Easily accessible technical support: Although designed to be robust, its very likely that kids are going to do use it in weirdest possible ways. Lack of easily accessible local technical support can dampen curiosity and interest.
Native (non-English) language support: Kids (and teachers) in underprivileged communities will need something that they understand better or can learn quickly.
Backbone infrastructure: Underdeveloped regions are most likely to lack any backbone telephone or internet infrastructure. And without that, information flow and peer-to-peer communication can be hindered to great extent.
Gray/black market problems: For highly underdeveloped communities which are still struggling to survive without sufficient food and other basic facilities, it is certainly not a solution. If they are offered this laptop, more probably it’s going to be sold in gray market to fulfill their today’s needs. Hungry stomachs do not understand philosophy, however great it may be. They should be provided with what they need first and funds allocated for that purpose should not be diverted towards any other project.
Susan Lister on 18 Jun 08# At first glance, content issues related to ICT use in education might seem to some to be of minor importance. After all, access to the Internet (to cite one example) means access to an entire world of educational resources. Access to the Internet provides access to seemingly endless sets of educational resources -- and indeed it does. However, experience shows that there is a dearth of educational resources in a format that makes them easily accessible and relevant to most teachers and learners in LDCs, especially as they relate to a given country's current curriculum. # Experience tells us that, unless electronic educational resources are directly related to the curriculum, and to the assessment methods used to evaluate educational outcomes (especially standardized testing), lack of appropriate and relevant educational content is actually an important barrier to ICT use in schools.