Cheap Laptops Part of the Solution?

ILC has always maintained that to truly revolutionize indigenous education in the 21st century, three things (in addition to political will, a bit of money, and some luck) are required:

1. content
2. connectivity
3. computers

Content is our main focus. We’re educational publishers, dedicated to working with and for indigenous peoples to create a new generation of powerfully compelling, culturally and linguistically appropriate online learning programs

Connectivity – making sure indigenous learners and instructors are connected to the internet – is a constant challenge. Solutions vary, from country to country, and region to region. The good news is that, generally speaking, choice are on the upswing while costs are falling.

So what about computers?

Well, everyone from Intel to Nicholas Negroponte and MIT Media Labs seems to agree: to bring the 80% of the world’s population still not connected to the web – including most of the planet’s indigenous people – very inexpensive, very robust computers are needed.

This is especially true for students and their teachers.

While there are many options emerging, a small group of folk, including a couple of us here at ILC, decided to form our own company. Et voila - Drum Computer was born (http://www.drum-computer.com).

Drum is unique in several regards. It's completely focused on developed affordable, highly mobile computers that are essentially web-centric - so-called "cloud computers." It's partially owned by Native North Americans. And it's committed to sourcing as much of its assembly, software development, and R&D in North America as possible. In fact Drum is currently exploring options to establish facilities on American Indian and Canadian First Nation lands.

Some of the benefits of Drum's Arrow and Feather computers (hey, if you're Native, you gotta love it!) include:

little or no data stored on the computer, instead it's stored on remote servers "in the cloud," an approach that can be highly secure and eliminates the added cost of organizing data recovery from failed hard drives
very low Total Cost of Ownership, due to Drum's initial low prices, no software license fees (all bundled software that comes with Drum's base models is open source), no maintenance or long replacement cycles
choice of screen size and memory type
Drum is exploring the possibility of manufacturing its enclosures from completely organic, biodegradable materials
low power consumption
lead free

So are Drums part of the solution? We think so. Check them out and see what you think.