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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?
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
IANAAmerican, so pardon my ignorance, but do you actually get into trouble there for something like this?
Why on earth?!
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.
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!
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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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"
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.
demand for stolen eSlates will be minimal - they simply will not work for uses other than those for which they were designed."
Those who do not learn from their mistakes are condemmed to repeat them.
The X-Box will only play MS software. The I-Opener will only work with their subscription service, The Cue Cat will only work with the Digital Convergance online database....
Yea Right!
The truth shall set you free!
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
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
Drill baby drill - on Mars
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.
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.