Two great NPR stories on the OLPC

NPR has two great stories on the OLPC.

The first is an interview, One Laptop Per Child Plan Faces Challenges in U.S. , with Mario Armstrong about brining the OLPC to students in Birmingham, Alabama.

Mayor Larry Langford has recently announced that a $3 million deal was signed in order to bring in one laptop per child, or 15,000 XOs in total. Apparently, the schools will become the first in the nation to receive OLPCx, which were sold to the district at $200. Students will receive their machines on April 15, 2008,

Mario talks about how these machines are really designed for collaboration. The idea is not to provide "users of technology" but "creators of technology". It also brings up the digital divide of using technology to promote innovative thinkers.

The other story, Teens Bring Laptops to South Africa, is about OLPC being brought to children in South Africa. What I liked about the recording is it was nice to hear the voices of the recipients of the computers and how the envision using it.