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Linux Handhelds in African Schools
blastard writes "Seems some students will be getting to use their Linux handhelds in school without getting into trouble. BBCNews has a story on fifth-graders in Kenya who will be using "E-slates" from EduVision. The EduVision site is available in German, English and Swahili."
Ha. Ha. Ha. Sigh...I kill me...
The EduVision site is available in German, English and Swahili.
:)
No it isn't. Only the English link works. Quality fact checking as ever
Andy Armstrong
When I was in Fifth grade, I would have loved having a computer issued to me. Would have greatly furthered my abilities as far as computers go. Of course, there are many problems with this. Textbooks don't run out of batteries, which can be a problem sometimes in rural, third world areas. Think about it, these old textbooks aren't updatable, but they have lasted much longer than these handhelds will likely will. Also, here in the United States we sometimes had more technology in the classroom than our teachers knew what to do with, and that canbe a problem as the students here likely have never seen such devices before. There will be no 'geek-students' to help the teacher, after the Company man leaves. Upgrading from books so soon, when we are still using books in America sounds like a double-edged sword to me.
Windows has detected an undetectable error.
I actually see the benefit in this. The handhelds are designed to replace the textbooks that would normally be in use. I would imagine that buying the textbooks, shipping the textbooks, and keeping the textbooks up to date would be a lot more expensive in the long run than by simply buying inexpensive computers for the kids. The computers likely wouldn't be anything to write home about, but it would get the job done.
I would imagine that buying the textbooks, shipping the textbooks, and keeping the textbooks up to date would be a lot more expensive in the long run than by simply buying inexpensive computers for the kids.
I imagine you imagine wrongly. No handheld is going to get that cheap anytime soon, and textbooks need "updates" far less frequently than hardware needs repairing or replacing.
The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.
--Henry Kissinger
This seems like a thoroughly good idea. It would enable the schools to have up to date textbooks without the need to buy a new set of books every time the author decides to release an update. Enterprising students should also find something in there to peak their interest - I know I would have loved to have one of these babies when I was that age !
The site mentions the E-slate and its slide out keyboard, yet all the pictures are of students using HP iPaqs. So what are they using?
Well, you're posting anonymous as well arn't you, or am I missing something?
When Argumentum ad Hominem falls short, try Argumentum ad Matrem
for children in some countries who want to make contacts in the US to help them smuggle millions of dollars out of their war-torn country
you forget that in many states public school has some (little) funding.
The pda-textbooks would obviously be owned by the school administration, and the school taxes will pay them.
Besides... where I live textbooks are updated EVERY year. It is true that in some cases is only a stupid marketing ploy to avoid used books (many students get the "outdated" edition anyway: they only shuffle some pages).
In other cases however the textbooks really change very much from year to year, and you cannot use an old edition.
Banking and commerce techniques, accounting, civil law (or whatever is it called in english), informatics, and so on.
(btw, I'm speaking from Italy)
Ciao, Renato
IANAAmerican, so pardon my ignorance, but do you actually get into trouble there for something like this?
Why on earth?!
Textbooks might not need much updating, but imagine the vast library their are going to be able to offer.
Jeroen
Secure messaging: http://quickmsg.vreeken.net/
Those are awfully small screens.
i)Does EduVision also have a company selling myopia-correction glasses?
ii)I find it annoying enough when you have to keep flicking pages in a book, especially when studying. The pages of the eSlate will only allow a small amount of info to be visible at once. Perhaps they will use a hypertext format and have collapsible paragraphs (like text editor folds) to overcome some of the presentation difficulties.
There'll still be fifth-graders when the aid agenceys leave, and as soon as these run out of batteries they'll be useless. This is always that case with foriegn aid, be it with hospitals or schools.
AFAIK, most of western Kenya is pretty poor in terms of how much money most people have. (Food in rural areas generally isn't such a large problem thanks to subsistence farming.) For much of it education would be a luxury. I think this would have been better spent on building more schools.
Nice idea in theory but oh so many problems in practice.
The main one is the complexity of the system. I can't imagine primary schools in rural areas in Kenya (or for that matter here in US) having the expertise to fix the problems that will surely arise sooner or later.
If the main goal is to give students access to the textbooks, why not simply preload the relevant ones on the handhelds and give them out to the schools, and do away with the whole satellite -> base station -> wireless network -> handheld business.
At what intervals do the textbooks need to be updated/replaced anyway? Probably less that the average lifetime of the handheld computer in the hands of a 10 year old.
bah, waste of time and energy.
....You know what "educates" students very well? Interesting and educated teachers.
I made it through elementary with an apple ][ in the corner of the class. Hell, we weren't allowed to have calculators until trig [e.g. high school or for science classes]. We had to "use our minds"
I [and I'm sure everyone else] has had a teacher at a time that was totally ineffective of getting the lesson plan delivered. No amount of "e-technology" would "e-help" the students "e-absorb" information that they don't "e-want".
Sure having access to computers is good but giving each student their own personal "e-slate" is just stupid. Specially given that the economic state there doesn't support it.
Tom
Someday, I'll have a real sig.
You must have gone to school in a nice place, I think my elementary school in NYC used books that were a decade+ old and my middle school wasn't much better. I then went to a magnet HS but I doubt the regular High Schools have anywhere near new books.
There is really no way a wireless, battery powered handheld is cheaper than a desktop PC of the same capability (or even double the capability). This is really not a solution for the Third World.
Look at similar efforts going on in other parts of the world like IT@School in Kerala. They are expermenting with LTSP servers and thin clients - where small local firms have support contracts. (Hell !!.. they even sell GNU/Hurd cds). Also all the textbooks are available on PDF as well.Pumping money into the third world will not solve its problems , neither will hitech handhelds. It's about awareness - a trickle down approach of feeding information. With the right political support (there's a government change soon for Kerala), it might actually work.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur
Pardon me while I fall off my chair laughing. Project guttenberg and the like have been "computerizing" public domain books for years and they are up to what, 10,000 or so. Where is this great magical library of 15 million ebooks?
Why is it that everytime someone mentions something on slashdot which happens in an african country (Kenya in this case) the post has to mention "Africa" as if it is one country.
Kenya != whole of africa
I live in an "African" country and this seems rediculous to me.
Consider a couple of examples:
If the story is about Americans college students you don't have a title:
Students in North America...
Similarly for a story about something in China or Germany you don't title the story:
Scietists in Asia discover x
or
Scientists in Europe discover y
You you title it:
Scientists in China discover x
and
Scientist in Germany discover y.
The other thing that bugs me is that posters talk as if everyone from "Africa" is mentally handicapped or something.
Change the title to : LINUX handhelds in KENYAN schools!
Just... shut the fuck up, ok?
You and your racist jokes are an embarrassment to us all.
AFAIR in italy elementary school books are free (as in beer), since they are provided with tax money.
It might have changed in the years (I'm 27), but anyway, most local administrations pay for elementary books (new every year, afaik) if the state does not.
And if you can't afford books for the complusory school years, you can bet a way for you to obtain a copy max 1 or 2 years old will be found.
Ciao, Renato
They mention Google digitized books, but they could also grab content from http://www.wikipedia.org/ - after all, that's what GFDL is for!
Ok, some will argue quality / neutrality / completeness isn't guaranteed on all articles - i'll say it's better'an nothing [and biaises exist in every material / textbook]
Tsuyoikoto ha taisetsu da ne, dakedo namida mo hitsuyousa (Strength is an important thing, but tears too are necessary)
I'm EMEA (Europe, The Middle East and Africa) Manager for a multinational financial services institution. Either myself or someone from my team spend a lot of time on client site at banks in Africa, so we've got some insight.
:
We take a lot for granted in the developed world. Even at the better run banks in Africa things we could do in less than a day take two or more.
Part of the problem is infrastructure : for example, the power in Lagos goes out constantly. Even the banks with UPS' get caught out sometimes.
Part of it is education : the skills just aren't as widely available as compared to the developed countries. Lot's of times it's the blind helping the blind. Yep, they muddle through but it takes far longer.
The OP had more insight into this problem : after the Company Man leaves there definitely will be loads of these devices that are unusable. Efforts of the curious children asdie, we see it all the time in the banks - why would it be different in the remote villages?
Oh and I'm not knocking these folks; they're just doing the best they can and I actually enjoy going down there to help them, but things are a lot different in Africa.
In case you're curious I've got few pix from my last visit/a
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In NYC you basically borrow a book from the school for the year, and then return it at the end of the year. So the longer the school reuses them for, the less they pay per year. I think they get new ones once the old ones start falling apart and tape can't hold them togother anymore. These are hardcover books (heavy but decently durable) and while there should be a "class set" so that you don't have to lug the thing to school there usually isn't (guess where they get books from to replace lost/destroyed copies...).
Its amazing how far things are getting at this stage... My hats off to the fine people who are out to make this sort of education possible for kids around the world. Its just a tad scarey that in my day we only had home made paint and a cave wall... although there was that posh kid with his abacus.
"Carpe Noctem"
True be that, handhelds alone does not cut it.
My impression of the eduvision site is however that the project is not technology centered, though a focus on such on slash. is no surprise.
Worth recognizing though is that any and consistent support however does. So this project is a positive contribution, and we need more of such.
Like any project in a development area, be it a student or a community, I hope the backers think long term strategic and haven't just assigned the necessary resources to launch it, to build a customer mass, but actually are prepared to see it through.
* hardware replacement/support for when the units are not working.
* energy resource to keep the unit working.
* relevant information resources for the units.
* an open system which can be evolved, not locked down, let them not be restrained.
Like the simputer project in India... I'ld like to hear how from the users how they evolve and use the technology. Do the units lay around little used, or will they become an integrated part of the users personal improvent cycles.
If they keep it simple, an alternative to expensive books that are lousy updated, then the project alone have the potential of becoming successful.. and thats a good start, then they can apply extensions for communicative purposes to enrich their collaborative work.
I can't see why the project is not to be encouraged. The worlds biggest untapped resources for further growth with the fruits on the lowest trees are to encourage development in the areas of the less wealthy/evolved. Africa is important.
--
For those who know nothing, knowledge is on the other side.
This reminds me of the time I was working with Karen tribals in Northen Thailand. I was contacted by a representative of Sun Micro who (as part of their charity program) wanted to give schools in the region computers so they could communicate children from other parts of the world. A noble idea but rather short sighted since these villages did not have electricity or so much as a phone line.
If they really wanted to help the children then how about buying their land from the Forestry Commission so they didn't get moved every time more lumber was needed. And how about giving financial incentives to farmers up stream so they didn't pollute the river with pesticides. Oh and how about razing some awareness of the troubles in Myanmar so that the villages didn't get shot when walking to near the border.
But hey, I'm sure board-room people of Sun got a nice warm fuzzy feeling when they though of the whole computers for tribals idea.
It's obviously designed that way to stop the little kenyans from
selling the computers.
The liberal's natural habitat is far, far away from those cute little dark-skinned people.
I've never heard anything so stpid in my life!
Are you suggesting the children are more capable then the adults?
Children in Africa are more concerned with eating. This has to be the stupidest comment that I've ever
read on Slashdot.
Curious children who learn quicker than adults?
Sure.
They didn't even translate it into African!?
the nerve...
(it's a joke,laugh)
These devices will be stolen as quickly as possible. After the thieves discover they won't work abywhere except on a proprietary network, they'll be discarded. Dumped in a river, something like that. Too much effort to actually return them.
I give the program about three months.
It's a nice idea, but I don't think it's sustainable.
668: Neighbour of the Beast
There are a lot more people in all the countries you named. Also, Germany is special. A lot of Engineering news comes out of Germany.
Besides Germany, which earns special fame due to it's accomplishments, the other countries you mentioned are much bigger than Kenya. I might also add that this is a US site, and therefore slightly slanted towards US news. If something came from the US, we'd like to know more specifically than even that - we'd like to know where in the US.
I have a feeling that if you had discoveries in Sri Lanka and Latvia you'd get "Scientists in Asia discover X," or "Scientists in Europe discover y."
Not to worry. If one African country does something for long enough, and they get a name for themselves that sets them apart from the rest of Africa. Nigeria has proven that.
Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
A nice remotely-administered Linux Terminal Server would have been much more effective. Bigger screens to read from and a bigger platform of applications available. Put the /home/schoolbooks on its own HD caddy and ship an updated once to the schools once a year upon receipt of the old one.
Some links:
http://pxes.net
http://ltsp.org
Pragmatism as an ideology is not particularly pragmatic in the long term. Keep it in mind when you dismiss Free Software
yah really dude. this is 2005..... i think we've all realized that the black community contributes as much as any other community by how, so let's all just grow up a bit, yah? racism just isn't 'cool' anymore like it was during.... oh...... slave times? even then it wasnt posh among more educated peoples.
"if only i had known i would have been a locksmith." -albert einstein
Now, your class with the Apple ][ may have been technology poor, but it was probably information rich. You probably had textbooks, a school library and librarian, television, audiovisiual materials, maps, kits for performing enrichment in areas like science. And if this was not enough, this was probably backed by a magnificient public library.
This doesn't even begin to count the private sources of information you had access to: newspapers, magazines, records, etc.
It probably costs thousands of dollars per student to provide this kind of depth of information access to a student. And in an ideal world we would provide it to every student in the world.
However, if we aren't going to be able to raise that kind of money, we must betake ourselves to technology. Technology might seem frivolous, because when you are making procurement decisions, you look at cost to marginal value. In an information rich classroom, the technology's marginal value is relatively small. But when you have practically no up to date information, and limited resources, the greatest marginal value may be achieved by investing in technology first, which is cheap.
I develop mobile software for a living. I am not a techno-phile. The glamor technology casts over people is lost on me. I always find it curious that people do things like start their projects by standardizing on the exact make and model of their PDA. It's positively the least important thing in any project.
It's like one of those painting where depending on how you look at it you see on picture or another -- a figure ground reversal. You have to learn to squint at the picture so the technology fades into the background, and you can see the really important thing: the information.
My mantra is all hardware is junk, or will be very shortly. Information is irreplaceable.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
I recently equipped a guy to go on a field resarch project in Kenya. He told me he would have to literally wear the entire kit (including a very bulky backpack satellite DGPS) 7x24 so it wouldn't be stolen. Maybe people have a different attitude towards communal property than property belonging to a rich foreigner.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Do you think they will have a "Spears for PDAs" campaign?
i think we've all realized that the black community contributes as much as any other community by how
Right on brother! They sure do... to the prison population. hahahaha Kill whitey!
The Simputer Linux PDA has a similar approach offering cheap Linux PDAs for India.
Drill baby drill - on Mars
I can get a palm pilot for $50 at Target. Textbooks actually DO cost more, and this would be useless as anything except a textbook (I hope). So, I'm guessing theft is easier to solve than electricity.
...why aren't we doing things like this here? There are plenty of American kids without access to decent textbooks, or modern textbooks, or who have to share textbooks, etc. If this sort of thing can happen in places like Kenya and India, then why not here? (dammit?!?)
Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
African-Americans don't see Africa as a continent.
You ask your average politically-progressive black student in an American college about their "heritage" and they'll tell you about slavery and the ideal moral land that is Africa, where community and group efforts rule the day.
Ask a non-black American student, and they're even worse: Africa's a third-world country where people poke at the ground to hopefully find a scrap of plant to eat while their children stand around with distended bellies waving off flies. (And for only 15 cents a day you can feed these starving children)
I was an African Studies minor in college, learned a little bit of Swahili and met with quite a few African students and teachers. The reality is quite different: You've got many developing nations who are trying very hard to get a leg up, and some are doing quite well. (Mostly East Africa, such as Kenya and Tanzania) Some nations are led by millitary despots who are milking their nations dry and pocketing all the foreign aid. Others are Islamic states.
I'm saying all this to hopefully show those of you who click down this far part of what Africa's really like. It's a lot like Europe, only bigger and poorer. Hopefully the poorer part will change.
Yup.
Or for the page discussing a few things about schools in Kenya.
Elsewhere Steve tells about his project to install some computer labs in these remote, almost forgotten, schools in Kenya. He currently has money for about 8 of them, with one being installed. I tried to convince him to use Linux, but he refused. I'll be there later this year, perhaps we can make a difference in some of these kid's lives.
Michael
There is more than one kind of touchscreen. I have a touchscreen monitor that has nothing special on the surface of the glass that can wear off, no it doesn't use IR. And if you can't figure out what it is I'm not going to explain it...
OK, I just can't troll, I'll explain it. It bounces ultrasonics across the glass. Your finger dampens it, and it detects where and how the soundwave was distorted.
Works with plastic too, and thick glass or plastic is better than thin.
And there are other types of touchscreens that can use thick plastic covers. QProx makes a good one. http://www.qprox.com/
but I think it's pretty cool that Kenyan schoolchildren are getting devices for school that American and European kids don't have yet. There are bright minds everywhere, and if you water them they will blossom. And education is the best way possible for folks in developing countries to better their situation.
I've always wondered if somewhere in Africa is the schoolkid who will someday cure cancer, if only he/she can get an opportunity from programs like these. After all, just by sheer numbers alone there should be several dozen Einsteins in the developing world, just waiting to be discovered. If the human mind is the greatest of all national resources, then the developing world is vastly wealthier than all the developed nations put together.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
No need to sit and think what to write and with the mobility this devices provide will be even harder to track them down, good job to whoever thought about it, you just have realeased hell on earth :).
But then, hardened computers need not be that expensive. I remember the original Husky, and I still feel I should have got some sort of sales demonstration award for the reaction from the surrounding soldiers when the one I was using went under the tracks of an armored vehicle, and after removing the mud was completely undamaged.
Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
As an aside, the public school in the town next to mine is trying to start giving out Free Laptops to all of its High School students. Its great to see technology being introduced in schools.
I don't keep a lid on my coffee so when I walk around I look busy -me
Where can you see Linux? Only in Kenya! Come to Kenya we've got Linux! Where can you see handhelds? Only in Kenya! Come to Kenya we've got handhelds! Forget Windows! Kenya! Kenya, Kenya, Kenya! Come to Kenya we've got Linux! Oh Linux Handhelds... (Sung to the tune of Kenya, from Weebl's Stuff.)
read the bunni comic
$50 is two months wages for the average Kenyan.
For example suppose they stole the DPGS we sold this guy, which cost several thousand dollars. While it is nearly pointless without the differential satellite subscription, if he could sell it for $20, he'd make the equivalent of one month salary, which is more in relative terms than an Amercian consumer would pay for one new.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
I imagine your imagination of his imagination is way off. It is certainly cheaper to pay a one time fee for a set of well good PCs (I know I'm inviting obsolescence and windows unrealiability flame bait here, but my old high school network has been running win NT for 5+ years).
.txt, .doc, .pdf or what the fuck ever, and it's certainly cheaper and more efficent to go with PCs than to worry about updating and shipping and maintenance for textbooks.
Compare the cost of sending updated
I took an advanced history class, American History 103 to be exact, in high school. Our class had a total of 10 books, most of which were falling apart. On top of that, there was 2 seperate classes with 25 to 30 people in them. Our teacher spent her own money getting photocopies made for the class so we could do our homework. Our computer lab consisted of old Macs (none newer than 5 years old) and we even had some Apple II's floating around yet. This was about 12 years ago.
This was in Central NY, USA...
So I don't think you sound like a greedy American, because my old school upgraded not too long ago to some PII's and PIII's.
rm -rf
For non-calculations, give the kids books, which require no batteries and last for a long time. (Books can also hold bookmarks and margin notes, and it's easy to find material in books because the brain remembers the "look" of where it was, e.g. it has a smart bookmark that reads something like "open halfway, then flip pages until a figure appears at the top left, then skip a few pages until some bold-faced text ... there's the item I wanted!")
Schools in the rich world turn over textbooks at an alarmingly high rate, motivated not by new content but rather by the publishing industry. Every year the same stuff is reprinted with different formatting and slight rewording. This is a trick to make students and schools fork over money. Well, the flip side is that the old books could be shipped off to folks who could use them, and who don't care that the number beside the (c) is the present year.
Cool - Tux Paint 0.9.15 will be translated into Swahili! (It's already in CVS)
A third world operating system for a third world country. Makes sense.