OLPC in an Athens CyberCafe

Sitting in the Piel Internet Cafe in Greece someone came up and asked if I was using an OLPC. This illustrates the high level of interest in the project.

I was actually using a Twinhead, which is white and much larger than the OLPC. The OLPC project seems to be changing direction, adopting Microsoft Windows in place of Linux. In contrast the ASUS EEE PC seems to be going from strength to strength, perhaps due to not being burdened by considerations of charity and being simply for-profit.

Intel Netbook CTL 2Go PC Education Computer

According to news reports, Intel have shown a new version of their proposed low cost laptop for school children. The unit which was thought of as the "Classmate 2" is now known as the Intel Netbook, with an example unit made by CTL of Tiwan known as the "2Go PC". The unit has a 9 inch screen in place of the previous 7 inch one, at the same 800 x 480 pixel resolution. CLT have set up a new web site for the 2Go PC.

The size of the case has not been increased, as with the ASUS Eee PC, it was designed for a 9 inch screen and like the Eee PC does not have a full size keyboard and is it too cramped for comfortable typing by adults. The case has an integrated carrying handle, like the OLPC. Unlike the bright green OLPC, the case is in a conservative gray color. The unit has a 900MHz Intel Celeron processor and a , 40GB hard disk, 512 Mb RAM, Windows XP.

Intel is not going to make or sell the unit, but provide the design to manufacturers, as a way to encourage them to use Intel chips. The Netbook is intended for a similar market to the OLPC: school children. However, more like the Eee PC, it is likely to be available retail to individuals, as well as offered in bulk to governments and educational systems.

The Intel Netbook is more conventional than the ASUS Eee PC and the revolutionary OLPC, using a hard disk and Windows operating system. It is likely that there will be a convergence of the features of such units, with versions of the Netbook adopting some of the features of the OLPC.

These small education computers for under $500 are creating a problem for makers of full size conventional laptops and high cost sub-notebook computers. Consumers who see that these cheap little computers are more than adequate for most tasks will ask why they should pay two or three times as much (or in the case of some premium sub-notebooks, six times as much).

As a new crop of low power, low desktop computers become available for under $500 (complete with LCD monitor), this place pressure on desktop makers to either lower price or provide features to justify high costs.

Specifications

CPU & PLATFORM		STORAGE		I/O PORTS
Intel® Celeron® M Processor Ultra Low Voltage On board Voltage Regulation Dothan 900MHz 0 L2 Cache 1.0GHz 512Mb L2 Cache 400MHz FSB Intel 915GMS Chipset.		40GB 1.8" 4200RPM PATA HDD 2-in-1 SD/MMC memory card reader Supports boot from card reader and USB USB 2.0 Interface for external storage.		2 USB 2.0 Ports 1 x RJ-45 10/100 LAN 1/8" External Microphone-in jack 1/8" External headphone jack 2-in-1 SD/MMC memory card reader Kensington Lock Ready.
MEMORY		WIRELESS LAN		DIMENSIONS & POWER
SO DIMM 200-pin socket x 1 Supports DDR2 400/533, SO-DIMM DRAM module 512MB Standard. 1GB Available		Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g with open mesh support Mini-card form factor, single antenna		Size: 8.7" (W) x 7.3" (H) x 1.5" (D) Weight: < 3 lbs 4-cell Li lon Battery Battery life aprox 3hrs typical usage time
VIDEO		AUDIO		OTHER
9'' LCD, 800 x 480 Color LCD TFT, LED Backlight Digital LVDS Interface		Realtek ALC6555 - AC '97 2.1 Integrated Analog Audio 2 integrated 1 watt speakers		Integrated camera 30fps @ 640x480, 0.3M Driver / AP support Windows XP / Linux
		OPERATING SYSTEM
		Microsoft® Windows® XP Available Supports Linux

From: 2Go PC, Computer Technology Link, 2008

Pendulum Generator for Portable Computers?

The OLPC project has investigated various human-powered chargers for their low power computer for children. Perhaps one option would be a pendulum generator.

Automatic quartz watches have a miniature electrical generator. As the wearer moves their arm, a pendulum swings and this is used to generate electricity to charge a battery. These units have the disadvantage of needing a heavy pendulum and complex gears to connect the generator.

Something simpler than the watch generator, on a larger scale, could be made from a brushless electric motor. These have a set of rotating magnets and stationary coils of wire. Spinning the shaft of the motor operates it in reverse, generating electricity. If half magnets were removed, this would unbalance the motor, making a pendulum.

Such a unit might be made carried in a pocket, handbag, briefcase or backpack. It could be built into a notebook computer, in the space normally used by a CD-ROM drive, hard disk or PC-Card.

A pendulum generator might be built into a mobile phone or the battery of the phone. many phone already contain a vibrating alert, with a small electric motorwith an unbalanced weight on the shaft. Rotating the weight make the phone vibrate. The pendulum generator could double as the vibrating alert.

UK Educational Laptop for $200

UK company Elonex have announced they will launch the Elonex ONE, a £99 laptop (less than $US200) at the UK Education Show 2008 on 28 February 2008. There are few details of the product, apart from it using Linux and having WiFi. Other reports indicate it has 1Gb of Flash memory and a seven-inch screen.

From the photo, the processor board appears to be built in behind the screen, as with the OLPC, rather than under the keyboard, as with the ASUS Eee PC. The screen would appear to be the same type of low cost 7 inch wide screen LCD used for DVD players, as on the Eee PC.

Having only 1 Gb of flash memory will limit the usefulness of the unit, but it is likely that uses will supplement this with a USB flash drive (assuming the unit has a USB socket).

The media release for the unit has a lot of rhetoric about commitment to improving learning for children with one-to-one access to laptops, with quotes from UK government sources. The danger with this is that government authorities, teachers and parents may get the false impression that they need to spend just £99 per student to get all these benefits. Even if the Elonex One is made available for the announced price and works as claimed, infrastructure and training costs for the education system would be at least twice the cost of the laptop per student, not including ongoing support costs and the cost of developing course ware.

Elonex claims to have conducted research and development to produce their laptop. It seems more likely that Elonex have simply selected one of the many sub-notebook PCs made and sold in Asia. These units have been made and sold for decades, but not proved popular in western countries. The success of the Eee PC has seen some of these now being offered more widely. Also the availability of Linux, low cost flash memory, low power processors and low cost LCD screens made for DVD players has made these more feasible. OLPC have tried to incorporate R&D in their computer, but this is proving problematic. It is more likely that generic computers using off the shelf components will be more successful.

The claims for education using computers made by Elonex may well prove true, but they will cost more than £99 per student.

The use of quotes in the Elonex media release is interesting. The one on "Technology has revolutionised the way we work and is now set to transform education. ..." is quoted from a Department for Education and Skills, report in 1997, Connecting the Learning Society. What Elonex don't mention is that the quote is from then UK PM Tony Blair and he went on to talk about the information superhighway and a National Grid for Learning.

The quote on "One-to-one access to a laptop computer promoted independence and had positively influenced other aspects of their work and their learning." is from a teacher, Danny Doyle: Perspectives of One-to-One Laptop Access (2004).

The vision of the ONE project is to help develop computer literacy in children in order to cultivate skills for the 21st century and enable them to make a more valued contribution to the future economy and society. Proficiency at ICT has never been so important, and fluency and familiarity with computers is essential to nurture the future digital generation. The importance of IT in education has been recognized right from the early days of the internet and personal computers:

Technology has revolutionised the way we work and is now set to transform education. Children cannot be effective in tomorrow’s world if they are trained in yesterday’s skills.

(Department for Education and Skills, 1997)

One-to-one access to a laptop computer promoted independence and had positively influenced other aspects of their work and their learning. The children were aware of their expertise and believed their current skills were transferable to new hardware and software, future education and employment.

(National Teacher Research Panel, 2004)

Computer based technology is at the heart of the DCSF's (Department for Children, Schools and Families) commitment to improving learning for all children. One-to-one access to a laptop has been a dream that until now has been cost-prohibitive. The research and development by Elonex that has lead to the ONE has allowed this dream to become a reality.

Government Strategy for Digital Technology

The significance of ICT can be seen in the DCSF e-Strategy, the government’s current strategy towards the use of digital technologies within the Education System:

“Teaching institutions ought to be advancing beyond the traditional formats that are still so prevalent. Independent research has shown that children using ICT effectively in lessons get better results, and Ofsted has confirmed that “Pupils respond very positively to the use of ICT, they engage well with lessons, their behaviour is good and their attitudes to learning are very good”

“With more flexible e-learning resources available online, teachers can adapt the curriculum to their learners’ needs and interests. Technology is the key to personalised learning and we must make sure that everyone has access to this technology. As we continue to embed e-learning across the whole learning process, it will blend more easily with life and work, bridging the boundaries between formal and informal learning.” “It is our goal to work towards ICT as a universal utility, creating more flexible learning opportunities for everyone.”

(Secretary of State for Children Schools and Families)

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced the plan to raise spending on IT in education, and to this end Jim Knight MP recently announced on 9 Jan 2008 a £30 million investment to provide the education system with improved ICT equipment and a safe internet connection. Jim Knight commented “we know from the research the difference that Information Technology can make.” “ICT has the power to transform young people's learning — both at school and beyond the school gate.”

Benefits Benefits of the ONE for Children:

• Improved ICT literacy and fluency
• Increased empowerment and motivation
• More engaging way of learning – learning can be fun!
• More flexible study
• Access to a wider range of resources
• Provides a link between learning at home and learning at school
• Improved contact between the child and their school, family and friends Stimulates creativity and greater scope for problem solving
• Opens up potential for blogging, podcasting, social networking, online clubs & societies and pupil support groups.

Benefits of the ONE for Teachers:

• The majority of teachers feel that the use of ICT in the classroom positively impacts on the engagement, motivation and achievement of their learners.
  
• Teachers' ICT skills have developed significantly over the years, as well as their acceptance to utilise the technology, leading to better lessons and a reduction in teachers' workloads.
  
• Makes available a wider range teaching methods, including assigning web based research, increased interactivity, paperless homework and use of the child’s online personal webspace.
  
• Opens the option for digital teaching materials, increased autonomy and improved out of classroom activities.

From: Elone One Press Release, Elonex , 2008

OLPC First Impressions

A few weeks ago I got my first chance to try the OLPC XO-1 (One Laptop per Child Children's Machine or $100 computer), sub-notebook PC. We had a lineup of two different pe-release models of the OLPC and an ASUS Eee PC for comparison. Overall the OLPC looks a solid device, but encumbered by an experimental interface and a paternalistic view of education for developing nations.

My first impression was of how bright and robust the green plastic case looks, like a toy for toddlers. The bright green rubber keyboard is well laid out, but the keys are too small for adult fingers. The very wide touch-pad under the keyboard makes it difficult to find somewhere to rest your palms.

The OLPC uses the new Sugar child friendly graphical user interface, making it unusable to those familiar with the desktop metaphor of Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac or various Linuxes. Sugar may well be a better user interface for children, but will have to be learned by anyone familiar with current computers. The OLPCs used their WiFi mesh network to recognize each other automatically, representing the other machine on the screen graphically, but due to lack of familiarity with the interface I was unable to use the connection.

The screen on the OLPC looks very much larger than the 7 inch wide LCD on the Eee PC. The transflective OLPC screen did not look as bright or clear as the Eee PC indoors. Outdoors on an overcast day, the OLPC screen switched to monochrome mode and was readable, but still not a lot more so than the conventional back lit Eee screen.

Overall the OLPC hardware looks solid and the software usable. However, the unit may be breaking too much new ground to be successful as a product and is hampered by being associated with a flawed model of development.

The users of the computer will have to learn a new user interface different from that predominating. It may well be a better interface, but it took decades for the desktop metaphor to be refined and become established. Xerox's interface was adapted for the Apple Lisa computer and then simplified for the Apple Mac before it became popular (and then adapted, or some would say degraded, for Microsoft Windows). It may take ten years and two more teams of designers before the OLPC interface is ready for widespread use.

If the OLPC was purely a university research project, or a product funded by private venture capital, then it would be worth taking a risk to develop a revolutionary new computer. However, the OLPC is intended to be used for education in developing nations. Therefore the resources spent on the OLPC have to be diverted from other education projects for developing nations. In effect the OLPC will take several hundred dollars away from each child in a developing country and using that money to conduct an educational experiment on those children. Developing nations, and parents, may have other ideas of educational priorities for their children and of how computers could be used to assist development.

It may be useful to decouple the various parts of the OLPC and develop them separately. New hardware can use new or old user interfaces, educational content can be developed to work on new or old hardware. Models for funding education for developing nations can be developed separately of a particular educational products. The customers can then assess how successful each of the products is and which they wish to use.