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Ask Slashdot: How Would You Introduce Kids In Rural India To Computers?
asto21 writes: A friend of mine wants to introduce school kids in rural India to computers and could use some advice. Key questions: What learning material to use and how to source? What programming language to start with? What software to introduce them to? What games to introduce them to? Key constraints: The kids don't know much English and speak a local language called Odiya. There aren't any technical publications/resources in Odiya. Poor internet connectivity. No computer experts on the school staff. Any other advice/help would also be appreciated.
FreeBSD, vim and python.
Man pages are full of helpful stuff. You can set up a local ports/pkg jail. Setup a local Usenet and IRC server for Chat.
are looking for more cheap programmers. This is disgusting for them to take advantage of children like this.
Hello Computer...this is "insert Indian's name here"
"Indian" this is Computer.
Is this better than literacy? Sex ed? Things which they can use? Like even English or math?
Or is this the growing trend of "ZOMG ... teh children must use teh computers"?
Coding? Games? Maybe your friend is missing the damned point and doing this as a vanity project?
Everyone is so damned excited to ensure every child on the planet is being taught "teh computers", and nobody seems to be stopping to ask if that's what they need most (or at all).
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Computer gaming. If they take an interest to it, the rest will come naturally.
Given time the kids can teach themselves:
http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_the_child_driven_education?language=en
http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_shows_how_kids_teach_themselves?language=en
Pencil and paper. Then abacus and slide rule. Same anywhere for that matter.
They'll just end up working for "Microsoft Support" and scamming Grandma again.
It sounds like computer literacy is the least of their worries.
They won't have to worry about passwords, they can log in with their smile. Let them grow up on Windows 10. A more human way to do.
If they can't read anything on the screen because it's in another language, then obviously you're going to have to teach them the other language first.
Well if you want to talk about games there's a extreme modding community and if you were to ask for help translating a game into something these kids could understand I'm sure it would gain support. Tbh Minecraft wouldn't really need to be translated keep it English and they'll be able to learn a little bit of it. XD I wish I could go back to playing CS:GO and Halo CE in the school library!
But this is serious so I would go modders or Minecraft.
Your friend might not grasp this fully, but there are quite a few qualified teachers in India, who actually know how to use computers. A good first step might be to contact them, and see what they think, rather than asking a bunch of people on the Internet who haven't actually been to rural India. It's entirely possible that the teachers think kids should focus on basic subjects rather than learn Excel.
Barring that, ask your friend to get a copy of a book called "The Ugly American" by Burdick and Lederer. I'm about 95% sure that he hasn't read it.
Support microSD: in a post 9/11 world, it is unwise to carry your data on media that you cannot comfortably swallow.
This guy has a few clues on what can help, and he has done what your friend wants to do: http://www.ted.com/talks/sugat.... He might already have some project going on in India on which you can latch on to avoid re-inventing the wheel ...
Bacc, yaha ka kampyara hai
Why not ask theodp? He seems to know everything about CS education. He also knows who should be educated, and who should not. He is an expert on the subject. Just don't try and take his jerb. He doesn't like that.
Give them Minecraft, and some sort of word processor to do homework in. The rest will take care of itself
Solar power embedded programming. Start with programming toys. Then on to useful stuff.
What they really need is scientific and strategic thinking on how to take their life ahead, manage the village life, their farms more modern and productive, etc. in a smart way, etc. Simply throwing computers and computer education around without first giving them the fundamentals does not help at all. It just adds to the problem.
That said there are many ideas:
Write or install software where they can create friendly quiz for each other on various topics.
Teach them how to draw graphs and interpret them.
How to use maps.
If there is internet in a far away school, let the children interact with each other over Video Chat once in a month with proper agenda on discussing something important.
Really, there is no limit to how they can use computers to make their life more interesting and better , all limited by imagination.
Start with computer games. Things like Solitaire are notoriously good in teaching mouse control. Keyboarding skills are also important, so I would recommend a typing game such as typing racers etc. Once you have those basic skills and you want to progress to programming, keep the fun going by introducing them to Scratch.
According to this guy, just give them the computers and leave:
http://www.npr.org/2013/06/21/179015266/how-much-can-children-teach-themselves
http://www.hole-in-the-wall.com
Offer them H1B's.
I'd teach them UI design. I'd start by beating into their heads that when you click on a story title you expect to open the story so you can post on it, not toggle the description's visibility.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Check out the projects of Sugata Mitra, http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_shows_how_kids_teach_themselves?language=en
Allow them to chop up and hack apart the OUYA's while educating them they're more than just gaming machines.
This is the same conundrum as the hundreds of non-profits popping up. You're more effective by joining efforts.
One story I heard from NPR is of a Microsoft researcher visiting India for this exact same reason. Everything went well with great research data. As a follow up three years later, the test school went back to paper-based learning. Why? No IT staff to perform maintenance on the computers. Constant brown-outs. Mouse failing. All these computer issues disrupted so much of the 50-minute course (or rather, teachers playing tech support instead of teaching), that they eventually went back to the blackboard. All the computers are now collecting dust in a closet.
On the other hand, this is a fascinating idea, by Sugata Mitra:
http://www.npr.org/2013/06/21/179015266/how-much-can-children-teach-themselves
We don't need rural kids from India competing with American kids in STEM industries. Those rural kids in India need agriculture, not computers.
.
Second, get usable computers to rural India.
Third, step back and let it happen.
.
If you want to build a ship, don't herd people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I'd probably try Hindi first.
Windows. Ten.
Given that USAID partnered with DigitalGREEN to teach them to wash hands before feeding children (but after handling cow pies) by showing videos on a lappy with small digital projector, you may want to talk to someone at DigitalGREEN.
http://www.digitalgreen.org/di...
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
Please, for the love of all that is good in this world, don't do it!
I'm so fucking tired of being connected to India when I call for support... between the language barrier and them just not giving a shit about your problem I'd like to kick their teeth in.
See what the other individuals and organizations have done in Africa with the very same constraints. The successes, the disappointments, the challenges and the requirements for longevity of a project is such conditions.
Get them some clean running water, clean sanitation, and basic human rights before you go worrying about computers...
"Sunil, this is Computer. Computer, this is Sunil."
I'd introduce them to my autonomous, computerized, weapons platform as it crushes their puny village underfoot. Flee children! Flee before the might of Zod!
As One Laptop Per child demonstrated, they'll learn on their own if given a chance.
"Earlier this year, OLPC workers dropped off closed boxes containing the tablets, taped shut, with no instruction. “I thought the kids would play with the boxes. Within four minutes, one kid not only opened the box, found the on-off switch powered it up. Within five days, they were using 47 apps per child, per day. Within two weeks, they were singing ABC songs in the village, and within five months, they had hacked Android,” Negroponte said. “Some idiot in our organization or in the Media Lab had disabled the camera, and they figured out the camera, and had hacked Android.”"
Note these are children who had never seen writing before, working with computers that did not include their local language.
And get them a job at DHI.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34174796
Investing heavily in school computers and classroom technology does not improve pupils' performance, says a global study from the OECD.
The think tank says frequent use of computers in schools is more likely to be associated with lower results.
Take a look at Sugata Mitra's TED talk.
teach them how to dig wells and apply condoms.
Sacred cows make the best burgers.
H1bs for everyone
So from your post you posit that liberals love Muslims, hate Christians and hate people who refuse to make cakes for LGBT couples.
Well as someone who probably falls on the liberal end of the spectrum:
I don't particularly like or dislike Muslims. I served in Iraq and feel that many of them are good people! I do think that the way their religion can be interpreted/misinterpreted due to the lack of any sort of central religious authority has led to the rise in Muslim extremism and I think they need to look at fixing that. Ohh and yes, yes I do believe that Muslims extremists are primarily a Muslim problem. Religion save thyself.
I also do not particularly like or dislike Christians. I feel that many of them are good people and that they have their heart in the right place about a lot of things. I do hate it when they try to enforce their belief structure via the law. I mean why can't I buy booze on Sundays? If we are going to pick a day of the week lets go for Wednesdays. That and some of the pure hypocrisy. If you don't want to sign the marriage certificate for gay couples, then why to you sign it for couples who have divorced? Aren't they both against the bible? Religion, save thyself.
Now on to cakes. Can a business owner say they wont make a wedding cake for a mixed race couple? No? They why do they get to say they wont do it for LGBT couples? If you are not allowed to discriminate against one protected class why should you be able to discriminate against another? What if it was a white male and a white female, and both of them have been divorced before, do you make a wedding cake for them? Yes? But if they did something that your bible finds taboo, then shouldn't you turn them away? No this is more hypocrisy and forcing of beliefs.
Nonetheless this is all off-topic and feeding the trolls. It will probably mean nothing in the long run but hey I tried.
Chances are, they need safe food and clean water far more than they need to know how to use a computer. Once they have that, work on things like ending child marriages and treating women like property. Go from there.
Then show them the miracle of indoor plumbing and proper sanitation. Then make the kids peddle the generators so you can play Farmville on a giant public screen.
Christ! What kind of crap are you fucking people pushing here?
Why teach them to code? If they've mastered copy and paste they are ready to take on coding jobs. Teach them to mine bitcoins instead.
I am computer.
I'd start with Clippy.
A curious person will want to learn; without curiosity, anything is rote memorization and won't go far.
Don't assume good electricity and don't assume internet connectivity; it may not exist. Don't assume basics like keyboarding skills and mouse movements. In fact, don't assume much. Learn from knowledge gaps observed elsewhere: A friend who tries to bring science to rural communities in Maharashtra starts by teaching kids about the difference between an analog watch & a compass. It may seem silly, but if a person has little experience with either may not know the difference. Back to the curiosity: get the child curious about how the compass always knows to point north. Then show how a nearby DC current (battery / wire / light bulb) can move the needle. To me, these give the grounds for engaging curiosity.
Whenever the teacher then gets around to computers, a curious person will want to know why backspace allows corrections to happen, how a spreadsheet can do math, etc.
And expect all levels within India as is true throughout the world: Each person is unique. Some people are geniuses awaiting discovery; others will be lazy or lack the natural talent to thrive with technology.
1. Give them your job.
As someone that isn't completely devoid of ration, yes, a business has every right to deny someone, ANYONE, service. Just because I own a shop doesn't mean I am FORCED BY LAW to sell you something.
They rename streets too. Streets named after British civil service officers ages ago get renamed after Indian dignitaries. These narrow short streets in the middle of town totally overwhelmed by population growth get renamed. At the same time in the suburbs roads named imaginatively 120 feet road, 80 feet road, 18th main road, 14th cross road, HAL Third Stage etc retain their difficult to remember names. A guy named A Brito used to write letters to the editor in Indian Express, Bangalore edition a lot when I was there. He got really fed up when they renamed yet another tiny street. He proposed to rename the Queen Victoria statue as Mayor Butte Gowda statue.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Is this better than literacy? Sex ed? Things which they can use? Like even English or math?
Or is this the growing trend of "ZOMG ... teh children must use teh computers"?
Coding? Games? Maybe your friend is missing the damned point and doing this as a vanity project?
Everyone is so damned excited to ensure every child on the planet is being taught "teh computers", and nobody seems to be stopping to ask if that's what they need most (or at all).
Exactly. Take the money you were going to spend on computers, and invest that into helping to pay off the loans that farmers across India have had to take to keep their farms going. You know, the loans causing thousands of farmers to commit suicide every year leaving their families further in debt. Having a computer isn't worth bearing the brunt of your dead father's insurmountable debt for the rest of your life. And for the love of God, stop skipping over the basic, ugly things like running water, access to real medical care, and reliable electricity for the "cool" things like giving a poor, malnourished school kid a barebones PC kit and teaching them how to program Minecraft in a language based on their local dialect.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
Kids from rural India have ended up here in tony private high schools and, while they were average students in India, were the academic superstars when placed with the New York hedge fund kids.
That said above posters' friend should certainly consider that this has been done many times and maybe asking professionals is a better idea than a /. thread.
Here's how: stop writing over-analytical articles like this and just give kids a computer. They will quickly teach each other how to use it.
*** Don't be dull.***
and call it a day.
...who down-modded you is offended by rational humanism, or took your last sentence as bait.
Too bad. It was a good post, and thanks for sharing it.
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
Why are Christians the only group with religious rights btw?
Where are the Jews that would refuse to serve you a cheeseburger?
It's as if they were made for each other.
Is K&R available in an Odiya edition?
A proper education starts with the basics and computers don't assemble themselves. Now get back to work or you'll go hungry again! Aren't computers fun?
No! Their own country can introduce them to computer if their country seems fit to. Why is it that all the 1st world nations have to be the police of the world, teachers of the world, and now IT for the world? These countries can fix their own problems and it is not the responsibility of the world to do it for them. If India wants to play as a 1st world society, then they can fix their own societal issues like giving the rural children a computer. To answer the question is; no country outside of India should help them as they can help themselves.
This TED talk sums up well how you can teach rural children in India how to use computers and its easy: Give them a computer and walk away.
https://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_build_a_school_in_the_cloud?language=en
Where are the Jews that would refuse to serve you a cheeseburger?
Well, I think you'll find them in kosher restaurants. That's not discrimination, that's just the menu. :-P
Seriously though, to FTFY, I would not expect Jews in a kosher restaurant to refuse to serve non-Jews. And analogously for any other specialty establishment that is open to the public.
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
Because they marry azzholes they don't screw them....
Power grid, do you speak it, motherfucker!?
Seriously though, introduce them to clean water and basic sanitation practices. Then introduce them regular medical care and, maybe, electricity.
Once you have a generation that has moved up from the 3rd world into roughly-second world, we can talk about computers.
This appears to be the Odia language Wikipedia. But I know you said there's limited Internet. So I suggest you get Kiwix with the entire Odia Wikipedia (.torrent link to a complete package for Windows), and burn it to CD-ROM. (Odia isn't a popular language, so it all fits easily.) You can also look at other language Wikipedias, both because they are more comprehensive, and because they could help the children learn those languages.
(T>t && O(n)--) == sqrt(666)
What awesome comments here. Clearly nobody RTFA which says "with the ten computers that were received as donation" and "Now, that I had a functioning lab" and instead decided to go on rants about the merits of such a program, rather than contributing anything constructive.
Please stop replying to your own stupid post. Everyone knows it's you and everyone knows you're a moron.
Read this: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/s... A very interesting read - Sugata Mishra left a computer with internet access in a hole in the wall near a slum. Kids flocked to it, and taught themselves how to use it, even surf the internet.
The kids don't know much English and speak a local language called Odiya. There aren't any technical publications/resources in Odiya. Poor internet connectivity. No computer experts on the school staff.
Before you go anywhere near trying to find a technical solution, it is imperative you write a single sentence to say what direct, measurable, benefit will arise from this venture. Preferably a benefit to the children taking part, rather than imparting a nice warm feeling of having "helped" to the educators.
If that turns out to be a stumper, you really need to stand back and think of a different question - one that you CAN answer, before talking about languages, OS's, games and all that technical gibberish.
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
from TFA: "I read somewhere, Technology is tool, and not a learning outcome."
Yes. A Means to an End.
Define the End and then consider whether the computer is the best way to achieve it. If the End is a better crop yield, computer programming or Excel or Powerpoint would come later than the need for English language and Wikipedia (internet access). English language learning software will get the process started and doesn't require internet access.
If the End is a lower birth rate or a lower infant mortality rate ... again English language and Wikipedia. If the End is a broad, classical education, of course English, Latin, Sanskrit and Wikipedia; but such an education would put these students far ahead of the rest of us who only do job training. If the End is to have programmers hired by Microsoft; yes, teach programming (but is this realistic?).
Games? How can anyone suggest that vast incredible waste of time? For the mildly intelligent and creative mind every new experience in computing or in life is more rewarding than the artificial and commercial reward of killing another imaginary alien.
...omphaloskepsis often...
Indian has been turned into IT slave, drying out their spiritual heritage - not a goal to strive for.
Rural India remains the cornerstone of that yogic science, imprevious to the illnesses you witness in cities, computers would contaminate them and syphon villages off their youth and slowly eliminate village and temple life.
On the assembly line, of course. Like China and Apple products.
Have gnu, will travel.
We have enough shitty fucking indian "developers" as it is. We certainly don't need or want any more.
Kids in rural India probably need better life care allowing them to focus on language and math skills long before we start with technology.
I first read the headline as "How Would You Introduce Kids in Rural Indiana to Computers" and my first thought was, "Don't bother. Introduce them to a toothbrush first".
You are welcome on my lawn.
Computer: Raspberry Pi
OS: Inferno
Programming Language: LISP
Editor: Emacs
Game: Leather Godesses of Phobos
For the more artsy kids Tex can replace LISP.
I remember that they tried it that already in India with little Logo turtle programming decades ago, didn't it work?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
As the ever accurate Wikipedia points out: "English is the lingua franca of India and is the language of their cultural and political elites, offering significant economic and social advantage to fluent speakers" Then tech them how to use a web browser....
That's the same logic that Republicans use to justify rape. Do you really want to go there?
Once you teach a kid some basic concepts: I/O, processing, output, storage, peripheral device control, and OS interface attributes, you should teach them learn how to identify the function of an program and explore a software application's user interface.
Windows *sigh*
? (You may wish to point out that the GUI is fluff in the context data processing, except that it's a powerful time saver for people who use computers for a multitude of tasks during the course of a day. Then show them the command line, navigate the directories, edit and save some text and move on...)
- File Explorer (about time MS renamed this thing)
- - (MS language of directories/folders, files, changing the view to suit your needs)
- Notepad (text editing, ANSI standard)
- - (easy to teach basic ubiquitous processing commands [open, save, save as, copy, cut, paste, etc] and universal Windows menus and keyboard shortcuts)
- Wordpad
- - (use it to differentiate formatting/appearance from the informational content of a file as well as the importance of file types)
- Help Files
- - (how to use them to learn Microsoftese and explore the capabilities of any program)
- Preferences & Settings
- - (Using them to learn a program through exploring the options offered by the program's designers, defaults vs options)
* Teach them about privacy, security and surveillance.
** Teach them to protect themselves and their future.
*** Remember, a little dread goes a long way.
There are studies showing that children can teach themselves, even when language is a barrier:
http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_shows_how_kids_teach_themselves?language=en [ted.com]
in my wife's day care, before babies are out of diapers and into complete sentences, they are already cognizant about the basics... swipe, point, scroll, point, point, point... and OMFG it's Amazon or eBay and they are buying a used BMW!
you are perhaps saying citizens of India are behind babies that can barely walk?
really, all you have to do is put a tablet on the projector, run one app, and hand the things out. like all of us in 1983/4, we'll learn the rest.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
otherwise everything is the equivalent of NOPs in function.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Per area, One internet connection in a public place, one learning video website, and instructions in their language how to record videos in their language. Do not confine them by topics. Like the developed world, one of them will be appointed "helpdesk" to make it work for everyone else.
Here's the best answer. Google has a project that uses raspberry pi and it's EXACTLY for this purpose
https://googlecreativelab.github.io/coder/
Just need any old client computer where some old netbooks that no one wants will work perfectly. but the raspberry pi is a server with ALL THE LEARNING TOOLS BUILT IN!
and cheap of course!
Clearly, the OLPC model is a very successful idea, with impressive results. Maybe invest in a language translation, so that they can understand what the programs do? Or a language learning software, so that they can learn a language that the computer uses?
What out of that justifies rape, or could be used to attempt to "justify" rape? And you say "Republicans". Which Republicans, specifically? Since you used the plural, you obviously have multiple specific examples that you can post, and I'd be interested in knowing their names.
Put them to work in a call center! LOL
kick out their bent town mayor, kick out the bent corporations from their town, buy them some clothes and shoes, plumb in some water and a flushing toilet, build them a school where they can get 1 proper meal per day, and then buy them some books. once this is done they might ask for a computer.
A low flying C-130. Seriously, why do we give a fuck about computers for rice pickers in rural India.
So they don't pass out while using the computer.
If I were you, I'd teach multipliers first (e.g. the older children), so they can help with the younger later; I've seen Odia has some 30+ million speakers. So we're not talking about a small culture without living speakers.
Is there some program to engage graduating students (14 to 17 year-old) to help you? Sometimes schools have a "term trainee semester", when students must work to practice what they learned -- and maybe some of them could find the experience interesting.
Are there Linux groups available -- even if in big cities, provided they speak Odia. You need to convince someone to live near if possible, at least for some time.
I recall India has English as an official language; Odia has some very different symbols, but I guess learning Roman letters might help the children in the future, because they're used in various languages -- not just English. You can promote a simple "Instrumental English" course, too. Technical English is way easier than fully mastering the language.
You can teach some simple language and already introduce some words at the same time, like in the game Hangman. Even just playing (like Connectagram, if you use the simplest settings) might prove useful.
Kids, meet Mac.
Mac, meet Kids.
Go play!
Suppose the project was successful, how would the kids make any practical use of their skills or improve them further on their own? Learning English or another common language opens a huge window into outside world and access to knowledge in all subjects, including computers. Personally I grew up in Soviet Union and studying English rather than any less common foreign language in school opened up tremendous options later in life.
Today's rural Indians learning computers become tomorrow's H1Bs and "low cost country" tech workers to export jobs to. Just ask HP ;)
Another idea, or rather a sketch of an idea, is arranging cheap Android cell phones to your students.
Is there some easy language for kids to program on Android, like BASIC or something? There are games on Google Play and it seems there are at least two versions of BASIC.
It seems ridiculous but someone could get rich selling BASIC or so it seeM$ that I've heard...
The good part is that cheap Android phones can be donated even by people who just upgraded to a new model. And kids could take them home to play... and you probably have the infrastructure to make them work... over here we have special subscription for economically-challenged folks (it's slow but somewhat inexpensive -- and at school everyone could use wi-fi).
Good luck! It's a worthy enterprise!
Captcha: Lemonade, which reminded of Lemonade Stand, a great program to teach about simulations... the BASIC source must available online...
A digital time bomb...that can only be disarmed using English commands.
Give them H1B1s.
Food growing, animal husbandry, water management and construction.
For fuck's sake, they're kids in a third world country, not the Lost Tribe of Silicon Valley.
Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
People have an amazing ability to teach themselves. Let them do it:
http://www.npr.org/2013/06/21/...
worked for me!
http://computermasti.in/
- A collaborative product from IIT Bombay and InOpen
- Used by 0.5 million students directly
- 200+ schools
- Available in 10 languages including foreign languages.
- 4000+ teachers trained.
- E-Books downloaded in more than 130 countries.
All you have to do is collaborate and prepare a odiya translation.
http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_shows_how_kids_teach_themselves?language=en
I heard him speak at an ATD conference in May 2015. Google his name and include "hole in the wall". That is what he called his experiment in India. Please don't mod me out even though I'm a coward! I think people could really use this info. Thanks in advance!
just ignore the DailyKos trolls
Teach them http://www.w3schools.com/html/...
Casteism
Wikipedia is available in Odia.
It's much smaller than the one in English, but it's there. The best part: you and your friends can improve it. It's a wiki, which means that you can improve it yourself - add as many articles as you want, as long as they are relevant to the encyclopedia, and edit the existing articles. You can even teach the children themselves to edit, thus making sure that they know that it's possible to type in Odia on computers.
I'm super-passionate about making the editions of Wikipedia in various languages better, so please contact me if you have more questions.
This guy has a few clues on what can help, and he has done what your friend wants to do: http://www.ted.com/talks/sugat.... He might already have some project going on in India on which you can latch on to avoid re-inventing the wheel ...
I do not wish to participate in the larger debate of the boon and bane of introducing computers, but rather than attempting to put yourselves in the village kids shoes, it would serve the commenters better to step out and test out their theories. I just wanted to say more specifically that I spent my last two months in a village called Guptapada near Bhubaneswar in Odisha as part of the Ammachi labs initiative to train and assist women in building their own toilets in their village and teaching skills such as masonry, cement block making, plumbing and plastering skills using a trained professional and tablet based video courses. You can find more about what Ammachi labs does here: http://ammachilabs.org/womenem... What I noticed computers/tablets brought to the scene is the increased interest and self esteem that is associated with technology. This itself was an enabler to reduce dropouts and instill confidence. Above that tablets allowed us to introduce standardised courses which otherwise would require the villagers to travel to the city and stay away from home for extended periods which those who live hand-to-mouth cannot afford to do.
The British Empire learned this long long long ago. Read your Kipling and quit wasting our time.
The holstein cow graphics will make them respect computers.
There is an entire field of study that is dedicated to answering this question, and it's not quite as simple as many of the other commenters may believe. You cannot simply drop tech and have it change the world. Contrary to what one commenter said about the OLPC going away in favor of other Android tablets, the OLPC went away because it was a failure. It just dropped tech without a whole lot of thought. If you don't want this project to be another OLPC, look into the field of ICTD (Information and Communication Technology for Development). Starting at http://itidjournal.org would be a good first step.
Wonder if you have heard the TED Talk by Sugata Mitra who did something similar with urban poor kids in India. He set up a system where kids would be engaged to fool around with the computer and basically teach themselves. http://www.ted.com/talks/sugat...