Annotated Bibliography

Apps, Peter. World's poorest don't want "$100 laptop" -- Intel. 5 December 2005. 25 February 2008.

In this article, Intel's Chairman Craig Barrett says the XO laptop will not be successful as it is less of a laptop and more of a gadget. This criticism shows up often in the arguments of those against OLPC, resulting from OLPC's reinterpretation of what a laptop is and what children in developing countries need.


Australian Government. Australia's Gift of Literacy to Children. 8 September 1999. 14 March 2008.

This media release reported Australia's plans to direct money to improve education in Fiji. It was interesting to note the perspective of the Australian government, and there were also several statistics on the nature of the education system in developing countries.


Beer, Stan. The true cost of one laptop per child. 24 February 2008. 24 February 2008

This article documents Uruguay's receival of its first shipment of XO laptops. Although this was positive news for OLPC, many criticis began discussing whether the laptops are affordable for all developing countries.


"Frequently Asked Questions" February 2006. laptop.org: olpc. 29 February 2008.

This website provided extensive information on OLPC, its background, mission, members, and future plans.


Dvorak, John C. One Laptop per Child Doesn't Change the World. 4 December 2007. 5 March 2008

This article from PC Magazine criticizes OLPC for sending a "let them eat cake" message to the XO laptop's target audience. Dvorak insists that the high rate of illiteracy and low percentage of children that understand English render the Internet useless for educational purposes in developing countries. He also criticized OLPC on the point that poor children need help with basic food, water, and shelter before they need help with acquiring a laptop.


Education in Developing Countries. Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. 14 March 2008.

This source discussed the lack of funding and opportunity related to education in developing countries, and the effect of this on the countries' children.


Facts about illiteracy. SIL. 7 September 2001. 14 March 2008.

This website commemorated International Literacy Day by providing many revealing statistics on the gravity of the global illiteracy problem.


Hunger Facts:International. Bread for the World & Bread for the World Institute. 2007. 14 March 2008.

This website provided many statistics on the issue of world hunger.


Literacy and International Development. International Literacy Explorer. 1999. 14 March 2008.

This website discussed the importance of education in developing countries and how there are people in these countries that are skeptical of the benefit that attending school provides.


Poor diets 'kill 3.5m children'. BBC. 17 January 2008. 14 March 2008.

This article discussed the lasting effects of undernourishment on children as well as how many of the associated deaths could have been prevented by simple measures.


Mook, Nate. Peru, Mexico billionaire agree to buy $188 laptops. 3 December 2007. 26 February 2008

This article documents OLPC's difficulties in keeping the price of the XO laptop low and the organization's attempts of increasing orders through its "Give One, Get One" program.


Mukul, Akshaya. HRD hopes to make $10 laptops a reality. 4 May 2007. 6 March 2008

This article was useful in exploring countries' responses to the XO laptop, and it discussed how India had rejected the OLPC $100 laptop for schoolchildren and had instead tasked its HRD (Human Resource Development) Ministry with developing a $10 laptop.


Nutrition, Health, and Population. World Hunger Notes. 14 March 2008.

This site had a world map that showed the percentage of people that were undernourished in each country.


Norris, Michele. Hungry Planet: What the World Eats. NPR. 9 November 2005. 14 March 2008.

This website chronicled photographer Peter Menzel's journey around the world, documenting and comparing how much a family ate in one week with his photos.


Nystedt, Dan. One Laptop Per Child Project Extends to American Students. 12 January 2008. 5 March 2008.

This source chronicles the expansion of OLPC into the American education system. It is interesting to note the differences and similarities between poor children in the US and in developing countries and how the XO laptop intends to help both demographics.


Oates, John. India rejects One Laptop Per Child: But Nigeria says yes. 26 July 2007. 5 March 2008

Like Mukul's article, this source contributes to the project because of its discussion of India's rejection of OLPC. It expands upon India's skepticism of whether the XO laptop will help educate children and to empower them to educate themselves. It is important to see the countries' responses to OLPC and why they choose or choose not to purchase the laptops.


One billion people still use unsafe sources of drinking water. 26 August 2004. 14 March 2008.

This article was useful in revealing the extent to which sanitation is still very much a serious problem.


Papert, Seymour. Constructionism vs. Instructionism. The transcript of a speech Seymour Papert gave by video conference to educators in Japan. 1980s. 14 March 2008.


Picture: School children. 14 March 2008.


Picture: Negroponte. 14 March 2008.


Pogue, David. Laptop With a Mission Widens Its Audience. 4 October 2007. 25 February 2008.

This article was useful for the project because it represents a very favorable response to OLPC, although granted, from a developed country's viewpoint of what a developing country needs. It applauds OLPC for its technological achievement and goals, and the author agrees with Negroponte that addressing education will help solve the other problems that developing countries face. However, the author is less clear as to how the laptop will directly provide such problems' solutions.


SG. One Laptop Per Child, Reviewed by 12-Year-Old. 10 August 2007. 5 March 2008.

This source contributes to the project because it is one of few accounts by children (this was written by a 12 year old in the United States). Since the XO laptop was designed for children, it was fruitful to see this child's responses and impressions.


Smith, Sylvia. The $100 laptop -- is it a wind-up? 1 December 2005. 6 March 2008

This article is useful for the project because both favorable and unfavorable views of OLPC. It questions whether OLPC provides the solution that developing countries are looking for, and it notes that the $188 price per laptop does not encompass many other costs that the countries will have to pay for.


Stecklow, Steve and James Bandler. A Little Laptop With Big Ambitions. 24 November 2007. 6 March 2008.

Contribution: This source contributes to the project because of its analysis of the project's financial viability. The price of the laptop is not as low as initially promised, and other corporations, such as Intel and Microsoft, are starting to create competing machines.


The Tide Online. Importance of computer education for children. 20 February 2008. 28 February 2008.

Like other sources, this source contributes to the project because of its assessment of whether the XO laptop should be introduced to developing countries' children. Nigeria's education minister Dr Igwe Aja-Nwachuku remarked to this effect, saying 'What is the sense of introducing One Laptop per Child when they don't have seats to sit down and learn; when they don't have uniforms to go to school in, where they don't have facilities?


Why children die for lack of a toilet. United Nations Development Program. 9 November 2006. 14 March 2008.


Wikipedia contributors. Constructionism (learning theory). 28 February 2008. 6 March 2008.

This source is useful because it provides background to OLPC's underlying theory and belief that it can improve education for these children. Because constructionists believe that making something in the real world is the most educational, it gives a design justification for the XO laptop's various creativity-based collaborative activities.


Wikipedia contributors. One Laptop per Child. 29 February 2008. 6 March 2008.

As most wikipedia articles are, this source provided a good introduction to the topic and was a stepping stone to other articles. It contributed to the project also with its relatively objective account of the positive and negative aspects of the XO laptop and the OLPC program.

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