This is something I find very difficult to forget (possibly because my family is from the Philippines): when we talk about how open source and content and "online learning" lower the barrier to Awesomeness for students, we need to remember that this only applies to students who can go online and access that software and content. This is a very small percentage of the world.

I'm not just talking about the kid growing up in the middle of the desert with no reliable electricity or connectivity who's never seen a computer before, though there are many of them. I'm also talking about the city kid who's only used computers for 30 minutes at a time, once per week, under close supervision to make sure they're only going through the prescribed typing exercise. I'm also talking about the suburban teen who has their own computer but isn't permitted to install "third-party software" on it or spend time talking (and working) with "strangers" online.

And I'm talking about any kid who theoretically has access to computers, but doesn't know they do - or know what options are available to them. How would they know that they could - or should - contribute to open source? How do we expect it to enter their awareness that they can find this world and are welcome to contribute to it, when so many other things in their lives have set the expectation that they are not welcome to speak up and tinker and contribute in the world of grown-ups, in the "real world" doing real things? (And I'm also talking about people who aren't kids - this really applies to folks of any age.)

We've got us a world to fix, people.