Internet access is still considered a rare privilege in some developing countries of Latin America. However, the lack of available technology is nowadays often mistaken for a failure in education or cultural activity. If children are days away from internet access, their education faces major obstacles.

But surprisingly enough, many developing countries in Latin America are known to have maintained an optimal level of education in primary schools. With scarce resources, the educational system has managed to face technological flaws creatively. For instance, take what rural Peruvian schools are doing with an offline version of Wikipedia.

One of the main features of Wikipedia is that it's "alive." It's constantly growing and improving its content with the help of thousands of online volunteers from around the world. So does it even make any sense at all to imagine an offline version of Wikipedia? According to Samuel Klein, one of the speakers at the fifth-annual Wikimania event held last week in Buenos Aires, it definitely does.

Mr. Klein is an activist for universal access to knowledge. He's director of content and head of community development for One Laptop per Child. The nonprofit organization distributes special low-power notebooks to children in developing countries.

One of the countries that has joined the OLPC initiative is Peru. There are 55,000 children in rural Peruvian primary schools who use solar-powered XO laptops, which cost about $200 each. Since these children live from three to six days away from internet access, computers include an offline version of Wikipedia. Children can access a great portion of the Wiki encyclopedia, which works as a digital library.