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Open Source Replacing Books in Kenyan Schools
ickoonite writes "The BBC is reporting that wi-fi enabled Pocket PCs running open source software are being used as digital textbooks in classrooms in Kenya, where 'real' books are hard to come by. The story says that the scheme, in its trial stages, currently only affects 54 pupils, but all of them are enthralled by the devices - unsurprising in a country where electricity is a scarce commodity. The article does not make it clear what is running on the Pocket PCs, but this seems a wonderful example of how the free and open spirit of open source can make a real difference." A follow-up to a story from March.
I wonder how much of the success of this program is based on the fact that there is lack of knowledge about these devices (and subsequently, how to go about breaking them), with electronics being a scarce commodity at all. Perhaps there is also a greater personal responsibility and respect for these educational opportunities, which is reinforced by the culture too.
I hope that these electronic books work out better than they tend to in more "civilized" countries like the US.
"What do you think?" "I think 'What, do you think?!'"
Cool for today, but what about tomorrow when all the newfangled gizmos are broken?
Oh well, what the hell...
Does it seem to anyone that squabbling over the operating system these devices are running is a little pointless? Step back and look at this for a second: A bunch of Kenyan kids have just been given a really big gift. That's really cool. Let it be.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized!
Now, if we can manage some open-source food, perhaps we can actually feel better about ourselves with regards to sub-saharan Africa.
The teachers said they don't have electricity to charge them, they break too easily, are too complicated.
The minister said it was a wasted test not suited to his country.
The engineer said books can fall in puddles too, (as though that breaks a book) and in future they would make them with more rubber so less likely to break. He also seemed to think books can only be used once whereas these can be used again and again....
If we don't use them in the west why would they want them in the third world?
You know MS calls their Portable OS PocketPC. So my guess is that they run PocketPC2003, by Microsoft
...you can't eat a Pocket PC.
Well, I guess you could...
Hmmm... They don't have the ultra low-tech basics, so we replace them with relatively hi-tech, high maintenance substitutes... Why not just spend the money on textbooks, which rarely break or get BSODs.
From TFS: So real books are difficult to obtain, but Pocket PCs are plentiful?
Looks like I need to take a trip to Kenya with a couple suitcases full of books...I smell a trading opportunity here.. ^_^
____
~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
Real books are hard to come by...but wifi-enabeled Pocket PCs are easy? I'm all for technology applications, but a book is a fraction of the cost of a PDA (yes, even a textbook) - and more durable, too.
but will it work? I work at an international relief NGO and supplying textbooks has always been a huge barrier for education in Africa. Maybe this will be a key test for open source in developing countries. An issue with developing countries and free services is that often these poor people will sell the "gifts" on a black market or steal someone else's in order to get food and water.
Maybe a way to end this would be for Microsoft to patent the taking of free goods and services and reselling them for personal gain.
I'm as big a fan of open source as the next geek, but I'm not sure the connection between open-source software and book replacement is really clear. Buy the units, and they come with an OS and (probably) reader software. It sounds like the title here should be "Technology Aiding Literacy in Kenyan Schools."
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
This is nothing but MS doing "humanitarian" work to gain even more exposure. This is like giving out sports cars because they're short a few bicycles. All the world sees is "Look dear, something is improving. Microsoft did that."
I'll be your candy shop of infinite deliciousity if you'll be my discotheque of endless rump-shaking.
In related news, a suspicious looking man was arrested earlier this morning after parking himself in front of a man's hut. Local police report it as the first known case of wardrving in Kenya.
I wish I could filter out the annoying Pickens articles...
these PDA's are quickly filled with "open source" copies of Harry Potter 1-6.
It's definitely cool that children in developing nations are using computers to improve their prospects, but too often in these sorts of discussions the notion is advanced that computers (and the internet) are just what developing nations need, as regards technology.
t ml8 286.htmly .cfm?Story_ID=3742817m ?story_id=4157618
In fact, a much better investment is in mobile phones and mobile networks. Even the cheapest handsets encourage kids to learn to read and write, not to mention gain proficiency in handling technology. At the same time, adults can use mobile phones to find employment, find affordable goods, negotiate deals, conduct business. Mobile phones integrate themselves into daily life much more easily than PCs, and their impact is thus felt much faster and wider. If the free flow of information enables a market to work efficiently, then what better technology to kickstart the economy than mobile phones?
Here are a few articles with the hard numbers pitting mobile phones against PCs.
http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0712-rhett_butler.h
http://usinfo.state.gov/af/Archive/2005/May/17-48
http://www.economist.com/printedition/displaystor
http://www.economist.com/business/displayStory.cf
While it's certainly heartening that open source software is having a positive effect in poverty-stricken Africa, it's also important for aidgivers to note that dollar for dollar, computers aren't the best use of limited funds.
I hope that these electronic books work out better than they tend to in more "civilized" countries like the US.
The irony of the situation is that in more "civilized" countries like the US, corruption takes over and results in textbooks that go through constant revision in order to keep sales up.
I tried to help my wife save some money by purchasing a used text book once. Shortly after class started, the professor admitted that she'd made a mistake on the book and that the students would need to purchase the 9th revision of the book instead of the 8th. Since I had purchased the book on the used market, I could not exchange it. For shits and giggles, I compared the 9th edition with the 8th and found only minor change - mostly just moving page numbers around and swapping the numbers on the chapter questions.
The people responsible for these financial rapes deserve nothing more than to be shot in the face.
More
My experience with WiFi enabled PDA's is that they exhaust the batteries really really fast. How long will a student be able to read before the 'Low Battery' message pops up?
[Insert pithy quote here]
Maybe they can use their new PDA's to surf over to halfoff.com and buy some cheap books, eh?
Content Management System: A pretentious way of saying "text editor."
Great, maybe they can sell it on ebay for some money for food clothing and medicine.
Nice to see governments thinking of the children. Yeah right...
Next up on the voting block: Bill 235, Giving gold rolexes to homeless people who lack wristwatches.
Nasa spent billions making a pen capable of writing in space. The Russians just use a pencil.
Ummm...that's great and all, but where are they getting the E-books? I know that there are free ebooks out there, but aren't most specialised texts sold for money? And protected by DRM? Where are they getting these from?
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
Are those books opensource too, you can have the software for windows or linux (or any other), but the content of the books is another precisely copyrighted area with very little grey areas.
My wife's sketchblog Blob[p]: Gastrono-me
Do they run flash?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Only in Kenya!
Forget Norway!
http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/kenya/
"Comedy's a dead art form. Now tragedy, that's funny."
It's great that the software is free - but the devices certainly aren't and neither is the intellectual material being displayed on them. Additionally, I don't know of a single book that when you drop it on the ground, it costs $200+ to replace. It's a nice idea, but there's a reason people still prefer to read books on paper, even in the USA where such devices in schools could be commonplace. You never get a system error with a book or run out of batteries reading a book on a plane or bus. As long as there is light to read it, a book can enlighten a mind.
"...Furthermore, because our network and software is proprietary, demand for stolen eSlates will be minimal - they simply will not work for uses other than those for which they were designed." :-(
I get the impression that only Eduvision can send updates to these devices. Maybe the reason they are so cheap is that they are loss leaders to get Kenyans into a vendor lock in. Could end users reflash with a new kernal for example? If it were an open system, there should be some documented protocol for updates, and a spec for the platform, and they would have mentioned it as a selling point. If it's closed, they'll keep quiet about this sort of thing, and make sure the boot rom will only load digitally signed software kernels, in which case the 'it runs Linux' line is highly disingenuous.
Plus as TFA points out, rechargeable Pocket PC's are not that practical in a village with no electrical power. Come to think of it, what happens when the batteries wear out - slim PDAs usually have Lithium Ion batteries that have a rather short life. Batteries are pretty expensive in Africa too, hence the idea of a wind up radio.
Still, it's good to see that the minister is skeptical, it's all to common for third world countries to get suckered into trend schemes that are cripplingly expensive in the long run because the politicians have been paid off by the vendor.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
These things have "steal me" written all over them. Every small school (less then 600 students) would have at least a few (and most likely more) stolen a year if they were used in US schools, and I'd imagine with them being as rare as they are there, they would be a huge target for theft both by some students, and by adults. I think books from here that are "old" should be donated to them. Perhaps it wouldn't work well due to public schools having somewhat dated text books in use as is, but at least for semi-higher education, I'd imagine plenty of people that still give their $100 books to their University book store (Yes, I'm well aware you can get much more selling them online to another student, but I don't think many bother) for $10 would much rather they go to good use then be resold by the original seller for $80.
In undeveloped countries, the consumer controls the market. In capitalist America, the market controls you.
The books should be written locally by the teachers.
There's also many good references that are free on the web that could be downloaded to one book when the teacher takes a trip to Nairobi, then customized and shared with the students in the villages.
Even slashdotters could write books for them. Once there's one good math textbook available, they could produce all they need.
This is why Keyna need eBooks. Not because it's cool technology. Because it's better technology than dead trees.
"Once you know the alphabet A-M, you can teach the alphabet A-M" -- Ruth Stout
All ideas^H^H^H^H^Hprocesses in this post are Patent Pending. (as well as the process of patenting all postings)
could they have bought with the money they spent on PPC's?
Don't look a gift horse in the kernel.
So they don't have any books but there are tons of Pocket PCs lying around? What kind of bizzaro world is this?
I just visited a website yesterday which was advocating Open Source concepts for Six Sigma. I think the URL was http://www.treqna.com/ How open source spreads :)
"There are several hardened versions of PDAs available. Failing the availability of hardened versions there are Rhino cases & what not." Oh good, there are plenty of black rhinos in Kenya.
unsurprising in a country where electricity is a scarce commodity
So, how were they charging them?
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
undoubtedly you were being sarcastic, but patents on crop genes are a big big big deal in 3rd world hunger issues...
http://www.ukabc.org/iu_april_release.htm
Speaking of school, let's do a little math. 54($50 (usual textbook price)) = $2700. 54($150-300 (PDA price)) = $8100-16200. Hmm.
Textbooks display much more information, are far more durable, do not require power, are easier to read, and are less expensive. Considering the main issue here is cost-- especially over time-- perhaps textbooks and some food would be a better use of the money.
Some PDAs can store 10's of thousands of books how can you even begin to compare something that is greater than some rural libraries with a singular book? Paper is dead, long live silicon.
An Education is the Font of All Liberty
(paraphrased from the Bob and Tom show)
They also had a PCMCIA slot so you could add a WiFi card, etc.
Plus, seeing as they are over 8 years old, they would probably be quite a bit cheaper than PocketPCs...
And if M$ had donated 57 PocketPC units to the students, then it would have been an example of M$ just trying to indoctrinate another set of future customers?
Uh, yeah, because now it's just OpenSource vendors trying to indoctrinate the students to become future customers? Oh wait, OSS IS FREE --- so your comment makes no sense whatsoever, and there is no contradiction/double-standards there.
Why don't you AstroTurfers get logons already?
But.. they still have to have the textbook in one form or another, whether it's in hardcover or eBook. And there's a much cheaper way of reading eBooks.. namely, on paper! A binded printed copy would likely last just as long as a delicate Pocket PC, possibly longer. And, it would cost more to charge a PocketPC than just reusing the printed copy.
A good example of the advantage of open-source textbooks would be to compare it to an open-source encyclopedia/reference, or what's commonly called a wiki. the amount of overhead research can be cut down by having literally the whole world to edit it.
Got bouncy Open Source and Linux? Only in Kenya!
Im saddened by ur ignorant comments.Books are very expensive in Kenya! Over 500shilings for a normal textbook, thats $6.25!!!Most people here live below the Poverty line(less than a dollar a day for all their needs) So spending $6.25 on a book is a LOT repeat ALOT of money. A pda will allow them to access the internet which is choke full of information. Information is POWER...Its the only way to end the ignorance. If any of you lives in Kenya then u know wat Im talkin about. We dont have our priorities mixed up! The aim of going to school is to learn, and like a wise man once said.."The end justifies the means" U dont have to be that cold...U shud visit Kenya, the people are really friendly, almost anyone you visit will try to get you a present for no reason!!!
The engineers behind this experiment (and that's what it is) should've taken into account the fact that these are people with little knowledge of electronic devices whatsoever. The book UI is apparently easy to navigate, and I'm sure it's got all kinds of nifty features that even a computer illiterate would be able to figure out. That's awesome for the use of the 'book.' But what about the physical piece of equipment? It's probably quite a bit heavier than a normal textbook, and certainly much more breakable. The batteries need recharging often, and there's an issue that probably can't be addressed easily.
A better candidate for this sort of thing would've been a small town highschool in the US or some other less third world country where technology is widely available and electricity is as common as indoor plumbing.
A very simple way around the problem of the systems being broken or stolen is to have them integrated into the students' desks. So instead of a piece of wood used for the sole purpose of holding your book and paper and stuff, you'll have a touchscreen computer with all your easy to use GUI features and can even have a fullsize keyboard roll out underneath.
But even this would be an experiment that would be ultimately doomed to fail, because if every student has a powerchugging computer (even a rechargeable battery driven one) there won't be enough electricity to go around. It's becoming more and more of an issue as computers become more of an everyday thing and processors get faster and have more transistors and all that rubish.
I seem to have gone off on a wild tangent and completely missed the point that Kenyan students are playing with computers to learn. I wish I'd had that when I was in school, I can tell you that. But these kids probably would've appreciated a better use for that money. Like getting a power infrastructure built, thereby new jobs, electricity, and a better all-around economy.
The devices run Linux, not Microsoft Pocket PC. The BBC corrected the article very rapidly.
Andrew Yeomans