One Laptop per Child (OLPC)
Morgan G. Ames · The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology · 2017
Abstract One Laptop per Child (OLPC) was a nonprofit initiative (active 2005–2013) that was established with the goal of creating and distributing educational devices for children in the global south. Based on research from the MIT Media Lab, OLPC oversaw manufacture of one laptop and developed specifications for several more. This approach of this controversial project has been critiqued as technologically deterministic, imperialist, and utopian. Its projects have struggled with breakage, lack of infrastructure, and disengagement.