FW: [DDN] Simputer
There are half a dozen projects for producing cheap computers, including ones at MIT and Carnegie Mellon, most more interesting than the simputer. But none of them is based on any analysis of educational needs. I propose that we should delay such design until we have a sizable body of well evaluated learning material. Alfred Bork ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: FW: [DDN] Simputer
One other interesting factor in the use of the Simputer, is the access to a source, to use the computer. There are some unusual ones and often that discussion is lacking. There have been various ways posted of using alternate energy sources. This comes from actually working in places where I have seen a lot of computers chained down to desktops with no source of electricity , and with some concern about when or where this source will be found. There are some great solutions. In discussing the use of the simputer, and other technologies, I too would assume that some education is necessary, though I know about the hole in the wall, experiments. One of the errors in the US educational system has been the lack of involvement to help teachers make transformational use of new technologies of all kind. This is a frequent error. Sincerely Bonnie Bracey [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] Brazil: Free Software's Biggest and Best Friend (fwd)
From the New York Times Brazil: Free Software's Biggest and Best Friend This article profiles Brazil's PC Conectado program, which will distribute computers and low-cost Internet access to one million low-income Brazilian families. The government is currently debating whether all of these machines should be installed with proprietary or free/open source software. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/29/technology/29computer.html -- --- Andy Carvin Program Director EDC Center for Media Community acarvin @ edc . org http://www.digitaldivide.net http://www.tsunami-info.org Blog: http://www.andycarvin.com --- ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: How *not* to close the digital divide (was Re: FW: [DDN] Simputer)
In a message dated 3/29/05 11:33:13 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Even if we have lived in the developing world all our lives we would not know the answers for the developing world as a whole. The developing world is a very large place, with very different problems in each area. Even within a single country the differences in problems faced by the average person can be massive. good answer Thanks for the feedback Bonnie Bracey bbracey at aol com ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
RE: [DDN] Movie Review: Local Voices, Global Visions
FYI everyone, we also have an educator's guide to using the movie: http://wsisyouth.takingitglobal.org/movie/lvgv_educators_guide.pdf This DVD cost us a lot more to make (about double) than we expected when we went to get funding for it. Things like the videographer getting arrested, sick in cheaper hotels, missing flights, etc. cost many thousands of dollars beyond budgeted amounts! So if you're interested, we'd love for you to buy it. I think if we sold around 1,500 copies we might break even :) wishful thinking... We added a direct Paypal purchase link on the page: http://wsisyouth.takingitglobal.org/movie/ -- Michael Michael Furdyk Co-founder and Director of Technology, TakingITGlobal.org -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Lars Hasselblad Torres Sent: Friday, March 25, 2005 10:26 AM To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: Re: [DDN] Movie Review: Local Voices, Global Visions Andy, your idea about getting the TIG DVD into schools sounds like a great idea for the Omidyar Network $25k challenge. Why not draft a one page precis? Perhaps pull together a few reading resources as well...? I guess I should check the website to get my copy, eh? Safe travels -- Acela is fun -- almost makes you think we have modern rail transport in the US ;P Lars -- devarts.org Connecting visual artists to create a better world On 3/24/05 12:02 PM, Andy Carvin [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Movie Review: Local Voices, Global Visions I'm riding on an Amtrak Acela train through snowbound Connecticut right now on my way to the National Model United Nations Conference, where I'll be addressing a group of 500 youth delegates who are conducting a mock World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). To psych myself up for the talk, I brought along a DVD of TakingITGlobal's new documentary, Local Voices, Global Visions. I got the DVD in the mail just before I left for India a few weeks ago, so this was my first chance to see it. If I could snap my fingers and burn 100,000 DVDs in a flash, I would send a copy of this documentary to every K-12 school in the United States, then snap my fingers some more until they turned raw so schools and youth groups around the world could have a copy as well. This 45-minute documentary, produced entirely by young people, does an astounding job at capturing what's at stake with WSIS, which will have its second summit this November in Tunisia. And it demonstrates the vital role that youth can play in policymaking, whether related to the digital divide or other important policy goals. The video profiles groups of young people from around the world -- Sierra Leone, Nigeria, India, the Philippines, Canada and Tunisia -- as they organize national youth campaigns to mobilize young people into the WSIS policymaking process. The documentary is broken down into segments, each one profiling youth activists and their work in their home country. We get to know Andrew Benson Greene and his colleagues in IEARN Sierra Leone as they teach their peers to use digital technology and create music as part of their country's post-civil war healing process. In Nigeria, 'Gbenga Sesan leads a national campaign to educate youth about the importance of participating in digital divide policymaking. In India, we meet a young woman who has opened up her home to a local orphanage so she can teach children computer skills. And in Tunisia, we learn about Marouen Mrahi, Rim Nour and their fellow engineering students as they galvanize Tunisian youth to participate in the next WSIS summit, which will take place in their home town of Tunis. The documentary reaches its climax in Geneva during the first WSIS summit in December 2003. The young people profiled in the video, along with hundreds of other youth activists, organize seminars, participate in summit plenaries, and demonstrate ICT projects to government ministers. The summit is the culmination of more than a year of activities around the world, but it's quite clear that these young people have no plans of wrapping up their activities once they go home. For one thing, they've got another WSIS summit ahead of them in November 2005, but beyond that, you get to see how these young people are laying the groundwork for long-term initiatives to bridge the digital divide in their home countries. I've met many of the young people profiled in this documentary in person, so it's great getting to see them in the spotlight, but it's not just because I know them personally. (Full disclosure -- TakingITGlobal is a strategic partner of the Digital Divide Network, and I donated some photos from the Geneva summit for the documentary.) Watching them speak, organize local campaigns and take action, I couldn't help but think these young people are truly the leaders of tomorrow. In all seriousness, I wouldn't be at all shocked if one of them - or even more - end up
[DDN] Reminder: CTCNet's 14th Annual Conference Session Proposals Due Tomorrow!
As a final reminder, the deadline to submit a proposal to present at the 14th Annual Community Technology Conference is tomorrow, Wednesday, March 30th. The conference is expected to draw over 600 attendees and is the premier annual event in community technology. It will be held June 17-19 in Cleveland, Ohio. Sessions will fall into the following tracks, which are described below: Achieving Community Impact, Organizational Capacity Leadership, Policy Civic Engagement, Program Design Management, Research Evaluation, and Technology Innovations Solutions. Register to attend at http://www.ctcnet.org/conf/2005/. To submit a session proposal, visit http://www.ctcnet.org/conf/2005/support/session.asp. For information on exhibiting, visit http://www.ctcnet.org/conf/2005/support/exhibit_sponsorship.htm Information about joining CTCNet is at http://www.ctcnet.org/membership/. Please email [EMAIL PROTECTED] with any questions. We hope to see you in Cleveland! -Original Message- -- Call for Session Proposals -- Community Technology Centers' Network (CTCNet) is seeking proposals for sessions to be presented at the 14th Annual Community Technology Conference: Making Connections, Strengthening Communities, June 17-19, 2005. CTCNet is a network of more than 1,000 community-based programs that use technological tools to provide training and educational services in communities accross the nation. Our members are united in their commitment to improve the educational, economic, cultural and political life of their communities through technology. CTCNet provides resources and advocacy to improve the quality and sustainability of community technology centers and programs at the local, national and international level through networking, capacity building, program development, and partnership opportunities. CTCNet's Annual Conference has been the premier event in community technology for over a decade. The deadline for session proposals is March 30, 2005. The registration rate for presenters is $150, a $100 discount off the CTCNet member registration rate. The conference will be held in Cleveland, Ohio at the InterContinental Hotel Conference Center. For more information, visit the conference website at http://www.ctcnet.org/conf/2005/. Attendance is expected to be approximately 600, with 40-70 people attending each session. Our attendees are community technology practitioners, community leaders and other nonprofit professionals, educators, advocates, funders and public sector representatives. --- Theme Session Tracks: --- The 2005 Conference aims to chart the progression of the community technology movement from a small grassroots effort, focused on technology access, to a growing national and international field of practice harnessing technology to meet human and social needs. This far-reaching network is rooted in community-based efforts, supported by regional collaborations, and strengthened by strategic alliances drawing innovation and effective practices across a range of disciplines. Nearly fifty sessions and workshops will be held, organized into six tracks: Achieving Community Impact... Will explore ways for community technology programs at all levels of development to expand their presence and impact as integral institutions in their communities. Sessions will provide skills share approaches for CTCs to further upward mobility for individuals, support local economies, increase social integration in neighborhoods, engage community stakeholders and serve as public spaces that support community-building. Organizational Capacity Leadership... Will provide training resources on effective management practices for organizational sustainability and success. Sessions will address issues such as development, grants management, human resources management, legal accounting issues, client class management more. Policy Civic Engagement... Will provide practitioners activists with the skills, knowledge and resources to effectively engage communities, government and the public to increase support for community technology. Participants will learn about a wide range of public policy processes ways in which community technology supporters can get involved and advance their interests. This track will also highlight important policy issues, trends opportunities facing the community technology field. Program Design Management... Will help directors, program managers and instructors design, develop manage effective programs. This track will include workshops on the fundamentals of quality programming as well as sessions featuring a wide range of emerging trends and innovative program models. Research Evaluation ... Will provide high quality evaluation models tools, as well as present recent research findings with important implications relevance for community technology practitioners, supporters
Re: [DDN] Movie Review: Local Voices, Global Visions
Hi Mike, Are you still thinking about putting the video on the Web via Ourmedia or another media host? ac Michael Furdyk wrote: FYI everyone, we also have an educator's guide to using the movie: http://wsisyouth.takingitglobal.org/movie/lvgv_educators_guide.pdf This DVD cost us a lot more to make (about double) than we expected when we went to get funding for it. Things like the videographer getting arrested, sick in cheaper hotels, missing flights, etc. cost many thousands of dollars beyond budgeted amounts! So if you're interested, we'd love for you to buy it. I think if we sold around 1,500 copies we might break even :) wishful thinking... We added a direct Paypal purchase link on the page: http://wsisyouth.takingitglobal.org/movie/ -- Michael Michael Furdyk Co-founder and Director of Technology, TakingITGlobal.org -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Lars Hasselblad Torres Sent: Friday, March 25, 2005 10:26 AM To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: Re: [DDN] Movie Review: Local Voices, Global Visions Andy, your idea about getting the TIG DVD into schools sounds like a great idea for the Omidyar Network $25k challenge. Why not draft a one page precis? Perhaps pull together a few reading resources as well...? I guess I should check the website to get my copy, eh? Safe travels -- Acela is fun -- almost makes you think we have modern rail transport in the US ;P Lars -- devarts.org Connecting visual artists to create a better world On 3/24/05 12:02 PM, Andy Carvin [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Movie Review: Local Voices, Global Visions I'm riding on an Amtrak Acela train through snowbound Connecticut right now on my way to the National Model United Nations Conference, where I'll be addressing a group of 500 youth delegates who are conducting a mock World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). To psych myself up for the talk, I brought along a DVD of TakingITGlobal's new documentary, Local Voices, Global Visions. I got the DVD in the mail just before I left for India a few weeks ago, so this was my first chance to see it. If I could snap my fingers and burn 100,000 DVDs in a flash, I would send a copy of this documentary to every K-12 school in the United States, then snap my fingers some more until they turned raw so schools and youth groups around the world could have a copy as well. This 45-minute documentary, produced entirely by young people, does an astounding job at capturing what's at stake with WSIS, which will have its second summit this November in Tunisia. And it demonstrates the vital role that youth can play in policymaking, whether related to the digital divide or other important policy goals. The video profiles groups of young people from around the world -- Sierra Leone, Nigeria, India, the Philippines, Canada and Tunisia -- as they organize national youth campaigns to mobilize young people into the WSIS policymaking process. The documentary is broken down into segments, each one profiling youth activists and their work in their home country. We get to know Andrew Benson Greene and his colleagues in IEARN Sierra Leone as they teach their peers to use digital technology and create music as part of their country's post-civil war healing process. In Nigeria, 'Gbenga Sesan leads a national campaign to educate youth about the importance of participating in digital divide policymaking. In India, we meet a young woman who has opened up her home to a local orphanage so she can teach children computer skills. And in Tunisia, we learn about Marouen Mrahi, Rim Nour and their fellow engineering students as they galvanize Tunisian youth to participate in the next WSIS summit, which will take place in their home town of Tunis. The documentary reaches its climax in Geneva during the first WSIS summit in December 2003. The young people profiled in the video, along with hundreds of other youth activists, organize seminars, participate in summit plenaries, and demonstrate ICT projects to government ministers. The summit is the culmination of more than a year of activities around the world, but it's quite clear that these young people have no plans of wrapping up their activities once they go home. For one thing, they've got another WSIS summit ahead of them in November 2005, but beyond that, you get to see how these young people are laying the groundwork for long-term initiatives to bridge the digital divide in their home countries. I've met many of the young people profiled in this documentary in person, so it's great getting to see them in the spotlight, but it's not just because I know them personally. (Full disclosure -- TakingITGlobal is a strategic partner of the Digital Divide Network, and I donated some photos from the Geneva summit for the documentary.) Watching them speak, organize local campaigns and take action, I couldn't help but think these young people are truly the leaders of tomorrow. In all seriousness, I wouldn't
Re: FW: [DDN] Simputer
Jon, We appreciate the link very much, and most of us would love to try out a Simputer in the field, believe me. It is actually clear from its features that a great deal of thought and prototyping took place, and many of us remember its gradual evolution. We on the list just like to get into larger issues, as if the Simputer weren't a large enough topic in itself. Sandy -- Sandra Sutton Andrews, PhD [EMAIL PROTECTED] Digital Media and Instructional Technologies Arizona State University On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 15:28:08 -0500, Jon maddog Hall [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Sir, [EMAIL PROTECTED] said: There are half a dozen projects for producing cheap computers, including ones at MIT and Carnegie Mellon, most more interesting than the simputer. But none of them is based on any analysis of educational needs. I propose that we should delay such design until we have a sizable body of well evaluated learning material. As I stated in my first letter, I have been tracking the Simputer project for over three years, but what I did not say is that the project has been going on for an even longer time. The Simputer may not meet all of the needs for every group, but it has had a considerable design past by a series of responsible people, including a stage where the initial design was prototyped, a fair number of prototypes were made, distributed and used by the target audience, and the changes to the design reflected from real world needs. I do not find this often in the design of systems. The other thing that is interesting about the design is that it is open from both the software and the hardware, with the hardware design licensable from the group that designed it. The Simputer is here today and orderable. If people feel that it meets their needs, they can order it. I was only making them aware of this milestone. Regards, maddog -- Jon maddog Hall Executive Director Linux International(R) email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 80 Amherst St. Voice: +1.603.672.4557 Amherst, N.H. 03031-3032 U.S.A. WWW: http://www.li.org Board Member: Uniforum Association, USENIX Association (R)Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in several countries. (R)Linux International is a registered trademark in the USA used pursuant to a license from Linux Mark Institute, authorized licensor of Linus Torvalds, owner of the Linux trademark on a worldwide basis (R)UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the USA and other countries. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: FW: [DDN] Simputer
In a message dated 3/29/05 3:31:49 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: And I also personally think it would be best if there were always an educational technologist involved, someone who could ensure, not that the research is done before development, but rather that the development takes education into account and builds in possibilities for using new technology in educational ways. I would definitely love to have an educational discount on one of these. Think what it would mean to a small group of underserved people to be asked to FIND the educational uses. Sandy I have been lucky to be involved in several knowledgenetworks, one of them being CILT.org and the other at NCSA. But it is different when you are not a Phd, and you are talking to those who have Phd.s and there is a vast difference in the understanding of the classroom when people only look from afar and from places where what is called school is very different from. Those who are not in the culture of the classroom, cannot really always create for that group because they don't understand the politics, time, community aspects, and or the permission that is not there for many. The SITE conference is also small enough, as are some of the others that you know who the people are and can connect with them. For many people across the digital divide that is a problem. No one validates their thoughts, understands their issues and or problems. No one understands and the solutions that people pick are picked without their involvement understanding, or input. And sometimes those in the group pull my coattails, because there is a lot to learn from them. If we talk about the differences between communities they may understand that gulf of misunderstanding. There is a digital apartheid of place it is sometimes subtle and sometimes not.I remember the kids who went to visit in a suburb of Chicago and who cried on the way home, because the difference was so huge in what we call school. Someone on the list told me that kids should not have an individual computer. Well, I worked in a lab where 30 kids came in and usually maybe 12 of the computers were working so I knew how to do peer tutoring, but the time was a terrible problem. Sharing is good, but all teachers don't have behavior modifications that are inclusive of the use of technology. I had to share. What I could not create was time. What I could not do was change the culture of the teachers working with them. Some punished them by keeping them away from the computer, some teachers wanted to control what I was doing. It was a good lesson for me to learn. The interface between me, at that time working as a computer lab person, and me as a regular teacher was different. Most of the men I worked with in the NIIAC thought for sure that there would never be this problem of training teachers to use technology, or should I say having teachers learn the use of technology, because to them if the purchase was made, the employee would participate. Like I said, they had no classroom experience. in 1999 ( old history) Only one in five teachers told a national survey that they felt well prepared to work in a modern classroom. Only about 20 percent said they were confident in using modern technology or in working with students from diverse backgrounds, with limited proficiency in English or with disabilities. PT3.org was born. But it was never universal. There are still people with computers who have had only just in time training , if that. Bonnie Bracey [EMAIL PROTECTED] com ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: FW: [DDN] Simputer
Educational technologists do hope that there is research on educational needs before we introduce new technologies into education, but that is because we don't want to be wasting time on flashy new items that may not have much of a purpose yet. But in my digital divide work I sense an ongoing interaction: people who have no access to technology (who are not sitting in nicely furnished schoolrooms) are hungry to learn and will make best use of what is available, until that moment when they are ready for the most professional equipment; and then the new challenge arises of how to get that equipment. If that equipment becomes available to them, then we can worry about wasting time on the latest bells and whistles. And even games (ten years after it was predicted) are now being shown to have educational value. There is a muse of technology just as much as in poetry, and synchronicities abound. The creative person isn't going to stop creating just because we'd like more control. That would stifle creativity. In the accessibility portion of the digital divide we have a similar difficulty. Many people are now aware of the the need for accessibility to those with disabilities; but as soon as we work out ways to accomplish it, there are new technologies sprouting out of the woodwork, and they aren't necessarily accessible. We can deal with the accessibility issue best by working on policies of always having people with disabilities involved in creating new technologies (because when it gets right down to the actual work, this creation is a team effort.) And I also personally think it would be best if there were always an educational technologist involved, someone who could ensure, not that the research is done before development, but rather that the development takes education into account and builds in possibilities for using new technology in educational ways. I would definitely love to have an educational discount on one of these. Think what it would mean to a small group of underserved people to be asked to FIND the educational uses. Sandy Andrews -- Sandra Sutton Andrews, PhD [EMAIL PROTECTED] Digital Media and Instructional Technologies Arizona State University On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 18:23:38 -0800, Alfred Bork [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: There are half a dozen projects for producing cheap computers, including ones at MIT and Carnegie Mellon, most more interesting than the simputer. But none of them is based on any analysis of educational needs. I propose that we should delay such design until we have a sizable body of well evaluated learning material. Alfred Bork ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: FW: [DDN] Simputer
Hello All, This is the link Taran sent on Simputer http://amidasimputer.com/khatha/ If we look at the needs of the 'pressumed' (I am guessing) target audience in India, this piece of equipment is design with them in mind. At least some of the target audience. Furthermore it is both landline and wireless. If Reliance is giving a good per minute price, I think it is not bad at all. Cindy [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: One other interesting factor in the use of the Simputer, is the access to a source, to use the computer. There are some unusual ones and often that discussion is lacking. There have been various ways posted of using alternate energy sources. This comes from actually working in places where I have seen a lot of computers chained down to desktops with no source of electricity , and with some concern about when or where this source will be found. There are some great solutions. In discussing the use of the simputer, and other technologies, I too would assume that some education is necessary, though I know about the hole in the wall, experiments. One of the errors in the US educational system has been the lack of involvement to help teachers make transformational use of new technologies of all kind. This is a frequent error. Sincerely Bonnie Bracey [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
