RE: [DDN] ICT for Development research from Berkeley
The problem can be shortly stated. There is plenty of literature on the economical aspects of Digital Divide, covering both international and domestic aspects, with a very large documentation of statistics, measurements, recommendations and case studies. What I'm looking for is something about the impact of ICT on local, especially rural, cultures. How a calm day by day life in rural area can interact with the speed of communcation through the ICT? I think this is one of the main issues people (not only from the developed world) involved in on the ground projects have to deal with. Yes, the question comes form my, and others, personal experience, therefore it's very limited to a single place, but any policy, and any projects, ends to people, i.e. local people who most likely have never seen a computer before. The main point is people, not technology. So usual practical questions arise: - how can we use the pc in the day by day life? - ok, the culture is important for the future but what can we do now to get some money, a job, now - such a speed on communication is not our first priority, the usual channels are quite enough, why should we spend so much in order to be connected with the entire world? - ok, I want to learn something about computers but just to have some more chances to find a job - how the computer knowledge can help the local economy to grow? - what do you mean with a better level of life, how could I use a computer for something I don't know yet? - etc. To trivial? Maybe, for us chatting here! But surely not for my parents too (Italy, even if deep south). Waiting for the next project somewhere, I'd like to know some more from somebody else about ICT and people running at a different speed. I strongly believe in the (final) people directly involved, each of them is different so that different issues would arise, but trying to capture the basic local attitude is the first priority for any on the ground project. Thanks Raffaele Moles -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John Hibbs Sent: Mon 24 Jan 2005 10:19 PM To: The Digital Divide Network discussiongroup Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [DDN] ICT for Development research from Berkeley At 12:41 PM +0100 1/24/05, Raffaele Moles wrote: If you are interested in such a topic I will try to send you more details about whatever you'll ask. Please do. In fact the work Raffaele talks about is so salutary, I thought it worthy of a re-read. Raffaele Moles wrote: I'm working on Digital Divide related topics. I have spent one year (Oct 2003-Oct 2004) in Sri Lanka, as volunteer coordinator in the startup of an IT Training Center (ITTC). The ITTC is managed by a local ngo and we started it from scratch, involving more than 500 students. We built the ITTC starting with 8 desktops and after seven months we had 50 laptops (Pentium 1), a Local Area Network (LAN) with one server (Pentium 2), an Internet connection shared on the LAN, a Database and an internal web site with administration, teaching and learning tools (such as online resources, online tests, etc.). One of the main goals was the training of local people as future teachers, also able to run the school after the volunteers. I was the only foreigner until May and after new volunteers came from Japan, in May 2005, and from Spain, in August 2005, and again from Japain in Oct 2005. So far, the ITTC has had a very strong impact on the local community, allowing many students (almost none of them had touched a computer before) to have both basic literacy and a deeper touch in IT. Of course we also had to face some questions on the relationships with local attitude, surely not so frenetic as in western countries (or developed world); the real impact was on people, not about physical resources availability. To be short, the question is how to deal with fast technology and slow attitude. If you are interested in such a topic I will try to send you more details about whatever you'll ask. Thanks Raffaele Moles ___ 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: [DDN] ICT for Development research from Berkeley
Hi, I'm working on Digital Divide related topics. I have spent one year (Oct 2003-Oct 2004) in Sri Lanka, as volunteer coordinator in the startup of an IT Training Center (ITTC). The ITTC is managed by a local ngo and we started it from scratch, involving more than 500 students. We built the ITTC starting with 8 desktops and after seven months we had 50 laptops (Pentium 1), a Local Area Network (LAN) with one server (Pentium 2), an Internet connection shared on the LAN, a Database and an internal web site with administration, teaching and learning tools (such as online resources, online tests, etc.). One of the main goals was the training of local people as future teachers, also able to run the school after the volunteers. I was the only foreigner until May and after new volunteers came from Japan, in May 2005, and from Spain, in August 2005, and again from Japain in Oct 2005. So far, the ITTC has had a very strong impact on the local community, allowing many students (almost none of them had touched a computer before) to have both basic literacy and a deeper touch in IT. Of course we also had to face some questions on the relationships with local attitude, surely not so frenetic as in western countries (or developed world); the real impact was on people, not about physical resources availability. To be short, the question is how to deal with fast technology and slow attitude. If you are interested in such a topic I will try to send you more details about whatever you'll ask. Thanks Raffaele Moles -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Joyojeet Pal Sent: Sun 23 Jan 2005 8:24 PM To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: [DDN] ICT for Development research from Berkeley Hi All, I had posted to the group earlier a plan I had of teaching a class this year on IT for Development at University of California, Berkeley. We have started teaching the class (I will post the syllabus and slides shortly, and can mail them offline to anyone who wants them). At this point, I am looking for projects for my students which are both worth their time, as well as useful to the general body of knowledge on IT and Development. If there is anyone out there who is interested in research in a specific direction, and would like to have me get a few students to work on it for you (gratis), please drop me an email. I have a group of highly competent and qualified students (evenly split between masters, doctoral and bachelors), and am going to assign class projects over the coming weeks. Essentially a typical project would be a short research document (15-20 pages), including a presentation of the project and a defense in front of the class of research design and conclusions. If you have projects in mind that you are interested in having people work on, please send me a short _one or two-page description_ on what you would like done, and specify whether you would consider being a mentor for the project. Also include any contact information students would need to get in touch with you and discuss the project to greater detail. Please cc this reply to joyojeet(at)berkeley.edu. If a proposal interests a group of students, they will use the initial brief to work on a paper, and update you from time to time on their work, and perhaps seek some guidance (and access to information if the project centered around a topic to which propreitary information is needed). I will give preference to projects for which the research is in the public domain. Thanks, Joyojeet ___ 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: [DDN] ICT for Development research from Berkeley
At 12:41 PM +0100 1/24/05, Raffaele Moles wrote: If you are interested in such a topic I will try to send you more details about whatever you'll ask. Please do. In fact the work Raffaele talks about is so salutary, I thought it worthy of a re-read. Raffaele Moles wrote: I'm working on Digital Divide related topics. I have spent one year (Oct 2003-Oct 2004) in Sri Lanka, as volunteer coordinator in the startup of an IT Training Center (ITTC). The ITTC is managed by a local ngo and we started it from scratch, involving more than 500 students. We built the ITTC starting with 8 desktops and after seven months we had 50 laptops (Pentium 1), a Local Area Network (LAN) with one server (Pentium 2), an Internet connection shared on the LAN, a Database and an internal web site with administration, teaching and learning tools (such as online resources, online tests, etc.). One of the main goals was the training of local people as future teachers, also able to run the school after the volunteers. I was the only foreigner until May and after new volunteers came from Japan, in May 2005, and from Spain, in August 2005, and again from Japain in Oct 2005. So far, the ITTC has had a very strong impact on the local community, allowing many students (almost none of them had touched a computer before) to have both basic literacy and a deeper touch in IT. Of course we also had to face some questions on the relationships with local attitude, surely not so frenetic as in western countries (or developed world); the real impact was on people, not about physical resources availability. To be short, the question is how to deal with fast technology and slow attitude. If you are interested in such a topic I will try to send you more details about whatever you'll ask. Thanks Raffaele Moles ___ 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.
