An Education Laptop for Every Student in South Carolina
Our Vision
One Laptop Per Child/South Carolina is a statewide partnership between the South Carolina Department of Education and the non-profit Palmetto Project.
Our vision is to provide educational laptop computers to all elementary students in South Carolina — to accelerate their learning, improve their academic skills, and inspire them to do great things in their lives.
Through this partnership, South Carolina is making a bold commitment to prepare its children to become true leaders in the global economy of the 21st century.
More Than a Laptop
More than just a laptop project, One Laptop per Child/South Carolina is a whole new approach to educating our youngest citizens and encouraging their mastery of a technology that will fundamentally shape their personal and professional lives.
We are the only state in the country to make such an extraordinary commitment. However, it will only become a reality with the help of thousands of fellow citizens who share in this vision and are willing to advocate for it.
Background
The One Laptop Per Child/SC partnership got its inspiration from One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), an international non-profit organization created to give children around the world new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves.
Begun at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Labs by Dr. Nicholas Negroponte, OLPC has mobilized the world’s best and brightest to produce an education laptop with global support services. Partner corporations include Advanced Micro Devices, Intel, Brightstar, eBay, Google, Marvell, News Corporation, Nortel, Quanta, Chi Mei Group, Red Hat, and SES Astra.
OLPC in South Carolina
In November 2005, Phil Noble, a Charleston technology entrepreneur, met with Dr. Negroponte and the MIT team at the UN World Summit on Information Society in Tunisia and began working to see that the children of South Carolina would be the first in the US to receive the laptop.
In 2007, The Palmetto Project and state Superintendent of Education Jim Rex embraced the idea and began working with Noble and Negroponte’s team to turn it into a reality.
Greenville executive Erwin Maddrey and Charleston businesswoman and philanthropist Linda Ketner immediately recognized the potential value of One Laptop Per Child/South Carolina and agreed to underwrite the implementation of a pilot project in Marion County School District #7, whose schools are among the state’s most rural and underserved. Both Erwin and Linda are long-time Board members and supporters of the Palmetto Project.
By March 2008, the staffs of SC Department of Education and Marion 7 had developed a plan that would allow us to learn what laptop technology in the hands of our youngest students could accomplish. An awarding-winning production team at South Carolina Educational Television signed on to follow the project and produce a full length documentary on the project as it unfolds.
On May 12th, Jim Rex, Phil Noble, and Palmetto Project Executive Director Steve Skardon held a news conference at Britton’s Neck Elementary School in Marion County, and presented 600 laptop computers to the teachers, parents, and students in Marion 7.
The First 500, 5K and 50K Laptops
Almost immediately, the students began working on their own child-friendly laptops, exploring the many educational programs and learning opportunities they have to offer. Students eagerly took the laptops and began exploring the nearly 200 educational programs
Assuming all goes as expected, One Laptop Per Child/SC hopes to order another 5,000 units by the fall, and as many as 50,000 in the spring of 2009.
‘Do Something Great Fund’: the Partners and the Promise
The Do Something Great Fund, managed by the Palmetto Project, will underwrite the expansion of OLPC/SC throughout the state and create partnerships among the students, classrooms, and schools that receive the laptops. A special focus of the project will be on low-performing school districts where resources are limited.
The Fund accepts tax deductible donations from interested South Carolinians, corporations, local businesses, and community partners. Donations can be made online or by check to “Palmetto Project – OLPC/SC, 1031 Chuck Dawley Blvd. #5, Mount Pleasant SC 29464.”
Students: Everyone Can Help
There will be no free laptops. All students will be asked to do two things in order to receive a laptop:
- Make a donation to the Fund, even if only a dollar or two, and
- Sign a pledge that they will use the laptop to try and ‘do something great’ for themselves, their family and their state. The students will be presented with their laptop at a school ceremony with their parents, supporters and friends.
Learn More
We invite you to learn more about One Laptop per Child/South Carolina by clicking on the icons in the top navigation, above, or clicking the links below:
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