Handheld Learning - learning with mobile and ubiquitous technologies

According to a story on the BBC web site Nicholas Negroponte (of MIT fame) has announced that he will be demonstrating a prototype of a $100 laptop computer as part of a "one laptop per child" initiative.

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Obviously a fantastic and exciting innovation but so far the demo's of the device feature quite a large set of prototyping boards hidden away.

Of course, it's a question of scale, i.e. volume of units that can be made and sold, but is there any evidence that this device can be made and sold in the volume required to hit this price point while allowing sufficient margins for distribution and support?

Handheld and smartphone devices are already beginning to hit this price point so perhaps simply adding the wind-up power generator to these types of devices is more realistic. There's also fuel-cell technology just around the corner.

Where is the quality software going to come from that will make the device useful for its intended educational markets?

If the answer is via Internet applications then who decides what is the appropriate educational material for a particular country. After all, isn't part of the schooling process (right or wrong, deliberate or not) an act of cultural reproduction?

Negroponte quite rightly suggests that provision of education is one of the key's to global peace. But, without wishing to come across as a curmudgeon isn't there the potential for a globalisation of cultural reproduction in the event that a particular nation state (mentioning no names!) takes it upon itself to become the fountain of all educational material?