$15 Laptop and Projector: The best, most effective, and cheapest computer system for schools

With much hoopla, India has announced that it has a $65 Android tablet it is willing to subsidize to $35 for students and teachers. This has reignited the debate around hardware price points for educational devices – be they $100 laptops or $35 tablets. Let us be very clear that hardware costs are a red herring in ICT4E.

That being said, price matters in the minds of many. So here I present you with the best, most effective, and cheapest computer system for educational systems in the developing world: a rugged laptop computer and energy-efficient projector.

Teacher-centric Computing

First let us dispel the notion that primary school students needs their own computer. This is a fallacy that every elementary school teacher will confirm. Young children can learn just as effectively through teacher-facilitated learning without excessive investments in one laptop or tablet per child. And that’s in the advanced economies where there could be the resources to pay for that many devices.

In the developing world, few if any country can seriously contemplate providing a learning device per student. Yet, providing a learning system per classroom can be feasible. A learning system that empowers the teacher with standardized lessons and content that support the official curriculum would not only help improve teacher competency it would also help create a baseline knowledge level across schools.

So rather than attempting a personal student learning device, we should be focusing on teacher-centric computing that can lift an entire classroom’s learning opportunities.

Teacher-empowering Hardware

Now how can we share standardized lessons and content across an entire classroom of squirming children? By using a energy-efficient projector to display the curriculum that is access via a rugged laptop and manipulated by the teacher.

The total hardware costs for a system like this is around $1,000 per classroom: $400 for a Classmate PC, $400 for a low-power projector, and $200 for the solar power to run it. Divide that $1,000 by an average class size of 65 students, and you have a $15 per child cost. You can even add in interesting software applications to create interactive whiteboards for a tiny incremental cost.

The one laptop and projector per teacher model has an added bonus. Because the teaching methodology using a laptop and projector isn’t much different than using a chalkboard, there is a smaller barrier for teachers to make the transition from analog to digital curriculum.

Technology Flexibility

The laptop and projector model does not preclude investments in computer labs or even one laptop per child interventions. Merely that this is the lowest cost per student entry point to bring computing technology in the classroom.

I personally believe it is also a great base to start with, in that it will expose teachers to the use of technology in the classroom in a way that is familiar to their current teaching style. This will allow for the flexibility to bring in computer labs, mobile labs, personal devices, and even more radical technology and teaching methodologies over time.

So rather than starting with a $35-60 dollar tablet for students, schools should begin their technology journey with a $15 laptop and project for the teacher.

Source: ICT Works by Inveneo