A student in Uruguay learns how to use $100 laptop computer

6 November 2007

Web Site Offers Global Collaboration on Educational Resources, November 6, 2007

(UNESCO awards 2007 King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize to Curriki)

Curriki: The Global Education and Learning Community recently was named a winner of the 2007 King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize, sharing the honor with the Claroline Project, which is based in Belgium at the Université Catholique. They were selected on the recommendation of an international jury by the director-general of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, who will present $25,000 to each of the two laureates in a ceremony at UNESCO headquarters on December 19.

Curriki is a Web site that provides free access to school curricula developed through collaboration by a community of educators.

Executive Director Barbara Kurshan said that current offerings – used regularly by 35,000 people - range from lesson plans, assessments and media clips to complete textbooks.

When community members view the resource pages, they are able to comment, edit and group content to create a lesson, course or curriculum.

Curriki hopes to join forces with the $100 laptop project launched in 2005 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Nicholas Negroponte.  Curriki is involved in discussions to ensure that as much of its material as possible will be accessible on the laptops.