This podcast is a recorded skype interview with Colin Davitt, Instructional Technology Specialist with the Lindbergh School District in St Louis, Missouri, about his initial impressions of the XO Laptop. Colin received his XO Laptop two days ago, and is VERY enthused about the capabilities and power of the XO! After hearing him talk, I am REALLY wanting to order one. How exciting to hear from a first-hand witness about the exciting capabilities of this $180 laptop! Note: The XO Giving program requires a $400 purchase: This provides one XO Laptop to a student in a developing country, and one XO Laptop to the person ordering the XO. The actual cost of the XO Laptop hardware is $180 presently.
Show Notes:
- XO Laptop: Give One, Get One (Extended through December 31, 2007)
- OLPC: One Laptop Per Child Project
- One Laptop Per Child (New Version), Reviewed by 12-Year-Old (blog post on Freedom to Tinker)
- More XO Laptop Reviews
- Current Technorati Search for OLPC reactions
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Comments
3 responses to “Podcast212: XO Laptop First Impressions from Colin Davitt”
Hi Wes
I got my XO 2 days ago too! The wiki supporting the XO provides great examples of the learning that is possible with this device: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Activities
This is my first experience with Linux-based programs (referred to as “Activities”) such as the TamTam Jam, Turtle Art (logo programming) and Pippy. Some of the hardware components are not yet functional, such as the ability to write with a stylus, however, many Activities and upgrades are in the works. It will be nice to have the ability to “sleep” the laptop.. a feature that will be coming soon.
BTW..
thanks for all the Oklahoma posts! What a wonderful opportunity.
Cheers!
Thanks for the podcast, Wes.
I just got my XO but have not yet had time to do much with it.
Kevin
Hey Wes,
Thanks for sharing the podcast. Two of my boys (15 & 16) are working with two XO’s right now in hopes to share them with two younger kids tomorrow. Their goals is to get familiar enough that they can provide support and answer any questions. Their initial reports after about an hour of exposure are that they are fairly frustrating. They got them fired up right away and were able to utilize the mesh network to see each other and the rest of our network and computers. They liked the swivel screen and the camera. They are now trying to browse the Internet and use some of the applications. I think that is where the frustration lies. They can’t get them connected to our network. One of my sons was frustrated because he couldn’t find the network properties or diagnostics. I’m sure the problem has to do with our network security. They are both very capable of connecting other devices to our network. We’ll see how long it takes for them to get it figured out before I have to help.
My ten year old daughter, on the other hand, liked them right away. She was able to type in a few minutes. Her hands fit the keyboard perfectly. We were up at MindScapes where we have an open wifi and she was able to connect with no problem. I think some of the first impressions have to do with an expectations and level of knowledge of other computing devices. These laptops were made for children in third world countries who had never had the opportunity to use technology or access the Internet.
It will be interesting to see how the other children react tomorrow.