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.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Saving poor countries from themselves
[ link to this | view in thread ]
life imitates the Onion
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Computers for Africa
[ link to this | view in thread ]