Learning to Change the World : The Social Impact of One Laptop per Child

There are thousands of social entrepreneurship programs in various stages of planning and implementation at any given time.  For the most part, these programs start out small with the intention of “scaling up” based on trial and error.   One Laptop per Child started out with a very ambitious mission—to provide more information and better education to the world’s poor via an inexpensive laptop.   Almost immediately this organization garnered attention—the ambition, the caliber of people working on the program and the initial success.  This book tells not only the story of this lofty group of pioneers, but also puts the lessons into perspective for future social entrepreneurs—what it means to work in this environment, how to collaborate with educators, organizations, countries, administrators, businesses.  Part narrative history of OLpC, part social entrepreneurship lessons and part futuristic look at attaining the education goals it set out, this book offers a real on the ground look at how this group brought together, business, educators,  technology, non-profits, and entrepreneurs to help bring an education to the world’s underprivileged.

Walter Bender is the Executive Director of Sugar Labs. He is a technologist and researcher who has made important contributions in the field of electronic publishing, media, and technology for learning. Bender is on leave as a Senior Research Scientist at the MIT Media Lab which he led as executive director between 2000 and 2006. He served as president of One Laptop per Child for Software and Content where he coordinated the development of software and content including the Sugar interface for the XO-1 Children's Machine computer.

Chuck Kane is the President of the OlpC Association and has previously served as President, Chief Operating Officer and an Advisor of One Laptop per Child. Mr. Kane serves as Senior Lecturer at the Sloan Graduate School of Business at MIT. He serves as an Adjunct Professor of International Finance at the Boston College Carroll School of Management.