Intel’s Classmate PC, the company’s answer to the XO Laptop, will soon be in the hands of Portugal’s schoolchildren. Some 500,000 laptops will be given to the country’s six-to-10-year-olds as part of a government initiative to improve education. Laptops for educations? Sounds familiar.

While the Classmate will no doubt help the youngsters, Portuguese teachers recognize that a laptop isn’t the be all, end all to improve education, saying that the laptops are part of a “holistic” approach to education.

Who didn’t learn how to ford a river (and more!) by playing Oregon Trail in their school’s computer lab?

At right is Portugal’s greatest export, Cristiano Ronaldo.