You will be hard-pressed to find a more deeply committed community, passionate to work with you shaping and delivering Quality Work you define. No matter how small or large. We strongly urge you to read our FAQ and apply today if you too can join us, facilitating a worldwide ecosystem of cutting-edge projects around XO Laptops, the Sugar learning environment, community leadership, and beyond.

Children the world over will thank you for engaging your curiosity, exploring their true needs, and actively sharing the fruits of your labor!

Be Rewarding

Be Rewarding is a group that has been working on developing online educational quizzes in various languages that are fun and engaging, with participation linked to donations to related charities to encourage continued participation.  We have worked with them and their founder Elise Moussa (happy birthday, Elise!) for over a year, and it’s great to see their alpha site go live — it is looking quite beautiful and I wish it every success.

Check the project out and send them your feedback.

Happiness is a warm bundle

Activity and collection designers have gotten a lot of attention in recent days.  Some of the heated discussions at FUDCon targeted the rpm v. xo debate — concluding among other things that content bundles and installation for non-technical users are regularly neglected by packaging systems (as root access is required for a lot of package work).

Numerous related projects were mentioned [CPAN, Ruby Gems, autopkg, Firefox extensions], and Michael Stone and C. Scott Ananian both got their licks in.  At the same time, a recent discussion about “making activity designers happy” brought up other ways to simplify making and publishing activity bundles.

What are your own bundle stories?  Have you plumbed the depths of Activities/All and come up wanting?  Does the Software Updater do it for you?