The $100 Laptop in Vanity Fair & a Colombian School

Vanity Fair writer and widow of Tom Russert, Maureen Orth, wrote a charming article about a small school she built in the Colombian Andes while a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1960s. Last week she returned to the school to present the school named for her by the local villagers with 230 XO laptops from the One Laptop Per Child Foundation.

From Orth's article, The Long-Term Dividends of Volunteering:

Today, seeing how excited the children are about their small, green-and-white computers, which they are allowed to take home every night, is one of the greatest rewards I have ever had. I walked into the first grade classroom and had never seen kids so eager to learn. Their teacher, who had pooh-poohed the whole idea of computers and was on her way to retirement, was plunging right in.

The Banned Collection - Issue 3

I've been writing for magazines for about a decade and on occasion the publisher or Editor-in-Chief objected to the content of a column and refused to publish it. On other occasions I would not make changes I felt would dilute my argument or insult the intelligence of the reader.

My 2008 column, The Children’s Machine - It’s time to turn the network upside down was inspired by thinking about the potential of the XO, aka: the "$100 Laptop."

Emerging technology, universal wireless Internet access and best educational practices will cause increasing conflict with the job security of many I.T. employees. How will your district respond?