Laptops in thatched classrooms doesnt add up

[Georgesoros]

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In my opinion building schools and libraries should be a priority not giving out laptops. I have known school districts who have abandoned laptop projects because its too expensive to maintain. Its a good idea but its too far fetched.
Raising the education standards should also be a priority. Grade 8 Kids who cant read and writer legibly is a big problem.

[George Lamming]

Parkerpen: Years ago...and I mean years I go, I was visiting Jamhuri, and went to a remote place called Ngurumani, beyound lake magadi. Stopped in trading center, the one shop kind of a place. The masais there in shuka's were carrying more advanced cell phone that I had at that time. The idea that we have to have a traditional settings before we embrace technology poor thinking. The laptops, i-pads, i-phones can very well make these traditional settings irrelevant, just the way land line was made irrelevant government could not privatize it as was anticipated. Thinking out of the box

[Logan]

You think Laptops are a priority for these kids?


I would go on a limb and say milk or breakfast would top their list, ama?

[veritas]

I miss Kenya. Thanks for pic. I volunteered in schools like these in Kibera.

[RV Pundit]

Precisely. Laptops will fill innumerable gaps in our school systems. In this information age..these are invaluable tools..just like phones...have spawn many innovations. I would replace buying books with laptops with e-books. It probably cost gov about the same amount of money it would cost laptops.

Parkerpen: Years ago...and I mean years I go, I was visiting Jamhuri, and went to a remote place called Ngurumani, beyound lake magadi. Stopped in trading center, the one shop kind of a place. The masais there in shuka's were carrying more advanced cell phone that I had at that time. The idea that we have to have a traditional settings before we embrace technology poor thinking. The laptops, i-pads, i-phones can very well make these traditional settings irrelevant, just the way land line was made irrelevant government could not privatize it as was anticipated. Thinking out of the box

[veritas]

The problem with having a precious gem is keeping it. What's to say a family won't sell that laptop for food? They will. Mobile phones aren't worth as much as laptops.

[RV Pundit]

When every public kid has the laptops...where will the market for those knocked down gov branded laptops come from--all you need to do is line up your kids in public schools--and get them for free?

I am yet to check the latest stats on gov expenditure on school equipment..but i bet it more than 10B...and that exclude about 25-60B expenditure from parents on books.Those laptops can remove such cost..heck even cheap kiddle (amazon) are good enough already to be distributed freely.

Growing up personally i know i use to loan upto 28 books from our home library (my father has a room full of books and we (including relatives and villagers) use to loan them books..annually (subject books) and then monthly(novels/story books))..to be returned back at the pain of severe canning...then we did i think 14 subjects...i'd imagine now if every of such book cost even 500shs...that is already 14,000 per annum per kid....my father would spend. Enough to buy a laptop every yr.

The problem with having a precious gem is keeping it. What's to say a family won't sell that laptop for food? They will. Mobile phones aren't worth as much as laptops.

[veritas]

When I was mugged by a pair of thugs in Nairobi, the first thing they demanded was my mobile phone. They popped it open with expert precision and gave me back my sim card.

You can't sell parts in a mobile phone, you can for laptops. There are parts in there that can be reused for pretty much anything. If not Kenyans, the Chinese would come and refurbish those laptops and sell them again. Whilst I agree, every child should own a laptop, the conditions have to be right. How about once every child owns a mobile phone, then they can have a laptop. Like here, lots of kids owned a mobile phone before laptops were introduced in schools. You shouldn't give a kid a matatu before a bicycle. Technology rolls something like that. Why not distribute mobile technology instead? It's already quite prevalent in Kenya like you say. Right now, not even the majority of adults in Kenya own laptops.

[RV Pundit]

Petty theft is only a problem in major urban centers..in most rural kenya setting...those cases are rare indeed. In my shags..we never close doors...people leave their belonging outside..i inherited my old man phone back in 00...and nearly everyone in shags has never experience any serious crime.

That aside...mobile as teaching aid is not practical...already nearly all these kids know how to operate their parents and sibling phones...all we need is cheap knockdown laptop with a big cheap screen...and a really small processors.

Something that is not practical for anything except very rudimentary things primary kids will do.

We cannot have the same mentality we had on computer and phones in Africa (ohoo give them food) and we expect them to compete with Aussies kids.

If an aussie kid has a laptop..kibera kid also deserve one. We just need 3rd world 100 dollars laptop...just like you have really knocked down phones for Africa.

When I was mugged by a pair of thugs in Nairobi, the first thing they demanded was my mobile phone. They popped it open with expert precision and gave me back my sim card.

You can't sell parts in a mobile phone, you can for laptops. There are parts in there that can be reused for pretty much anything. If not Kenyans, the Chinese would come and refurbish those laptops and sell them again. Whilst I agree, every child should own a laptop, the conditions have to be right. How about once every child owns a mobile phone, then they can have a laptop. Like here, lots of kids owned a mobile phone before laptops were introduced in schools. You shouldn't give a kid a matatu before a bicycle. Technology rolls something like that. Why not distribute mobile technology instead? It's already quite prevalent in Kenya like you say. Right now, not even the majority of adults in Kenya own laptops.

[veritas]

They're not going to use it unless it's connected to the internet. Students here don't use laptops unless the teacher demands it. What would be clever is having more cyber cafes in rural regions where anyone can use the computers for free. Also having computer labs like at least 6 computers insured per school. THAT is sensible. Distributing free laptops endangers a kid's safety. Walking down a highway with their laptops to school.. they could drop it, break it, be robbed by matatu drivers. Laptops, especially those beaten down ones are prone to breakdown. It's a big burden and responsibility for a kid. If they must have something, give them refurbished tablets. That technology you can't pull apart and sell.

[RV Pundit]

Rwanda are already doing this on a grand scale

They're not going to use it unless it's connected to the internet. Students here don't use laptops unless the teacher demands it. What would be clever is having more cyber cafes in rural regions where anyone can use the computers for free. Also having computer labs like at least 6 computers insured per school. THAT is sensible. Distributing free laptops endangers a kid's safety. Walking down a highway with their laptops to school.. they could drop it, break it, be robbed by matatu drivers. Laptops, especially those beaten down ones are prone to breakdown. It's a big burden and responsibility for a kid. If they must have something, give them refurbished tablets. That technology you can't pull apart and sell.

[veritas]

And it'll take another couple years to deem it unsustainable.

[George Lamming]

Logan: Yes oh yes...first, I don't know what you see in this pic, I see opportunity...I little innovation. And with a gadget, you can give them all the books the need include real time classes with distant institution. Don't let that sight limit your thinking...put gadgets their, and there is no limit to what those kids can be exposed to. 

You think Laptops are a priority for these kids?


I would go on a limb and say milk or breakfast would top their list, ama?

[Georgesoros]

People, you are not thinking. Every school district that I know in USA that implemented the project has either failed or has problems or struggling. Kids dont know how to use them, so constant maintenance. Connections are sometimes iffy and if there is nobody to look at it then they also fail. Neighbors want to also log in to the wireless, another fail. If it rains, a kid will come into the class room wet, another fail. Matope another fail. Training teachers how to use will also take resources away from where they may be needed most.
I rather they build Computer Libraries in every school.

[George Lamming]

PArkerpen: Interesting, all the issues you have mentioned have to do with this being a bad idea. Starting with the 1st - kids don't know how to use them. No! Give a 5yr old a DS3...you wont teach him/her nothing...they are wired. Other issues you have mentioned seem like simple project management tasks and can be resolved within a week. And for record, I am not sure what schools districts you are referring. I have worked with some school districts in middlesex county of Boston since 97 on IT and kids access and training...successful. Lets not be stuck to brick and mortal mentality.

[mya88]

Parker

The idea behind the laptop project is actually a good one, but one that must be implemented responsibly if we expect to reap any benefits from it. The US is desperately trying to implement it because most kids who do not have access are lagging behind in information technology. I visited some private schools in the US and 1st-3rd graders each had a laptop or tablet on their desk and that is how the teacher was teaching them. They are learning to video conference with students in Japan, learning to construct art projects, make cards, write books, learn foreign languages, develop cartoon programs, powerpoints, etc. It is an age where kids are really curious and you get their brains running amok.

Some of those kids know more about technology than some highschoolers who are clueless or have no such access. It would be good to get our kids laptops, however the infrastructure needs to be establish/upgraded to sustain such efforts. For example, how will the rural folks be able to recharge those things or access internet. If you give school kids and college students cannot afford laptops, they will just buy them from students cheaply, and then there are those rogue business men who will just buy to go sell them elsewhere, or across the borders.

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

I fall in the computer lab access time group as opposed to the a gadget for every little one group.  They should get time on computers in a structured environment.

Any other time, the gadgets should be used, if they facilitate learning of the subject matter.  As opposed to throwing them down a black hole and hoping something magical happens.

Even without mentioning the practicability aspect. Kids at those formative ages need more human interaction time and less to no time on gadgets.  They need to learn the discipline, values and organization that make human societies succeed.

When it comes to choosing between more teachers or laptops, it seems like a no brainer to me.

[mya88]

I fall in the computer lab access time group as opposed to the a gadget for every little one group.  They should get time on computers in a structured environment.

Any other time, the gadgets should be used, if they facilitate learning of the subject matter.  As opposed to throwing them down a black hole and hoping something magical happens.

Even without mentioning the practicability aspect. Kids at those formative ages need more human interaction time and less to no time on gadgets.  They need to learn the discipline, values and organization that make human societies succeed.

When it comes to choosing between more teachers or laptops, it seems like a no brainer to me.

Termi

Those gadgets are used to facilitate learning of the subject matters not to teach discipline and values. The latter is what teachers and parents and the whole community are there for. Other than the practicability (to Kenya) aspect of it, I see nothing wrong with introducing the youngens to the information age. That being said however, there are more dire needs for the kids like classrooms as opposed to leanrning under trees, books, library, trained teachers etc

[Georgesoros]

Boys and girls,
Am not saying its a bad idea, just that for now it is. We need a foundation before putting the laptops in the classroom. Seems like most projects are implemented before a foundation is built. As Termie and I agree, controlled computer labs may be to grade 5 then ....
Dust, rain, etc will get into this things and if most of the times they are off, students will assume its another NRB traffic light and not use them.
There is also the issue of culture. Most people in Kenya are not used to tech, so the approach should be carefully studied before implementation. If they dont know how to use it, its just another machine.

[Georgesoros]

Mya,
Nobody is against introduction to the info age, rather the process itself. I would rather see a process that is booming 4yrs down the road, rather than one that is doomed to fail. Say They introduce these gadgets, are there monies to keep it going? Its more expensive to keep it going than it is to buy it. When these things fail people just turn them off and go to previous status.

I fall in the computer lab access time group as opposed to the a gadget for every little one group.  They should get time on computers in a structured environment.

Any other time, the gadgets should be used, if they facilitate learning of the subject matter.  As opposed to throwing them down a black hole and hoping something magical happens.

Even without mentioning the practicability aspect. Kids at those formative ages need more human interaction time and less to no time on gadgets.  They need to learn the discipline, values and organization that make human societies succeed.

When it comes to choosing between more teachers or laptops, it seems like a no brainer to me.

Termi

Those gadgets are used to facilitate learning of the subject matters not to teach discipline and values. The latter is what teachers and parents and the whole community are there for. Other than the practicability (to Kenya) aspect of it, I see nothing wrong with introducing the youngens to the information age. That being said however, there are more dire needs for the kids like classrooms as opposed to leanrning under trees, books, library, trained teachers etc