Tag Archives: XO laptop

On the agenda: More XOs and safety

This morning’s Birmingham City Council agenda includes a request from Mayor Langford for permission to purchase 1,530 more XO laptops (Item 8) and distribute them to grades 1-6 while providing additional training for teachers and parents (Item 9). The total cost for the purchase and implementation – This comes less than a month after UAB was awarded a two-year $1 million grant to help integrate the XO laptop into math and science curriculum for the city’s school system and it can be said that it has been a successful program.

The city will also be moving forward with matching the $11,923.60 provided by the U.S. Department of Justice’s bulletproof vest partnership program (Item 10) ensuring increased protection for municipal law enforcement officers.

We’re pretty sure that @bhamweekly will be providing play by play of today’s meeting on Twitter… not completely sure though…

XO laptops delivered; what about the boxes?

The first major delivery of XO laptop computers were made to students at Glen Iris Elementary School earlier this week. Approximately 700 computers were distributed. We all know how environmentally friendly the laptops are but what about the packaging?

XO laptop boxes recycled

AEC Program Coordinator Jenny Dorgan gets assistance from a student at Glen Iris Elementary School while preparing the boxes that delivered approximately 700 laptops for recycling. Photo courtesy of the Alabama Environmental Council.

Well, the Alabama Environmental Council let us know that they recycled 100% of the packaging from the first disbursement of the laptops (including all of these boxes that you’re seeing).

People are talking about laptops today…

… and it’s definitely a mix of opinions across cyberspace. It appears that even though the story broke several months ago, mainstream national media is just now beginning to report about the pending arrival of our school system’s XO laptop computers and it’s getting really interesting.

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Dre’s Journal: Is this how XO Laptops will be in Birmingham?

XO laptops at Kogod Courtyard in Washington, DC

Photo credit: André Natta/Flickr

The biggest story that I saw covered by mainstream media and bloggers last week while I was out of town involved a recent “discovery” by city officials that Birmingham City Schools were not ready to fully utilize our soon to be delivered XO laptops. Here’s an example of what it could look like around town in a few years if the laptops gain more popularity and if we truly embrace WiFi connectivity in Birmingham.

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