Got this passed along to me from our pal Gene... Leon Young is a software engineer turned 6th grade science teacher who designed a fully functional $100 tablet to be used in his classroom. The goal is to make thirty of them -- one tablet per student, to use as learning aids. To raise the money for the tablets, he launched a Indiegogo campaign: The $100 Tablet Project.
Here's a video with more information:
Leon explains:
I'm a 6th grade science teacher in Berkeley. I was a software engineer for 6 years before becoming a middle school teacher. I have a passion for teaching youth and working with computers.The goal was to raise $3000 ($100 per tablet) and they've already reached it! But there are additional costs to the project (file servers, storage, cables, etc.) and every donation will go a long way. The fundraising deadline is August 19. For more information, and to make a pledge, go to the Indiegogo page here.
I want to change the way students are taught. I want to have one tablet/laptop per student in my class. I want to try to replace as many paper and pencil activties with the tablet, and I want to see how my students adopt the technology.
With the state of the CA education budget and the high costs of tablets, I have designed my own $100 tablet that is fully functional. All I need is your support. Because of the low cost of each tablet, each dollar that you donate goes a long way.