One laptop per child (OLPC) is a non-profit organisation associated with creating low-cost laptops for the developing world. For its latest project, it’s targeting the developed world’s kids with the Vivitar OLPC XO Android tablet.

This device will go on sale in the US through Wal-Mart stores. A price hasn’t been announced, although we’ve been told that it will be relatively cheap. A worldwide launch should then follow and it’s hoped that the tablet will make it to the UK.

We’ve seen our fair share of budget Android tablets before and looking at the specs of the Vivitar OLPC XO (1.6GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM and a 7in screen with a 1,024×600 resolution) it would appear, at first, to be like many other tablets already available. The big difference from the outside is the child-friendly look and feel, with a rubberised outside and the neat carrying ring at the top-left.

What sets this product apart, however, is the XO Learning System front-end to Android. This splits the pre-loaded apps into 12 ‘dreams’ for children, such as ‘I want to be an artist’ and ‘I want to be a mathematician’. Each dream has a set of associated apps that help the child develop their goals. With three levels of apps, the tablet should grow with each child’s development.

Multiple children can use the same tablet thanks to the ability to add up to three profiles, which are quick and easy for the parents to configure. Each profile can be controlled as to what apps and data it’s allowed to access, giving parents piece of mind that they’re not giving a completely unlocked device to a child.

Each profile has a journal mode, which shows exactly how the child spent their time, as well as recording the websites that they visited.

XO Learning has its own store and eBook library, where all of the applications and books have been vetted as safe for children. Again, it removes a headache that some parents have when giving a product to a child.

With ages three to 12 supported by the tablet, our concern was that for the older child they’d soon outgrow this learning device and want a proper Android tablet as well.

Fortunately, XO Learning is just a front-end and the full Android experience is sat behind it. Parents can configure who has access to full Android and the Google Play store.

From a first look it seemed like a slick and easy-to-configure product that could be ideal for parents that want to get their kids a tablet, but want it locked down so it’s more an educational tool.

Watch Engadget’s Interview to the organization’s VP of business development Giulia D’Amico and CFO Bob Hacker here.

According to a study that took place in the 4Q of 2011 where Nielsen Co surveyed tablet owners with children found that:

• kids are increasingly using them for both education and entertainment
• 57 % of children are using educational applications
• 77 % are playing downloaded games
• the number of families that own a tablet as a resource is growing
• 7 out of 10 children under the age of 12 in a house with a tablet used them
• The tablet has also become a go-to gadget to keep kids busy while on the go with parents
• 55% of parents surveyed said that they had used the tablet as a way to keep their children entertained while traveling (meaning that tablets also function as shared devices for families)
• 41% of parents let their children play with tablets while waiting in restaurants

According to a study by PBS about how children and parents interact with the iPad:

• 70% of parents allow their children to use their iPad
• Parents download an average of eight children-specific apps on their iPad
• 40% of parents state that their kids play on their iPad at least once a day
• 90% of parents in this study stated that “educational value” was the most important criteria when choosing an app for their children

Rose Luckin, a professor of learner-centered design at the University of London found that 5 and 6 year-olds who recorded school activities on tablets and replayed them for parents tended to learn better than children who didn’t use tablets in this way. For optimal use, tablets should generate “talk time” between parents and children (which is crucial for language development), rather than replace it. This means that parents should engage in dialogue with children when their young ones are using tablets. According to experts, problems are formed when tablets replace talk time and diminish interaction between parents and children.

According to a recent Nielsen study, Apple’s popularity leading up to the holiday season continues a trend seen over the last couple of years, with American kids aged 6-12 generally more interested in the latest iOS offerings than other consumer electronics and gaming devices. This meaning that kids aged 6-12 are interested in iPad look alike tablets and can’t be easily fooled with “kid’s tablet”

Every child has dreams and XO Learning directs the child’s passion, creativity and energy for these dreams into a new user interface that has 12 dreams. Such dreams include “I want to be” an artist, a musician and a scientist. Each dream features a rich learning experience and applications, books, games and videos that allow children ages 3 to 12 to naturally explore their dreams and learn at the same time. Content within a dream has three levels, so as the child advances in his/her learning, there is no need to pay for additional apps or content. Every dream features a “hero”, a real person who personifies the dream.

“The challenge in computing and education is to use the technology to develop new ways for children to learn. The rich content of the dreams allows the child’s natural
passion to be directed into learning experiences,” said Giulia D’Amico, the lead designer of XO Learning.

OLPCA teamed with the legendary designer Yves Behar of Fuse Project and his team
to create the XO Learning user interface and cover. All of the content in XO Learning
has been curated and selected for appropriateness and educational value by both
OLPCA and Common Sense Media, the leading non-profit reviewer of age appropriate
computer-based content in the U.S. XO Learning also offers a full range of parental
controls and user IDs for up to three children, a dashboard where the child or the parent can review usage, types of content and the skills the child is developing. XO Learning also includes a journal that records all usage including websites visited. Press a single icon and XO Learning switches from English to Spanish with all new content depending on the language. Additional languages will be available in future releases.

XO Learning also offers unique learning experiences from leading partners who support OLPCA’s program to foster child-centric learning. OLPCA partners include Sesame Street, MyCityWay, Common Sense Media, Little Pim and UNESCO, among others. OLPCA is currently in negotiations with many other of the world’s leading companies to provide unique experiences through XO Learning in time for the product introduction in 2013.

XO Learning will be offered through licensing agreements to tablet manufacturers,
governments, book publishers, and international distributors in the U.S., Europe and the traditional OLPCA markets in developing countries.
“With the popularity of tablets, the standards and specifications of the devices are
converging to one worldwide standard”, said D’Amico. “The expectation of the tablet
user in the U.S., India and South Africa is the same.”

Sakar International, based in Edison, New Jersey, is the first licensee under their
Vivitar brand. It will offer XO Learning on a 7″ inch Android tablet of its own design
with specifications as shown in the attached schedule. The tablet will be marketed as
the “XO Tablet”. Sakar has the exclusive right to sell the XO Tablet to leading U.S.
retailers for both in-store and online sales.

The XO Tablet will be available at select Walmart stores and Walmart.com this year.

About One Laptop per Child Association One Laptop per Child Association (OLPCA at http://www.laptop.org) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide every child in the world access to new channels of learning, sharing and self-expression. In partnership with the public and private sectors and non- governmental organizations and supported by comprehensive implementation and pedagogical services, OLPCA seeks to provide each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power connected laptop that empowers individual learning and growth.

About XO Learning
“A learning experience designed to unleash children’s creativity” for 3-12 year olds.
XO Learning believes that tablets offer new ways for technology to provide a child-centric learning environment through the convergence of virtual and physical activities. These experiences are made possible, in part, through app-cessories, sensors and other devices particularly suited to the form factor and user interface of a tablet.

http://www.xo-learning.org

Media Contacts
press@laptop.org
info@xo-learning.org