[GKD] Results of a Survey of Computers in a School in Goa, India
URL: http://gscp.org/components/survey3.htm Results of survey conducted at Vasant Vidyalaya HS Respondents Profile 30 students 9 males, 21 females from grade 9 9 were 16-18 year range, 21 were 13-15 years range Background - Vasant Vidyalaya is a secondary school with a total enrollment of about 200 students from middle and lower class located in Siolim, a town of about 10,000 people. The school has a computer lab of 7 PCs, 2 (Windows) provided by Government and 4 (Linux) provided by GSCP in 2002, and 1 PC (Windows) additionally provided by the government in 2003. In the last semester of 2002-2003 academic year, 2 subject teachers were trained, and the social sciences teacher taught 3 Geography lesson in the computer lab using prepared lesson plans. In the same semester, children were permitted to use the computer lab after school hours on payment of a Rs. 10 per month fee. Internet use was demonstrated but not permitted on a regular basis because of phone cost considerations. Results - Respondents indicated that * English is their favorite subject (50%), followed by Art, Math and Science (30% each) (100% of students responded to this question) * They had been using PCs for less than a year (7%), 1-2 years (63%), 2-4 years (30%). This is consistent with Vasant Vidyalaya aquiring PCs 2 years ago Students who have used PCs for more than 2 years mostly have one at home or at a relative/friends home (100% of students responded) * Only 16% of students claim to have taught themselves to use computers, the rest said that their computer Teacher taught them (100% of students responded) * Software used by students at school other than spreadsheets, word-processor and paint tool Games (60%) and educational software (only 50%) (85% of students responded) * Favorite activity By far, Games (70%) and Paint (90%) were students favorite activites (85% of students responded) * Major challenges Using keyboard and mouse Technical problems Too many students, not enough time (74 % of students responded) * Accessibility of computers after school hours 30% of students said the computers were always accessible, 10% said they were sometimes accessible, 55% said they were never accessible 43% said they use computers after school hours (97% responded) This implies that the benefits of After hours school access were not reaching all students (did this mean the Rs. 10 per student was too much?) * Students opinion on the importance of computers Computers very Important for Learning computer skills For Job in future To learn new things Help with schoolwork Computers somewhat important for To find or access information To communicate with others (97% responded) This indicates that students are aware of the relationship between computer skills and future employment. The lower perceived importance for accessing information and communication reflects the fact that internet is not used appreciably yet. * How useful are the following to help you learn Teachers 70% Textbooks 40% Your parents 60% Your friends 60% Computers 73% CD-Rom 30% (100% responded) This would seem to suggest that teachers and computers are the most helpful for students learning experience. However, given that only 30% thought educational CD-ROMs were useful, the concept of learning experience was probably not clear enough. The interpretation of the following section on student opinions should be treated with care as students had difficulty understanding the question format. Neutral implies that the student did not have an opinion. * 12% think that do not like school (20% neutral) (83% of students responded) * 50% think that computers have made them like school more (33% neutral) (80% of students responded) * 33% think that they know more about computers than my teachers (70% of students responded) * 71% think that computers have made them better students (14% neutral) (70% of students responded) * 42% think that most teachers seem afraid to use computers in the classroom (33% neutral) (70% of students responded) * 57% say that their parents have never used computers (63% of students responded) * 57% think that their parents are very interested in their use of computers (63% of students responded) * 52 % would prefer to use computers alone when using computers in school (11% neutral) (60% of students responded) * Based on their experience with computers so far 50% want to use computers in your future profession (% neutral) (66 % of students responded) What did we learn from this survey * Identifying students least favorite subject opens the possibility of targeting the use of computer assisted teaching to make that subject more interesting * Students indicating that Paint and Games as favorite activities combined with the fact that they do not have frequent access to educational software raises the possibility that computers are becoming purely an entertainment tool *
[GKD] GSA and World Computer Exchange Donate Computers to Connect Schools in Kenya
Below is a press release about the Boston Office of General Services Administration donating computers to a Hull group working with schools in Kenya with volunteers helping from Melrose, Hull, Boston, and Lexington schools, Peace Corps, and City Year. World Computer Exchange, Inc. Bridging the global digital divide for youth [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.WorldComputerExchange.org 936 Nantasket Ave., Hull, Massachusetts 02045 USA + 781-925-3078 FAX: + 509-752-9186 Offices: Boston, Burlington, Geneva, Miami, Minneapolis, New Haven, San Francisco, Seattle, Stockholm, Stuttgart Washington DC Representatives gathering computers in: Atlanta, Bonn, Brussels, Calgary, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dallas, Detroit, Gothenburg, Helsinki, Los Angeles, New York, Oak Island NC, Oslo, Paris, Portland, Sydney, Syracuse, Tokyo Tulsa 24 Shipments of 7,279 computers valued at US$2,142,450 to connect 829 schools with 319,300 students in 17 countries: Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Cameroon, Ecuador, Georgia, Guatemala, India, Kenya, Lithuania, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Vietnam. US IRS 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt (non-profit) organization # 04-3529016 and incorporated as an NGO in Sweden and Germany *** World Computer Exchange Building IT capacity in schools in developing countries PRESS RELEASE: GSA Helps With Computers For Kenya Contact: Paula Santangelo, Director, Customer Services Division, GSA [EMAIL PROTECTED] 617-565-5777 David McBride, Peace Corps Relations Manager [EMAIL PROTECTED] 617-445-7684 The US General Services Administration's (GSA) Boston office is donating 220 Pentium computers to help connect schools in Kenya to the Internet. This surplus equipment is being combined with other donated computers to fill a shipping container that will leave the Port of Boston around August 15. The GSA's staff has been working with college students recruited by the World Computer Exchange, a nonprofit based in Hull, Mass., to test, scrub, and inventory the equipment. On August 12th, volunteers from Boston Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and from City Year will join the GSA staff and students. Together, they will move the computers into a 40-foot container already loaded with 215 computer sets gathered from local individuals and companies and packed by volunteer students from South Shore Charter School in Hull and the Melrose and Lexington High Schools, Asha for Education and Yale Recycling in New Haven. Other assistance for this project has come from Land Air Express and the Vermont recycling program both in Burlington. GSA's Regional Administrator for New England, Dennis R. Smith said, We're thrilled to make this donation of computers that will enable children in Kenya to connect to the Internet. This is a great opportunity for GSA to help others and provide a communications tool for kids. Our GSA associates take pride in being able to make a difference. Doane Perry, the President of Boston Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, said, We have been pleased to see that the Exchange is working with Peace Corps Volunteers in many developing countries. It is great that our 600 returned Peace Corps Volunteers have this type of service option available to them. We are beginning to advise the Exchange in how to better work with Peace Corps and to get us involved in more developing countries and in more US cities where our volunteers return after their two years of service. The 435 Pentiums and Power Macs will connect 20 schools with 10,000 students to the Internet. The schools were recruited, trained, and prepared by SchoolWeb (Kenya) Ltd. SchoolWeb was developed by Kiragu Maina while he was with Africa Online. The Exchange and SchoolWeb were brought together when the World Economic Forum's Global Digital Divide Initiative showcased the work of the Exchange after a global education competition in 2001. This container also holds a special gift of high-end network switches and hubs being donated to Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology by PAREXEL International, a health research firm based in Waltham. This equipment will allow the university to help local schools with the use of computers and the Internet to improve learning. PAREXEL has donated through the Exchange several times. World Computer Exchange has shipped 7,279 computers donated by individuals and companies in the USA, Scandinavia, and Germany. The Exchange www.WorldComputerExchange.org, founded in 1999, works to build IT capacity in schools in developing countries by providing computers, online help-desk volunteers, and sister-schools. This is the Exchange's 12th container to Africa and the 12th container shipped from its Boston Office. The Exchange is now gathering donated computers in 31 cities in 12 countries. It has provided computers to 829 schools with 319,000 students in 17 developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Timothy Anderson,
Re: [GKD] World's Poor to Get Their Own Search Engine
I am not sure that this response is too useful it tends to say we don't have a problem. The real issue, in my sector at least, is can the small entrepreneur collect sufficient useful information to justify the cost of going on line. My experience is that the systems that I use to search the Internet through my permanent connection really don't work when I am at a telecenter paying by the half hour. I know its even worse for an Internet starter. Therefore I believe that systems that make the information collection process easier (e.g. TEK, web to email services, sites assembling special information (e.g. www.safpp.co.za ) are useful. Regards Dave D A Harcourt Strengthening African Food Processing Project (SAFPP) . BIO/CHEMTEK TFD . P O Box 395, Pretoria, 0001 . South Africa http://www.safpp.co.za . phone +27 12 841 3097 fax +27 12 841 3726 [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Barometer - an ingenious instrument which indicates what kind of weather we are having. Definition from Ambrose Bierce's Demon's Dictionary Daniel Makundi [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I was somewhat taken aback by the post below. Internet access in third world has populated significantly in the past few years: hardly anyone is still using email-only system such as the once-popular GreenNet-APC. At least for Tanzania where we have Internet access in all major towns and cities, and spreading fast. John Mullinax [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Very interesting -- one issue with this approach is that the filtering happens without the searcher's knowledge or control. One opportunity to address this may be to use a transformation gateway to compress content (similar to a WAP gateway, but probably not exactly a WAP gateway). The gateway may sufficiently reduce the amount of data sent over the wire so that the searcher in Malawi, or wherever, can select the items that would seem to be most useful. These pages could then be emailed in their entirety, per the system described. Just a thought ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/
