The One Laptop Per Child organization has announced it is launching an internship program to send graduate and undergraduate students to Africa to help out with creating educational opportunities for children in African nations. Dubbed OLPCorps, the program will outfit up to 100 student teams with 100 OLPC XO laptops and up to $10,000 to cover operating expenses, and the teams will spend nine weeks in an African nation working directly with community and education partners to integrate the XO laptops into children’s primary education.
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Google Aids High-Speed Net
While many of us are concerned with our broadband speed, there are billions of people in developing nations for whom the word Internet might as well not exist. But that’s going to change; Google, along with HSBC bank and cable operator Liberty Global are set to help bring high-speed Internet access to around three billion people in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America using satellites, the BBC reports.
Due to begin in 2010, the 16 satellites employed will use the 03b Networks system and tap into the burgeoning numbers of cell phones in these areas.
EA Donates Copies of SimCity for Every OLPC
While One Laptop Per Child computers are already slated to have a handful of open-source games included on them, one major game publisher will take that list of games to the next level by donating an old-school classic from its archives. Electronic Arts announced on Thursday that it would donate the original 1989 version of SimCity on every OLPC sold.
Besides being a fun way to get kids using the computer, EA believes SimCity can also help them learn. “SimCity is entertainment that’s unintentionally educational,” said Steve Seabolt, vice president of global brand development for The Sims Label, in a statement. “Players learn to use limited resources to build and customize their cities. There are choices and consequences, but in the end, it’s a creativity tool that’s only limited by the player’s imagination.”


