Description: This is
a VOA Special English Technology Report.
See text below
Text:
Market researchers estimate that more than one
billion personal computers are in use worldwide.
Availability has improved in developing countries,
but still remains limited compared to industrialized
nations. Experts continue to debate how best to
close this digital divide.
Nicholas Negroponte established
the One Laptop Per Child project
in two thousand five. He would
like to put a low-cost laptop in
the hands of every child, especially those living in
extreme poverty.
His nonprofit organization has shipped its specially
designed laptop to developing countries around the
world.
He says it is already in the
hands of more than one million children in
thirty-one countries
and nineteen languages.
"And one country, Uruguay, has just completed doing
every single child in the country," he says.
But the program has critics.
They say trying to supply every child with a laptop,
even at the current price of one hundred sixty
dollars, is costly and inefficient.
Stephen Dukker also makes low-cost computers. But
his can run programs and applications for several
students at once. He says these "virtual desktops"
lower costs, reduce energy use and lessen the need
for technical support.
His company NComputing says it has set up over forty
thousand networks in more than one hundred
countries.
Stephen Dukker says all you need to connect to a
network is a keyboard and monitor. "You think you've
got your own computer all to yourself," he says.
Instead, users are sharing the resource and doing it
at a much lower cost than having their own PC.
As computers reach more children in developing
countries, so too in many cases is the Internet. It
can be a great educational tool. But children also
need to learn about the possible threats that can be
found on social networks and other sites.
Mark Matunga is with Microsoft East Africa in Kenya.
He says poverty
may put African children especially at risk. They
are being told
"Hey, you know what? I can send
you a few dollars. I can come and visit you. I can
buy you a ticket. You come to my country."
His company is working with the Kenyan government
and a children's rights group. Mark Matunga says
the coalition is trying to educate the public about
how to protect children from online abuse.
And that's the VOA Special
English Development Report, available on Twitter and
Facebook at VOA Learning English.
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personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
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is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
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students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
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