Of course technology can make learning better. I'm pretty sure smart boards would help your average American classroom. But the target for OLPC was Africa, wher

Of course technology can make learning better. I'm pretty sure smart boards would help your average American classroom. But the target for OLPC was Africa, where the classroom itself may not exist. If there is a classroom, maybe there isn't a simple black board. If that's there, maybe the students don't have stationery. Maybe they have to share a book between 50 students. In this context, a laptop is as useless as a paper weight. They need basic stuff like books, pens, decent lunches, desks to write on etc. I'm sorry but having your "heart in the right place" doesn't cut it. They wasted money on useless crap that could have been spent on far more useful stuff.