I can't even imagine the technology that my kids will watch change in their life. Ainsley and Hudson just got their own computers if you can believe it. My dad got them laptops through One Laptop Per Child. This is an organization that has developed a low-cost laptop with the purpose of getting one laptop to every school-age child in developing countries. The program they did last year was great. What you did to get one for yourself is purchase on to give away to a child in a third world country, then you got one. So he got one for Ains, Hudson, and Zech, and consequently sent three of these computers to three kids somewhere in an underdeveloped nation.
The computers they send out have alternative power sources, solar or a hand crank (the ones they send to us are traditional plug in re-chargeable batteries.) The computers are very sturdy and don't have a fan in them that can suck in dirt and be ruined like regular laptops do.
The computers didn't come with any instructions other than some pictures showing you not to drop it in water, sit on it, or give it to a baby. So the kids took them out of the box and started playing. It was so funny because I was online on our computer looking up the instructions to figure it out while they were over going crazy saying, "look at this" and "watch what I just found," "show me how you got to that" and "wow, this is so cool!" They had figured out so much, so I just gave up on the instructions and let them figure it out on their own.
The computers will do the Internet, although we haven't given them the pass code to our wireless network yet. We are still figuring out how exactly we will be handling that. We figure at the ages of 7 and 4 we can't give them privileges that we will then have to take away when they are 14 and 11. So we have already said we only use the computer when there are other people with us in the room. We are working on what other parameters we need. The computers come with a built in video camera and microphone. Hudson's favorite part so far is a program that when you talk, or in his case yell as loud as you can, at the computer it shows a line indicating the sound waves you are making. Thanks dad! The kids love them!
1 comment:
It is always so nice to have another wise family cutting the path for us to follow after. I suppose it is only fair of us to find something that we forge through first so you can have the same benefit. I will start thinking of what that thing might be.
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