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$50 PC Will Teach Chicago School Kids

by Thomas Houston on March 14, 2008 at 10:34 AM



Here's another entry in the expanding line of low-cost computer technology that's geared towards the classroom: Innovations for Learning, a Chicago-based nonprofit, recently debuted its $50 Teachermate handheld, which now joins the OLPC XO and Intel Classmate in the quest to teach kids how to compute on the cheap. The bare-bones PC comes with 512MB of RAM, an SD slot (for external memory), a tiny 2.5-inch display, and a microphone and speaker. It lacks Wi-Fi (wireless connectivity) or Ethernet, however, so the Teachermate won't be able to go online. Because the handheld device also lacks a keyboard, it forces the user to maneuver around the onscreen interface with just a four-way directional pad and three buttons.

Innovations for Learning will be launching the new computers in over 500 Chicago public elementary schools during the next two years. While both the OLPC and Intel Classmate are built on freely-available open-source software -- which makes them more versatile and upgradeable -- the Teachermate currently only runs a small proprietary set of classroom management tools and reading and math educational software.

The Teachermate will be available soon on Amazon, for those who are interested in trying it out on their own.

From Engadget

Teachermate - $50 PC



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Tags: computer, education, laptop news, LaptopNews, learning, pc, teachermate

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