INSIGHT

Switched-on youth
Technology plays a momentous role in shaping the future of our societies and ensuring that the
next generation is prepared to cope with the burdens and embrace the opportunities to come.
So, how exactly are we enabling our youth to contribute in this digital era?
THE FINANCIAL TIMES reports that an estimated 40 per cent of the
global population has an internet connection, with the individual figure
rising constantly. In developed countries, our digital dependencies
continue to grow, with billions of us now relying on the internet on a daily
basis for our jobs, as well as entertainment and social interaction.
On a larger scale, the Internet of Things demonstrates how network
connectivity and automated communication enables essential data
exchange across industry and society, such as for smart grids, intelligent
vehicles, manufacturing and healthcare systems.
PASSING ON THE TORCH
But who will create the innovations we need as the global population
increases, and we are faced with health, environmental and financial
burdens? Not only will societies require new technologies, those that
already exist will need improved efficiency, economic productivity and
accuracy to stay relevant. And, equally important, who will be the
sentinels protecting this technology from cyber security threats and
preventing their failure?
We must turn to the next generation of STEM researchers, which is why
youth need to be informed, motivated and supported wherever they are in
the world. Examples of this innovative spirit include then-fifteen-year-old
Canadian Ann Makosinski, who designed and built a thermoelectric torch
that uses heat from a persons hand to power the technology without
batteries or electricity. Or, then-fifteen-year-old American Jack Andraka,

INTERNATIONAL INNOVATION

who invented a new diagnostic test for pancreatic cancer that is 28 times
faster and cheaper, and over 100 times more sensitive than existing tests.
THE M IN STEM
Let us focus on the enabling agent behind many technological
advancements: mathematics. Maths underpins just about everything
from the technology in your smartphone to the banking and financial
systems that support our economy to how we measure and predict
our health, says Professor Nalini Joshi, Chair of Applied Mathematics
at the University of Sydney. Maths is also the cornerstone of all
scientific endeavour so if we are training new scientists without
a good understanding of maths, Australian science will soon be
in trouble. Although this is a national example, the sentiment
resonatesinternationally.
This statement also emphasises how maths and other STEM subjects are
integral to the development of a generation capable of not only coping
with the demands of an increasingly digital world but also having the
skills to build the future we will need.

Youth need to be informed, motivated and

supported wherever they are in the world

CASE STUDY: One Laptop Per Child

Mariana Ludmila Corts, Vice President of Business Development at One Laptop Per Child,
explains how the non-profit organisation is enabling children in developing countries to access
educational devices for self-empowered learning

What would you say is the role of technology in the education

ofchildren?
According to Seymour Paperts work, computers are a tool to think with
and provide children with a highly flexible platform to share powerful
ideas and create their knowledge through reflection and self-expression.
One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)s learning philosophy is based on the
constructionist learning theories of Papert. Constructionist learning
involves students drawing their own conclusions through creative
experimentation and the process of making things. As computers
might facilitate this type of creative learning, they further the cognitive
development of children.
How can parents and teachers ensure that children are prepared for
increasingly digital societies?
We believe that parents and teachers are the human factors of society,
who should work together in collaboration, with one goal in mind:
protecting and providing opportunities to empower children and warrant
the development of their knowledge.
OLPC not only provides children with a connected laptop computer,
but also a comprehensive ecosystem of support to supply teachers
with professional development, parents with personal development
opportunities and community outreach programmes to ensure an
integral community involvement that boosts and protects the knowledge
of future citizens. OLPC offers children opportunities that they would
otherwise not have due to the existing digital divide.

The world already needs children with the

capacity to solve problems through a digital tool
that can be programmed by them
Many children in developing countries do not have access to
educational resources. How is OLPC equipping children with
knowledge and helping lay the groundwork for the future?
We believe in empowering children so that they can solve the problems
that plague their communities. OLPC currently has programmes around
the world in many disadvantaged communities where we promote the
unfolding of critical thinking and problem solving skills that enable
children not to be the consumers of information, but the creators of
it. That is why we work to support the next generation of innovators,
as we believe these are the skills needed for success in increasingly
digitalsocieties.

Can you explain how giving children a rugged, low-power, low-cost

laptop may help them solve the problems they might even face
themselves, such as no running water or electricity in thehome?
Education is the basis for full human, social and economic
empowerment. You dont stop providing education until the rest of the
problems are solved. It must be provided at the same time. In order for
children to be successful in todays global economy, they must develop
creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving skills,
digital fluency and the ability to work together.
The world already needs children with the capacity to solve problems
through a digital tool that can be programmed by them.
The OLPC learning philosophy focuses on offering the child an
opportunity to develop all of these skills by learning how to become a
creator rather than just a consumer of information. It is about a child
programming a computer rather than a computer programing a child, so
that the computer becomes a tool that will facilitate problem solving.
By developing these skills, understanding digital fluency and solving the
problems of the basis of the pyramid, children are empowered to break
the cycles of poverty and violence that plague so many communities.
Do you have any case study results or impacts that you can share?
Yes, in each programme we see a number of positive outcomes. You can
find social, economic, educational or community impacts. It all depends
on the objectives defined when initiating a deployment. In addition to
improved academic performance, we also see that childrens attitudes
about education change dramatically. In each programme, we have found
that children are more likely to come to school and to stay in school
with the implementation of our programme. Their outlook on the future
changes, as a world of opportunity is opened to them. Truly, we see a
social transformation that trespasses the classroom walls.
To date, we have delivered over 2.5 million laptops to children around
the world. We kindly ask for your continued support as we work to
provide children everywhere with a quality, innovative ecosystem that
supports them as the center of the social agent of change for community
development and improvement.
Please visit our website: www.laptop.org and click donate to support
our work.

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