Sex.com Conman Continues Ludicrous Legal Fight >>
<< The (Technology Trade) Show Must Go On?
 tdicon 

Computers

by Mike Masnick

Thu, May 1st 2003 2:00pm





Computers To Africa Scheme Criticized

from the caushing-more-problems dept

The question of whether or not computers are useful in schools comes up quite often around here. The general feeling seems to be that computers can be useful, but there needs to be very good training for the teachers on how to really integrate them into the learning experience. So, imagine that same issue, and add on top of it a bunch of old, not always working, computers with very different software on each machine, and you've got some problems to deal with. That's what people involved in a project to ship computers to Africa are discovering. While the idea is noble - to help bridge the digital divide in poorer nations - in practice, it's not working out so great. Once the computers are there, there is costly training that's needed, and keeping computers working while also making sure they all have the same software is taking quite a bit of effort. This doesn't mean the program should be scrapped, but the goals, and how they're achieved should be more clearly figured out. When the best one teacher can do is use a donated computer as a footstool, you know that there are problems.

3 Comments | Leave a Comment

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments (rss)

(Flattened / Threaded)

  •  
    identicon
    dorpus, May 1st, 2003 @ 9:22pm

    Saving poor countries from themselves

    Long history of well-meaning failures in this area. When the communist Chinese built a railroad system for the Ethiopians in the 1970s, the Ethiopians kept tearing out the wooden ties and using them for firewood. When Doctors Sans Frontieres distributed soap to Afghan refugees in the 1980s, a mob abducted a French doctor and roasted him alive, because soap is associated with prostitution in Afghan culture and "good" Afghans are not supposed to use soap.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]

  •  
    identicon
    acb, May 2nd, 2003 @ 9:49am

    life imitates the Onion

    Anyone else remember the Onion's "African tribesman uses IBM modem to crack nut" story?

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]

  •  
    identicon
    Timothy Leacock, May 4th, 2003 @ 8:12pm

    Computers for Africa

    Computers for Africa, a USA non-profit that donates complete computer labs to East Africa, answers some of the concerns in this article by providing pre-tested, networked, same-kind computers with pre-installed same-kind operating systems and office suite applications in their donations to beneficiary organizations. See our website for more details.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]


Add Your Comment

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here
Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
Save me a cookie
  • Note: A CRLF will be replaced by a break tag (<br>), all other allowable HTML will remain intact
  • Allowed HTML Tags: <b> <i> <a> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <hr> <tt>
Sex.com Conman Continues Ludicrous Legal Fight >>
<< The (Technology Trade) Show Must Go On?
 tdicon 
Follow Techdirt
Flattr rss rss
A word from our Sponsors...
Sponsored Resource
Essential Reading
Techdirt Reading List
Techdirt Insider Chat

A word from our Sponsors...
Recent Stories

Tuesday

11:04am: Makers Of Nutella Force Fan Who Created World Nutella Day To Shut It Down (13)
10:05am: Kitchen Nightmares Lawyers Threaten Infamous Samy And Amy If They Talk About Their Experience On The Show (14)
9:03am: If You're Going To Illegally Seize Citizens' Cell Phones, At Least Make Sure You're Grabbing The Right Ones (42)
7:41am: DOJ And Dept. Of Education To Colleges: Start Restricting Free Speech On Campus Or Kiss Your Federal Funding Goodbye (65)
5:37am: Retired Lt. Col.: Violent Media Has Bred A Generation Of Killers (72)
3:33am: Why Even Good Hospitals And Doctors Are An Obstacle To Better, Cheaper Healthcare (19)
12:10am: 'Intellectual Property' Mess Holding Up The TPP (19)

Monday

8:04pm: Criminal Nabbed By His Own Food Porn (8)
5:00pm: DailyDirt: Taking Another Look At Nuclear Energy... (17)
3:30pm: Chicago Blackhawks Fire Reporter Over Silly Old YouTube Videos (14)
More arrow
A word from our Sponsors...

Close

Email This