A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
Hi Listers, I recently wrote this blogpost, looking forward to your views -- During the recently concluded electoral campaigns President Uhuru Kenyatta<http://uhuru.co.ke/> and his Deputy William Ruto captivated the minds of Kenyan parents with a promise of delivering to every Standard One pupil entering school in 2014 asolar powered laptop <http://uhuruto2013.com/?p=113> to enhance and aid their learning environment(see video below). As expected many Kenyans were sceptical given the perception that many Government projects begin with pomp and fury but end up as duds; wasting billions of shillings that could otherwise have gone to more basic and immediate needs. I thought it would be prudent for us to examine through a *Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat( SWOT)* analysis the feasibility of such a project in present day Kenya <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya>. *Read more: http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... * Kind Regards, John
The benefits to the students and the country as a whole that would be brought about by the successful implementation of this project are huge. In my opinion the biggest emphasis to eventual success should be paid to; (1) The teachers - the ordinary teacher has to buy the idea first. Sell it to them and the chances of success are pretty good. (2) Government implementation - This should be treated like a business complete with a CEO who reports directly to the president. This might very well be Jubilee's Thika Road. George On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 3:25 PM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Hi Listers,
I recently wrote this blogpost, looking forward to your views
--
During the recently concluded electoral campaigns President Uhuru Kenyatta<http://uhuru.co.ke/> and his Deputy William Ruto captivated the minds of Kenyan parents with a promise of delivering to every Standard One pupil entering school in 2014 asolar powered laptop <http://uhuruto2013.com/?p=113> to enhance and aid their learning environment(see video below).
As expected many Kenyans were sceptical given the perception that many Government projects begin with pomp and fury but end up as duds; wasting billions of shillings that could otherwise have gone to more basic and immediate needs.
I thought it would be prudent for us to examine through a *Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat( SWOT)* analysis the feasibility of such a project in present day Kenya <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya>.
*Read more: http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... *
Kind Regards,
John
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A lot of research, try and error has gone into OLAP. Perhaps Kenya government could build on OLAP's successes. On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 4:04 PM, george < theonlydamnedavailablename@gmail.com> wrote:
The benefits to the students and the country as a whole that would be brought about by the successful implementation of this project are huge.
In my opinion the biggest emphasis to eventual success should be paid to;
(1) The teachers - the ordinary teacher has to buy the idea first. Sell it to them and the chances of success are pretty good.
(2) Government implementation - This should be treated like a business complete with a CEO who reports directly to the president. This might very well be Jubilee's Thika Road.
George
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 3:25 PM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Hi Listers,
I recently wrote this blogpost, looking forward to your views
--
During the recently concluded electoral campaigns President Uhuru Kenyatta <http://uhuru.co.ke/> and his Deputy William Ruto captivated the minds of Kenyan parents with a promise of delivering to every Standard One pupil entering school in 2014 asolar powered laptop<http://uhuruto2013.com/?p=113> to enhance and aid their learning environment(see video below).
As expected many Kenyans were sceptical given the perception that many Government projects begin with pomp and fury but end up as duds; wasting billions of shillings that could otherwise have gone to more basic and immediate needs.
I thought it would be prudent for us to examine through a *Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat( SWOT)* analysis the feasibility of such a project in present day Kenya <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya>.
*Read more: http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... *
Kind Regards,
John
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Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
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Here is a comment from the blog from someone who has been involved in OLAP on that score... *I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era for the Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have so many potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The implementation, deployment and scalability of the program will become more easy through the support and facilitation from the government,…* *Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the program to be successful, the government will have to face so many challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to kids in the Kenyan environment.* *The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s and research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts of this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with components that are useful for our kids,* *The tech community, developers and programmers who create apps for education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating and adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware.* On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 5:59 PM, David Njuguna <dnjuguna@gmail.com> wrote:
A lot of research, try and error has gone into OLAP. Perhaps Kenya government could build on OLAP's successes.
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 4:04 PM, george < theonlydamnedavailablename@gmail.com> wrote:
The benefits to the students and the country as a whole that would be brought about by the successful implementation of this project are huge.
In my opinion the biggest emphasis to eventual success should be paid to;
(1) The teachers - the ordinary teacher has to buy the idea first. Sell it to them and the chances of success are pretty good.
(2) Government implementation - This should be treated like a business complete with a CEO who reports directly to the president. This might very well be Jubilee's Thika Road.
George
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 3:25 PM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Hi Listers,
I recently wrote this blogpost, looking forward to your views
--
During the recently concluded electoral campaigns President Uhuru Kenyatta <http://uhuru.co.ke/> and his Deputy William Ruto captivated the minds of Kenyan parents with a promise of delivering to every Standard One pupil entering school in 2014 asolar powered laptop<http://uhuruto2013.com/?p=113> to enhance and aid their learning environment(see video below).
As expected many Kenyans were sceptical given the perception that many Government projects begin with pomp and fury but end up as duds; wasting billions of shillings that could otherwise have gone to more basic and immediate needs.
I thought it would be prudent for us to examine through a *Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat( SWOT)* analysis the feasibility of such a project in present day Kenya <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya>.
*Read more: http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... *
Kind Regards,
John
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In regards to what other parts are integral to the success of the laptops for children initiative, there are some that have sought to develop a product that can try solve this in a lasting way, obviously dependent on whether it's adopted. Samsung has partnered with Intel, Microsoft, KIE and other partners to develop a solution that will involve Internet school, a learning management software that will harmonize the way teachers teach, laptops and solar powered containers for places where the power grid has not reached. Note, these are not solar laptops but solar powered internet schools, the whole hog of laptops, server, smartboard and learning software developed with KIE as partner. Now what this raises, - Cost of internet setup and running - adoption and resistance to change by teachers - others you may find from this. Read here, an interview I had with Robert Ngeru, to collect these points http://ow.ly/k1Mdr Regards, Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: gplus.to/martingicheru On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 6:55 PM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Here is a comment from the blog from someone who has been involved in OLAP on that score...
*I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era for the Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have so many potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The implementation, deployment and scalability of the program will become more easy through the support and facilitation from the government,…*
*Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the program to be successful, the government will have to face so many challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to kids in the Kenyan environment.*
*The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s and research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts of this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with components that are useful for our kids,*
*The tech community, developers and programmers who create apps for education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating and adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware.*
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 5:59 PM, David Njuguna <dnjuguna@gmail.com> wrote:
A lot of research, try and error has gone into OLAP. Perhaps Kenya government could build on OLAP's successes.
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 4:04 PM, george < theonlydamnedavailablename@gmail.com> wrote:
The benefits to the students and the country as a whole that would be brought about by the successful implementation of this project are huge.
In my opinion the biggest emphasis to eventual success should be paid to;
(1) The teachers - the ordinary teacher has to buy the idea first. Sell it to them and the chances of success are pretty good.
(2) Government implementation - This should be treated like a business complete with a CEO who reports directly to the president. This might very well be Jubilee's Thika Road.
George
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 3:25 PM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Hi Listers,
I recently wrote this blogpost, looking forward to your views
--
During the recently concluded electoral campaigns President Uhuru Kenyatta <http://uhuru.co.ke/> and his Deputy William Ruto captivated the minds of Kenyan parents with a promise of delivering to every Standard One pupil entering school in 2014 asolar powered laptop<http://uhuruto2013.com/?p=113> to enhance and aid their learning environment(see video below).
As expected many Kenyans were sceptical given the perception that many Government projects begin with pomp and fury but end up as duds; wasting billions of shillings that could otherwise have gone to more basic and immediate needs.
I thought it would be prudent for us to examine through a *Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat( SWOT)* analysis the feasibility of such a project in present day Kenya <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya>.
*Read more: http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... *
Kind Regards,
John
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Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
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Thanks Martin, this raises the question - How important is mobility of the devices in this Initiative? It seems to me the initiative you have described is suitable for the older students particularly High Schools... On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:31 AM, Martin Gicheru <martin@techweez.com> wrote:
In regards to what other parts are integral to the success of the laptops for children initiative, there are some that have sought to develop a product that can try solve this in a lasting way, obviously dependent on whether it's adopted. Samsung has partnered with Intel, Microsoft, KIE and other partners to develop a solution that will involve Internet school, a learning management software that will harmonize the way teachers teach, laptops and solar powered containers for places where the power grid has not reached. Note, these are not solar laptops but solar powered internet schools, the whole hog of laptops, server, smartboard and learning software developed with KIE as partner.
Now what this raises,
- Cost of internet setup and running - adoption and resistance to change by teachers - others you may find from this.
Read here, an interview I had with Robert Ngeru, to collect these points http://ow.ly/k1Mdr
Regards,
Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez
Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: gplus.to/martingicheru
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 6:55 PM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Here is a comment from the blog from someone who has been involved in OLAP on that score...
*I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era for the Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have so many potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The implementation, deployment and scalability of the program will become more easy through the support and facilitation from the government,…*
*Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the program to be successful, the government will have to face so many challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to kids in the Kenyan environment.*
*The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s and research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts of this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with components that are useful for our kids,*
*The tech community, developers and programmers who create apps for education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating and adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware.*
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 5:59 PM, David Njuguna <dnjuguna@gmail.com>wrote:
A lot of research, try and error has gone into OLAP. Perhaps Kenya government could build on OLAP's successes.
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 4:04 PM, george < theonlydamnedavailablename@gmail.com> wrote:
The benefits to the students and the country as a whole that would be brought about by the successful implementation of this project are huge.
In my opinion the biggest emphasis to eventual success should be paid to;
(1) The teachers - the ordinary teacher has to buy the idea first. Sell it to them and the chances of success are pretty good.
(2) Government implementation - This should be treated like a business complete with a CEO who reports directly to the president. This might very well be Jubilee's Thika Road.
George
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 3:25 PM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Hi Listers,
I recently wrote this blogpost, looking forward to your views
--
During the recently concluded electoral campaigns President Uhuru Kenyatta <http://uhuru.co.ke/> and his Deputy William Ruto captivated the minds of Kenyan parents with a promise of delivering to every Standard One pupil entering school in 2014 asolar powered laptop<http://uhuruto2013.com/?p=113> to enhance and aid their learning environment(see video below).
As expected many Kenyans were sceptical given the perception that many Government projects begin with pomp and fury but end up as duds; wasting billions of shillings that could otherwise have gone to more basic and immediate needs.
I thought it would be prudent for us to examine through a *Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat( SWOT)* analysis the feasibility of such a project in present day Kenya <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya>.
*Read more: http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... *
Kind Regards,
John
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Having thought more about this... 1. We can give ebook readers to standard 3 kids. (Standard 1 might be a bit too young for ebook readers) + Parents no longer think of buying books from bookshops. + Govt can easily buy books for every single child in the country; bulk buy from publishers and wireless push to e-readers. + Kids have a vast array of books to read. + Reading culture becomes ingrained at an early age. + You can push copyleft books (Classics such as: Around the world in 80 days to wikibooks to creative common books) + Eink readers can last for weeks on a single charge. + Eink readers are relative cheap. [1] 2. At around standard 5, start priming kids for computer basics + programming basics 3. At around standard 6. Push netbooks to every single child. + Mature age for computer use. + Kids at this age probably have an idea about what they want to do. Providing them with a laptop and Internet use widens their view. + Probably give every child a monthly data bundle (say 50mb) that can be purchased from the govt through telcos. + Collate and preload netbooks with videos from khan academy et al. Some statistics: - KCPE candidates[2]: ~800k - The likely figure of standard one students is probably around 1 million. - The minimalist ebook reader is going to cost you 90USD [3]. Ballpark figure for cost of e-readers to students starting with standard 3, 4, 5 is going to be 3 * 90 * 1e6 = 270 million dollars - Depending on the build quality, you can get cheap 10inch netbooks for ~100 USD [4]. Ballpark figures for pushing netbooks to standard 6, 7, 8 is 3 * 100 * 1e6 = 300 million dollars. - Pushing a netbook to every standard 6 student and a eink reader to every standard 3 student is going to cost the government 40 Billion shillings (0.5 billion USD). Remember that you have students in standard 7 & 8 who are yet to receive netbooks and students in 4,5,6,7,8 w/out kindles. Also remember that you have not factored high school/university students. So how do we do this? 1. Economies of scale for such an order would significantly lower the prices by 10-30%. 2. Require that any purchased device be assembled in Kenya. Making at least 2 million devices per year can jumpstart an electronics manufacturing segment. As an aside: I believe that aircraft manufacture frequently uses this model. Place an order of X and get the tail manufacturing, Y orders and you get fuselage.. 3. Provide tax incentives for SMT companies that operate in Kenya. No tax on SMT tech imports, token tax on manufactured devices... 4. Sell these devices to governments around Africa for a tiny profit. Benefits: 1) Above average tech savvy society within 5-10 years. 2) Newly minted electronics manufacturing segment might be very lucrative to the taxman. 3) Helluva lots of jobs from manufacturing, logistics, electronic book publishing, software industry. 4) Bragging rights? Caveat: - These are just words. We'd need political backing for this to happen. I don't know whether our newly minted government is all action and no words or all words and no action 1. http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/CN/e-ink-reader.html 2. http://www.jamiiforums.com/kenyan-news/391881-knec-releases-kcpe-results-for... 3. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HCCOD0/ref=amb_link_85156411_1?pf_rd_m=... 4. http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/cheap-linux-netbook.html On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:19 AM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Thanks Martin, this raises the question - How important is mobility of the devices in this Initiative? It seems to me the initiative you have described is suitable for the older students particularly High Schools...
On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:31 AM, Martin Gicheru <martin@techweez.com>wrote:
In regards to what other parts are integral to the success of the laptops for children initiative, there are some that have sought to develop a product that can try solve this in a lasting way, obviously dependent on whether it's adopted. Samsung has partnered with Intel, Microsoft, KIE and other partners to develop a solution that will involve Internet school, a learning management software that will harmonize the way teachers teach, laptops and solar powered containers for places where the power grid has not reached. Note, these are not solar laptops but solar powered internet schools, the whole hog of laptops, server, smartboard and learning software developed with KIE as partner.
Now what this raises,
- Cost of internet setup and running - adoption and resistance to change by teachers - others you may find from this.
Read here, an interview I had with Robert Ngeru, to collect these points http://ow.ly/k1Mdr
Regards,
Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez
Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: gplus.to/martingicheru
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 6:55 PM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Here is a comment from the blog from someone who has been involved in OLAP on that score...
*I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era for the Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have so many potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The implementation, deployment and scalability of the program will become more easy through the support and facilitation from the government,…*
*Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the program to be successful, the government will have to face so many challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to kids in the Kenyan environment.*
*The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s and research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts of this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with components that are useful for our kids,*
*The tech community, developers and programmers who create apps for education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating and adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware.*
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 5:59 PM, David Njuguna <dnjuguna@gmail.com>wrote:
A lot of research, try and error has gone into OLAP. Perhaps Kenya government could build on OLAP's successes.
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 4:04 PM, george < theonlydamnedavailablename@gmail.com> wrote:
The benefits to the students and the country as a whole that would be brought about by the successful implementation of this project are huge.
In my opinion the biggest emphasis to eventual success should be paid to;
(1) The teachers - the ordinary teacher has to buy the idea first. Sell it to them and the chances of success are pretty good.
(2) Government implementation - This should be treated like a business complete with a CEO who reports directly to the president. This might very well be Jubilee's Thika Road.
George
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 3:25 PM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Hi Listers,
I recently wrote this blogpost, looking forward to your views
--
During the recently concluded electoral campaigns President Uhuru Kenyatta <http://uhuru.co.ke/> and his Deputy William Ruto captivated the minds of Kenyan parents with a promise of delivering to every Standard One pupil entering school in 2014 asolar powered laptop <http://uhuruto2013.com/?p=113> to enhance and aid their learning environment(see video below).
As expected many Kenyans were sceptical given the perception that many Government projects begin with pomp and fury but end up as duds; wasting billions of shillings that could otherwise have gone to more basic and immediate needs.
I thought it would be prudent for us to examine through a *Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat( SWOT)* analysis the feasibility of such a project in present day Kenya <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya>.
*Read more: http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... *
Kind Regards,
John
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simply brilliant approach... not sure on relying on MNO's to supply data network. Government is investing in its own LTE network. I think starting at class one is really important for maximizing long term benefits of cognitive adoption of technology aided learning...much like learning a language. The security issue abounds though insurance in addition to biometric locking could be a possible solution... On Apr 13, 2013 3:39 PM, "Laban Mwangi" <lmwangi@gmail.com> wrote:
Having thought more about this... 1. We can give ebook readers to standard 3 kids. (Standard 1 might be a bit too young for ebook readers) + Parents no longer think of buying books from bookshops. + Govt can easily buy books for every single child in the country; bulk buy from publishers and wireless push to e-readers. + Kids have a vast array of books to read. + Reading culture becomes ingrained at an early age. + You can push copyleft books (Classics such as: Around the world in 80 days to wikibooks to creative common books) + Eink readers can last for weeks on a single charge. + Eink readers are relative cheap. [1]
2. At around standard 5, start priming kids for computer basics + programming basics 3. At around standard 6. Push netbooks to every single child. + Mature age for computer use. + Kids at this age probably have an idea about what they want to do. Providing them with a laptop and Internet use widens their view. + Probably give every child a monthly data bundle (say 50mb) that can be purchased from the govt through telcos. + Collate and preload netbooks with videos from khan academy et al.
Some statistics: - KCPE candidates[2]: ~800k - The likely figure of standard one students is probably around 1 million. - The minimalist ebook reader is going to cost you 90USD [3]. Ballpark figure for cost of e-readers to students starting with standard 3, 4, 5 is going to be 3 * 90 * 1e6 = 270 million dollars - Depending on the build quality, you can get cheap 10inch netbooks for ~100 USD [4]. Ballpark figures for pushing netbooks to standard 6, 7, 8 is 3 * 100 * 1e6 = 300 million dollars.
- Pushing a netbook to every standard 6 student and a eink reader to every standard 3 student is going to cost the government 40 Billion shillings (0.5 billion USD). Remember that you have students in standard 7 & 8 who are yet to receive netbooks and students in 4,5,6,7,8 w/out kindles. Also remember that you have not factored high school/university students.
So how do we do this? 1. Economies of scale for such an order would significantly lower the prices by 10-30%. 2. Require that any purchased device be assembled in Kenya. Making at least 2 million devices per year can jumpstart an electronics manufacturing segment. As an aside: I believe that aircraft manufacture frequently uses this model. Place an order of X and get the tail manufacturing, Y orders and you get fuselage.. 3. Provide tax incentives for SMT companies that operate in Kenya. No tax on SMT tech imports, token tax on manufactured devices... 4. Sell these devices to governments around Africa for a tiny profit.
Benefits: 1) Above average tech savvy society within 5-10 years. 2) Newly minted electronics manufacturing segment might be very lucrative to the taxman. 3) Helluva lots of jobs from manufacturing, logistics, electronic book publishing, software industry. 4) Bragging rights?
Caveat: - These are just words. We'd need political backing for this to happen. I don't know whether our newly minted government is all action and no words or all words and no action
1. http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/CN/e-ink-reader.html 2. http://www.jamiiforums.com/kenyan-news/391881-knec-releases-kcpe-results-for... 3. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HCCOD0/ref=amb_link_85156411_1?pf_rd_m=... 4. http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/cheap-linux-netbook.html
On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:19 AM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Thanks Martin, this raises the question - How important is mobility of the devices in this Initiative? It seems to me the initiative you have described is suitable for the older students particularly High Schools...
On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:31 AM, Martin Gicheru <martin@techweez.com>wrote:
In regards to what other parts are integral to the success of the laptops for children initiative, there are some that have sought to develop a product that can try solve this in a lasting way, obviously dependent on whether it's adopted. Samsung has partnered with Intel, Microsoft, KIE and other partners to develop a solution that will involve Internet school, a learning management software that will harmonize the way teachers teach, laptops and solar powered containers for places where the power grid has not reached. Note, these are not solar laptops but solar powered internet schools, the whole hog of laptops, server, smartboard and learning software developed with KIE as partner.
Now what this raises,
- Cost of internet setup and running - adoption and resistance to change by teachers - others you may find from this.
Read here, an interview I had with Robert Ngeru, to collect these points http://ow.ly/k1Mdr
Regards,
Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez
Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: gplus.to/martingicheru
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 6:55 PM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Here is a comment from the blog from someone who has been involved in OLAP on that score...
*I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era for the Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have so many potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The implementation, deployment and scalability of the program will become more easy through the support and facilitation from the government,…*
*Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the program to be successful, the government will have to face so many challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to kids in the Kenyan environment.*
*The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s and research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts of this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with components that are useful for our kids,*
*The tech community, developers and programmers who create apps for education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating and adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware.*
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 5:59 PM, David Njuguna <dnjuguna@gmail.com>wrote:
A lot of research, try and error has gone into OLAP. Perhaps Kenya government could build on OLAP's successes.
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 4:04 PM, george < theonlydamnedavailablename@gmail.com> wrote:
The benefits to the students and the country as a whole that would be brought about by the successful implementation of this project are huge.
In my opinion the biggest emphasis to eventual success should be paid to;
(1) The teachers - the ordinary teacher has to buy the idea first. Sell it to them and the chances of success are pretty good.
(2) Government implementation - This should be treated like a business complete with a CEO who reports directly to the president. This might very well be Jubilee's Thika Road.
George
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 3:25 PM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com > wrote:
> Hi Listers, > > I recently wrote this blogpost, looking forward to your views > > -- > > During the recently concluded electoral campaigns President Uhuru > Kenyatta <http://uhuru.co.ke/> and his Deputy William Ruto > captivated the minds of Kenyan parents with a promise of delivering to > every Standard One pupil entering school in 2014 asolar powered > laptop <http://uhuruto2013.com/?p=113> to enhance and aid their > learning environment(see video below). > > As expected many Kenyans were sceptical given the perception that > many Government projects begin with pomp and fury but end up as duds; > wasting billions of shillings that could otherwise have gone to more basic > and immediate needs. > > I thought it would be prudent for us to examine through a *Strength > Weakness Opportunity Threat( SWOT)* analysis the feasibility of > such a project in present day Kenya<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya> > . > > *Read more: > http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... > * > > Kind Regards, > > John > > _______________________________________________ > skunkworks mailing list > skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke > ------------ > List info, subscribe/unsubscribe > http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > ------------ > > Skunkworks Rules > http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 > ------------ > Other services @ http://my.co.ke >
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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The reality on the ground is quite different from the hype, we had a laptop per child initiative in Kamiti primary school, i think it was spearheaded by Intel, i am not sure how successfull this scheme and we might need to check how prepared the teacher and the parents are before deploying the project fullscale. Kenya is not Nairobi and Nairobi is not Kenya , we have to think of Informal schools in Samburu, Modogashe and the far flung places that are really marginalised, i have been to an informal school in Samburu and it was similar in build to our cattle Boma in shags, i am picturing a child with a laptop sitting on the ground without a roof how long will this device survive? which leads me to the next question of maintenance, how will this be handled and after how long does the government replace the laptops?, it is one thing to have computers in schools or to give out computers to kids and it is another thing to use computers to facilitate education, the later takes a deliberate and intentional strategy which we need to see. Best Regards On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 10:24 AM, SpaceKenya.com <info@spacekenya.com>wrote:
simply brilliant approach... not sure on relying on MNO's to supply data network.
Government is investing in its own LTE network.
I think starting at class one is really important for maximizing long term benefits of cognitive adoption of technology aided learning...much like learning a language.
The security issue abounds though insurance in addition to biometric locking could be a possible solution... On Apr 13, 2013 3:39 PM, "Laban Mwangi" <lmwangi@gmail.com> wrote:
Having thought more about this... 1. We can give ebook readers to standard 3 kids. (Standard 1 might be a bit too young for ebook readers) + Parents no longer think of buying books from bookshops. + Govt can easily buy books for every single child in the country; bulk buy from publishers and wireless push to e-readers. + Kids have a vast array of books to read. + Reading culture becomes ingrained at an early age. + You can push copyleft books (Classics such as: Around the world in 80 days to wikibooks to creative common books) + Eink readers can last for weeks on a single charge. + Eink readers are relative cheap. [1]
2. At around standard 5, start priming kids for computer basics + programming basics 3. At around standard 6. Push netbooks to every single child. + Mature age for computer use. + Kids at this age probably have an idea about what they want to do. Providing them with a laptop and Internet use widens their view. + Probably give every child a monthly data bundle (say 50mb) that can be purchased from the govt through telcos. + Collate and preload netbooks with videos from khan academy et al.
Some statistics: - KCPE candidates[2]: ~800k - The likely figure of standard one students is probably around 1 million. - The minimalist ebook reader is going to cost you 90USD [3]. Ballpark figure for cost of e-readers to students starting with standard 3, 4, 5 is going to be 3 * 90 * 1e6 = 270 million dollars - Depending on the build quality, you can get cheap 10inch netbooks for ~100 USD [4]. Ballpark figures for pushing netbooks to standard 6, 7, 8 is 3 * 100 * 1e6 = 300 million dollars.
- Pushing a netbook to every standard 6 student and a eink reader to every standard 3 student is going to cost the government 40 Billion shillings (0.5 billion USD). Remember that you have students in standard 7 & 8 who are yet to receive netbooks and students in 4,5,6,7,8 w/out kindles. Also remember that you have not factored high school/university students.
So how do we do this? 1. Economies of scale for such an order would significantly lower the prices by 10-30%. 2. Require that any purchased device be assembled in Kenya. Making at least 2 million devices per year can jumpstart an electronics manufacturing segment. As an aside: I believe that aircraft manufacture frequently uses this model. Place an order of X and get the tail manufacturing, Y orders and you get fuselage.. 3. Provide tax incentives for SMT companies that operate in Kenya. No tax on SMT tech imports, token tax on manufactured devices... 4. Sell these devices to governments around Africa for a tiny profit.
Benefits: 1) Above average tech savvy society within 5-10 years. 2) Newly minted electronics manufacturing segment might be very lucrative to the taxman. 3) Helluva lots of jobs from manufacturing, logistics, electronic book publishing, software industry. 4) Bragging rights?
Caveat: - These are just words. We'd need political backing for this to happen. I don't know whether our newly minted government is all action and no words or all words and no action
1. http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/CN/e-ink-reader.html 2. http://www.jamiiforums.com/kenyan-news/391881-knec-releases-kcpe-results-for... 3. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HCCOD0/ref=amb_link_85156411_1?pf_rd_m=... 4. http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/cheap-linux-netbook.html
On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:19 AM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Thanks Martin, this raises the question - How important is mobility of the devices in this Initiative? It seems to me the initiative you have described is suitable for the older students particularly High Schools...
On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:31 AM, Martin Gicheru <martin@techweez.com>wrote:
In regards to what other parts are integral to the success of the laptops for children initiative, there are some that have sought to develop a product that can try solve this in a lasting way, obviously dependent on whether it's adopted. Samsung has partnered with Intel, Microsoft, KIE and other partners to develop a solution that will involve Internet school, a learning management software that will harmonize the way teachers teach, laptops and solar powered containers for places where the power grid has not reached. Note, these are not solar laptops but solar powered internet schools, the whole hog of laptops, server, smartboard and learning software developed with KIE as partner.
Now what this raises,
- Cost of internet setup and running - adoption and resistance to change by teachers - others you may find from this.
Read here, an interview I had with Robert Ngeru, to collect these points http://ow.ly/k1Mdr
Regards,
Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez
Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: gplus.to/martingicheru
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 6:55 PM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Here is a comment from the blog from someone who has been involved in OLAP on that score...
*I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era for the Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have so many potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The implementation, deployment and scalability of the program will become more easy through the support and facilitation from the government,…*
*Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the program to be successful, the government will have to face so many challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to kids in the Kenyan environment.*
*The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s and research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts of this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with components that are useful for our kids,*
*The tech community, developers and programmers who create apps for education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating and adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware.*
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 5:59 PM, David Njuguna <dnjuguna@gmail.com>wrote:
A lot of research, try and error has gone into OLAP. Perhaps Kenya government could build on OLAP's successes.
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 4:04 PM, george < theonlydamnedavailablename@gmail.com> wrote:
> The benefits to the students and the country as a whole that would > be brought about by the successful implementation of this project are huge. > > In my opinion the biggest emphasis to eventual success should be > paid to; > > (1) The teachers - the ordinary teacher has to buy the idea first. > Sell it to them and the chances of success are pretty good. > > (2) Government implementation - This should be treated like a > business complete with a CEO who reports directly to the president. This > might very well be Jubilee's Thika Road. > > > George > > > On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 3:25 PM, John Karanja < > mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hi Listers, >> >> I recently wrote this blogpost, looking forward to your views >> >> -- >> >> During the recently concluded electoral campaigns President Uhuru >> Kenyatta <http://uhuru.co.ke/> and his Deputy William Ruto >> captivated the minds of Kenyan parents with a promise of delivering to >> every Standard One pupil entering school in 2014 asolar powered >> laptop <http://uhuruto2013.com/?p=113> to enhance and aid their >> learning environment(see video below). >> >> As expected many Kenyans were sceptical given the perception that >> many Government projects begin with pomp and fury but end up as duds; >> wasting billions of shillings that could otherwise have gone to more basic >> and immediate needs. >> >> I thought it would be prudent for us to examine through a *Strength >> Weakness Opportunity Threat( SWOT)* analysis the feasibility of >> such a project in present day Kenya<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya> >> . >> >> *Read more: >> http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... >> * >> >> Kind Regards, >> >> John >> >> _______________________________________________ >> skunkworks mailing list >> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >> ------------ >> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >> ------------ >> >> Skunkworks Rules >> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >> ------------ >> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >> > > > _______________________________________________ > skunkworks mailing list > skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke > ------------ > List info, subscribe/unsubscribe > http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > ------------ > > Skunkworks Rules > http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 > ------------ > Other services @ http://my.co.ke >
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Barrack O. Otieno +254721325277 +254-20-2498789 Skype: barrack.otieno http://www.otienobarrack.me.ke/
I don't mean to troll but I think kids in classes 1, 2 and 3 should be given an Abaccus so that they learn how to count. You can hardly get a cooler *first* computing equipment. I also think the people suggesting an e-book reader for subsequent ages are on point with mini-laptops coming in much later. Martin. On Apr 14, 2013 2:35 PM, "Barrack Otieno" <otieno.barrack@gmail.com> wrote:
The reality on the ground is quite different from the hype, we had a laptop per child initiative in Kamiti primary school, i think it was spearheaded by Intel, i am not sure how successfull this scheme and we might need to check how prepared the teacher and the parents are before deploying the project fullscale. Kenya is not Nairobi and Nairobi is not Kenya , we have to think of Informal schools in Samburu, Modogashe and the far flung places that are really marginalised, i have been to an informal school in Samburu and it was similar in build to our cattle Boma in shags, i am picturing a child with a laptop sitting on the ground without a roof how long will this device survive? which leads me to the next question of maintenance, how will this be handled and after how long does the government replace the laptops?, it is one thing to have computers in schools or to give out computers to kids and it is another thing to use computers to facilitate education, the later takes a deliberate and intentional strategy which we need to see.
Best Regards
On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 10:24 AM, SpaceKenya.com <info@spacekenya.com>wrote:
simply brilliant approach... not sure on relying on MNO's to supply data network.
Government is investing in its own LTE network.
I think starting at class one is really important for maximizing long term benefits of cognitive adoption of technology aided learning...much like learning a language.
The security issue abounds though insurance in addition to biometric locking could be a possible solution... On Apr 13, 2013 3:39 PM, "Laban Mwangi" <lmwangi@gmail.com> wrote:
Having thought more about this... 1. We can give ebook readers to standard 3 kids. (Standard 1 might be a bit too young for ebook readers) + Parents no longer think of buying books from bookshops. + Govt can easily buy books for every single child in the country; bulk buy from publishers and wireless push to e-readers. + Kids have a vast array of books to read. + Reading culture becomes ingrained at an early age. + You can push copyleft books (Classics such as: Around the world in 80 days to wikibooks to creative common books) + Eink readers can last for weeks on a single charge. + Eink readers are relative cheap. [1]
2. At around standard 5, start priming kids for computer basics + programming basics 3. At around standard 6. Push netbooks to every single child. + Mature age for computer use. + Kids at this age probably have an idea about what they want to do. Providing them with a laptop and Internet use widens their view. + Probably give every child a monthly data bundle (say 50mb) that can be purchased from the govt through telcos. + Collate and preload netbooks with videos from khan academy et al.
Some statistics: - KCPE candidates[2]: ~800k - The likely figure of standard one students is probably around 1 million. - The minimalist ebook reader is going to cost you 90USD [3]. Ballpark figure for cost of e-readers to students starting with standard 3, 4, 5 is going to be 3 * 90 * 1e6 = 270 million dollars - Depending on the build quality, you can get cheap 10inch netbooks for ~100 USD [4]. Ballpark figures for pushing netbooks to standard 6, 7, 8 is 3 * 100 * 1e6 = 300 million dollars.
- Pushing a netbook to every standard 6 student and a eink reader to every standard 3 student is going to cost the government 40 Billion shillings (0.5 billion USD). Remember that you have students in standard 7 & 8 who are yet to receive netbooks and students in 4,5,6,7,8 w/out kindles. Also remember that you have not factored high school/university students.
So how do we do this? 1. Economies of scale for such an order would significantly lower the prices by 10-30%. 2. Require that any purchased device be assembled in Kenya. Making at least 2 million devices per year can jumpstart an electronics manufacturing segment. As an aside: I believe that aircraft manufacture frequently uses this model. Place an order of X and get the tail manufacturing, Y orders and you get fuselage.. 3. Provide tax incentives for SMT companies that operate in Kenya. No tax on SMT tech imports, token tax on manufactured devices... 4. Sell these devices to governments around Africa for a tiny profit.
Benefits: 1) Above average tech savvy society within 5-10 years. 2) Newly minted electronics manufacturing segment might be very lucrative to the taxman. 3) Helluva lots of jobs from manufacturing, logistics, electronic book publishing, software industry. 4) Bragging rights?
Caveat: - These are just words. We'd need political backing for this to happen. I don't know whether our newly minted government is all action and no words or all words and no action
1. http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/CN/e-ink-reader.html 2. http://www.jamiiforums.com/kenyan-news/391881-knec-releases-kcpe-results-for... 3. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HCCOD0/ref=amb_link_85156411_1?pf_rd_m=... 4. http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/cheap-linux-netbook.html
On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:19 AM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Thanks Martin, this raises the question - How important is mobility of the devices in this Initiative? It seems to me the initiative you have described is suitable for the older students particularly High Schools...
On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:31 AM, Martin Gicheru <martin@techweez.com>wrote:
In regards to what other parts are integral to the success of the laptops for children initiative, there are some that have sought to develop a product that can try solve this in a lasting way, obviously dependent on whether it's adopted. Samsung has partnered with Intel, Microsoft, KIE and other partners to develop a solution that will involve Internet school, a learning management software that will harmonize the way teachers teach, laptops and solar powered containers for places where the power grid has not reached. Note, these are not solar laptops but solar powered internet schools, the whole hog of laptops, server, smartboard and learning software developed with KIE as partner.
Now what this raises,
- Cost of internet setup and running - adoption and resistance to change by teachers - others you may find from this.
Read here, an interview I had with Robert Ngeru, to collect these points http://ow.ly/k1Mdr
Regards,
Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez
Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: gplus.to/martingicheru
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 6:55 PM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Here is a comment from the blog from someone who has been involved in OLAP on that score...
*I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era for the Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have so many potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The implementation, deployment and scalability of the program will become more easy through the support and facilitation from the government,…*
*Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the program to be successful, the government will have to face so many challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to kids in the Kenyan environment.*
*The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s and research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts of this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with components that are useful for our kids,*
*The tech community, developers and programmers who create apps for education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating and adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware.*
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 5:59 PM, David Njuguna <dnjuguna@gmail.com>wrote:
> A lot of research, try and error has gone into OLAP. Perhaps Kenya > government could build on OLAP's successes. > > > On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 4:04 PM, george < > theonlydamnedavailablename@gmail.com> wrote: > >> The benefits to the students and the country as a whole that would >> be brought about by the successful implementation of this project are huge. >> >> In my opinion the biggest emphasis to eventual success should be >> paid to; >> >> (1) The teachers - the ordinary teacher has to buy the idea first. >> Sell it to them and the chances of success are pretty good. >> >> (2) Government implementation - This should be treated like a >> business complete with a CEO who reports directly to the president. This >> might very well be Jubilee's Thika Road. >> >> >> George >> >> >> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 3:25 PM, John Karanja < >> mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Hi Listers, >>> >>> I recently wrote this blogpost, looking forward to your views >>> >>> -- >>> >>> During the recently concluded electoral campaigns President Uhuru >>> Kenyatta <http://uhuru.co.ke/> and his Deputy William Ruto >>> captivated the minds of Kenyan parents with a promise of delivering to >>> every Standard One pupil entering school in 2014 asolar powered >>> laptop <http://uhuruto2013.com/?p=113> to enhance and aid their >>> learning environment(see video below). >>> >>> As expected many Kenyans were sceptical given the perception that >>> many Government projects begin with pomp and fury but end up as duds; >>> wasting billions of shillings that could otherwise have gone to more basic >>> and immediate needs. >>> >>> I thought it would be prudent for us to examine through a *Strength >>> Weakness Opportunity Threat( SWOT)* analysis the feasibility of >>> such a project in present day Kenya<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya> >>> . >>> >>> *Read more: >>> http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... >>> * >>> >>> Kind Regards, >>> >>> John >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> skunkworks mailing list >>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>> ------------ >>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>> ------------ >>> >>> Skunkworks Rules >>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>> ------------ >>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> skunkworks mailing list >> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >> ------------ >> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >> ------------ >> >> Skunkworks Rules >> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >> ------------ >> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >> > > > _______________________________________________ > skunkworks mailing list > skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke > ------------ > List info, subscribe/unsubscribe > http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > ------------ > > Skunkworks Rules > http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 > ------------ > Other services @ http://my.co.ke >
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Yeah i am also settling on some kind of reader with input device as well as access to an app store for relevant content... On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 3:17 PM, Martin Chiteri <martin.chiteri@gmail.com>wrote:
I don't mean to troll but I think kids in classes 1, 2 and 3 should be given an Abaccus so that they learn how to count. You can hardly get a cooler *first* computing equipment.
I also think the people suggesting an e-book reader for subsequent ages are on point with mini-laptops coming in much later.
Martin. On Apr 14, 2013 2:35 PM, "Barrack Otieno" <otieno.barrack@gmail.com> wrote:
The reality on the ground is quite different from the hype, we had a laptop per child initiative in Kamiti primary school, i think it was spearheaded by Intel, i am not sure how successfull this scheme and we might need to check how prepared the teacher and the parents are before deploying the project fullscale. Kenya is not Nairobi and Nairobi is not Kenya , we have to think of Informal schools in Samburu, Modogashe and the far flung places that are really marginalised, i have been to an informal school in Samburu and it was similar in build to our cattle Boma in shags, i am picturing a child with a laptop sitting on the ground without a roof how long will this device survive? which leads me to the next question of maintenance, how will this be handled and after how long does the government replace the laptops?, it is one thing to have computers in schools or to give out computers to kids and it is another thing to use computers to facilitate education, the later takes a deliberate and intentional strategy which we need to see.
Best Regards
On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 10:24 AM, SpaceKenya.com <info@spacekenya.com>wrote:
simply brilliant approach... not sure on relying on MNO's to supply data network.
Government is investing in its own LTE network.
I think starting at class one is really important for maximizing long term benefits of cognitive adoption of technology aided learning...much like learning a language.
The security issue abounds though insurance in addition to biometric locking could be a possible solution... On Apr 13, 2013 3:39 PM, "Laban Mwangi" <lmwangi@gmail.com> wrote:
Having thought more about this... 1. We can give ebook readers to standard 3 kids. (Standard 1 might be a bit too young for ebook readers) + Parents no longer think of buying books from bookshops. + Govt can easily buy books for every single child in the country; bulk buy from publishers and wireless push to e-readers. + Kids have a vast array of books to read. + Reading culture becomes ingrained at an early age. + You can push copyleft books (Classics such as: Around the world in 80 days to wikibooks to creative common books) + Eink readers can last for weeks on a single charge. + Eink readers are relative cheap. [1]
2. At around standard 5, start priming kids for computer basics + programming basics 3. At around standard 6. Push netbooks to every single child. + Mature age for computer use. + Kids at this age probably have an idea about what they want to do. Providing them with a laptop and Internet use widens their view. + Probably give every child a monthly data bundle (say 50mb) that can be purchased from the govt through telcos. + Collate and preload netbooks with videos from khan academy et al.
Some statistics: - KCPE candidates[2]: ~800k - The likely figure of standard one students is probably around 1 million. - The minimalist ebook reader is going to cost you 90USD [3]. Ballpark figure for cost of e-readers to students starting with standard 3, 4, 5 is going to be 3 * 90 * 1e6 = 270 million dollars - Depending on the build quality, you can get cheap 10inch netbooks for ~100 USD [4]. Ballpark figures for pushing netbooks to standard 6, 7, 8 is 3 * 100 * 1e6 = 300 million dollars.
- Pushing a netbook to every standard 6 student and a eink reader to every standard 3 student is going to cost the government 40 Billion shillings (0.5 billion USD). Remember that you have students in standard 7 & 8 who are yet to receive netbooks and students in 4,5,6,7,8 w/out kindles. Also remember that you have not factored high school/university students.
So how do we do this? 1. Economies of scale for such an order would significantly lower the prices by 10-30%. 2. Require that any purchased device be assembled in Kenya. Making at least 2 million devices per year can jumpstart an electronics manufacturing segment. As an aside: I believe that aircraft manufacture frequently uses this model. Place an order of X and get the tail manufacturing, Y orders and you get fuselage.. 3. Provide tax incentives for SMT companies that operate in Kenya. No tax on SMT tech imports, token tax on manufactured devices... 4. Sell these devices to governments around Africa for a tiny profit.
Benefits: 1) Above average tech savvy society within 5-10 years. 2) Newly minted electronics manufacturing segment might be very lucrative to the taxman. 3) Helluva lots of jobs from manufacturing, logistics, electronic book publishing, software industry. 4) Bragging rights?
Caveat: - These are just words. We'd need political backing for this to happen. I don't know whether our newly minted government is all action and no words or all words and no action
1. http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/CN/e-ink-reader.html 2. http://www.jamiiforums.com/kenyan-news/391881-knec-releases-kcpe-results-for... 3. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HCCOD0/ref=amb_link_85156411_1?pf_rd_m=... 4. http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/cheap-linux-netbook.html
On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:19 AM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Thanks Martin, this raises the question - How important is mobility of the devices in this Initiative? It seems to me the initiative you have described is suitable for the older students particularly High Schools...
On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:31 AM, Martin Gicheru <martin@techweez.com>wrote:
In regards to what other parts are integral to the success of the laptops for children initiative, there are some that have sought to develop a product that can try solve this in a lasting way, obviously dependent on whether it's adopted. Samsung has partnered with Intel, Microsoft, KIE and other partners to develop a solution that will involve Internet school, a learning management software that will harmonize the way teachers teach, laptops and solar powered containers for places where the power grid has not reached. Note, these are not solar laptops but solar powered internet schools, the whole hog of laptops, server, smartboard and learning software developed with KIE as partner.
Now what this raises,
- Cost of internet setup and running - adoption and resistance to change by teachers - others you may find from this.
Read here, an interview I had with Robert Ngeru, to collect these points http://ow.ly/k1Mdr
Regards,
Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez
Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: gplus.to/martingicheru
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 6:55 PM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com > wrote:
> Here is a comment from the blog from someone who has been involved > in OLAP on that score... > > *I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era for the > Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have so many > potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The implementation, > deployment and scalability of the program will become more easy through the > support and facilitation from the government,…* > > *Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the > program to be successful, the government will have to face so many > challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per > child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with > institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of > Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to > kids in the Kenyan environment.* > > *The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s and > research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts of > this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors > program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with > components that are useful for our kids,* > > *The tech community, developers and programmers who create apps for > education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating and > adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware.* > > > > > > On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 5:59 PM, David Njuguna <dnjuguna@gmail.com>wrote: > >> A lot of research, try and error has gone into OLAP. Perhaps Kenya >> government could build on OLAP's successes. >> >> >> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 4:04 PM, george < >> theonlydamnedavailablename@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> The benefits to the students and the country as a whole that would >>> be brought about by the successful implementation of this project are huge. >>> >>> In my opinion the biggest emphasis to eventual success should be >>> paid to; >>> >>> (1) The teachers - the ordinary teacher has to buy the idea first. >>> Sell it to them and the chances of success are pretty good. >>> >>> (2) Government implementation - This should be treated like a >>> business complete with a CEO who reports directly to the president. This >>> might very well be Jubilee's Thika Road. >>> >>> >>> George >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 3:25 PM, John Karanja < >>> mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> Hi Listers, >>>> >>>> I recently wrote this blogpost, looking forward to your views >>>> >>>> -- >>>> >>>> During the recently concluded electoral campaigns President >>>> Uhuru Kenyatta <http://uhuru.co.ke/> and his Deputy William Ruto >>>> captivated the minds of Kenyan parents with a promise of delivering to >>>> every Standard One pupil entering school in 2014 asolar powered >>>> laptop <http://uhuruto2013.com/?p=113> to enhance and aid their >>>> learning environment(see video below). >>>> >>>> As expected many Kenyans were sceptical given the perception that >>>> many Government projects begin with pomp and fury but end up as duds; >>>> wasting billions of shillings that could otherwise have gone to more basic >>>> and immediate needs. >>>> >>>> I thought it would be prudent for us to examine through a *Strength >>>> Weakness Opportunity Threat( SWOT)* analysis the feasibility of >>>> such a project in present day Kenya<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya> >>>> . >>>> >>>> *Read more: >>>> http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... >>>> * >>>> >>>> Kind Regards, >>>> >>>> John >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>> ------------ >>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>> ------------ >>>> >>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>> ------------ >>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> skunkworks mailing list >>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>> ------------ >>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>> ------------ >>> >>> Skunkworks Rules >>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>> ------------ >>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> skunkworks mailing list >> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >> ------------ >> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >> ------------ >> >> Skunkworks Rules >> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >> ------------ >> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >> > > > _______________________________________________ > skunkworks mailing list > skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke > ------------ > List info, subscribe/unsubscribe > http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > ------------ > > Skunkworks Rules > http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 > ------------ > Other services @ http://my.co.ke >
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IMO, the partners working with KIE can be futuristic, with learning software developed for a specific level, say class one with very visual graphical learning material and custom work for others, remember the idea in my story revolves around connected servers and laptops, not carry-homes. So they are left in a secured room or container, teacher trained for specific level for best delivery or learning. This is supposed to change the learning process, not just expose them to computers, in class 6, these students will be learning GHC from interactive maps and diagrams, seeing the real ovaries during a science class, and since the software will be harmonized by KIE, streamed to the servers for material refresh, this will be very relevant. Ofcourse the initial process will be induction of both teachers and students. Problems posed: Will teachers demand more pay for the computers involvement? Will NOFBI be used to have the schools access internet? Will Kenyans allow this to be rolled out to a lab/classroom thing as opposed to a carry-home laptop? Regards, Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: gplus.to/martingicheru On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 8:10 AM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Yeah i am also settling on some kind of reader with input device as well as access to an app store for relevant content...
On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 3:17 PM, Martin Chiteri <martin.chiteri@gmail.com>wrote:
I don't mean to troll but I think kids in classes 1, 2 and 3 should be given an Abaccus so that they learn how to count. You can hardly get a cooler *first* computing equipment.
I also think the people suggesting an e-book reader for subsequent ages are on point with mini-laptops coming in much later.
Martin. On Apr 14, 2013 2:35 PM, "Barrack Otieno" <otieno.barrack@gmail.com> wrote:
The reality on the ground is quite different from the hype, we had a laptop per child initiative in Kamiti primary school, i think it was spearheaded by Intel, i am not sure how successfull this scheme and we might need to check how prepared the teacher and the parents are before deploying the project fullscale. Kenya is not Nairobi and Nairobi is not Kenya , we have to think of Informal schools in Samburu, Modogashe and the far flung places that are really marginalised, i have been to an informal school in Samburu and it was similar in build to our cattle Boma in shags, i am picturing a child with a laptop sitting on the ground without a roof how long will this device survive? which leads me to the next question of maintenance, how will this be handled and after how long does the government replace the laptops?, it is one thing to have computers in schools or to give out computers to kids and it is another thing to use computers to facilitate education, the later takes a deliberate and intentional strategy which we need to see.
Best Regards
On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 10:24 AM, SpaceKenya.com <info@spacekenya.com>wrote:
simply brilliant approach... not sure on relying on MNO's to supply data network.
Government is investing in its own LTE network.
I think starting at class one is really important for maximizing long term benefits of cognitive adoption of technology aided learning...much like learning a language.
The security issue abounds though insurance in addition to biometric locking could be a possible solution... On Apr 13, 2013 3:39 PM, "Laban Mwangi" <lmwangi@gmail.com> wrote:
Having thought more about this... 1. We can give ebook readers to standard 3 kids. (Standard 1 might be a bit too young for ebook readers) + Parents no longer think of buying books from bookshops. + Govt can easily buy books for every single child in the country; bulk buy from publishers and wireless push to e-readers. + Kids have a vast array of books to read. + Reading culture becomes ingrained at an early age. + You can push copyleft books (Classics such as: Around the world in 80 days to wikibooks to creative common books) + Eink readers can last for weeks on a single charge. + Eink readers are relative cheap. [1]
2. At around standard 5, start priming kids for computer basics + programming basics 3. At around standard 6. Push netbooks to every single child. + Mature age for computer use. + Kids at this age probably have an idea about what they want to do. Providing them with a laptop and Internet use widens their view. + Probably give every child a monthly data bundle (say 50mb) that can be purchased from the govt through telcos. + Collate and preload netbooks with videos from khan academy et al.
Some statistics: - KCPE candidates[2]: ~800k - The likely figure of standard one students is probably around 1 million. - The minimalist ebook reader is going to cost you 90USD [3]. Ballpark figure for cost of e-readers to students starting with standard 3, 4, 5 is going to be 3 * 90 * 1e6 = 270 million dollars - Depending on the build quality, you can get cheap 10inch netbooks for ~100 USD [4]. Ballpark figures for pushing netbooks to standard 6, 7, 8 is 3 * 100 * 1e6 = 300 million dollars.
- Pushing a netbook to every standard 6 student and a eink reader to every standard 3 student is going to cost the government 40 Billion shillings (0.5 billion USD). Remember that you have students in standard 7 & 8 who are yet to receive netbooks and students in 4,5,6,7,8 w/out kindles. Also remember that you have not factored high school/university students.
So how do we do this? 1. Economies of scale for such an order would significantly lower the prices by 10-30%. 2. Require that any purchased device be assembled in Kenya. Making at least 2 million devices per year can jumpstart an electronics manufacturing segment. As an aside: I believe that aircraft manufacture frequently uses this model. Place an order of X and get the tail manufacturing, Y orders and you get fuselage.. 3. Provide tax incentives for SMT companies that operate in Kenya. No tax on SMT tech imports, token tax on manufactured devices... 4. Sell these devices to governments around Africa for a tiny profit.
Benefits: 1) Above average tech savvy society within 5-10 years. 2) Newly minted electronics manufacturing segment might be very lucrative to the taxman. 3) Helluva lots of jobs from manufacturing, logistics, electronic book publishing, software industry. 4) Bragging rights?
Caveat: - These are just words. We'd need political backing for this to happen. I don't know whether our newly minted government is all action and no words or all words and no action
1. http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/CN/e-ink-reader.html 2. http://www.jamiiforums.com/kenyan-news/391881-knec-releases-kcpe-results-for... 3. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HCCOD0/ref=amb_link_85156411_1?pf_rd_m=... 4. http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/cheap-linux-netbook.html
On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:19 AM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Thanks Martin, this raises the question - How important is mobility of the devices in this Initiative? It seems to me the initiative you have described is suitable for the older students particularly High Schools...
On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:31 AM, Martin Gicheru <martin@techweez.com>wrote:
> In regards to what other parts are integral to the success of the > laptops for children initiative, there are some that have sought to develop > a product that can try solve this in a lasting way, obviously dependent on > whether it's adopted. Samsung has partnered with Intel, Microsoft, KIE and > other partners to develop a solution that will involve Internet school, a > learning management software that will harmonize the way teachers teach, > laptops and solar powered containers for places where the power grid has > not reached. Note, these are not solar laptops but solar powered internet > schools, the whole hog of laptops, server, smartboard and learning software > developed with KIE as partner. > > Now what this raises, > > - Cost of internet setup and running > - adoption and resistance to change by teachers > - others you may find from this. > > Read here, an interview I had with Robert Ngeru, to collect these > points http://ow.ly/k1Mdr > > Regards, > > Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez > > Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: > martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: > gplus.to/martingicheru > > > On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 6:55 PM, John Karanja < > mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Here is a comment from the blog from someone who has been involved >> in OLAP on that score... >> >> *I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era for >> the Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have so >> many potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The >> implementation, deployment and scalability of the program will become more >> easy through the support and facilitation from the government,…* >> >> *Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the >> program to be successful, the government will have to face so many >> challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per >> child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with >> institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of >> Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to >> kids in the Kenyan environment.* >> >> *The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s and >> research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts of >> this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors >> program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with >> components that are useful for our kids,* >> >> *The tech community, developers and programmers who create apps >> for education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating and >> adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware.* >> >> >> >> >> >> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 5:59 PM, David Njuguna <dnjuguna@gmail.com>wrote: >> >>> A lot of research, try and error has gone into OLAP. Perhaps Kenya >>> government could build on OLAP's successes. >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 4:04 PM, george < >>> theonlydamnedavailablename@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> The benefits to the students and the country as a whole that >>>> would be brought about by the successful implementation of this project are >>>> huge. >>>> >>>> In my opinion the biggest emphasis to eventual success should be >>>> paid to; >>>> >>>> (1) The teachers - the ordinary teacher has to buy the idea >>>> first. Sell it to them and the chances of success are pretty good. >>>> >>>> (2) Government implementation - This should be treated like a >>>> business complete with a CEO who reports directly to the president. This >>>> might very well be Jubilee's Thika Road. >>>> >>>> >>>> George >>>> >>>> >>>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 3:25 PM, John Karanja < >>>> mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hi Listers, >>>>> >>>>> I recently wrote this blogpost, looking forward to your views >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> >>>>> During the recently concluded electoral campaigns President >>>>> Uhuru Kenyatta <http://uhuru.co.ke/> and his Deputy William >>>>> Ruto captivated the minds of Kenyan parents with a promise of delivering to >>>>> every Standard One pupil entering school in 2014 asolar powered >>>>> laptop <http://uhuruto2013.com/?p=113> to enhance and aid their >>>>> learning environment(see video below). >>>>> >>>>> As expected many Kenyans were sceptical given the perception >>>>> that many Government projects begin with pomp and fury but end up as duds; >>>>> wasting billions of shillings that could otherwise have gone to more basic >>>>> and immediate needs. >>>>> >>>>> I thought it would be prudent for us to examine through a *Strength >>>>> Weakness Opportunity Threat( SWOT)* analysis the feasibility of >>>>> such a project in present day Kenya<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya> >>>>> . >>>>> >>>>> *Read more: >>>>> http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... >>>>> * >>>>> >>>>> Kind Regards, >>>>> >>>>> John >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>> ------------ >>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>> ------------ >>>>> >>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>> ------------ >>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>> ------------ >>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>> ------------ >>>> >>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>> ------------ >>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> skunkworks mailing list >>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>> ------------ >>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>> ------------ >>> >>> Skunkworks Rules >>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>> ------------ >>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> skunkworks mailing list >> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >> ------------ >> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >> ------------ >> >> Skunkworks Rules >> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >> ------------ >> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >> > >
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OLPC initiative already works. I don't see what the hullabaloo is all about. http://goo.gl/lg3Ll On Apr 16, 2013 9:06 AM, "Martin Gicheru" <martin@techweez.com> wrote:
IMO, the partners working with KIE can be futuristic, with learning software developed for a specific level, say class one with very visual graphical learning material and custom work for others, remember the idea in my story revolves around connected servers and laptops, not carry-homes. So they are left in a secured room or container, teacher trained for specific level for best delivery or learning.
This is supposed to change the learning process, not just expose them to computers, in class 6, these students will be learning GHC from interactive maps and diagrams, seeing the real ovaries during a science class, and since the software will be harmonized by KIE, streamed to the servers for material refresh, this will be very relevant. Ofcourse the initial process will be induction of both teachers and students.
Problems posed: Will teachers demand more pay for the computers involvement? Will NOFBI be used to have the schools access internet? Will Kenyans allow this to be rolled out to a lab/classroom thing as opposed to a carry-home laptop?
Regards,
Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez
Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: gplus.to/martingicheru
On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 8:10 AM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Yeah i am also settling on some kind of reader with input device as well as access to an app store for relevant content...
On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 3:17 PM, Martin Chiteri <martin.chiteri@gmail.com
wrote:
I don't mean to troll but I think kids in classes 1, 2 and 3 should be given an Abaccus so that they learn how to count. You can hardly get a cooler *first* computing equipment.
I also think the people suggesting an e-book reader for subsequent ages are on point with mini-laptops coming in much later.
Martin. On Apr 14, 2013 2:35 PM, "Barrack Otieno" <otieno.barrack@gmail.com> wrote:
The reality on the ground is quite different from the hype, we had a laptop per child initiative in Kamiti primary school, i think it was spearheaded by Intel, i am not sure how successfull this scheme and we might need to check how prepared the teacher and the parents are before deploying the project fullscale. Kenya is not Nairobi and Nairobi is not Kenya , we have to think of Informal schools in Samburu, Modogashe and the far flung places that are really marginalised, i have been to an informal school in Samburu and it was similar in build to our cattle Boma in shags, i am picturing a child with a laptop sitting on the ground without a roof how long will this device survive? which leads me to the next question of maintenance, how will this be handled and after how long does the government replace the laptops?, it is one thing to have computers in schools or to give out computers to kids and it is another thing to use computers to facilitate education, the later takes a deliberate and intentional strategy which we need to see.
Best Regards
On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 10:24 AM, SpaceKenya.com <info@spacekenya.com>wrote:
simply brilliant approach... not sure on relying on MNO's to supply data network.
Government is investing in its own LTE network.
I think starting at class one is really important for maximizing long term benefits of cognitive adoption of technology aided learning...much like learning a language.
The security issue abounds though insurance in addition to biometric locking could be a possible solution... On Apr 13, 2013 3:39 PM, "Laban Mwangi" <lmwangi@gmail.com> wrote:
Having thought more about this... 1. We can give ebook readers to standard 3 kids. (Standard 1 might be a bit too young for ebook readers) + Parents no longer think of buying books from bookshops. + Govt can easily buy books for every single child in the country; bulk buy from publishers and wireless push to e-readers. + Kids have a vast array of books to read. + Reading culture becomes ingrained at an early age. + You can push copyleft books (Classics such as: Around the world in 80 days to wikibooks to creative common books) + Eink readers can last for weeks on a single charge. + Eink readers are relative cheap. [1]
2. At around standard 5, start priming kids for computer basics + programming basics 3. At around standard 6. Push netbooks to every single child. + Mature age for computer use. + Kids at this age probably have an idea about what they want to do. Providing them with a laptop and Internet use widens their view. + Probably give every child a monthly data bundle (say 50mb) that can be purchased from the govt through telcos. + Collate and preload netbooks with videos from khan academy et al.
Some statistics: - KCPE candidates[2]: ~800k - The likely figure of standard one students is probably around 1 million. - The minimalist ebook reader is going to cost you 90USD [3]. Ballpark figure for cost of e-readers to students starting with standard 3, 4, 5 is going to be 3 * 90 * 1e6 = 270 million dollars - Depending on the build quality, you can get cheap 10inch netbooks for ~100 USD [4]. Ballpark figures for pushing netbooks to standard 6, 7, 8 is 3 * 100 * 1e6 = 300 million dollars.
- Pushing a netbook to every standard 6 student and a eink reader to every standard 3 student is going to cost the government 40 Billion shillings (0.5 billion USD). Remember that you have students in standard 7 & 8 who are yet to receive netbooks and students in 4,5,6,7,8 w/out kindles. Also remember that you have not factored high school/university students.
So how do we do this? 1. Economies of scale for such an order would significantly lower the prices by 10-30%. 2. Require that any purchased device be assembled in Kenya. Making at least 2 million devices per year can jumpstart an electronics manufacturing segment. As an aside: I believe that aircraft manufacture frequently uses this model. Place an order of X and get the tail manufacturing, Y orders and you get fuselage.. 3. Provide tax incentives for SMT companies that operate in Kenya. No tax on SMT tech imports, token tax on manufactured devices... 4. Sell these devices to governments around Africa for a tiny profit.
Benefits: 1) Above average tech savvy society within 5-10 years. 2) Newly minted electronics manufacturing segment might be very lucrative to the taxman. 3) Helluva lots of jobs from manufacturing, logistics, electronic book publishing, software industry. 4) Bragging rights?
Caveat: - These are just words. We'd need political backing for this to happen. I don't know whether our newly minted government is all action and no words or all words and no action
1. http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/CN/e-ink-reader.html 2. http://www.jamiiforums.com/kenyan-news/391881-knec-releases-kcpe-results-for... 3. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HCCOD0/ref=amb_link_85156411_1?pf_rd_m=... 4. http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/cheap-linux-netbook.html
On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:19 AM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com > wrote:
> Thanks Martin, this raises the question - How important is mobility > of the devices in this Initiative? It seems to me the initiative you have > described is suitable for the older students particularly High Schools... > > > On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:31 AM, Martin Gicheru <martin@techweez.com > > wrote: > >> In regards to what other parts are integral to the success of the >> laptops for children initiative, there are some that have sought to develop >> a product that can try solve this in a lasting way, obviously dependent on >> whether it's adopted. Samsung has partnered with Intel, Microsoft, KIE and >> other partners to develop a solution that will involve Internet school, a >> learning management software that will harmonize the way teachers teach, >> laptops and solar powered containers for places where the power grid has >> not reached. Note, these are not solar laptops but solar powered internet >> schools, the whole hog of laptops, server, smartboard and learning software >> developed with KIE as partner. >> >> Now what this raises, >> >> - Cost of internet setup and running >> - adoption and resistance to change by teachers >> - others you may find from this. >> >> Read here, an interview I had with Robert Ngeru, to collect these >> points http://ow.ly/k1Mdr >> >> Regards, >> >> Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez >> >> Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: >> martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: >> gplus.to/martingicheru >> >> >> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 6:55 PM, John Karanja < >> mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Here is a comment from the blog from someone who has been involved >>> in OLAP on that score... >>> >>> *I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era for >>> the Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have so >>> many potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The >>> implementation, deployment and scalability of the program will become more >>> easy through the support and facilitation from the government,…* >>> >>> *Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the >>> program to be successful, the government will have to face so many >>> challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per >>> child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with >>> institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of >>> Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to >>> kids in the Kenyan environment.* >>> >>> *The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s and >>> research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts of >>> this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors >>> program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with >>> components that are useful for our kids,* >>> >>> *The tech community, developers and programmers who create apps >>> for education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating and >>> adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware. >>> * >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 5:59 PM, David Njuguna <dnjuguna@gmail.com >>> > wrote: >>> >>>> A lot of research, try and error has gone into OLAP. Perhaps >>>> Kenya government could build on OLAP's successes. >>>> >>>> >>>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 4:04 PM, george < >>>> theonlydamnedavailablename@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> The benefits to the students and the country as a whole that >>>>> would be brought about by the successful implementation of this project are >>>>> huge. >>>>> >>>>> In my opinion the biggest emphasis to eventual success should be >>>>> paid to; >>>>> >>>>> (1) The teachers - the ordinary teacher has to buy the idea >>>>> first. Sell it to them and the chances of success are pretty good. >>>>> >>>>> (2) Government implementation - This should be treated like a >>>>> business complete with a CEO who reports directly to the president. This >>>>> might very well be Jubilee's Thika Road. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> George >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 3:25 PM, John Karanja < >>>>> mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Hi Listers, >>>>>> >>>>>> I recently wrote this blogpost, looking forward to your views >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> >>>>>> During the recently concluded electoral campaigns President >>>>>> Uhuru Kenyatta <http://uhuru.co.ke/> and his Deputy William >>>>>> Ruto captivated the minds of Kenyan parents with a promise of delivering to >>>>>> every Standard One pupil entering school in 2014 asolar >>>>>> powered laptop <http://uhuruto2013.com/?p=113> to enhance and >>>>>> aid their learning environment(see video below). >>>>>> >>>>>> As expected many Kenyans were sceptical given the perception >>>>>> that many Government projects begin with pomp and fury but end up as duds; >>>>>> wasting billions of shillings that could otherwise have gone to more basic >>>>>> and immediate needs. >>>>>> >>>>>> I thought it would be prudent for us to examine through a *Strength >>>>>> Weakness Opportunity Threat( SWOT)* analysis the feasibility >>>>>> of such a project in present day Kenya<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya> >>>>>> . >>>>>> >>>>>> *Read more: >>>>>> http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... >>>>>> * >>>>>> >>>>>> Kind Regards, >>>>>> >>>>>> John >>>>>> >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>>> ------------ >>>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>>> ------------ >>>>>> >>>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>>> ------------ >>>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>> ------------ >>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>> ------------ >>>>> >>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>> ------------ >>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>> ------------ >>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>> ------------ >>>> >>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>> ------------ >>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> skunkworks mailing list >>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>> ------------ >>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>> ------------ >>> >>> Skunkworks Rules >>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>> ------------ >>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>> >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > skunkworks mailing list > skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke > ------------ > List info, subscribe/unsubscribe > http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > ------------ > > Skunkworks Rules > http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 > ------------ > Other services @ http://my.co.ke >
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What may be working elsewhere may not necessarily work in Kenya. Its a good template to build on See this comment on challenges from someone who has worked with OLPC ... *I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era for the Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have so many potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The implementation, deployment and scalability of the program will become more easy through the support and facilitation from the government,…* *Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the program to be successful, the government will have to face so many challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to kids in the Kenyan environment.* *The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s and research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts of this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with components that are useful for our kids,* *The tech community, developers and programmers who create apps for education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating and adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware* On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 3:10 PM, Simon Wainaina <swainaina@gmail.com> wrote:
OLPC initiative already works. I don't see what the hullabaloo is all about.
http://goo.gl/lg3Ll On Apr 16, 2013 9:06 AM, "Martin Gicheru" <martin@techweez.com> wrote:
IMO, the partners working with KIE can be futuristic, with learning software developed for a specific level, say class one with very visual graphical learning material and custom work for others, remember the idea in my story revolves around connected servers and laptops, not carry-homes. So they are left in a secured room or container, teacher trained for specific level for best delivery or learning.
This is supposed to change the learning process, not just expose them to computers, in class 6, these students will be learning GHC from interactive maps and diagrams, seeing the real ovaries during a science class, and since the software will be harmonized by KIE, streamed to the servers for material refresh, this will be very relevant. Ofcourse the initial process will be induction of both teachers and students.
Problems posed: Will teachers demand more pay for the computers involvement? Will NOFBI be used to have the schools access internet? Will Kenyans allow this to be rolled out to a lab/classroom thing as opposed to a carry-home laptop?
Regards,
Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez
Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: gplus.to/martingicheru
On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 8:10 AM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Yeah i am also settling on some kind of reader with input device as well as access to an app store for relevant content...
On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 3:17 PM, Martin Chiteri < martin.chiteri@gmail.com> wrote:
I don't mean to troll but I think kids in classes 1, 2 and 3 should be given an Abaccus so that they learn how to count. You can hardly get a cooler *first* computing equipment.
I also think the people suggesting an e-book reader for subsequent ages are on point with mini-laptops coming in much later.
Martin. On Apr 14, 2013 2:35 PM, "Barrack Otieno" <otieno.barrack@gmail.com> wrote:
The reality on the ground is quite different from the hype, we had a laptop per child initiative in Kamiti primary school, i think it was spearheaded by Intel, i am not sure how successfull this scheme and we might need to check how prepared the teacher and the parents are before deploying the project fullscale. Kenya is not Nairobi and Nairobi is not Kenya , we have to think of Informal schools in Samburu, Modogashe and the far flung places that are really marginalised, i have been to an informal school in Samburu and it was similar in build to our cattle Boma in shags, i am picturing a child with a laptop sitting on the ground without a roof how long will this device survive? which leads me to the next question of maintenance, how will this be handled and after how long does the government replace the laptops?, it is one thing to have computers in schools or to give out computers to kids and it is another thing to use computers to facilitate education, the later takes a deliberate and intentional strategy which we need to see.
Best Regards
On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 10:24 AM, SpaceKenya.com <info@spacekenya.com>wrote:
simply brilliant approach... not sure on relying on MNO's to supply data network.
Government is investing in its own LTE network.
I think starting at class one is really important for maximizing long term benefits of cognitive adoption of technology aided learning...much like learning a language.
The security issue abounds though insurance in addition to biometric locking could be a possible solution... On Apr 13, 2013 3:39 PM, "Laban Mwangi" <lmwangi@gmail.com> wrote:
> Having thought more about this... > 1. We can give ebook readers to standard 3 kids. (Standard 1 might > be a bit too young for ebook readers) > + Parents no longer think of buying books from bookshops. > + Govt can easily buy books for every single child in the country; > bulk buy from publishers and wireless push to e-readers. > + Kids have a vast array of books to read. > + Reading culture becomes ingrained at an early age. > + You can push copyleft books (Classics such as: Around the world > in 80 days to wikibooks to creative common books) > + Eink readers can last for weeks on a single charge. > + Eink readers are relative cheap. [1] > > 2. At around standard 5, start priming kids for computer basics + > programming basics > 3. At around standard 6. Push netbooks to every single child. > + Mature age for computer use. > + Kids at this age probably have an idea about what they want to > do. Providing them with a laptop and Internet use widens their view. > + Probably give every child a monthly data bundle (say 50mb) that > can be purchased from the govt through telcos. > + Collate and preload netbooks with videos from khan academy et al. > > Some statistics: > - KCPE candidates[2]: ~800k > - The likely figure of standard one students is probably around 1 > million. > - The minimalist ebook reader is going to cost you 90USD [3]. > Ballpark figure for cost of e-readers to students starting with standard 3, > 4, 5 is going to be 3 * 90 * 1e6 = 270 million dollars > - Depending on the build quality, you can get cheap 10inch netbooks > for ~100 USD [4]. Ballpark figures for pushing netbooks to standard 6, 7, 8 > is 3 * 100 * 1e6 = 300 million dollars. > > - Pushing a netbook to every standard 6 student and a eink reader to > every standard 3 student is going to cost the government 40 Billion > shillings (0.5 billion USD). Remember that you have students in standard 7 > & 8 who are yet to receive netbooks and students in 4,5,6,7,8 w/out > kindles. Also remember that you have not factored high school/university > students. > > So how do we do this? > 1. Economies of scale for such an order would significantly lower > the prices by 10-30%. > 2. Require that any purchased device be assembled in Kenya. Making > at least 2 million devices per year can jumpstart an electronics > manufacturing segment. As an aside: I believe that aircraft manufacture > frequently uses this model. Place an order of X and get the tail > manufacturing, Y orders and you get fuselage.. > 3. Provide tax incentives for SMT companies that operate in Kenya. > No tax on SMT tech imports, token tax on manufactured devices... > 4. Sell these devices to governments around Africa for a tiny profit. > > Benefits: > 1) Above average tech savvy society within 5-10 years. > 2) Newly minted electronics manufacturing segment might be very > lucrative to the taxman. > 3) Helluva lots of jobs from manufacturing, logistics, electronic > book publishing, software industry. > 4) Bragging rights? > > Caveat: > - These are just words. We'd need political backing for this to > happen. I don't know whether our newly minted government is all action and > no words or all words and no action > > 1. http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/CN/e-ink-reader.html > 2. > http://www.jamiiforums.com/kenyan-news/391881-knec-releases-kcpe-results-for... > 3. > http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HCCOD0/ref=amb_link_85156411_1?pf_rd_m=... > 4. http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/cheap-linux-netbook.html > > > > On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:19 AM, John Karanja < > mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Thanks Martin, this raises the question - How important is mobility >> of the devices in this Initiative? It seems to me the initiative you have >> described is suitable for the older students particularly High Schools... >> >> >> On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:31 AM, Martin Gicheru < >> martin@techweez.com> wrote: >> >>> In regards to what other parts are integral to the success of the >>> laptops for children initiative, there are some that have sought to develop >>> a product that can try solve this in a lasting way, obviously dependent on >>> whether it's adopted. Samsung has partnered with Intel, Microsoft, KIE and >>> other partners to develop a solution that will involve Internet school, a >>> learning management software that will harmonize the way teachers teach, >>> laptops and solar powered containers for places where the power grid has >>> not reached. Note, these are not solar laptops but solar powered internet >>> schools, the whole hog of laptops, server, smartboard and learning software >>> developed with KIE as partner. >>> >>> Now what this raises, >>> >>> - Cost of internet setup and running >>> - adoption and resistance to change by teachers >>> - others you may find from this. >>> >>> Read here, an interview I had with Robert Ngeru, to collect these >>> points http://ow.ly/k1Mdr >>> >>> Regards, >>> >>> Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez >>> >>> Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: >>> martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: >>> gplus.to/martingicheru >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 6:55 PM, John Karanja < >>> mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> Here is a comment from the blog from someone who has been >>>> involved in OLAP on that score... >>>> >>>> *I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era for >>>> the Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have so >>>> many potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The >>>> implementation, deployment and scalability of the program will become more >>>> easy through the support and facilitation from the government,…* >>>> >>>> *Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the >>>> program to be successful, the government will have to face so many >>>> challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per >>>> child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with >>>> institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of >>>> Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to >>>> kids in the Kenyan environment.* >>>> >>>> *The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s and >>>> research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts of >>>> this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors >>>> program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with >>>> components that are useful for our kids,* >>>> >>>> *The tech community, developers and programmers who create apps >>>> for education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating and >>>> adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware. >>>> * >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 5:59 PM, David Njuguna < >>>> dnjuguna@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> A lot of research, try and error has gone into OLAP. Perhaps >>>>> Kenya government could build on OLAP's successes. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 4:04 PM, george < >>>>> theonlydamnedavailablename@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> The benefits to the students and the country as a whole that >>>>>> would be brought about by the successful implementation of this project are >>>>>> huge. >>>>>> >>>>>> In my opinion the biggest emphasis to eventual success should >>>>>> be paid to; >>>>>> >>>>>> (1) The teachers - the ordinary teacher has to buy the idea >>>>>> first. Sell it to them and the chances of success are pretty good. >>>>>> >>>>>> (2) Government implementation - This should be treated like a >>>>>> business complete with a CEO who reports directly to the president. This >>>>>> might very well be Jubilee's Thika Road. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> George >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 3:25 PM, John Karanja < >>>>>> mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> Hi Listers, >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I recently wrote this blogpost, looking forward to your views >>>>>>> >>>>>>> -- >>>>>>> >>>>>>> During the recently concluded electoral campaigns President >>>>>>> Uhuru Kenyatta <http://uhuru.co.ke/> and his Deputy William >>>>>>> Ruto captivated the minds of Kenyan parents with a promise of delivering to >>>>>>> every Standard One pupil entering school in 2014 asolar >>>>>>> powered laptop <http://uhuruto2013.com/?p=113> to enhance and >>>>>>> aid their learning environment(see video below). >>>>>>> >>>>>>> As expected many Kenyans were sceptical given the perception >>>>>>> that many Government projects begin with pomp and fury but end up as duds; >>>>>>> wasting billions of shillings that could otherwise have gone to more basic >>>>>>> and immediate needs. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I thought it would be prudent for us to examine through a *Strength >>>>>>> Weakness Opportunity Threat( SWOT)* analysis the feasibility >>>>>>> of such a project in present day Kenya<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya> >>>>>>> . >>>>>>> >>>>>>> *Read more: >>>>>>> http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... >>>>>>> * >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Kind Regards, >>>>>>> >>>>>>> John >>>>>>> >>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>>> ------------ >>>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>>> ------------ >>>>>> >>>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>>> ------------ >>>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>> ------------ >>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>> ------------ >>>>> >>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>> ------------ >>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>> ------------ >>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>> ------------ >>>> >>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>> ------------ >>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>> >>> >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> skunkworks mailing list >> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >> ------------ >> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >> ------------ >> >> Skunkworks Rules >> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >> ------------ >> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >> > > _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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I agree John, Simon, the website looks good, the reality in Kenya is different hence the debate, this is not Hullabaloo. Best Regards On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 3:32 PM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
What may be working elsewhere may not necessarily work in Kenya. Its a good template to build on
See this comment on challenges from someone who has worked with OLPC ...
*I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era for the Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have so many potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The implementation, deployment and scalability of the program will become more easy through the support and facilitation from the government,…*
*Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the program to be successful, the government will have to face so many challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to kids in the Kenyan environment.*
*The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s and research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts of this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with components that are useful for our kids,*
*The tech community, developers and programmers who create apps for education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating and adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware*
On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 3:10 PM, Simon Wainaina <swainaina@gmail.com>wrote:
OLPC initiative already works. I don't see what the hullabaloo is all about.
http://goo.gl/lg3Ll On Apr 16, 2013 9:06 AM, "Martin Gicheru" <martin@techweez.com> wrote:
IMO, the partners working with KIE can be futuristic, with learning software developed for a specific level, say class one with very visual graphical learning material and custom work for others, remember the idea in my story revolves around connected servers and laptops, not carry-homes. So they are left in a secured room or container, teacher trained for specific level for best delivery or learning.
This is supposed to change the learning process, not just expose them to computers, in class 6, these students will be learning GHC from interactive maps and diagrams, seeing the real ovaries during a science class, and since the software will be harmonized by KIE, streamed to the servers for material refresh, this will be very relevant. Ofcourse the initial process will be induction of both teachers and students.
Problems posed: Will teachers demand more pay for the computers involvement? Will NOFBI be used to have the schools access internet? Will Kenyans allow this to be rolled out to a lab/classroom thing as opposed to a carry-home laptop?
Regards,
Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez
Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: gplus.to/martingicheru
On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 8:10 AM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Yeah i am also settling on some kind of reader with input device as well as access to an app store for relevant content...
On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 3:17 PM, Martin Chiteri < martin.chiteri@gmail.com> wrote:
I don't mean to troll but I think kids in classes 1, 2 and 3 should be given an Abaccus so that they learn how to count. You can hardly get a cooler *first* computing equipment.
I also think the people suggesting an e-book reader for subsequent ages are on point with mini-laptops coming in much later.
Martin. On Apr 14, 2013 2:35 PM, "Barrack Otieno" <otieno.barrack@gmail.com> wrote:
The reality on the ground is quite different from the hype, we had a laptop per child initiative in Kamiti primary school, i think it was spearheaded by Intel, i am not sure how successfull this scheme and we might need to check how prepared the teacher and the parents are before deploying the project fullscale. Kenya is not Nairobi and Nairobi is not Kenya , we have to think of Informal schools in Samburu, Modogashe and the far flung places that are really marginalised, i have been to an informal school in Samburu and it was similar in build to our cattle Boma in shags, i am picturing a child with a laptop sitting on the ground without a roof how long will this device survive? which leads me to the next question of maintenance, how will this be handled and after how long does the government replace the laptops?, it is one thing to have computers in schools or to give out computers to kids and it is another thing to use computers to facilitate education, the later takes a deliberate and intentional strategy which we need to see.
Best Regards
On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 10:24 AM, SpaceKenya.com <info@spacekenya.com > wrote:
> simply brilliant approach... not sure on relying on MNO's to supply > data network. > > Government is investing in its own LTE network. > > I think starting at class one is really important for maximizing > long term benefits of cognitive adoption of technology aided > learning...much like learning a language. > > The security issue abounds though insurance in addition to biometric > locking could be a possible solution... > On Apr 13, 2013 3:39 PM, "Laban Mwangi" <lmwangi@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Having thought more about this... >> 1. We can give ebook readers to standard 3 kids. (Standard 1 might >> be a bit too young for ebook readers) >> + Parents no longer think of buying books from bookshops. >> + Govt can easily buy books for every single child in the country; >> bulk buy from publishers and wireless push to e-readers. >> + Kids have a vast array of books to read. >> + Reading culture becomes ingrained at an early age. >> + You can push copyleft books (Classics such as: Around the world >> in 80 days to wikibooks to creative common books) >> + Eink readers can last for weeks on a single charge. >> + Eink readers are relative cheap. [1] >> >> 2. At around standard 5, start priming kids for computer basics + >> programming basics >> 3. At around standard 6. Push netbooks to every single child. >> + Mature age for computer use. >> + Kids at this age probably have an idea about what they want to >> do. Providing them with a laptop and Internet use widens their view. >> + Probably give every child a monthly data bundle (say 50mb) that >> can be purchased from the govt through telcos. >> + Collate and preload netbooks with videos from khan academy et al. >> >> Some statistics: >> - KCPE candidates[2]: ~800k >> - The likely figure of standard one students is probably around 1 >> million. >> - The minimalist ebook reader is going to cost you 90USD [3]. >> Ballpark figure for cost of e-readers to students starting with standard 3, >> 4, 5 is going to be 3 * 90 * 1e6 = 270 million dollars >> - Depending on the build quality, you can get cheap 10inch netbooks >> for ~100 USD [4]. Ballpark figures for pushing netbooks to standard 6, 7, 8 >> is 3 * 100 * 1e6 = 300 million dollars. >> >> - Pushing a netbook to every standard 6 student and a eink reader >> to every standard 3 student is going to cost the government 40 Billion >> shillings (0.5 billion USD). Remember that you have students in standard 7 >> & 8 who are yet to receive netbooks and students in 4,5,6,7,8 w/out >> kindles. Also remember that you have not factored high school/university >> students. >> >> So how do we do this? >> 1. Economies of scale for such an order would significantly lower >> the prices by 10-30%. >> 2. Require that any purchased device be assembled in Kenya. Making >> at least 2 million devices per year can jumpstart an electronics >> manufacturing segment. As an aside: I believe that aircraft manufacture >> frequently uses this model. Place an order of X and get the tail >> manufacturing, Y orders and you get fuselage.. >> 3. Provide tax incentives for SMT companies that operate in Kenya. >> No tax on SMT tech imports, token tax on manufactured devices... >> 4. Sell these devices to governments around Africa for a tiny >> profit. >> >> Benefits: >> 1) Above average tech savvy society within 5-10 years. >> 2) Newly minted electronics manufacturing segment might be very >> lucrative to the taxman. >> 3) Helluva lots of jobs from manufacturing, logistics, electronic >> book publishing, software industry. >> 4) Bragging rights? >> >> Caveat: >> - These are just words. We'd need political backing for this to >> happen. I don't know whether our newly minted government is all action and >> no words or all words and no action >> >> 1. http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/CN/e-ink-reader.html >> 2. >> http://www.jamiiforums.com/kenyan-news/391881-knec-releases-kcpe-results-for... >> 3. >> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HCCOD0/ref=amb_link_85156411_1?pf_rd_m=... >> 4. http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/cheap-linux-netbook.html >> >> >> >> On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:19 AM, John Karanja < >> mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Thanks Martin, this raises the question - How important is >>> mobility of the devices in this Initiative? It seems to me the initiative >>> you have described is suitable for the older students particularly High >>> Schools... >>> >>> >>> On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:31 AM, Martin Gicheru < >>> martin@techweez.com> wrote: >>> >>>> In regards to what other parts are integral to the success of the >>>> laptops for children initiative, there are some that have sought to develop >>>> a product that can try solve this in a lasting way, obviously dependent on >>>> whether it's adopted. Samsung has partnered with Intel, Microsoft, KIE and >>>> other partners to develop a solution that will involve Internet school, a >>>> learning management software that will harmonize the way teachers teach, >>>> laptops and solar powered containers for places where the power grid has >>>> not reached. Note, these are not solar laptops but solar powered internet >>>> schools, the whole hog of laptops, server, smartboard and learning software >>>> developed with KIE as partner. >>>> >>>> Now what this raises, >>>> >>>> - Cost of internet setup and running >>>> - adoption and resistance to change by teachers >>>> - others you may find from this. >>>> >>>> Read here, an interview I had with Robert Ngeru, to collect these >>>> points http://ow.ly/k1Mdr >>>> >>>> Regards, >>>> >>>> Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez >>>> >>>> Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: >>>> martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: >>>> gplus.to/martingicheru >>>> >>>> >>>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 6:55 PM, John Karanja < >>>> mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Here is a comment from the blog from someone who has been >>>>> involved in OLAP on that score... >>>>> >>>>> *I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era for >>>>> the Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have so >>>>> many potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The >>>>> implementation, deployment and scalability of the program will become more >>>>> easy through the support and facilitation from the government,…* >>>>> >>>>> *Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the >>>>> program to be successful, the government will have to face so many >>>>> challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per >>>>> child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with >>>>> institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of >>>>> Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to >>>>> kids in the Kenyan environment.* >>>>> >>>>> *The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s >>>>> and research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts >>>>> of this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors >>>>> program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with >>>>> components that are useful for our kids,* >>>>> >>>>> *The tech community, developers and programmers who create apps >>>>> for education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating and >>>>> adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware. >>>>> * >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 5:59 PM, David Njuguna < >>>>> dnjuguna@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> A lot of research, try and error has gone into OLAP. Perhaps >>>>>> Kenya government could build on OLAP's successes. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 4:04 PM, george < >>>>>> theonlydamnedavailablename@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> The benefits to the students and the country as a whole that >>>>>>> would be brought about by the successful implementation of this project are >>>>>>> huge. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> In my opinion the biggest emphasis to eventual success should >>>>>>> be paid to; >>>>>>> >>>>>>> (1) The teachers - the ordinary teacher has to buy the idea >>>>>>> first. Sell it to them and the chances of success are pretty good. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> (2) Government implementation - This should be treated like a >>>>>>> business complete with a CEO who reports directly to the president. This >>>>>>> might very well be Jubilee's Thika Road. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> George >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 3:25 PM, John Karanja < >>>>>>> mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Hi Listers, >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I recently wrote this blogpost, looking forward to your views >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> -- >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> During the recently concluded electoral campaigns President >>>>>>>> Uhuru Kenyatta <http://uhuru.co.ke/> and his Deputy William >>>>>>>> Ruto captivated the minds of Kenyan parents with a promise of delivering to >>>>>>>> every Standard One pupil entering school in 2014 asolar >>>>>>>> powered laptop <http://uhuruto2013.com/?p=113> to enhance >>>>>>>> and aid their learning environment(see video below). >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> As expected many Kenyans were sceptical given the perception >>>>>>>> that many Government projects begin with pomp and fury but end up as duds; >>>>>>>> wasting billions of shillings that could otherwise have gone to more basic >>>>>>>> and immediate needs. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I thought it would be prudent for us to examine through a *Strength >>>>>>>> Weakness Opportunity Threat( SWOT)* analysis the feasibility >>>>>>>> of such a project in present day Kenya<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya> >>>>>>>> . >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> *Read more: >>>>>>>> http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... >>>>>>>> * >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Kind Regards, >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> John >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>>> ------------ >>>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>>> ------------ >>>>>> >>>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>>> ------------ >>>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>> ------------ >>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>> ------------ >>>>> >>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>> ------------ >>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> skunkworks mailing list >>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>> ------------ >>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>> ------------ >>> >>> Skunkworks Rules >>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>> ------------ >>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>> >> >> > _______________________________________________ > skunkworks mailing list > skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke > ------------ > List info, subscribe/unsubscribe > http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > ------------ > > Skunkworks Rules > http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 > ------------ > Other services @ http://my.co.ke >
-- Barrack O. Otieno +254721325277 +254-20-2498789 Skype: barrack.otieno http://www.otienobarrack.me.ke/
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Apologies. I did not mean hullabaloo on the list but in the public. People saying the country needs to be fed first before laptops etc etc. Rgds, Simon On Apr 17, 2013 5:02 PM, "Barrack Otieno" <otieno.barrack@gmail.com> wrote:
I agree John, Simon, the website looks good, the reality in Kenya is different hence the debate, this is not Hullabaloo.
Best Regards
On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 3:32 PM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
What may be working elsewhere may not necessarily work in Kenya. Its a good template to build on
See this comment on challenges from someone who has worked with OLPC ...
*I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era for the Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have so many potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The implementation, deployment and scalability of the program will become more easy through the support and facilitation from the government,…*
*Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the program to be successful, the government will have to face so many challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to kids in the Kenyan environment.*
*The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s and research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts of this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with components that are useful for our kids,*
*The tech community, developers and programmers who create apps for education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating and adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware*
On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 3:10 PM, Simon Wainaina <swainaina@gmail.com>wrote:
OLPC initiative already works. I don't see what the hullabaloo is all about.
http://goo.gl/lg3Ll On Apr 16, 2013 9:06 AM, "Martin Gicheru" <martin@techweez.com> wrote:
IMO, the partners working with KIE can be futuristic, with learning software developed for a specific level, say class one with very visual graphical learning material and custom work for others, remember the idea in my story revolves around connected servers and laptops, not carry-homes. So they are left in a secured room or container, teacher trained for specific level for best delivery or learning.
This is supposed to change the learning process, not just expose them to computers, in class 6, these students will be learning GHC from interactive maps and diagrams, seeing the real ovaries during a science class, and since the software will be harmonized by KIE, streamed to the servers for material refresh, this will be very relevant. Ofcourse the initial process will be induction of both teachers and students.
Problems posed: Will teachers demand more pay for the computers involvement? Will NOFBI be used to have the schools access internet? Will Kenyans allow this to be rolled out to a lab/classroom thing as opposed to a carry-home laptop?
Regards,
Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez
Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: gplus.to/martingicheru
On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 8:10 AM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Yeah i am also settling on some kind of reader with input device as well as access to an app store for relevant content...
On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 3:17 PM, Martin Chiteri < martin.chiteri@gmail.com> wrote:
I don't mean to troll but I think kids in classes 1, 2 and 3 should be given an Abaccus so that they learn how to count. You can hardly get a cooler *first* computing equipment.
I also think the people suggesting an e-book reader for subsequent ages are on point with mini-laptops coming in much later.
Martin. On Apr 14, 2013 2:35 PM, "Barrack Otieno" <otieno.barrack@gmail.com> wrote:
> The reality on the ground is quite different from the hype, we had a > laptop per child initiative in Kamiti primary school, i think it was > spearheaded by Intel, i am not sure how successfull this scheme and we > might need to check how prepared the teacher and the parents are before > deploying the project fullscale. Kenya is not Nairobi and Nairobi is not > Kenya , we have to think of Informal schools in Samburu, Modogashe and the > far flung places that are really marginalised, i have been to an informal > school in Samburu and it was similar in build to our cattle Boma in shags, > i am picturing a child with a laptop sitting on the ground without a roof > how long will this device survive? which leads me to the next question of > maintenance, how will this be handled and after how long does the > government replace the laptops?, it is one thing to have computers in > schools or to give out computers to kids and it is another thing to use > computers to facilitate education, the later takes a deliberate and > intentional strategy which we need to see. > > Best Regards > > > On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 10:24 AM, SpaceKenya.com < > info@spacekenya.com> wrote: > >> simply brilliant approach... not sure on relying on MNO's to supply >> data network. >> >> Government is investing in its own LTE network. >> >> I think starting at class one is really important for maximizing >> long term benefits of cognitive adoption of technology aided >> learning...much like learning a language. >> >> The security issue abounds though insurance in addition to >> biometric locking could be a possible solution... >> On Apr 13, 2013 3:39 PM, "Laban Mwangi" <lmwangi@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Having thought more about this... >>> 1. We can give ebook readers to standard 3 kids. (Standard 1 might >>> be a bit too young for ebook readers) >>> + Parents no longer think of buying books from bookshops. >>> + Govt can easily buy books for every single child in the >>> country; bulk buy from publishers and wireless push to e-readers. >>> + Kids have a vast array of books to read. >>> + Reading culture becomes ingrained at an early age. >>> + You can push copyleft books (Classics such as: Around the world >>> in 80 days to wikibooks to creative common books) >>> + Eink readers can last for weeks on a single charge. >>> + Eink readers are relative cheap. [1] >>> >>> 2. At around standard 5, start priming kids for computer basics + >>> programming basics >>> 3. At around standard 6. Push netbooks to every single child. >>> + Mature age for computer use. >>> + Kids at this age probably have an idea about what they want to >>> do. Providing them with a laptop and Internet use widens their view. >>> + Probably give every child a monthly data bundle (say 50mb) that >>> can be purchased from the govt through telcos. >>> + Collate and preload netbooks with videos from khan academy et >>> al. >>> >>> Some statistics: >>> - KCPE candidates[2]: ~800k >>> - The likely figure of standard one students is probably around 1 >>> million. >>> - The minimalist ebook reader is going to cost you 90USD [3]. >>> Ballpark figure for cost of e-readers to students starting with standard 3, >>> 4, 5 is going to be 3 * 90 * 1e6 = 270 million dollars >>> - Depending on the build quality, you can get cheap 10inch >>> netbooks for ~100 USD [4]. Ballpark figures for pushing netbooks to >>> standard 6, 7, 8 is 3 * 100 * 1e6 = 300 million dollars. >>> >>> - Pushing a netbook to every standard 6 student and a eink reader >>> to every standard 3 student is going to cost the government 40 Billion >>> shillings (0.5 billion USD). Remember that you have students in standard 7 >>> & 8 who are yet to receive netbooks and students in 4,5,6,7,8 w/out >>> kindles. Also remember that you have not factored high school/university >>> students. >>> >>> So how do we do this? >>> 1. Economies of scale for such an order would significantly lower >>> the prices by 10-30%. >>> 2. Require that any purchased device be assembled in Kenya. Making >>> at least 2 million devices per year can jumpstart an electronics >>> manufacturing segment. As an aside: I believe that aircraft manufacture >>> frequently uses this model. Place an order of X and get the tail >>> manufacturing, Y orders and you get fuselage.. >>> 3. Provide tax incentives for SMT companies that operate in Kenya. >>> No tax on SMT tech imports, token tax on manufactured devices... >>> 4. Sell these devices to governments around Africa for a tiny >>> profit. >>> >>> Benefits: >>> 1) Above average tech savvy society within 5-10 years. >>> 2) Newly minted electronics manufacturing segment might be very >>> lucrative to the taxman. >>> 3) Helluva lots of jobs from manufacturing, logistics, electronic >>> book publishing, software industry. >>> 4) Bragging rights? >>> >>> Caveat: >>> - These are just words. We'd need political backing for this to >>> happen. I don't know whether our newly minted government is all action and >>> no words or all words and no action >>> >>> 1. http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/CN/e-ink-reader.html >>> 2. >>> http://www.jamiiforums.com/kenyan-news/391881-knec-releases-kcpe-results-for... >>> 3. >>> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HCCOD0/ref=amb_link_85156411_1?pf_rd_m=... >>> 4. http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/cheap-linux-netbook.html >>> >>> >>> >>> On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:19 AM, John Karanja < >>> mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> Thanks Martin, this raises the question - How important is >>>> mobility of the devices in this Initiative? It seems to me the initiative >>>> you have described is suitable for the older students particularly High >>>> Schools... >>>> >>>> >>>> On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:31 AM, Martin Gicheru < >>>> martin@techweez.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> In regards to what other parts are integral to the success of >>>>> the laptops for children initiative, there are some that have sought to >>>>> develop a product that can try solve this in a lasting way, obviously >>>>> dependent on whether it's adopted. Samsung has partnered with Intel, >>>>> Microsoft, KIE and other partners to develop a solution that will involve >>>>> Internet school, a learning management software that will harmonize the way >>>>> teachers teach, laptops and solar powered containers for places where the >>>>> power grid has not reached. Note, these are not solar laptops but solar >>>>> powered internet schools, the whole hog of laptops, server, smartboard and >>>>> learning software developed with KIE as partner. >>>>> >>>>> Now what this raises, >>>>> >>>>> - Cost of internet setup and running >>>>> - adoption and resistance to change by teachers >>>>> - others you may find from this. >>>>> >>>>> Read here, an interview I had with Robert Ngeru, to collect >>>>> these points http://ow.ly/k1Mdr >>>>> >>>>> Regards, >>>>> >>>>> Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez >>>>> >>>>> Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: >>>>> martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: >>>>> gplus.to/martingicheru >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 6:55 PM, John Karanja < >>>>> mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Here is a comment from the blog from someone who has been >>>>>> involved in OLAP on that score... >>>>>> >>>>>> *I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era >>>>>> for the Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have >>>>>> so many potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The >>>>>> implementation, deployment and scalability of the program will become more >>>>>> easy through the support and facilitation from the government,… >>>>>> * >>>>>> >>>>>> *Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the >>>>>> program to be successful, the government will have to face so many >>>>>> challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per >>>>>> child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with >>>>>> institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of >>>>>> Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to >>>>>> kids in the Kenyan environment.* >>>>>> >>>>>> *The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s >>>>>> and research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts >>>>>> of this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors >>>>>> program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with >>>>>> components that are useful for our kids,* >>>>>> >>>>>> *The tech community, developers and programmers who create >>>>>> apps for education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating >>>>>> and adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware. >>>>>> * >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 5:59 PM, David Njuguna < >>>>>> dnjuguna@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> A lot of research, try and error has gone into OLAP. Perhaps >>>>>>> Kenya government could build on OLAP's successes. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 4:04 PM, george < >>>>>>> theonlydamnedavailablename@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> The benefits to the students and the country as a whole that >>>>>>>> would be brought about by the successful implementation of this project are >>>>>>>> huge. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> In my opinion the biggest emphasis to eventual success should >>>>>>>> be paid to; >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> (1) The teachers - the ordinary teacher has to buy the idea >>>>>>>> first. Sell it to them and the chances of success are pretty good. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> (2) Government implementation - This should be treated like a >>>>>>>> business complete with a CEO who reports directly to the president. This >>>>>>>> might very well be Jubilee's Thika Road. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> George >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 3:25 PM, John Karanja < >>>>>>>> mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Hi Listers, >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> I recently wrote this blogpost, looking forward to your views >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> -- >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> During the recently concluded electoral campaigns President >>>>>>>>> Uhuru Kenyatta <http://uhuru.co.ke/> and his Deputy William >>>>>>>>> Ruto captivated the minds of Kenyan parents with a promise of delivering to >>>>>>>>> every Standard One pupil entering school in 2014 asolar >>>>>>>>> powered laptop <http://uhuruto2013.com/?p=113> to enhance >>>>>>>>> and aid their learning environment(see video below). >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> As expected many Kenyans were sceptical given the perception >>>>>>>>> that many Government projects begin with pomp and fury but end up as duds; >>>>>>>>> wasting billions of shillings that could otherwise have gone to more basic >>>>>>>>> and immediate needs. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> I thought it would be prudent for us to examine through a *Strength >>>>>>>>> Weakness Opportunity Threat( SWOT)* analysis the >>>>>>>>> feasibility of such a project in present day Kenya<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya> >>>>>>>>> . >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> *Read more: >>>>>>>>> http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... >>>>>>>>> * >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Kind Regards, >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> John >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>>>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>>>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>>>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>>> ------------ >>>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>>> ------------ >>>>>> >>>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>>> ------------ >>>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>> ------------ >>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>> ------------ >>>> >>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>> ------------ >>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>> >>> >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> skunkworks mailing list >> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >> ------------ >> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >> ------------ >> >> Skunkworks Rules >> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >> ------------ >> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >> > > > > -- > Barrack O. Otieno > +254721325277 > +254-20-2498789 > Skype: barrack.otieno > http://www.otienobarrack.me.ke/ > > _______________________________________________ > skunkworks mailing list > skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke > ------------ > List info, subscribe/unsubscribe > http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > ------------ > > Skunkworks Rules > http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 > ------------ > Other services @ http://my.co.ke >
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_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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-- Barrack O. Otieno +254721325277 +254-20-2498789 Skype: barrack.otieno http://www.otienobarrack.me.ke/
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But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard… http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/... On Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 10:01 AM, Simon Wainaina <swainaina@gmail.com>wrote:
Apologies. I did not mean hullabaloo on the list but in the public. People saying the country needs to be fed first before laptops etc etc. Rgds, Simon On Apr 17, 2013 5:02 PM, "Barrack Otieno" <otieno.barrack@gmail.com> wrote:
I agree John, Simon, the website looks good, the reality in Kenya is different hence the debate, this is not Hullabaloo.
Best Regards
On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 3:32 PM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
What may be working elsewhere may not necessarily work in Kenya. Its a good template to build on
See this comment on challenges from someone who has worked with OLPC ...
*I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era for the Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have so many potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The implementation, deployment and scalability of the program will become more easy through the support and facilitation from the government,…*
*Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the program to be successful, the government will have to face so many challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to kids in the Kenyan environment.*
*The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s and research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts of this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with components that are useful for our kids,*
*The tech community, developers and programmers who create apps for education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating and adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware*
On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 3:10 PM, Simon Wainaina <swainaina@gmail.com>wrote:
OLPC initiative already works. I don't see what the hullabaloo is all about.
http://goo.gl/lg3Ll On Apr 16, 2013 9:06 AM, "Martin Gicheru" <martin@techweez.com> wrote:
IMO, the partners working with KIE can be futuristic, with learning software developed for a specific level, say class one with very visual graphical learning material and custom work for others, remember the idea in my story revolves around connected servers and laptops, not carry-homes. So they are left in a secured room or container, teacher trained for specific level for best delivery or learning.
This is supposed to change the learning process, not just expose them to computers, in class 6, these students will be learning GHC from interactive maps and diagrams, seeing the real ovaries during a science class, and since the software will be harmonized by KIE, streamed to the servers for material refresh, this will be very relevant. Ofcourse the initial process will be induction of both teachers and students.
Problems posed: Will teachers demand more pay for the computers involvement? Will NOFBI be used to have the schools access internet? Will Kenyans allow this to be rolled out to a lab/classroom thing as opposed to a carry-home laptop?
Regards,
Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez
Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: gplus.to/martingicheru
On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 8:10 AM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Yeah i am also settling on some kind of reader with input device as well as access to an app store for relevant content...
On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 3:17 PM, Martin Chiteri < martin.chiteri@gmail.com> wrote:
> I don't mean to troll but I think kids in classes 1, 2 and 3 should > be given an Abaccus so that they learn how to count. You can hardly get a > cooler *first* computing equipment. > > I also think the people suggesting an e-book reader for subsequent > ages are on point with mini-laptops coming in much later. > > Martin. > On Apr 14, 2013 2:35 PM, "Barrack Otieno" <otieno.barrack@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> The reality on the ground is quite different from the hype, we had >> a laptop per child initiative in Kamiti primary school, i think it was >> spearheaded by Intel, i am not sure how successfull this scheme and we >> might need to check how prepared the teacher and the parents are before >> deploying the project fullscale. Kenya is not Nairobi and Nairobi is not >> Kenya , we have to think of Informal schools in Samburu, Modogashe and the >> far flung places that are really marginalised, i have been to an informal >> school in Samburu and it was similar in build to our cattle Boma in shags, >> i am picturing a child with a laptop sitting on the ground without a roof >> how long will this device survive? which leads me to the next question of >> maintenance, how will this be handled and after how long does the >> government replace the laptops?, it is one thing to have computers in >> schools or to give out computers to kids and it is another thing to use >> computers to facilitate education, the later takes a deliberate and >> intentional strategy which we need to see. >> >> Best Regards >> >> >> On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 10:24 AM, SpaceKenya.com < >> info@spacekenya.com> wrote: >> >>> simply brilliant approach... not sure on relying on MNO's to >>> supply data network. >>> >>> Government is investing in its own LTE network. >>> >>> I think starting at class one is really important for maximizing >>> long term benefits of cognitive adoption of technology aided >>> learning...much like learning a language. >>> >>> The security issue abounds though insurance in addition to >>> biometric locking could be a possible solution... >>> On Apr 13, 2013 3:39 PM, "Laban Mwangi" <lmwangi@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> Having thought more about this... >>>> 1. We can give ebook readers to standard 3 kids. (Standard 1 >>>> might be a bit too young for ebook readers) >>>> + Parents no longer think of buying books from bookshops. >>>> + Govt can easily buy books for every single child in the >>>> country; bulk buy from publishers and wireless push to e-readers. >>>> + Kids have a vast array of books to read. >>>> + Reading culture becomes ingrained at an early age. >>>> + You can push copyleft books (Classics such as: Around the >>>> world in 80 days to wikibooks to creative common books) >>>> + Eink readers can last for weeks on a single charge. >>>> + Eink readers are relative cheap. [1] >>>> >>>> 2. At around standard 5, start priming kids for computer basics + >>>> programming basics >>>> 3. At around standard 6. Push netbooks to every single child. >>>> + Mature age for computer use. >>>> + Kids at this age probably have an idea about what they want to >>>> do. Providing them with a laptop and Internet use widens their view. >>>> + Probably give every child a monthly data bundle (say 50mb) >>>> that can be purchased from the govt through telcos. >>>> + Collate and preload netbooks with videos from khan academy et >>>> al. >>>> >>>> Some statistics: >>>> - KCPE candidates[2]: ~800k >>>> - The likely figure of standard one students is probably around 1 >>>> million. >>>> - The minimalist ebook reader is going to cost you 90USD [3]. >>>> Ballpark figure for cost of e-readers to students starting with standard 3, >>>> 4, 5 is going to be 3 * 90 * 1e6 = 270 million dollars >>>> - Depending on the build quality, you can get cheap 10inch >>>> netbooks for ~100 USD [4]. Ballpark figures for pushing netbooks to >>>> standard 6, 7, 8 is 3 * 100 * 1e6 = 300 million dollars. >>>> >>>> - Pushing a netbook to every standard 6 student and a eink reader >>>> to every standard 3 student is going to cost the government 40 Billion >>>> shillings (0.5 billion USD). Remember that you have students in standard 7 >>>> & 8 who are yet to receive netbooks and students in 4,5,6,7,8 w/out >>>> kindles. Also remember that you have not factored high school/university >>>> students. >>>> >>>> So how do we do this? >>>> 1. Economies of scale for such an order would significantly lower >>>> the prices by 10-30%. >>>> 2. Require that any purchased device be assembled in Kenya. >>>> Making at least 2 million devices per year can jumpstart an electronics >>>> manufacturing segment. As an aside: I believe that aircraft manufacture >>>> frequently uses this model. Place an order of X and get the tail >>>> manufacturing, Y orders and you get fuselage.. >>>> 3. Provide tax incentives for SMT companies that operate in >>>> Kenya. No tax on SMT tech imports, token tax on manufactured devices... >>>> 4. Sell these devices to governments around Africa for a tiny >>>> profit. >>>> >>>> Benefits: >>>> 1) Above average tech savvy society within 5-10 years. >>>> 2) Newly minted electronics manufacturing segment might be very >>>> lucrative to the taxman. >>>> 3) Helluva lots of jobs from manufacturing, logistics, electronic >>>> book publishing, software industry. >>>> 4) Bragging rights? >>>> >>>> Caveat: >>>> - These are just words. We'd need political backing for this to >>>> happen. I don't know whether our newly minted government is all action and >>>> no words or all words and no action >>>> >>>> 1. http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/CN/e-ink-reader.html >>>> 2. >>>> http://www.jamiiforums.com/kenyan-news/391881-knec-releases-kcpe-results-for... >>>> 3. >>>> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HCCOD0/ref=amb_link_85156411_1?pf_rd_m=... >>>> 4. http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/cheap-linux-netbook.html >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:19 AM, John Karanja < >>>> mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Thanks Martin, this raises the question - How important is >>>>> mobility of the devices in this Initiative? It seems to me the initiative >>>>> you have described is suitable for the older students particularly High >>>>> Schools... >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:31 AM, Martin Gicheru < >>>>> martin@techweez.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> In regards to what other parts are integral to the success of >>>>>> the laptops for children initiative, there are some that have sought to >>>>>> develop a product that can try solve this in a lasting way, obviously >>>>>> dependent on whether it's adopted. Samsung has partnered with Intel, >>>>>> Microsoft, KIE and other partners to develop a solution that will involve >>>>>> Internet school, a learning management software that will harmonize the way >>>>>> teachers teach, laptops and solar powered containers for places where the >>>>>> power grid has not reached. Note, these are not solar laptops but solar >>>>>> powered internet schools, the whole hog of laptops, server, smartboard and >>>>>> learning software developed with KIE as partner. >>>>>> >>>>>> Now what this raises, >>>>>> >>>>>> - Cost of internet setup and running >>>>>> - adoption and resistance to change by teachers >>>>>> - others you may find from this. >>>>>> >>>>>> Read here, an interview I had with Robert Ngeru, to collect >>>>>> these points http://ow.ly/k1Mdr >>>>>> >>>>>> Regards, >>>>>> >>>>>> Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez >>>>>> >>>>>> Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: >>>>>> martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: >>>>>> gplus.to/martingicheru >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 6:55 PM, John Karanja < >>>>>> mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> Here is a comment from the blog from someone who has been >>>>>>> involved in OLAP on that score... >>>>>>> >>>>>>> *I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era >>>>>>> for the Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have >>>>>>> so many potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The >>>>>>> implementation, deployment and scalability of the program will become more >>>>>>> easy through the support and facilitation from the government,… >>>>>>> * >>>>>>> >>>>>>> *Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the >>>>>>> program to be successful, the government will have to face so many >>>>>>> challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per >>>>>>> child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with >>>>>>> institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of >>>>>>> Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to >>>>>>> kids in the Kenyan environment.* >>>>>>> >>>>>>> *The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s >>>>>>> and research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts >>>>>>> of this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors >>>>>>> program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with >>>>>>> components that are useful for our kids,* >>>>>>> >>>>>>> *The tech community, developers and programmers who create >>>>>>> apps for education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating >>>>>>> and adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware. >>>>>>> * >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 5:59 PM, David Njuguna < >>>>>>> dnjuguna@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> A lot of research, try and error has gone into OLAP. Perhaps >>>>>>>> Kenya government could build on OLAP's successes. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 4:04 PM, george < >>>>>>>> theonlydamnedavailablename@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> The benefits to the students and the country as a whole that >>>>>>>>> would be brought about by the successful implementation of this project are >>>>>>>>> huge. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> In my opinion the biggest emphasis to eventual success >>>>>>>>> should be paid to; >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> (1) The teachers - the ordinary teacher has to buy the idea >>>>>>>>> first. Sell it to them and the chances of success are pretty good. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> (2) Government implementation - This should be treated like >>>>>>>>> a business complete with a CEO who reports directly to the president. This >>>>>>>>> might very well be Jubilee's Thika Road. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> George >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 3:25 PM, John Karanja < >>>>>>>>> mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Hi Listers, >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> I recently wrote this blogpost, looking forward to your >>>>>>>>>> views >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> -- >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> During the recently concluded electoral campaigns President >>>>>>>>>> Uhuru Kenyatta <http://uhuru.co.ke/> and his Deputy >>>>>>>>>> William Ruto captivated the minds of Kenyan parents with a promise of >>>>>>>>>> delivering to every Standard One pupil entering school in 2014 asolar >>>>>>>>>> powered laptop <http://uhuruto2013.com/?p=113> to enhance >>>>>>>>>> and aid their learning environment(see video below). >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> As expected many Kenyans were sceptical given the >>>>>>>>>> perception that many Government projects begin with pomp and fury but end >>>>>>>>>> up as duds; wasting billions of shillings that could otherwise have gone to >>>>>>>>>> more basic and immediate needs. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> I thought it would be prudent for us to examine through a *Strength >>>>>>>>>> Weakness Opportunity Threat( SWOT)* analysis the >>>>>>>>>> feasibility of such a project in present day Kenya<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya> >>>>>>>>>> . >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> *Read more: >>>>>>>>>> http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... >>>>>>>>>> * >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Kind Regards, >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> John >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>>>>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>>>>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>>>>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>>>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>>>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>>>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>>>> ------------ >>>>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> skunkworks mailing list >>>>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>>>> ------------ >>>>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>>>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>>>> ------------ >>>>> >>>>> Skunkworks Rules >>>>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>>>> ------------ >>>>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> skunkworks mailing list >>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>> ------------ >>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>> ------------ >>> >>> Skunkworks Rules >>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>> ------------ >>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> Barrack O. Otieno >> +254721325277 >> +254-20-2498789 >> Skype: barrack.otieno >> http://www.otienobarrack.me.ke/ >> >> _______________________________________________ >> skunkworks mailing list >> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >> ------------ >> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >> ------------ >> >> Skunkworks Rules >> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >> ------------ >> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >> > > _______________________________________________ > skunkworks mailing list > skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke > ------------ > List info, subscribe/unsubscribe > http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > ------------ > > Skunkworks Rules > http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 > ------------ > Other services @ http://my.co.ke >
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On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote:
But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/...
I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it.
Ashok, Those laptops are not free. The govt will buy them (just like the Passats) from those companies at govt prices and terms... with your tax money. So, the companies will be selling 500K more computers than otherwise. And this will be sustained for 5 years.... I love Uhuruto and I'm rooting for them, so this is where we tell the king that their "transparent" clothes are no clothes at all. Of course, the courtiers will tell them how great looking their gowns are, how bold, handsome & digital they look etc etc. There's a wide chasm between "getting man on the moon" and "sending money to China". If we're determined to throw precious foreign exchange at our Chinese, Korean & American friends, at least let's ensure that we carefully invest the peanuts we get in return, where we have the best return. This is where politics is funny. If any of your managers made such decisions with your money - our treasury coffers are reading negative - they'd get the sack at the double. It's not a poverty mentality, it's just plain old frugality, diligence and good stewardship. As a national character, these qualities will guarantee our prosperity, and contrast with procrastination, wishful thinking & guesswork. This is why I like this 'bold' promise. As Ndemo alludes, the better outcome is more than assured: a 50+-seat computer lab at EVERY secondary school, complete with a self-learning curriculum and material. This is what will transform our society within the next 5 years, and hugely positively impact the lives of the Std. 1 pupils, who, BTW, should be playing with each other, and sleeping as much as they can. At the bottomline, Kenyans Cheers! ________________________________ From: "ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info" <ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info> To: mauxdatabase@gmail.com; Skunkworks Mailing List <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 5:21 PM Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/... I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it. _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
I think I have seen from responses a lot of creative ways to mitigate against the concerns you have raised of this project on my blog post here http://bit.ly/YNnv0Q To summarize: 1. Downgrade from solar powered laptop to solar powered ink e-readers with keyboard input. This will cost max $85/piece and will primarily solve text book crisis. 2. Require manufacturer to assemble the e-readers here in Kenya within 3 years of the program at Konza create local jobs and jump start Konza. 3. Require e-reader to run open source OS to allow porting of local Kenyan applications, games and content e.g Through a local app store. 4. Run of a Wireless Network built on LTE technology or Whitespaces within 3 years so internet access is controlled and monitored. 5. Why start in class one digital literacy is arguably just as important as "play" hence the need to ingrain the same at the ideal age of learning. Think 15 years to see massive benefits. 6. To mitigate against natural threats like theft/damage gadgets will be fitted with biometric id and software upgrades will only be possible remotely as the devices will have no external ports. 7. Insuring each device at say $5 will mitigate against loss as well damage. In 2010 I visited a cyber cafe in Kibera that had been subsequently been turned into a gaming place because of cost of maintaining the lab even as a business. Kids adapt to technology easily and quickly once they handle their own devices even for a few months is enough to get them interested in tech. See video of my visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7b3DTehfg I am more worried about the distribution logistics of it all! John On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:45 AM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com> wrote:
Ashok, Those laptops are not free. The govt will buy them (just like the Passats) from those companies at govt prices and terms... with your tax money. So, the companies will be selling 500K more computers than otherwise. And this will be sustained for 5 years....
I love Uhuruto and I'm rooting for them, so this is where we tell the king that their "transparent" clothes are no clothes at all. Of course, the courtiers will tell them how great looking their gowns are, how bold, handsome & digital they look etc etc.
There's a wide chasm between "getting man on the moon" and "sending money to China". If we're determined to throw precious foreign exchange at our Chinese, Korean & American friends, at least let's ensure that we carefully invest the peanuts we get in return, where we have the best return.
This is where politics is funny. If any of your managers made such decisions with your money - our treasury coffers are reading negative - they'd get the sack at the double. It's not a poverty mentality, it's just plain old frugality, diligence and good stewardship. As a national character, these qualities will guarantee our prosperity, and contrast with procrastination, wishful thinking & guesswork.
This is why I like this 'bold' promise. As Ndemo alludes, the better outcome is more than assured: a 50+-seat computer lab at EVERY secondary school, complete with a self-learning curriculum and material. This is what will transform our society within the next 5 years, and hugely positively impact the lives of the Std. 1 pupils, who, BTW, should be playing with each other, and sleeping as much as they can.
At the bottomline, Kenyans Cheers!
------------------------------ *From:* "ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info" < ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info> *To:* mauxdatabase@gmail.com; Skunkworks Mailing List < skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> *Sent:* Wednesday, April 24, 2013 5:21 PM *Subject:* Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote:
But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/...
I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it.
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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A couple of things: [1] Marginal utility of capital - Kenya has finite monetary resources. Is this the best way we can possibly spend this money to aid education? For example, the FPE initiated in 2003 did not increase the number of students who were in primary school, enrollment per capita is still the same, albeit with degraded quality - it increased access… [2] Support - What OS will the laptops run? Who will support this infrastructure - whats the total cost of ownership? Warranties? Replacement? What happens when a class one student lovingly pours his sugary juice or porridge onto the laptop? If the laptops are running windows, what happens when the laptop gets a virus? If they are running linux, who will handle basic user issues? [3] Government should in my opinion, focus on the basics, that have worked historically - making energy as cheap as possible (improve quality and quantity too), infrastructure (road/rail/pipeline), reduce regulation, buy books for schools (import used books)). The rest will take care of itself. The IT sector will *not* be able to absorb the sort of unemployment we have in Kenya. That will be done by farming & manufacturing (btw, even with all the hype in Kenya, as of last year, Agriculture and related services employed 60% of Kenya's population)… On Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM, John Karanja wrote:
I think I have seen from responses a lot of creative ways to mitigate against the concerns you have raised of this project on my blog post here http://bit.ly/YNnv0Q
To summarize: Downgrade from solar powered laptop to solar powered ink e-readers with keyboard input. This will cost max $85/piece and will primarily solve text book crisis. Require manufacturer to assemble the e-readers here in Kenya within 3 years of the program at Konza create local jobs and jump start Konza. Require e-reader to run open source OS to allow porting of local Kenyan applications, games and content e.g Through a local app store. Run of a Wireless Network built on LTE technology or Whitespaces within 3 years so internet access is controlled and monitored. Why start in class one digital literacy is arguably just as important as "play" hence the need to ingrain the same at the ideal age of learning. Think 15 years to see massive benefits. To mitigate against natural threats like theft/damage gadgets will be fitted with biometric id and software upgrades will only be possible remotely as the devices will have no external ports. Insuring each device at say $5 will mitigate against loss as well damage.
In 2010 I visited a cyber cafe in Kibera that had been subsequently been turned into a gaming place because of cost of maintaining the lab even as a business. Kids adapt to technology easily and quickly once they handle their own devices even for a few months is enough to get them interested in tech. See video of my visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7b3DTehfg
I am more worried about the distribution logistics of it all!
John
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:45 AM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com (mailto:b_owuor@yahoo.com)> wrote:
Ashok, Those laptops are not free. The govt will buy them (just like the Passats) from those companies at govt prices and terms... with your tax money. So, the companies will be selling 500K more computers than otherwise. And this will be sustained for 5 years....
I love Uhuruto and I'm rooting for them, so this is where we tell the king that their "transparent" clothes are no clothes at all. Of course, the courtiers will tell them how great looking their gowns are, how bold, handsome & digital they look etc etc.
There's a wide chasm between "getting man on the moon" and "sending money to China". If we're determined to throw precious foreign exchange at our Chinese, Korean & American friends, at least let's ensure that we carefully invest the peanuts we get in return, where we have the best return.
This is where politics is funny. If any of your managers made such decisions with your money - our treasury coffers are reading negative - they'd get the sack at the double. It's not a poverty mentality, it's just plain old frugality, diligence and good stewardship. As a national character, these qualities will guarantee our prosperity, and contrast with procrastination, wishful thinking & guesswork.
This is why I like this 'bold' promise. As Ndemo alludes, the better outcome is more than assured: a 50+-seat computer lab at EVERY secondary school, complete with a self-learning curriculum and material. This is what will transform our society within the next 5 years, and hugely positively impact the lives of the Std. 1 pupils, who, BTW, should be playing with each other, and sleeping as much as they can.
At the bottomline, Kenyans Cheers! From: "ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info (mailto:ashok%2Bskunkworks@parliaments.info)" <ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info (mailto:ashok%2Bskunkworks@parliaments.info)> To: mauxdatabase@gmail.com (mailto:mauxdatabase@gmail.com); Skunkworks Mailing List <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke (mailto:skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke)> Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 5:21 PM Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com (mailto:mauxdatabase@gmail.com)> wrote:
But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard… http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/...
I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it.
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-- Regards, Phares Kariuki | Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
An interesting comment from the blog below... http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... *We are in Digital Age Institute already participating in this programme, in that we are educating Secondary School teachers in use of IT. Its our take, that the teachers are not having many problems adapting. It appears to me to be Nairobi Central City Thinking that teachers up country are not modern. Yes - indeed there are a few who need much more guidance - but they are few - and they are very motivated - playful - absorbing - I'm not in doubt that this will be an initiative working for a long time to come.* *In regards to taking the laptops home? I don't think so.* *One of the challenges is maintenance and repair. However - the polytechnics have already educated too many hardware competent repair guys - now the good news: Yoo Hooooo - there's a job for them !* *Embracing this new technology will most probably do what it has done elsewhere - speed up all development, education, society development tremendously.* *Now only missing that we all unite: Teachers / Students / Institutions - so that we can conquer this new world of Information Technology together.* *Kindly David Svarrer CEO / Principal Digital Age Institute Ltd. 0786 936 145 / 0714 503 333* On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com>wrote:
A couple of things:
[1] Marginal utility of capital - Kenya has finite monetary resources. Is this the best way we can possibly spend this money to aid education? For example, the FPE initiated in 2003 did not increase the number of students who were in primary school, enrollment per capita is still the same, albeit with degraded quality - it increased access… [2] Support - What OS will the laptops run? Who will support this infrastructure - whats the total cost of ownership? Warranties? Replacement? What happens when a class one student lovingly pours his sugary juice or porridge onto the laptop? If the laptops are running windows, what happens when the laptop gets a virus? If they are running linux, who will handle basic user issues? [3] Government should in my opinion, focus on the basics, that have worked historically - making energy as cheap as possible (improve quality and quantity too), infrastructure (road/rail/pipeline), reduce regulation, buy books for schools (import used books)). The rest will take care of itself.
The IT sector will *not* be able to absorb the sort of unemployment we have in Kenya. That will be done by farming & manufacturing (btw, even with all the hype in Kenya, as of last year, Agriculture and related services employed 60% of Kenya's population)…
On Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM, John Karanja wrote:
I think I have seen from responses a lot of creative ways to mitigate against the concerns you have raised of this project on my blog post here http://bit.ly/YNnv0Q
To summarize:
1. Downgrade from solar powered laptop to solar powered ink e-readers with keyboard input. This will cost max $85/piece and will primarily solve text book crisis. 2. Require manufacturer to assemble the e-readers here in Kenya within 3 years of the program at Konza create local jobs and jump start Konza. 3. Require e-reader to run open source OS to allow porting of local Kenyan applications, games and content e.g Through a local app store. 4. Run of a Wireless Network built on LTE technology or Whitespaces within 3 years so internet access is controlled and monitored. 5. Why start in class one digital literacy is arguably just as important as "play" hence the need to ingrain the same at the ideal age of learning. Think 15 years to see massive benefits. 6. To mitigate against natural threats like theft/damage gadgets will be fitted with biometric id and software upgrades will only be possible remotely as the devices will have no external ports. 7. Insuring each device at say $5 will mitigate against loss as well damage.
In 2010 I visited a cyber cafe in Kibera that had been subsequently been turned into a gaming place because of cost of maintaining the lab even as a business. Kids adapt to technology easily and quickly once they handle their own devices even for a few months is enough to get them interested in tech. See video of my visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7b3DTehfg
I am more worried about the distribution logistics of it all!
John
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:45 AM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com> wrote:
Ashok, Those laptops are not free. The govt will buy them (just like the Passats) from those companies at govt prices and terms... with your tax money. So, the companies will be selling 500K more computers than otherwise. And this will be sustained for 5 years....
I love Uhuruto and I'm rooting for them, so this is where we tell the king that their "transparent" clothes are no clothes at all. Of course, the courtiers will tell them how great looking their gowns are, how bold, handsome & digital they look etc etc.
There's a wide chasm between "getting man on the moon" and "sending money to China". If we're determined to throw precious foreign exchange at our Chinese, Korean & American friends, at least let's ensure that we carefully invest the peanuts we get in return, where we have the best return.
This is where politics is funny. If any of your managers made such decisions with your money - our treasury coffers are reading negative - they'd get the sack at the double. It's not a poverty mentality, it's just plain old frugality, diligence and good stewardship. As a national character, these qualities will guarantee our prosperity, and contrast with procrastination, wishful thinking & guesswork.
This is why I like this 'bold' promise. As Ndemo alludes, the better outcome is more than assured: a 50+-seat computer lab at EVERY secondary school, complete with a self-learning curriculum and material. This is what will transform our society within the next 5 years, and hugely positively impact the lives of the Std. 1 pupils, who, BTW, should be playing with each other, and sleeping as much as they can.
At the bottomline, Kenyans Cheers!
------------------------------ *From:* "ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info" < ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info> *To:* mauxdatabase@gmail.com; Skunkworks Mailing List < skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> *Sent:* Wednesday, April 24, 2013 5:21 PM *Subject:* Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote:
But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/...
I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it.
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
:-). This fellow has vested interests. Yes. All these folks are going to be paid - who is going to foot the tax bill? My issue is not so much the project (which has noble beginnings) but the utility of the cash. A kindle with WIFI is 7,000 KES. Buy students rugged kindles without WIFI with selected books from Project Gutenburg. You will laugh all the way to the bank. The problem we have is assuming that all the knowledge a student needs to succeed in life is Information Technology - however, no knowledge exists in a silo. The reason we go through 12 years of primary and secondary education is because you call knowledge from various spheres of life in order to make decisions/products etc. You cannot tell me that it makes sense to spend 7% of annual GDP (on a minimum) providing laptops to students and not all of them - just one stream. Do you have any idea what the remaining education budget will look like? We are giving birth at the rate of 1M per year. This cost will only increase. Significantly. For context, we are an *AGRICULTURAL* economy. Agricultural. Tilling the land, herding goats, sheep, milking cows, wrestling with pigs etc employs 80% of our workforce. 80%. With a rate of 40% unemployment. We have other priorities. We should really be addressing things like land reform, agricultural reform, making energy cheaper, strengthening our education system (Indeed, we need to invest more in critical thinking and reason to mitigate against such bad policy), infrastructure (rails etc) which will allow us to finance this ten years from now. We are starving, unhealthy nation in the dark. Surely we have other priorities - like reducing infant mortality (currently 7.5% of all children born are dead by age 5), so that the students who we claim to be buying laptops for live long enough o use them! On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 10:25 AM, John Karanja wrote:
An interesting comment from the blog below... http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto...
We are in Digital Age Institute already participating in this programme, in that we are educating Secondary School teachers in use of IT. Its our take, that the teachers are not having many problems adapting. It appears to me to be Nairobi Central City Thinking that teachers up country are not modern. Yes - indeed there are a few who need much more guidance - but they are few - and they are very motivated - playful - absorbing - I'm not in doubt that this will be an initiative working for a long time to come.
In regards to taking the laptops home? I don't think so.
One of the challenges is maintenance and repair. However - the polytechnics have already educated too many hardware competent repair guys - now the good news: Yoo Hooooo - there's a job for them !
Embracing this new technology will most probably do what it has done elsewhere - speed up all development, education, society development tremendously.
Now only missing that we all unite: Teachers / Students / Institutions - so that we can conquer this new world of Information Technology together.
Kindly David Svarrer CEO / Principal Digital Age Institute Ltd. 0786 936 145 / 0714 503 333
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com (mailto:phares.kariuki@gmail.com)> wrote:
A couple of things:
[1] Marginal utility of capital - Kenya has finite monetary resources. Is this the best way we can possibly spend this money to aid education? For example, the FPE initiated in 2003 did not increase the number of students who were in primary school, enrollment per capita is still the same, albeit with degraded quality - it increased access… [2] Support - What OS will the laptops run? Who will support this infrastructure - whats the total cost of ownership? Warranties? Replacement? What happens when a class one student lovingly pours his sugary juice or porridge onto the laptop? If the laptops are running windows, what happens when the laptop gets a virus? If they are running linux, who will handle basic user issues? [3] Government should in my opinion, focus on the basics, that have worked historically - making energy as cheap as possible (improve quality and quantity too), infrastructure (road/rail/pipeline), reduce regulation, buy books for schools (import used books)). The rest will take care of itself.
The IT sector will *not* be able to absorb the sort of unemployment we have in Kenya. That will be done by farming & manufacturing (btw, even with all the hype in Kenya, as of last year, Agriculture and related services employed 60% of Kenya's population)…
On Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM, John Karanja wrote:
I think I have seen from responses a lot of creative ways to mitigate against the concerns you have raised of this project on my blog post here http://bit.ly/YNnv0Q
To summarize: Downgrade from solar powered laptop to solar powered ink e-readers with keyboard input. This will cost max $85/piece and will primarily solve text book crisis. Require manufacturer to assemble the e-readers here in Kenya within 3 years of the program at Konza create local jobs and jump start Konza. Require e-reader to run open source OS to allow porting of local Kenyan applications, games and content e.g Through a local app store. Run of a Wireless Network built on LTE technology or Whitespaces within 3 years so internet access is controlled and monitored. Why start in class one digital literacy is arguably just as important as "play" hence the need to ingrain the same at the ideal age of learning. Think 15 years to see massive benefits. To mitigate against natural threats like theft/damage gadgets will be fitted with biometric id and software upgrades will only be possible remotely as the devices will have no external ports. Insuring each device at say $5 will mitigate against loss as well damage.
In 2010 I visited a cyber cafe in Kibera that had been subsequently been turned into a gaming place because of cost of maintaining the lab even as a business. Kids adapt to technology easily and quickly once they handle their own devices even for a few months is enough to get them interested in tech. See video of my visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7b3DTehfg
I am more worried about the distribution logistics of it all!
John
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:45 AM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com (mailto:b_owuor@yahoo.com)> wrote:
Ashok, Those laptops are not free. The govt will buy them (just like the Passats) from those companies at govt prices and terms... with your tax money. So, the companies will be selling 500K more computers than otherwise. And this will be sustained for 5 years....
I love Uhuruto and I'm rooting for them, so this is where we tell the king that their "transparent" clothes are no clothes at all. Of course, the courtiers will tell them how great looking their gowns are, how bold, handsome & digital they look etc etc.
There's a wide chasm between "getting man on the moon" and "sending money to China". If we're determined to throw precious foreign exchange at our Chinese, Korean & American friends, at least let's ensure that we carefully invest the peanuts we get in return, where we have the best return.
This is where politics is funny. If any of your managers made such decisions with your money - our treasury coffers are reading negative - they'd get the sack at the double. It's not a poverty mentality, it's just plain old frugality, diligence and good stewardship. As a national character, these qualities will guarantee our prosperity, and contrast with procrastination, wishful thinking & guesswork.
This is why I like this 'bold' promise. As Ndemo alludes, the better outcome is more than assured: a 50+-seat computer lab at EVERY secondary school, complete with a self-learning curriculum and material. This is what will transform our society within the next 5 years, and hugely positively impact the lives of the Std. 1 pupils, who, BTW, should be playing with each other, and sleeping as much as they can.
At the bottomline, Kenyans Cheers! From: "ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info (mailto:ashok%2Bskunkworks@parliaments.info)" <ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info (mailto:ashok%2Bskunkworks@parliaments.info)> To: mauxdatabase@gmail.com (mailto:mauxdatabase@gmail.com); Skunkworks Mailing List <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke (mailto:skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke)> Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 5:21 PM Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com (mailto:mauxdatabase@gmail.com)> wrote:
But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard… http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/...
I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it.
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke (mailto:skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke) ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke (http://my.co.ke/)
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke (mailto:skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke) ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke (mailto:skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke) ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke (mailto:skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke) ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards, Phares Kariuki | Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
Once upon a time, I remember reading that the agrarian revolution took off because of mechanization. I would posture a theory that our agriculture has hit a glass ceiling, that, *as is,* it cannot get any better. Why? 1. We are not mechanizing as fast as we should 2. We are going more towards small scale than towards large scale. A father/mother with several children will break up their farm as inheritance for each of the children. So, maybe these laptops will cause one of two things: 1. Move away from agriculture and into services as the backbone of our economy 2. Mechanize (or should I say computerize) our agriculture On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:02 AM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com>wrote:
:-). This fellow has vested interests. Yes. All these folks are going to be paid - who is going to foot the tax bill? My issue is not so much the project (which has noble beginnings) but the utility of the cash.
A kindle with WIFI is 7,000 KES. Buy students rugged kindles without WIFI with selected books from Project Gutenburg. You will laugh all the way to the bank.
The problem we have is assuming that all the knowledge a student needs to succeed in life is Information Technology - however, no knowledge exists in a silo. The reason we go through 12 years of primary and secondary education is because you call knowledge from various spheres of life in order to make decisions/products etc.
You cannot tell me that it makes sense to spend 7% of annual GDP (on a minimum) providing laptops to students and not all of them - just one stream. Do you have any idea what the remaining education budget will look like? We are giving birth at the rate of 1M per year. This cost will only increase. Significantly.
For context, we are an *AGRICULTURAL* economy. Agricultural. Tilling the land, herding goats, sheep, milking cows, wrestling with pigs etc employs 80% of our workforce. 80%. With a rate of 40% unemployment. We have other priorities.
We should really be addressing things like land reform, agricultural reform, making energy cheaper, strengthening our education system (Indeed, we need to invest more in critical thinking and reason to mitigate against such bad policy), infrastructure (rails etc) which will allow us to finance this ten years from now.
We are starving, unhealthy nation in the dark. Surely we have other priorities - like reducing infant mortality (currently 7.5% of all children born are dead by age 5), so that the students who we claim to be buying laptops for live long enough o use them!
On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 10:25 AM, John Karanja wrote:
An interesting comment from the blog below... http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto...
*We are in Digital Age Institute already participating in this programme, in that we are educating Secondary School teachers in use of IT. Its our take, that the teachers are not having many problems adapting. It appears to me to be Nairobi Central City Thinking that teachers up country are not modern. Yes - indeed there are a few who need much more guidance - but they are few - and they are very motivated - playful - absorbing - I'm not in doubt that this will be an initiative working for a long time to come.*
*In regards to taking the laptops home? I don't think so.*
*One of the challenges is maintenance and repair. However - the polytechnics have already educated too many hardware competent repair guys - now the good news: Yoo Hooooo - there's a job for them !*
*Embracing this new technology will most probably do what it has done elsewhere - speed up all development, education, society development tremendously.*
*Now only missing that we all unite: Teachers / Students / Institutions - so that we can conquer this new world of Information Technology together.*
*Kindly David Svarrer CEO / Principal Digital Age Institute Ltd. 0786 936 145 / 0714 503 333*
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com>wrote:
A couple of things:
[1] Marginal utility of capital - Kenya has finite monetary resources. Is this the best way we can possibly spend this money to aid education? For example, the FPE initiated in 2003 did not increase the number of students who were in primary school, enrollment per capita is still the same, albeit with degraded quality - it increased access… [2] Support - What OS will the laptops run? Who will support this infrastructure - whats the total cost of ownership? Warranties? Replacement? What happens when a class one student lovingly pours his sugary juice or porridge onto the laptop? If the laptops are running windows, what happens when the laptop gets a virus? If they are running linux, who will handle basic user issues? [3] Government should in my opinion, focus on the basics, that have worked historically - making energy as cheap as possible (improve quality and quantity too), infrastructure (road/rail/pipeline), reduce regulation, buy books for schools (import used books)). The rest will take care of itself.
The IT sector will *not* be able to absorb the sort of unemployment we have in Kenya. That will be done by farming & manufacturing (btw, even with all the hype in Kenya, as of last year, Agriculture and related services employed 60% of Kenya's population)…
On Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM, John Karanja wrote:
I think I have seen from responses a lot of creative ways to mitigate against the concerns you have raised of this project on my blog post here http://bit.ly/YNnv0Q
To summarize:
1. Downgrade from solar powered laptop to solar powered ink e-readers with keyboard input. This will cost max $85/piece and will primarily solve text book crisis. 2. Require manufacturer to assemble the e-readers here in Kenya within 3 years of the program at Konza create local jobs and jump start Konza. 3. Require e-reader to run open source OS to allow porting of local Kenyan applications, games and content e.g Through a local app store. 4. Run of a Wireless Network built on LTE technology or Whitespaces within 3 years so internet access is controlled and monitored. 5. Why start in class one digital literacy is arguably just as important as "play" hence the need to ingrain the same at the ideal age of learning. Think 15 years to see massive benefits. 6. To mitigate against natural threats like theft/damage gadgets will be fitted with biometric id and software upgrades will only be possible remotely as the devices will have no external ports. 7. Insuring each device at say $5 will mitigate against loss as well damage.
In 2010 I visited a cyber cafe in Kibera that had been subsequently been turned into a gaming place because of cost of maintaining the lab even as a business. Kids adapt to technology easily and quickly once they handle their own devices even for a few months is enough to get them interested in tech. See video of my visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7b3DTehfg
I am more worried about the distribution logistics of it all!
John
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:45 AM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com> wrote:
Ashok, Those laptops are not free. The govt will buy them (just like the Passats) from those companies at govt prices and terms... with your tax money. So, the companies will be selling 500K more computers than otherwise. And this will be sustained for 5 years....
I love Uhuruto and I'm rooting for them, so this is where we tell the king that their "transparent" clothes are no clothes at all. Of course, the courtiers will tell them how great looking their gowns are, how bold, handsome & digital they look etc etc.
There's a wide chasm between "getting man on the moon" and "sending money to China". If we're determined to throw precious foreign exchange at our Chinese, Korean & American friends, at least let's ensure that we carefully invest the peanuts we get in return, where we have the best return.
This is where politics is funny. If any of your managers made such decisions with your money - our treasury coffers are reading negative - they'd get the sack at the double. It's not a poverty mentality, it's just plain old frugality, diligence and good stewardship. As a national character, these qualities will guarantee our prosperity, and contrast with procrastination, wishful thinking & guesswork.
This is why I like this 'bold' promise. As Ndemo alludes, the better outcome is more than assured: a 50+-seat computer lab at EVERY secondary school, complete with a self-learning curriculum and material. This is what will transform our society within the next 5 years, and hugely positively impact the lives of the Std. 1 pupils, who, BTW, should be playing with each other, and sleeping as much as they can.
At the bottomline, Kenyans Cheers!
------------------------------ *From:* "ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info" < ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info> *To:* mauxdatabase@gmail.com; Skunkworks Mailing List < skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> *Sent:* Wednesday, April 24, 2013 5:21 PM *Subject:* Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote:
But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/...
I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it.
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards, Peter Karunyu -------------------
I would buy that argument if it had actually worked. Look at what China (under Deng Xiaoping at the time) did after the failure of the communist experiment - the focused on the following: [1] Agrarian reforms - they can now feed themselves and are one of the largest textile producers. [2] Commerce - They made it simpler to invest and do business - Currently, Kenya is a "spectacular position 121 globally". [3] They then focused on industry… They are only now jumping onto the IT bandwagon. Look at the marshall plan implemented in South Korea and Japan post WW2. Focused on land reform. South Korea and Japan are now technological juggernauts which has a leading technology company that has quarterly revenues in excess of our GDP. My point? Focus on the fundamentals - the rest will happen - people have initiative. Look at the US - people have iPads in school - why can the afford this? They have fed themselves, clothed themselves each individual earns enough money to afford an iPad for their toddler (per capita income is 45,000 USD thereabouts). Our per capita income is the value of a MacBook Pro. Where are our priorities? Isn't it better to have people alive as carpenters in 2030 then have a 'digital native' dead by 2020? On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 11:26 AM, Peter Karunyu wrote:
Once upon a time, I remember reading that the agrarian revolution took off because of mechanization.
I would posture a theory that our agriculture has hit a glass ceiling, that, as is, it cannot get any better.
Why?
1. We are not mechanizing as fast as we should 2. We are going more towards small scale than towards large scale. A father/mother with several children will break up their farm as inheritance for each of the children.
So, maybe these laptops will cause one of two things: 1. Move away from agriculture and into services as the backbone of our economy 2. Mechanize (or should I say computerize) our agriculture
On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:02 AM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com (mailto:phares.kariuki@gmail.com)> wrote:
:-). This fellow has vested interests. Yes. All these folks are going to be paid - who is going to foot the tax bill? My issue is not so much the project (which has noble beginnings) but the utility of the cash.
A kindle with WIFI is 7,000 KES. Buy students rugged kindles without WIFI with selected books from Project Gutenburg. You will laugh all the way to the bank.
The problem we have is assuming that all the knowledge a student needs to succeed in life is Information Technology - however, no knowledge exists in a silo. The reason we go through 12 years of primary and secondary education is because you call knowledge from various spheres of life in order to make decisions/products etc.
You cannot tell me that it makes sense to spend 7% of annual GDP (on a minimum) providing laptops to students and not all of them - just one stream. Do you have any idea what the remaining education budget will look like? We are giving birth at the rate of 1M per year. This cost will only increase. Significantly.
For context, we are an *AGRICULTURAL* economy. Agricultural. Tilling the land, herding goats, sheep, milking cows, wrestling with pigs etc employs 80% of our workforce. 80%. With a rate of 40% unemployment. We have other priorities.
We should really be addressing things like land reform, agricultural reform, making energy cheaper, strengthening our education system (Indeed, we need to invest more in critical thinking and reason to mitigate against such bad policy), infrastructure (rails etc) which will allow us to finance this ten years from now.
We are starving, unhealthy nation in the dark. Surely we have other priorities - like reducing infant mortality (currently 7.5% of all children born are dead by age 5), so that the students who we claim to be buying laptops for live long enough o use them!
On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 10:25 AM, John Karanja wrote:
An interesting comment from the blog below... http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto...
We are in Digital Age Institute already participating in this programme, in that we are educating Secondary School teachers in use of IT. Its our take, that the teachers are not having many problems adapting. It appears to me to be Nairobi Central City Thinking that teachers up country are not modern. Yes - indeed there are a few who need much more guidance - but they are few - and they are very motivated - playful - absorbing - I'm not in doubt that this will be an initiative working for a long time to come.
In regards to taking the laptops home? I don't think so.
One of the challenges is maintenance and repair. However - the polytechnics have already educated too many hardware competent repair guys - now the good news: Yoo Hooooo - there's a job for them !
Embracing this new technology will most probably do what it has done elsewhere - speed up all development, education, society development tremendously.
Now only missing that we all unite: Teachers / Students / Institutions - so that we can conquer this new world of Information Technology together.
Kindly David Svarrer CEO / Principal Digital Age Institute Ltd. 0786 936 145 / 0714 503 333
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com (mailto:phares.kariuki@gmail.com)> wrote:
A couple of things:
[1] Marginal utility of capital - Kenya has finite monetary resources. Is this the best way we can possibly spend this money to aid education? For example, the FPE initiated in 2003 did not increase the number of students who were in primary school, enrollment per capita is still the same, albeit with degraded quality - it increased access… [2] Support - What OS will the laptops run? Who will support this infrastructure - whats the total cost of ownership? Warranties? Replacement? What happens when a class one student lovingly pours his sugary juice or porridge onto the laptop? If the laptops are running windows, what happens when the laptop gets a virus? If they are running linux, who will handle basic user issues? [3] Government should in my opinion, focus on the basics, that have worked historically - making energy as cheap as possible (improve quality and quantity too), infrastructure (road/rail/pipeline), reduce regulation, buy books for schools (import used books)). The rest will take care of itself.
The IT sector will *not* be able to absorb the sort of unemployment we have in Kenya. That will be done by farming & manufacturing (btw, even with all the hype in Kenya, as of last year, Agriculture and related services employed 60% of Kenya's population)…
On Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM, John Karanja wrote:
I think I have seen from responses a lot of creative ways to mitigate against the concerns you have raised of this project on my blog post here http://bit.ly/YNnv0Q
To summarize: Downgrade from solar powered laptop to solar powered ink e-readers with keyboard input. This will cost max $85/piece and will primarily solve text book crisis. Require manufacturer to assemble the e-readers here in Kenya within 3 years of the program at Konza create local jobs and jump start Konza. Require e-reader to run open source OS to allow porting of local Kenyan applications, games and content e.g Through a local app store. Run of a Wireless Network built on LTE technology or Whitespaces within 3 years so internet access is controlled and monitored. Why start in class one digital literacy is arguably just as important as "play" hence the need to ingrain the same at the ideal age of learning. Think 15 years to see massive benefits. To mitigate against natural threats like theft/damage gadgets will be fitted with biometric id and software upgrades will only be possible remotely as the devices will have no external ports. Insuring each device at say $5 will mitigate against loss as well damage.
In 2010 I visited a cyber cafe in Kibera that had been subsequently been turned into a gaming place because of cost of maintaining the lab even as a business. Kids adapt to technology easily and quickly once they handle their own devices even for a few months is enough to get them interested in tech. See video of my visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7b3DTehfg
I am more worried about the distribution logistics of it all!
John
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:45 AM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com (mailto:b_owuor@yahoo.com)> wrote:
Ashok, Those laptops are not free. The govt will buy them (just like the Passats) from those companies at govt prices and terms... with your tax money. So, the companies will be selling 500K more computers than otherwise. And this will be sustained for 5 years....
I love Uhuruto and I'm rooting for them, so this is where we tell the king that their "transparent" clothes are no clothes at all. Of course, the courtiers will tell them how great looking their gowns are, how bold, handsome & digital they look etc etc.
There's a wide chasm between "getting man on the moon" and "sending money to China". If we're determined to throw precious foreign exchange at our Chinese, Korean & American friends, at least let's ensure that we carefully invest the peanuts we get in return, where we have the best return.
This is where politics is funny. If any of your managers made such decisions with your money - our treasury coffers are reading negative - they'd get the sack at the double. It's not a poverty mentality, it's just plain old frugality, diligence and good stewardship. As a national character, these qualities will guarantee our prosperity, and contrast with procrastination, wishful thinking & guesswork.
This is why I like this 'bold' promise. As Ndemo alludes, the better outcome is more than assured: a 50+-seat computer lab at EVERY secondary school, complete with a self-learning curriculum and material. This is what will transform our society within the next 5 years, and hugely positively impact the lives of the Std. 1 pupils, who, BTW, should be playing with each other, and sleeping as much as they can.
At the bottomline, Kenyans Cheers! From: "ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info (mailto:ashok%2Bskunkworks@parliaments.info)" <ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info (mailto:ashok%2Bskunkworks@parliaments.info)> To: mauxdatabase@gmail.com (mailto:mauxdatabase@gmail.com); Skunkworks Mailing List <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke (mailto:skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke)> Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 5:21 PM Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com (mailto:mauxdatabase@gmail.com)> wrote: > But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard… http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/...
I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it.
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke (mailto:skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke) ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke (mailto:skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke) ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke (mailto:skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke) ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards, Peter Karunyu ------------------- _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke (mailto:skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke) ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards, Phares Kariuki | Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
We need to redefine the meaning of free<http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/Treasury-unveils-Sh1-6trn-budget/-/1064/1839974/-/sduhsx/-/index.html> On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 4:43 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com>wrote:
I would buy that argument if it had actually worked. Look at what China (under Deng Xiaoping at the time) did after the failure of the communist experiment - the focused on the following:
[1] Agrarian reforms - they can now feed themselves and are one of the largest textile producers. [2] Commerce - They made it simpler to invest and do business - Currently, Kenya is a "spectacular position 121 globally". [3] They then focused on industry…
They are only now jumping onto the IT bandwagon. Look at the marshall plan implemented in South Korea and Japan post WW2. Focused on land reform. South Korea and Japan are now technological juggernauts which has a leading technology company that has quarterly revenues in excess of our GDP.
My point? Focus on the fundamentals - the rest will happen - people have initiative. Look at the US - people have iPads in school - why can the afford this? They have fed themselves, clothed themselves each individual earns enough money to afford an iPad for their toddler (per capita income is 45,000 USD thereabouts). Our per capita income is the value of a MacBook Pro. Where are our priorities? Isn't it better to have people alive as carpenters in 2030 then have a 'digital native' dead by 2020?
On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 11:26 AM, Peter Karunyu wrote:
Once upon a time, I remember reading that the agrarian revolution took off because of mechanization.
I would posture a theory that our agriculture has hit a glass ceiling, that, *as is,* it cannot get any better.
Why?
1. We are not mechanizing as fast as we should 2. We are going more towards small scale than towards large scale. A father/mother with several children will break up their farm as inheritance for each of the children.
So, maybe these laptops will cause one of two things: 1. Move away from agriculture and into services as the backbone of our economy 2. Mechanize (or should I say computerize) our agriculture
On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:02 AM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com>wrote:
:-). This fellow has vested interests. Yes. All these folks are going to be paid - who is going to foot the tax bill? My issue is not so much the project (which has noble beginnings) but the utility of the cash.
A kindle with WIFI is 7,000 KES. Buy students rugged kindles without WIFI with selected books from Project Gutenburg. You will laugh all the way to the bank.
The problem we have is assuming that all the knowledge a student needs to succeed in life is Information Technology - however, no knowledge exists in a silo. The reason we go through 12 years of primary and secondary education is because you call knowledge from various spheres of life in order to make decisions/products etc.
You cannot tell me that it makes sense to spend 7% of annual GDP (on a minimum) providing laptops to students and not all of them - just one stream. Do you have any idea what the remaining education budget will look like? We are giving birth at the rate of 1M per year. This cost will only increase. Significantly.
For context, we are an *AGRICULTURAL* economy. Agricultural. Tilling the land, herding goats, sheep, milking cows, wrestling with pigs etc employs 80% of our workforce. 80%. With a rate of 40% unemployment. We have other priorities.
We should really be addressing things like land reform, agricultural reform, making energy cheaper, strengthening our education system (Indeed, we need to invest more in critical thinking and reason to mitigate against such bad policy), infrastructure (rails etc) which will allow us to finance this ten years from now.
We are starving, unhealthy nation in the dark. Surely we have other priorities - like reducing infant mortality (currently 7.5% of all children born are dead by age 5), so that the students who we claim to be buying laptops for live long enough o use them!
On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 10:25 AM, John Karanja wrote:
An interesting comment from the blog below... http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto...
*We are in Digital Age Institute already participating in this programme, in that we are educating Secondary School teachers in use of IT. Its our take, that the teachers are not having many problems adapting. It appears to me to be Nairobi Central City Thinking that teachers up country are not modern. Yes - indeed there are a few who need much more guidance - but they are few - and they are very motivated - playful - absorbing - I'm not in doubt that this will be an initiative working for a long time to come.*
*In regards to taking the laptops home? I don't think so.*
*One of the challenges is maintenance and repair. However - the polytechnics have already educated too many hardware competent repair guys - now the good news: Yoo Hooooo - there's a job for them !*
*Embracing this new technology will most probably do what it has done elsewhere - speed up all development, education, society development tremendously.*
*Now only missing that we all unite: Teachers / Students / Institutions - so that we can conquer this new world of Information Technology together.*
*Kindly David Svarrer CEO / Principal Digital Age Institute Ltd. 0786 936 145 / 0714 503 333*
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com>wrote:
A couple of things:
[1] Marginal utility of capital - Kenya has finite monetary resources. Is this the best way we can possibly spend this money to aid education? For example, the FPE initiated in 2003 did not increase the number of students who were in primary school, enrollment per capita is still the same, albeit with degraded quality - it increased access… [2] Support - What OS will the laptops run? Who will support this infrastructure - whats the total cost of ownership? Warranties? Replacement? What happens when a class one student lovingly pours his sugary juice or porridge onto the laptop? If the laptops are running windows, what happens when the laptop gets a virus? If they are running linux, who will handle basic user issues? [3] Government should in my opinion, focus on the basics, that have worked historically - making energy as cheap as possible (improve quality and quantity too), infrastructure (road/rail/pipeline), reduce regulation, buy books for schools (import used books)). The rest will take care of itself.
The IT sector will *not* be able to absorb the sort of unemployment we have in Kenya. That will be done by farming & manufacturing (btw, even with all the hype in Kenya, as of last year, Agriculture and related services employed 60% of Kenya's population)…
On Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM, John Karanja wrote:
I think I have seen from responses a lot of creative ways to mitigate against the concerns you have raised of this project on my blog post here http://bit.ly/YNnv0Q
To summarize:
1. Downgrade from solar powered laptop to solar powered ink e-readers with keyboard input. This will cost max $85/piece and will primarily solve text book crisis. 2. Require manufacturer to assemble the e-readers here in Kenya within 3 years of the program at Konza create local jobs and jump start Konza. 3. Require e-reader to run open source OS to allow porting of local Kenyan applications, games and content e.g Through a local app store. 4. Run of a Wireless Network built on LTE technology or Whitespaces within 3 years so internet access is controlled and monitored. 5. Why start in class one digital literacy is arguably just as important as "play" hence the need to ingrain the same at the ideal age of learning. Think 15 years to see massive benefits. 6. To mitigate against natural threats like theft/damage gadgets will be fitted with biometric id and software upgrades will only be possible remotely as the devices will have no external ports. 7. Insuring each device at say $5 will mitigate against loss as well damage.
In 2010 I visited a cyber cafe in Kibera that had been subsequently been turned into a gaming place because of cost of maintaining the lab even as a business. Kids adapt to technology easily and quickly once they handle their own devices even for a few months is enough to get them interested in tech. See video of my visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7b3DTehfg
I am more worried about the distribution logistics of it all!
John
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:45 AM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com> wrote:
Ashok, Those laptops are not free. The govt will buy them (just like the Passats) from those companies at govt prices and terms... with your tax money. So, the companies will be selling 500K more computers than otherwise. And this will be sustained for 5 years....
I love Uhuruto and I'm rooting for them, so this is where we tell the king that their "transparent" clothes are no clothes at all. Of course, the courtiers will tell them how great looking their gowns are, how bold, handsome & digital they look etc etc.
There's a wide chasm between "getting man on the moon" and "sending money to China". If we're determined to throw precious foreign exchange at our Chinese, Korean & American friends, at least let's ensure that we carefully invest the peanuts we get in return, where we have the best return.
This is where politics is funny. If any of your managers made such decisions with your money - our treasury coffers are reading negative - they'd get the sack at the double. It's not a poverty mentality, it's just plain old frugality, diligence and good stewardship. As a national character, these qualities will guarantee our prosperity, and contrast with procrastination, wishful thinking & guesswork.
This is why I like this 'bold' promise. As Ndemo alludes, the better outcome is more than assured: a 50+-seat computer lab at EVERY secondary school, complete with a self-learning curriculum and material. This is what will transform our society within the next 5 years, and hugely positively impact the lives of the Std. 1 pupils, who, BTW, should be playing with each other, and sleeping as much as they can.
At the bottomline, Kenyans Cheers!
------------------------------ *From:* "ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info" < ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info> *To:* mauxdatabase@gmail.com; Skunkworks Mailing List < skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> *Sent:* Wednesday, April 24, 2013 5:21 PM *Subject:* Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote:
But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/...
I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it.
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards, Peter Karunyu ------------------- _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
@Svarrer,This experiment only makes sense (to me) if students are allowed to keep the laptops at home - and maybe take them to school once a week. An information society feeds off the ability to absorb and manipulate info, which is a product of good language and arithmetic skills. Otherwise, most of the Kenyan schools lucky enough to have computer labs often lock them up - to keep the computers safe! While we all know that mastery derives from playing with computers over long periods. We should change the way school is done - the current one was supposed to serve the industrial age. We need to develop self-learning curricula for mature students, and interactive educational content for the young ones. ________________________________ From: Bwana Lawi <mail2lawi@gmail.com> To: Skunkworks Mailing List <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> Sent: Friday, May 3, 2013 1:49 PM Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative We need to redefine the meaning of free On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 4:43 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote: I would buy that argument if it had actually worked. Look at what China (under Deng Xiaoping at the time) did after the failure of the communist experiment - the focused on the following:
[1] Agrarian reforms - they can now feed themselves and are one of the largest textile producers. [2] Commerce - They made it simpler to invest and do business - Currently, Kenya is a "spectacular position 121 globally". [3] They then focused on industry…
They are only now jumping onto the IT bandwagon. Look at the marshall plan implemented in South Korea and Japan post WW2. Focused on land reform. South Korea and Japan are now technological juggernauts which has a leading technology company that has quarterly revenues in excess of our GDP.
My point? Focus on the fundamentals - the rest will happen - people have initiative. Look at the US - people have iPads in school - why can the afford this? They have fed themselves, clothed themselves each individual earns enough money to afford an iPad for their toddler (per capita income is 45,000 USD thereabouts). Our per capita income is the value of a MacBook Pro. Where are our priorities? Isn't it better to have people alive as carpenters in 2030 then have a 'digital native' dead by 2020? On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 11:26 AM, Peter Karunyu wrote: Once upon a time, I remember reading that the agrarian revolution took off because of mechanization.
I would posture a theory that our agriculture has hit a glass ceiling, that, as is, it cannot get any better.
Why?
1. We are not mechanizing as fast as we should 2. We are going more towards small scale than towards large scale. A father/mother with several children will break up their farm as inheritance for each of the children.
So, maybe these laptops will cause one of two things: 1. Move away from agriculture and into services as the backbone of our economy 2. Mechanize (or should I say computerize) our agriculture
On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:02 AM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
:-). This fellow has vested interests. Yes. All these folks are going to be paid - who is going to foot the tax bill? My issue is not so much the project (which has noble beginnings) but the utility of the cash.
A kindle with WIFI is 7,000 KES. Buy students rugged kindles without WIFI with selected books from Project Gutenburg. You will laugh all the way to the bank.
The problem we have is assuming that all the knowledge a student needs to succeed in life is Information Technology - however, no knowledge exists in a silo. The reason we go through 12 years of primary and secondary education is because you call knowledge from various spheres of life in order to make decisions/products etc.
You cannot tell me that it makes sense to spend 7% of annual GDP (on a minimum) providing laptops to students and not all of them - just one stream. Do you have any idea what the remaining education budget will look like? We are giving birth at the rate of 1M per year. This cost will only increase. Significantly.
For context, we are an *AGRICULTURAL* economy. Agricultural. Tilling the land, herding goats, sheep, milking cows, wrestling with pigs etc employs 80% of our workforce. 80%. With a rate of 40% unemployment. We have other priorities.
We should really be addressing things like land reform, agricultural reform, making energy cheaper, strengthening our education system (Indeed, we need to invest more in critical thinking and reason to mitigate against such bad policy), infrastructure (rails etc) which will allow us to finance this ten years from now.
We are starving, unhealthy nation in the dark. Surely we have other priorities - like reducing infant mortality (currently 7.5% of all children born are dead by age 5), so that the students who we claim to be buying laptops for live long enough o use them! On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 10:25 AM, John Karanja wrote: An interesting comment from the blog below... http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto...
We are in Digital Age Institute already participating in this programme, in that we are educating Secondary School teachers in use of IT. Its our take, that the teachers are not having many problems adapting. It appears to me to be Nairobi Central City Thinking that teachers up country are not modern. Yes - indeed there are a few who need much more guidance - but they are few - and they are very motivated - playful - absorbing - I'm not in doubt that this will be an initiative working for a long time to come. In regards to taking the laptops home? I don't think so. One of the challenges is maintenance and repair. However - the polytechnics have already educated too many hardware competent repair guys - now the good news: Yoo Hooooo - there's a job for them ! Embracing this new technology will most probably do what it has done elsewhere - speed up all development, education, society development tremendously. Now only missing that we all unite: Teachers / Students / Institutions - so that we can conquer this new world of Information Technology together. Kindly David Svarrer CEO / Principal Digital Age Institute Ltd. 0786 936 145 / 0714 503 333
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
A couple of things:
[1] Marginal utility of capital - Kenya has finite monetary resources. Is this the best way we can possibly spend this money to aid education? For example, the FPE initiated in 2003 did not increase the number of students who were in primary school, enrollment per capita is still the same, albeit with degraded quality - it increased access… [2] Support - What OS will the laptops run? Who will support this infrastructure - whats the total cost of ownership? Warranties? Replacement? What happens when a class one student lovingly pours his sugary juice or porridge onto the laptop? If the laptops are running windows, what happens when the laptop gets a virus? If they are running linux, who will handle basic user issues? [3] Government should in my opinion, focus on the basics, that have worked historically - making energy as cheap as possible (improve quality and quantity too), infrastructure (road/rail/pipeline), reduce regulation, buy books for schools (import used books)). The rest will take care of itself.
The IT sector will *not* be able to absorb the sort of unemployment we have in Kenya. That will be done by farming & manufacturing (btw, even with all the hype in Kenya, as of last year, Agriculture and related services employed 60% of Kenya's population)…
On Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM, John Karanja wrote: I think I have seen from responses a lot of creative ways to mitigate against the concerns you have raised of this project on my blog post here http://bit.ly/YNnv0Q
To summarize: 1. Downgrade from solar powered laptop to solar powered ink e-readers with keyboard input. This will cost max $85/piece and will primarily solve text book crisis.
2. Require manufacturer to assemble the e-readers here in Kenya within 3 years of the program at Konza create local jobs and jump start Konza.
3. Require e-reader to run open source OS to allow porting of local Kenyan applications, games and content e.g Through a local app store.
4. Run of a Wireless Network built on LTE technology or Whitespaces within 3 years so internet access is controlled and monitored.
5. Why start in class one digital literacy is arguably just as important as "play" hence the need to ingrain the same at the ideal age of learning. Think 15 years to see massive benefits.
6. To mitigate against natural threats like theft/damage gadgets will be fitted with biometric id and software upgrades will only be possible remotely as the devices will have no external ports.
7. Insuring each device at say $5 will mitigate against loss as well damage.
In 2010 I visited a cyber cafe in Kibera that had been subsequently been turned into a gaming place because of cost of maintaining the lab even as a business. Kids adapt to technology easily and quickly once they handle their own devices even for a few months is enough to get them interested in tech. See video of my visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7b3DTehfg
I am more worried about the distribution logistics of it all!
John
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:45 AM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com> wrote:
Ashok, >Those laptops are not free. The govt will buy them (just like the Passats) from those companies at govt prices and terms... with your tax money. So, the companies will be selling 500K more computers than otherwise. And this will be sustained for 5 years.... > >I love Uhuruto and I'm rooting for them, so this is where we tell the king that their "transparent" clothes are no clothes at all. Of course, the courtiers will tell them how great looking their gowns are, how bold, handsome & digital they look etc etc. > >There's a wide chasm between "getting man on the moon" and "sending
money to China". If we're determined to throw precious foreign exchange at our Chinese, Korean & American friends, at least let's ensure that we carefully invest the peanuts we get in return, where we have the best return.
> >This is where politics is funny. If any of your managers made such decisions with your money - our treasury coffers are reading negative - they'd get the sack at the double. It's not a poverty mentality, it's just plain old frugality, diligence and good stewardship. As a national character, these qualities will guarantee our prosperity, and contrast with procrastination, wishful thinking & guesswork. > >This is why I like this 'bold' promise. As Ndemo alludes, the better outcome is more than assured: a 50+-seat computer lab at EVERY secondary school, complete with a self-learning curriculum and material. This is what will transform our society within the next 5 years, and hugely positively impact the lives of the Std. 1 pupils, who, BTW, should be playing with each other, and sleeping as much as they can. > > > >At the bottomline, Kenyans > >Cheers! > > >________________________________ > From: "ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info" <ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info> >To: mauxdatabase@gmail.com; Skunkworks Mailing List <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> >Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 5:21 PM >Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative > > > > > > > > >On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: > >But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/... > > > > >I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it. > > > >_______________________________________________ >skunkworks mailing list >skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >------------ >List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >------------ > >Skunkworks Rules >http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >------------ >Other services @ http://my.co.ke > > >_______________________________________________ >skunkworks mailing list >skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >------------ >List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >------------ > >Skunkworks Rules >http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >------------ >Other services @ http://my.co.ke >
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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-- Regards, Peter Karunyu -------------------
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
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_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
People and society is resistant to change. Like a mule or an obstinate horse, a carrot and a stick are the necessary tools to ensure work is done. The laptops are carrots. The structures and changes that will have to take place in order to make the program a success, the work. The benefits are numerous. The real question is not whether it will succeed but rather should be, what should be done to make it a success. On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 12:02 PM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com> wrote:
@Svarrer, This experiment only makes sense (to me) if students are allowed to keep the laptops at home - and maybe take them to school once a week. An information society feeds off the ability to absorb and manipulate info, which is a product of good language and arithmetic skills.
Otherwise, most of the Kenyan schools lucky enough to have computer labs often lock them up - to keep the computers safe! While we all know that mastery derives from playing with computers over long periods.
We should change the way school is done - the current one was supposed to serve the industrial age. We need to develop self-learning curricula for mature students, and interactive educational content for the young ones.
------------------------------ *From:* Bwana Lawi <mail2lawi@gmail.com> *To:* Skunkworks Mailing List <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> *Sent:* Friday, May 3, 2013 1:49 PM
*Subject:* Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
We need to redefine the meaning of free<http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/Treasury-unveils-Sh1-6trn-budget/-/1064/1839974/-/sduhsx/-/index.html>
On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 4:43 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com>wrote:
I would buy that argument if it had actually worked. Look at what China (under Deng Xiaoping at the time) did after the failure of the communist experiment - the focused on the following:
[1] Agrarian reforms - they can now feed themselves and are one of the largest textile producers. [2] Commerce - They made it simpler to invest and do business - Currently, Kenya is a "spectacular position 121 globally". [3] They then focused on industry…
They are only now jumping onto the IT bandwagon. Look at the marshall plan implemented in South Korea and Japan post WW2. Focused on land reform. South Korea and Japan are now technological juggernauts which has a leading technology company that has quarterly revenues in excess of our GDP.
My point? Focus on the fundamentals - the rest will happen - people have initiative. Look at the US - people have iPads in school - why can the afford this? They have fed themselves, clothed themselves each individual earns enough money to afford an iPad for their toddler (per capita income is 45,000 USD thereabouts). Our per capita income is the value of a MacBook Pro. Where are our priorities? Isn't it better to have people alive as carpenters in 2030 then have a 'digital native' dead by 2020? On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 11:26 AM, Peter Karunyu wrote:
Once upon a time, I remember reading that the agrarian revolution took off because of mechanization.
I would posture a theory that our agriculture has hit a glass ceiling, that, *as is,* it cannot get any better.
Why?
1. We are not mechanizing as fast as we should 2. We are going more towards small scale than towards large scale. A father/mother with several children will break up their farm as inheritance for each of the children.
So, maybe these laptops will cause one of two things: 1. Move away from agriculture and into services as the backbone of our economy 2. Mechanize (or should I say computerize) our agriculture
On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:02 AM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com>wrote:
:-). This fellow has vested interests. Yes. All these folks are going to be paid - who is going to foot the tax bill? My issue is not so much the project (which has noble beginnings) but the utility of the cash.
A kindle with WIFI is 7,000 KES. Buy students rugged kindles without WIFI with selected books from Project Gutenburg. You will laugh all the way to the bank.
The problem we have is assuming that all the knowledge a student needs to succeed in life is Information Technology - however, no knowledge exists in a silo. The reason we go through 12 years of primary and secondary education is because you call knowledge from various spheres of life in order to make decisions/products etc.
You cannot tell me that it makes sense to spend 7% of annual GDP (on a minimum) providing laptops to students and not all of them - just one stream. Do you have any idea what the remaining education budget will look like? We are giving birth at the rate of 1M per year. This cost will only increase. Significantly.
For context, we are an *AGRICULTURAL* economy. Agricultural. Tilling the land, herding goats, sheep, milking cows, wrestling with pigs etc employs 80% of our workforce. 80%. With a rate of 40% unemployment. We have other priorities.
We should really be addressing things like land reform, agricultural reform, making energy cheaper, strengthening our education system (Indeed, we need to invest more in critical thinking and reason to mitigate against such bad policy), infrastructure (rails etc) which will allow us to finance this ten years from now.
We are starving, unhealthy nation in the dark. Surely we have other priorities - like reducing infant mortality (currently 7.5% of all children born are dead by age 5), so that the students who we claim to be buying laptops for live long enough o use them! On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 10:25 AM, John Karanja wrote:
An interesting comment from the blog below... http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto...
*We are in Digital Age Institute already participating in this programme, in that we are educating Secondary School teachers in use of IT. Its our take, that the teachers are not having many problems adapting. It appears to me to be Nairobi Central City Thinking that teachers up country are not modern. Yes - indeed there are a few who need much more guidance - but they are few - and they are very motivated - playful - absorbing - I'm not in doubt that this will be an initiative working for a long time to come.* *In regards to taking the laptops home? I don't think so.* *One of the challenges is maintenance and repair. However - the polytechnics have already educated too many hardware competent repair guys - now the good news: Yoo Hooooo - there's a job for them !* *Embracing this new technology will most probably do what it has done elsewhere - speed up all development, education, society development tremendously.* *Now only missing that we all unite: Teachers / Students / Institutions - so that we can conquer this new world of Information Technology together.* *Kindly David Svarrer CEO / Principal Digital Age Institute Ltd. 0786 936 145 / 0714 503 333*
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com>wrote:
A couple of things:
[1] Marginal utility of capital - Kenya has finite monetary resources. Is this the best way we can possibly spend this money to aid education? For example, the FPE initiated in 2003 did not increase the number of students who were in primary school, enrollment per capita is still the same, albeit with degraded quality - it increased access… [2] Support - What OS will the laptops run? Who will support this infrastructure - whats the total cost of ownership? Warranties? Replacement? What happens when a class one student lovingly pours his sugary juice or porridge onto the laptop? If the laptops are running windows, what happens when the laptop gets a virus? If they are running linux, who will handle basic user issues? [3] Government should in my opinion, focus on the basics, that have worked historically - making energy as cheap as possible (improve quality and quantity too), infrastructure (road/rail/pipeline), reduce regulation, buy books for schools (import used books)). The rest will take care of itself.
The IT sector will *not* be able to absorb the sort of unemployment we have in Kenya. That will be done by farming & manufacturing (btw, even with all the hype in Kenya, as of last year, Agriculture and related services employed 60% of Kenya's population)…
On Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM, John Karanja wrote:
I think I have seen from responses a lot of creative ways to mitigate against the concerns you have raised of this project on my blog post here http://bit.ly/YNnv0Q
To summarize:
1. Downgrade from solar powered laptop to solar powered ink e-readers with keyboard input. This will cost max $85/piece and will primarily solve text book crisis. 2. Require manufacturer to assemble the e-readers here in Kenya within 3 years of the program at Konza create local jobs and jump start Konza. 3. Require e-reader to run open source OS to allow porting of local Kenyan applications, games and content e.g Through a local app store. 4. Run of a Wireless Network built on LTE technology or Whitespaces within 3 years so internet access is controlled and monitored. 5. Why start in class one digital literacy is arguably just as important as "play" hence the need to ingrain the same at the ideal age of learning. Think 15 years to see massive benefits. 6. To mitigate against natural threats like theft/damage gadgets will be fitted with biometric id and software upgrades will only be possible remotely as the devices will have no external ports. 7. Insuring each device at say $5 will mitigate against loss as well damage.
In 2010 I visited a cyber cafe in Kibera that had been subsequently been turned into a gaming place because of cost of maintaining the lab even as a business. Kids adapt to technology easily and quickly once they handle their own devices even for a few months is enough to get them interested in tech. See video of my visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7b3DTehfg
I am more worried about the distribution logistics of it all!
John
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:45 AM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com> wrote:
Ashok, Those laptops are not free. The govt will buy them (just like the Passats) from those companies at govt prices and terms... with your tax money. So, the companies will be selling 500K more computers than otherwise. And this will be sustained for 5 years....
I love Uhuruto and I'm rooting for them, so this is where we tell the king that their "transparent" clothes are no clothes at all. Of course, the courtiers will tell them how great looking their gowns are, how bold, handsome & digital they look etc etc.
There's a wide chasm between "getting man on the moon" and "sending money to China". If we're determined to throw precious foreign exchange at our Chinese, Korean & American friends, at least let's ensure that we carefully invest the peanuts we get in return, where we have the best return.
This is where politics is funny. If any of your managers made such decisions with your money - our treasury coffers are reading negative - they'd get the sack at the double. It's not a poverty mentality, it's just plain old frugality, diligence and good stewardship. As a national character, these qualities will guarantee our prosperity, and contrast with procrastination, wishful thinking & guesswork.
This is why I like this 'bold' promise. As Ndemo alludes, the better outcome is more than assured: a 50+-seat computer lab at EVERY secondary school, complete with a self-learning curriculum and material. This is what will transform our society within the next 5 years, and hugely positively impact the lives of the Std. 1 pupils, who, BTW, should be playing with each other, and sleeping as much as they can.
At the bottomline, Kenyans Cheers!
------------------------------ *From:* "ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info" < ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info> *To:* mauxdatabase@gmail.com; Skunkworks Mailing List < skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> *Sent:* Wednesday, April 24, 2013 5:21 PM *Subject:* Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote:
But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/...
I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it.
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards, Peter Karunyu ------------------- _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
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-- Kore Francis Njenga Running and Walking are only breaths apart.
Another interjection, I think people here are over-estimating the ability of laptops to accelerate learning by kids. I had indicated earlier that children most importantly need to learn to count, read and write first using bottle tops / pieces of stone / marbles, abacii, etc and on "dead trees" (paper). Given their age, I hardly believe they are just ready for more sophisticated methods of acquiring knowledge. All they need first is toys. Most of the laptops are either going to be lost or damaged (dipped in water, stepped on, fought over, broken, thrown above the ground at reasonably fast speeds and so on). Someone please tell me how many e-books a class one pupil is going to read on average per month to justify the cost as compared to a good old text book? What you need to remember is that some of us grew up at an age when most of these things were virtually non-existent in our sphere of the world or they were prohibitively expensive and complex. We had no major trouble picking up the skills required to operate them correctly when its time came. Some have gone ahead to become demonstrably adept at the use of such facilities. In my opinion, well equipped computing labs in schools are just as adequate for the purpose, together with a decent connection to the Internet and well trained tutors in all public schools. The government can surely fund this at a much lower cost. Classes should be well spread out with times for the pupils to engage in other activities like going to actual libraries and having sports / games time just like the rest of us "oldies" did. I do not really see the urgency of having to put cheap laptops in the hands of children as a means of drastically improving their education process. This can be done from a different point altogether by changing some parts or all of the system of education in Kenya. Martin. On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 12:15 PM, Francis Njenga <korefn@gmail.com> wrote:
People and society is resistant to change. Like a mule or an obstinate horse, a carrot and a stick are the necessary tools to ensure work is done.
The laptops are carrots. The structures and changes that will have to take place in order to make the program a success, the work. The benefits are numerous.
The real question is not whether it will succeed but rather should be, what should be done to make it a success.
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 12:02 PM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com> wrote:
@Svarrer, This experiment only makes sense (to me) if students are allowed to keep the laptops at home - and maybe take them to school once a week. An information society feeds off the ability to absorb and manipulate info, which is a product of good language and arithmetic skills.
Otherwise, most of the Kenyan schools lucky enough to have computer labs often lock them up - to keep the computers safe! While we all know that mastery derives from playing with computers over long periods.
We should change the way school is done - the current one was supposed to serve the industrial age. We need to develop self-learning curricula for mature students, and interactive educational content for the young ones.
------------------------------ *From:* Bwana Lawi <mail2lawi@gmail.com> *To:* Skunkworks Mailing List <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> *Sent:* Friday, May 3, 2013 1:49 PM
*Subject:* Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
We need to redefine the meaning of free<http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/Treasury-unveils-Sh1-6trn-budget/-/1064/1839974/-/sduhsx/-/index.html>
On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 4:43 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com>wrote:
I would buy that argument if it had actually worked. Look at what China (under Deng Xiaoping at the time) did after the failure of the communist experiment - the focused on the following:
[1] Agrarian reforms - they can now feed themselves and are one of the largest textile producers. [2] Commerce - They made it simpler to invest and do business - Currently, Kenya is a "spectacular position 121 globally". [3] They then focused on industry…
They are only now jumping onto the IT bandwagon. Look at the marshall plan implemented in South Korea and Japan post WW2. Focused on land reform. South Korea and Japan are now technological juggernauts which has a leading technology company that has quarterly revenues in excess of our GDP.
My point? Focus on the fundamentals - the rest will happen - people have initiative. Look at the US - people have iPads in school - why can the afford this? They have fed themselves, clothed themselves each individual earns enough money to afford an iPad for their toddler (per capita income is 45,000 USD thereabouts). Our per capita income is the value of a MacBook Pro. Where are our priorities? Isn't it better to have people alive as carpenters in 2030 then have a 'digital native' dead by 2020? On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 11:26 AM, Peter Karunyu wrote:
Once upon a time, I remember reading that the agrarian revolution took off because of mechanization.
I would posture a theory that our agriculture has hit a glass ceiling, that, *as is,* it cannot get any better.
Why?
1. We are not mechanizing as fast as we should 2. We are going more towards small scale than towards large scale. A father/mother with several children will break up their farm as inheritance for each of the children.
So, maybe these laptops will cause one of two things: 1. Move away from agriculture and into services as the backbone of our economy 2. Mechanize (or should I say computerize) our agriculture
On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:02 AM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com
wrote:
:-). This fellow has vested interests. Yes. All these folks are going to be paid - who is going to foot the tax bill? My issue is not so much the project (which has noble beginnings) but the utility of the cash.
A kindle with WIFI is 7,000 KES. Buy students rugged kindles without WIFI with selected books from Project Gutenburg. You will laugh all the way to the bank.
The problem we have is assuming that all the knowledge a student needs to succeed in life is Information Technology - however, no knowledge exists in a silo. The reason we go through 12 years of primary and secondary education is because you call knowledge from various spheres of life in order to make decisions/products etc.
You cannot tell me that it makes sense to spend 7% of annual GDP (on a minimum) providing laptops to students and not all of them - just one stream. Do you have any idea what the remaining education budget will look like? We are giving birth at the rate of 1M per year. This cost will only increase. Significantly.
For context, we are an *AGRICULTURAL* economy. Agricultural. Tilling the land, herding goats, sheep, milking cows, wrestling with pigs etc employs 80% of our workforce. 80%. With a rate of 40% unemployment. We have other priorities.
We should really be addressing things like land reform, agricultural reform, making energy cheaper, strengthening our education system (Indeed, we need to invest more in critical thinking and reason to mitigate against such bad policy), infrastructure (rails etc) which will allow us to finance this ten years from now.
We are starving, unhealthy nation in the dark. Surely we have other priorities - like reducing infant mortality (currently 7.5% of all children born are dead by age 5), so that the students who we claim to be buying laptops for live long enough o use them! On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 10:25 AM, John Karanja wrote:
An interesting comment from the blog below... http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto...
*We are in Digital Age Institute already participating in this programme, in that we are educating Secondary School teachers in use of IT. Its our take, that the teachers are not having many problems adapting. It appears to me to be Nairobi Central City Thinking that teachers up country are not modern. Yes - indeed there are a few who need much more guidance - but they are few - and they are very motivated - playful - absorbing - I'm not in doubt that this will be an initiative working for a long time to come.* *In regards to taking the laptops home? I don't think so.* *One of the challenges is maintenance and repair. However - the polytechnics have already educated too many hardware competent repair guys - now the good news: Yoo Hooooo - there's a job for them !* *Embracing this new technology will most probably do what it has done elsewhere - speed up all development, education, society development tremendously.* *Now only missing that we all unite: Teachers / Students / Institutions - so that we can conquer this new world of Information Technology together. * *Kindly David Svarrer CEO / Principal Digital Age Institute Ltd. 0786 936 145 / 0714 503 333*
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com
wrote:
A couple of things:
[1] Marginal utility of capital - Kenya has finite monetary resources. Is this the best way we can possibly spend this money to aid education? For example, the FPE initiated in 2003 did not increase the number of students who were in primary school, enrollment per capita is still the same, albeit with degraded quality - it increased access… [2] Support - What OS will the laptops run? Who will support this infrastructure - whats the total cost of ownership? Warranties? Replacement? What happens when a class one student lovingly pours his sugary juice or porridge onto the laptop? If the laptops are running windows, what happens when the laptop gets a virus? If they are running linux, who will handle basic user issues? [3] Government should in my opinion, focus on the basics, that have worked historically - making energy as cheap as possible (improve quality and quantity too), infrastructure (road/rail/pipeline), reduce regulation, buy books for schools (import used books)). The rest will take care of itself.
The IT sector will *not* be able to absorb the sort of unemployment we have in Kenya. That will be done by farming & manufacturing (btw, even with all the hype in Kenya, as of last year, Agriculture and related services employed 60% of Kenya's population)…
On Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM, John Karanja wrote:
I think I have seen from responses a lot of creative ways to mitigate against the concerns you have raised of this project on my blog post here http://bit.ly/YNnv0Q
To summarize:
1. Downgrade from solar powered laptop to solar powered ink e-readers with keyboard input. This will cost max $85/piece and will primarily solve text book crisis. 2. Require manufacturer to assemble the e-readers here in Kenya within 3 years of the program at Konza create local jobs and jump start Konza. 3. Require e-reader to run open source OS to allow porting of local Kenyan applications, games and content e.g Through a local app store. 4. Run of a Wireless Network built on LTE technology or Whitespaces within 3 years so internet access is controlled and monitored. 5. Why start in class one digital literacy is arguably just as important as "play" hence the need to ingrain the same at the ideal age of learning. Think 15 years to see massive benefits. 6. To mitigate against natural threats like theft/damage gadgets will be fitted with biometric id and software upgrades will only be possible remotely as the devices will have no external ports. 7. Insuring each device at say $5 will mitigate against loss as well damage.
In 2010 I visited a cyber cafe in Kibera that had been subsequently been turned into a gaming place because of cost of maintaining the lab even as a business. Kids adapt to technology easily and quickly once they handle their own devices even for a few months is enough to get them interested in tech. See video of my visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7b3DTehfg
I am more worried about the distribution logistics of it all!
John
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:45 AM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com> wrote:
Ashok, Those laptops are not free. The govt will buy them (just like the Passats) from those companies at govt prices and terms... with your tax money. So, the companies will be selling 500K more computers than otherwise. And this will be sustained for 5 years....
I love Uhuruto and I'm rooting for them, so this is where we tell the king that their "transparent" clothes are no clothes at all. Of course, the courtiers will tell them how great looking their gowns are, how bold, handsome & digital they look etc etc.
There's a wide chasm between "getting man on the moon" and "sending money to China". If we're determined to throw precious foreign exchange at our Chinese, Korean & American friends, at least let's ensure that we carefully invest the peanuts we get in return, where we have the best return.
This is where politics is funny. If any of your managers made such decisions with your money - our treasury coffers are reading negative - they'd get the sack at the double. It's not a poverty mentality, it's just plain old frugality, diligence and good stewardship. As a national character, these qualities will guarantee our prosperity, and contrast with procrastination, wishful thinking & guesswork.
This is why I like this 'bold' promise. As Ndemo alludes, the better outcome is more than assured: a 50+-seat computer lab at EVERY secondary school, complete with a self-learning curriculum and material. This is what will transform our society within the next 5 years, and hugely positively impact the lives of the Std. 1 pupils, who, BTW, should be playing with each other, and sleeping as much as they can.
At the bottomline, Kenyans Cheers!
------------------------------ *From:* "ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info" < ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info> *To:* mauxdatabase@gmail.com; Skunkworks Mailing List < skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> *Sent:* Wednesday, April 24, 2013 5:21 PM *Subject:* Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote:
But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/...
I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it.
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-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
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-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
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Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
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-- Kore Francis Njenga Running and Walking are only breaths apart.
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@Bernard Owuor: I fully concur our education system needs to be revolutionalized. Edward On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 12:35 PM, Martin Chiteri <martin.chiteri@gmail.com>wrote:
Another interjection,
I think people here are over-estimating the ability of laptops to accelerate learning by kids. I had indicated earlier that children most importantly need to learn to count, read and write first using bottle tops / pieces of stone / marbles, abacii, etc and on "dead trees" (paper). Given their age, I hardly believe they are just ready for more sophisticated methods of acquiring knowledge. All they need first is toys. Most of the laptops are either going to be lost or damaged (dipped in water, stepped on, fought over, broken, thrown above the ground at reasonably fast speeds and so on). Someone please tell me how many e-books a class one pupil is going to read on average per month to justify the cost as compared to a good old text book?
What you need to remember is that some of us grew up at an age when most of these things were virtually non-existent in our sphere of the world or they were prohibitively expensive and complex. We had no major trouble picking up the skills required to operate them correctly when its time came. Some have gone ahead to become demonstrably adept at the use of such facilities. In my opinion, well equipped computing labs in schools are just as adequate for the purpose, together with a decent connection to the Internet and well trained tutors in all public schools. The government can surely fund this at a much lower cost. Classes should be well spread out with times for the pupils to engage in other activities like going to actual libraries and having sports / games time just like the rest of us "oldies" did.
I do not really see the urgency of having to put cheap laptops in the hands of children as a means of drastically improving their education process. This can be done from a different point altogether by changing some parts or all of the system of education in Kenya.
Martin.
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 12:15 PM, Francis Njenga <korefn@gmail.com> wrote:
People and society is resistant to change. Like a mule or an obstinate horse, a carrot and a stick are the necessary tools to ensure work is done.
The laptops are carrots. The structures and changes that will have to take place in order to make the program a success, the work. The benefits are numerous.
The real question is not whether it will succeed but rather should be, what should be done to make it a success.
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 12:02 PM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com> wrote:
@Svarrer, This experiment only makes sense (to me) if students are allowed to keep the laptops at home - and maybe take them to school once a week. An information society feeds off the ability to absorb and manipulate info, which is a product of good language and arithmetic skills.
Otherwise, most of the Kenyan schools lucky enough to have computer labs often lock them up - to keep the computers safe! While we all know that mastery derives from playing with computers over long periods.
We should change the way school is done - the current one was supposed to serve the industrial age. We need to develop self-learning curricula for mature students, and interactive educational content for the young ones.
------------------------------ *From:* Bwana Lawi <mail2lawi@gmail.com> *To:* Skunkworks Mailing List <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> *Sent:* Friday, May 3, 2013 1:49 PM
*Subject:* Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
We need to redefine the meaning of free<http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/Treasury-unveils-Sh1-6trn-budget/-/1064/1839974/-/sduhsx/-/index.html>
On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 4:43 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com
wrote:
I would buy that argument if it had actually worked. Look at what China (under Deng Xiaoping at the time) did after the failure of the communist experiment - the focused on the following:
[1] Agrarian reforms - they can now feed themselves and are one of the largest textile producers. [2] Commerce - They made it simpler to invest and do business - Currently, Kenya is a "spectacular position 121 globally". [3] They then focused on industry…
They are only now jumping onto the IT bandwagon. Look at the marshall plan implemented in South Korea and Japan post WW2. Focused on land reform. South Korea and Japan are now technological juggernauts which has a leading technology company that has quarterly revenues in excess of our GDP.
My point? Focus on the fundamentals - the rest will happen - people have initiative. Look at the US - people have iPads in school - why can the afford this? They have fed themselves, clothed themselves each individual earns enough money to afford an iPad for their toddler (per capita income is 45,000 USD thereabouts). Our per capita income is the value of a MacBook Pro. Where are our priorities? Isn't it better to have people alive as carpenters in 2030 then have a 'digital native' dead by 2020? On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 11:26 AM, Peter Karunyu wrote:
Once upon a time, I remember reading that the agrarian revolution took off because of mechanization.
I would posture a theory that our agriculture has hit a glass ceiling, that, *as is,* it cannot get any better.
Why?
1. We are not mechanizing as fast as we should 2. We are going more towards small scale than towards large scale. A father/mother with several children will break up their farm as inheritance for each of the children.
So, maybe these laptops will cause one of two things: 1. Move away from agriculture and into services as the backbone of our economy 2. Mechanize (or should I say computerize) our agriculture
On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:02 AM, Phares Kariuki < phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
:-). This fellow has vested interests. Yes. All these folks are going to be paid - who is going to foot the tax bill? My issue is not so much the project (which has noble beginnings) but the utility of the cash.
A kindle with WIFI is 7,000 KES. Buy students rugged kindles without WIFI with selected books from Project Gutenburg. You will laugh all the way to the bank.
The problem we have is assuming that all the knowledge a student needs to succeed in life is Information Technology - however, no knowledge exists in a silo. The reason we go through 12 years of primary and secondary education is because you call knowledge from various spheres of life in order to make decisions/products etc.
You cannot tell me that it makes sense to spend 7% of annual GDP (on a minimum) providing laptops to students and not all of them - just one stream. Do you have any idea what the remaining education budget will look like? We are giving birth at the rate of 1M per year. This cost will only increase. Significantly.
For context, we are an *AGRICULTURAL* economy. Agricultural. Tilling the land, herding goats, sheep, milking cows, wrestling with pigs etc employs 80% of our workforce. 80%. With a rate of 40% unemployment. We have other priorities.
We should really be addressing things like land reform, agricultural reform, making energy cheaper, strengthening our education system (Indeed, we need to invest more in critical thinking and reason to mitigate against such bad policy), infrastructure (rails etc) which will allow us to finance this ten years from now.
We are starving, unhealthy nation in the dark. Surely we have other priorities - like reducing infant mortality (currently 7.5% of all children born are dead by age 5), so that the students who we claim to be buying laptops for live long enough o use them! On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 10:25 AM, John Karanja wrote:
An interesting comment from the blog below... http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto...
*We are in Digital Age Institute already participating in this programme, in that we are educating Secondary School teachers in use of IT. Its our take, that the teachers are not having many problems adapting. It appears to me to be Nairobi Central City Thinking that teachers up country are not modern. Yes - indeed there are a few who need much more guidance - but they are few - and they are very motivated - playful - absorbing - I'm not in doubt that this will be an initiative working for a long time to come.* *In regards to taking the laptops home? I don't think so.* *One of the challenges is maintenance and repair. However - the polytechnics have already educated too many hardware competent repair guys - now the good news: Yoo Hooooo - there's a job for them !* *Embracing this new technology will most probably do what it has done elsewhere - speed up all development, education, society development tremendously.* *Now only missing that we all unite: Teachers / Students / Institutions - so that we can conquer this new world of Information Technology together. * *Kindly David Svarrer CEO / Principal Digital Age Institute Ltd. 0786 936 145 / 0714 503 333*
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Phares Kariuki < phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
A couple of things:
[1] Marginal utility of capital - Kenya has finite monetary resources. Is this the best way we can possibly spend this money to aid education? For example, the FPE initiated in 2003 did not increase the number of students who were in primary school, enrollment per capita is still the same, albeit with degraded quality - it increased access… [2] Support - What OS will the laptops run? Who will support this infrastructure - whats the total cost of ownership? Warranties? Replacement? What happens when a class one student lovingly pours his sugary juice or porridge onto the laptop? If the laptops are running windows, what happens when the laptop gets a virus? If they are running linux, who will handle basic user issues? [3] Government should in my opinion, focus on the basics, that have worked historically - making energy as cheap as possible (improve quality and quantity too), infrastructure (road/rail/pipeline), reduce regulation, buy books for schools (import used books)). The rest will take care of itself.
The IT sector will *not* be able to absorb the sort of unemployment we have in Kenya. That will be done by farming & manufacturing (btw, even with all the hype in Kenya, as of last year, Agriculture and related services employed 60% of Kenya's population)…
On Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM, John Karanja wrote:
I think I have seen from responses a lot of creative ways to mitigate against the concerns you have raised of this project on my blog post here http://bit.ly/YNnv0Q
To summarize:
1. Downgrade from solar powered laptop to solar powered ink e-readers with keyboard input. This will cost max $85/piece and will primarily solve text book crisis. 2. Require manufacturer to assemble the e-readers here in Kenya within 3 years of the program at Konza create local jobs and jump start Konza. 3. Require e-reader to run open source OS to allow porting of local Kenyan applications, games and content e.g Through a local app store. 4. Run of a Wireless Network built on LTE technology or Whitespaces within 3 years so internet access is controlled and monitored. 5. Why start in class one digital literacy is arguably just as important as "play" hence the need to ingrain the same at the ideal age of learning. Think 15 years to see massive benefits. 6. To mitigate against natural threats like theft/damage gadgets will be fitted with biometric id and software upgrades will only be possible remotely as the devices will have no external ports. 7. Insuring each device at say $5 will mitigate against loss as well damage.
In 2010 I visited a cyber cafe in Kibera that had been subsequently been turned into a gaming place because of cost of maintaining the lab even as a business. Kids adapt to technology easily and quickly once they handle their own devices even for a few months is enough to get them interested in tech. See video of my visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7b3DTehfg
I am more worried about the distribution logistics of it all!
John
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:45 AM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com>wrote:
Ashok, Those laptops are not free. The govt will buy them (just like the Passats) from those companies at govt prices and terms... with your tax money. So, the companies will be selling 500K more computers than otherwise. And this will be sustained for 5 years....
I love Uhuruto and I'm rooting for them, so this is where we tell the king that their "transparent" clothes are no clothes at all. Of course, the courtiers will tell them how great looking their gowns are, how bold, handsome & digital they look etc etc.
There's a wide chasm between "getting man on the moon" and "sending money to China". If we're determined to throw precious foreign exchange at our Chinese, Korean & American friends, at least let's ensure that we carefully invest the peanuts we get in return, where we have the best return.
This is where politics is funny. If any of your managers made such decisions with your money - our treasury coffers are reading negative - they'd get the sack at the double. It's not a poverty mentality, it's just plain old frugality, diligence and good stewardship. As a national character, these qualities will guarantee our prosperity, and contrast with procrastination, wishful thinking & guesswork.
This is why I like this 'bold' promise. As Ndemo alludes, the better outcome is more than assured: a 50+-seat computer lab at EVERY secondary school, complete with a self-learning curriculum and material. This is what will transform our society within the next 5 years, and hugely positively impact the lives of the Std. 1 pupils, who, BTW, should be playing with each other, and sleeping as much as they can.
At the bottomline, Kenyans Cheers!
------------------------------ *From:* "ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info" < ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info> *To:* mauxdatabase@gmail.com; Skunkworks Mailing List < skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> *Sent:* Wednesday, April 24, 2013 5:21 PM *Subject:* Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote:
But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/...
I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it.
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
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-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards, Peter Karunyu ------------------- _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
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As I read more comments, I believe we all(at least most of the contributers) agree that the education system needs to be "revolutionized"/"modernized"/'Re-engineered'. The question begs: "How do we do this?" The only way way to move forward is to aim and take strides towards the goal. We have a direction, do we run or walk? On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Edward Mayaka <emayaka@gmail.com> wrote:
@Bernard Owuor: I fully concur our education system needs to be revolutionalized.
Edward
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 12:35 PM, Martin Chiteri <martin.chiteri@gmail.com>wrote:
Another interjection,
I think people here are over-estimating the ability of laptops to accelerate learning by kids. I had indicated earlier that children most importantly need to learn to count, read and write first using bottle tops / pieces of stone / marbles, abacii, etc and on "dead trees" (paper). Given their age, I hardly believe they are just ready for more sophisticated methods of acquiring knowledge. All they need first is toys. Most of the laptops are either going to be lost or damaged (dipped in water, stepped on, fought over, broken, thrown above the ground at reasonably fast speeds and so on). Someone please tell me how many e-books a class one pupil is going to read on average per month to justify the cost as compared to a good old text book?
What you need to remember is that some of us grew up at an age when most of these things were virtually non-existent in our sphere of the world or they were prohibitively expensive and complex. We had no major trouble picking up the skills required to operate them correctly when its time came. Some have gone ahead to become demonstrably adept at the use of such facilities. In my opinion, well equipped computing labs in schools are just as adequate for the purpose, together with a decent connection to the Internet and well trained tutors in all public schools. The government can surely fund this at a much lower cost. Classes should be well spread out with times for the pupils to engage in other activities like going to actual libraries and having sports / games time just like the rest of us "oldies" did.
I do not really see the urgency of having to put cheap laptops in the hands of children as a means of drastically improving their education process. This can be done from a different point altogether by changing some parts or all of the system of education in Kenya.
Martin.
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 12:15 PM, Francis Njenga <korefn@gmail.com> wrote:
People and society is resistant to change. Like a mule or an obstinate horse, a carrot and a stick are the necessary tools to ensure work is done.
The laptops are carrots. The structures and changes that will have to take place in order to make the program a success, the work. The benefits are numerous.
The real question is not whether it will succeed but rather should be, what should be done to make it a success.
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 12:02 PM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com>wrote:
@Svarrer, This experiment only makes sense (to me) if students are allowed to keep the laptops at home - and maybe take them to school once a week. An information society feeds off the ability to absorb and manipulate info, which is a product of good language and arithmetic skills.
Otherwise, most of the Kenyan schools lucky enough to have computer labs often lock them up - to keep the computers safe! While we all know that mastery derives from playing with computers over long periods.
We should change the way school is done - the current one was supposed to serve the industrial age. We need to develop self-learning curricula for mature students, and interactive educational content for the young ones.
------------------------------ *From:* Bwana Lawi <mail2lawi@gmail.com> *To:* Skunkworks Mailing List <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> *Sent:* Friday, May 3, 2013 1:49 PM
*Subject:* Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
We need to redefine the meaning of free<http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/Treasury-unveils-Sh1-6trn-budget/-/1064/1839974/-/sduhsx/-/index.html>
On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 4:43 PM, Phares Kariuki < phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
I would buy that argument if it had actually worked. Look at what China (under Deng Xiaoping at the time) did after the failure of the communist experiment - the focused on the following:
[1] Agrarian reforms - they can now feed themselves and are one of the largest textile producers. [2] Commerce - They made it simpler to invest and do business - Currently, Kenya is a "spectacular position 121 globally". [3] They then focused on industry…
They are only now jumping onto the IT bandwagon. Look at the marshall plan implemented in South Korea and Japan post WW2. Focused on land reform. South Korea and Japan are now technological juggernauts which has a leading technology company that has quarterly revenues in excess of our GDP.
My point? Focus on the fundamentals - the rest will happen - people have initiative. Look at the US - people have iPads in school - why can the afford this? They have fed themselves, clothed themselves each individual earns enough money to afford an iPad for their toddler (per capita income is 45,000 USD thereabouts). Our per capita income is the value of a MacBook Pro. Where are our priorities? Isn't it better to have people alive as carpenters in 2030 then have a 'digital native' dead by 2020? On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 11:26 AM, Peter Karunyu wrote:
Once upon a time, I remember reading that the agrarian revolution took off because of mechanization.
I would posture a theory that our agriculture has hit a glass ceiling, that, *as is,* it cannot get any better.
Why?
1. We are not mechanizing as fast as we should 2. We are going more towards small scale than towards large scale. A father/mother with several children will break up their farm as inheritance for each of the children.
So, maybe these laptops will cause one of two things: 1. Move away from agriculture and into services as the backbone of our economy 2. Mechanize (or should I say computerize) our agriculture
On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:02 AM, Phares Kariuki < phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
:-). This fellow has vested interests. Yes. All these folks are going to be paid - who is going to foot the tax bill? My issue is not so much the project (which has noble beginnings) but the utility of the cash.
A kindle with WIFI is 7,000 KES. Buy students rugged kindles without WIFI with selected books from Project Gutenburg. You will laugh all the way to the bank.
The problem we have is assuming that all the knowledge a student needs to succeed in life is Information Technology - however, no knowledge exists in a silo. The reason we go through 12 years of primary and secondary education is because you call knowledge from various spheres of life in order to make decisions/products etc.
You cannot tell me that it makes sense to spend 7% of annual GDP (on a minimum) providing laptops to students and not all of them - just one stream. Do you have any idea what the remaining education budget will look like? We are giving birth at the rate of 1M per year. This cost will only increase. Significantly.
For context, we are an *AGRICULTURAL* economy. Agricultural. Tilling the land, herding goats, sheep, milking cows, wrestling with pigs etc employs 80% of our workforce. 80%. With a rate of 40% unemployment. We have other priorities.
We should really be addressing things like land reform, agricultural reform, making energy cheaper, strengthening our education system (Indeed, we need to invest more in critical thinking and reason to mitigate against such bad policy), infrastructure (rails etc) which will allow us to finance this ten years from now.
We are starving, unhealthy nation in the dark. Surely we have other priorities - like reducing infant mortality (currently 7.5% of all children born are dead by age 5), so that the students who we claim to be buying laptops for live long enough o use them! On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 10:25 AM, John Karanja wrote:
An interesting comment from the blog below... http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto...
*We are in Digital Age Institute already participating in this programme, in that we are educating Secondary School teachers in use of IT. Its our take, that the teachers are not having many problems adapting. It appears to me to be Nairobi Central City Thinking that teachers up country are not modern. Yes - indeed there are a few who need much more guidance - but they are few - and they are very motivated - playful - absorbing - I'm not in doubt that this will be an initiative working for a long time to come.* *In regards to taking the laptops home? I don't think so.* *One of the challenges is maintenance and repair. However - the polytechnics have already educated too many hardware competent repair guys - now the good news: Yoo Hooooo - there's a job for them !* *Embracing this new technology will most probably do what it has done elsewhere - speed up all development, education, society development tremendously.* *Now only missing that we all unite: Teachers / Students / Institutions - so that we can conquer this new world of Information Technology together.* *Kindly David Svarrer CEO / Principal Digital Age Institute Ltd. 0786 936 145 / 0714 503 333*
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Phares Kariuki < phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
A couple of things:
[1] Marginal utility of capital - Kenya has finite monetary resources. Is this the best way we can possibly spend this money to aid education? For example, the FPE initiated in 2003 did not increase the number of students who were in primary school, enrollment per capita is still the same, albeit with degraded quality - it increased access… [2] Support - What OS will the laptops run? Who will support this infrastructure - whats the total cost of ownership? Warranties? Replacement? What happens when a class one student lovingly pours his sugary juice or porridge onto the laptop? If the laptops are running windows, what happens when the laptop gets a virus? If they are running linux, who will handle basic user issues? [3] Government should in my opinion, focus on the basics, that have worked historically - making energy as cheap as possible (improve quality and quantity too), infrastructure (road/rail/pipeline), reduce regulation, buy books for schools (import used books)). The rest will take care of itself.
The IT sector will *not* be able to absorb the sort of unemployment we have in Kenya. That will be done by farming & manufacturing (btw, even with all the hype in Kenya, as of last year, Agriculture and related services employed 60% of Kenya's population)…
On Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM, John Karanja wrote:
I think I have seen from responses a lot of creative ways to mitigate against the concerns you have raised of this project on my blog post here http://bit.ly/YNnv0Q
To summarize:
1. Downgrade from solar powered laptop to solar powered ink e-readers with keyboard input. This will cost max $85/piece and will primarily solve text book crisis. 2. Require manufacturer to assemble the e-readers here in Kenya within 3 years of the program at Konza create local jobs and jump start Konza. 3. Require e-reader to run open source OS to allow porting of local Kenyan applications, games and content e.g Through a local app store. 4. Run of a Wireless Network built on LTE technology or Whitespaces within 3 years so internet access is controlled and monitored. 5. Why start in class one digital literacy is arguably just as important as "play" hence the need to ingrain the same at the ideal age of learning. Think 15 years to see massive benefits. 6. To mitigate against natural threats like theft/damage gadgets will be fitted with biometric id and software upgrades will only be possible remotely as the devices will have no external ports. 7. Insuring each device at say $5 will mitigate against loss as well damage.
In 2010 I visited a cyber cafe in Kibera that had been subsequently been turned into a gaming place because of cost of maintaining the lab even as a business. Kids adapt to technology easily and quickly once they handle their own devices even for a few months is enough to get them interested in tech. See video of my visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7b3DTehfg
I am more worried about the distribution logistics of it all!
John
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:45 AM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com>wrote:
Ashok, Those laptops are not free. The govt will buy them (just like the Passats) from those companies at govt prices and terms... with your tax money. So, the companies will be selling 500K more computers than otherwise. And this will be sustained for 5 years....
I love Uhuruto and I'm rooting for them, so this is where we tell the king that their "transparent" clothes are no clothes at all. Of course, the courtiers will tell them how great looking their gowns are, how bold, handsome & digital they look etc etc.
There's a wide chasm between "getting man on the moon" and "sending money to China". If we're determined to throw precious foreign exchange at our Chinese, Korean & American friends, at least let's ensure that we carefully invest the peanuts we get in return, where we have the best return.
This is where politics is funny. If any of your managers made such decisions with your money - our treasury coffers are reading negative - they'd get the sack at the double. It's not a poverty mentality, it's just plain old frugality, diligence and good stewardship. As a national character, these qualities will guarantee our prosperity, and contrast with procrastination, wishful thinking & guesswork.
This is why I like this 'bold' promise. As Ndemo alludes, the better outcome is more than assured: a 50+-seat computer lab at EVERY secondary school, complete with a self-learning curriculum and material. This is what will transform our society within the next 5 years, and hugely positively impact the lives of the Std. 1 pupils, who, BTW, should be playing with each other, and sleeping as much as they can.
At the bottomline, Kenyans Cheers!
------------------------------ *From:* "ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info" < ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info> *To:* mauxdatabase@gmail.com; Skunkworks Mailing List < skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> *Sent:* Wednesday, April 24, 2013 5:21 PM *Subject:* Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote:
But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/...
I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it.
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-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
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-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
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-- Regards, Peter Karunyu ------------------- _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
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@Francis On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 1:09 PM, Francis Njenga <korefn@gmail.com> wrote:
As I read more comments, I believe we all(at least most of the contributers) agree that the education system needs to be "revolutionized"/"modernized"/'Re-engineered'. The question begs: "How do we do this?"
IMHO, it is incredibly difficult (not impossible) to change our education system since there are so many vested interests. And even if we did manage to change it, it would take several years for the effect to be felt tangibly. Some of these vested interests are: Ministry of Education KNUT TSC Teachers Parents Book publishers Our international donors/partners/financiers Students Our <*put here a bad word of your choice*> members of parliament and senate Each one of these would form a point of resistance in the implementation of the change in our education system. The statements of @Phares make a lot sense, but I think we are lacking in one area; applying scientific methodologies to separate fact from chaff, as Bitange Ndemo once implied. These questions linger in my mind: 1. What change in the economy have the fiber optic cables introduced since they were lit? Can it be measured? 2. What contribution has the Thika superhighway contributed to the economy? Can it be measured? 3. If a quarter of thika road was implemented in the heart of Kericho (assuming this is where lots of tea comes from), would the impact of this be bigger or lesser than thika road? 4. Is a bigger JKIA more profitable for the economy than more milk processing plants in <that place where they were pouring milk>? My point is, how can we measure what each *basic* arm of the economy contributes to the whole?
Hi guys, Sorry to differ again with the general opinion here. I am still not convinced that we need to give kids "a hundred dollar laptops" in order to make them learn better. My view is that children nowadays are informally trained to use computers at a very early age, thanks to the many play stations / XBoxes and smart phones + tablet computers available through their parents. I am also certain many of them get to use laptops at the same time for the same reasons. We really need to teach children just a little more to make them be fully comfortable with the use of other "advanced" computing equipment. If the said "digital" dream is to be achieved by 2030, we should have already seen the fruits of this early exposure, and I believe we already are doing that but to smaller extents. Another thing we should really appreciate is that it took fifty years for the U.s of America to get the famous silicon valley to the point it is at now. Maybe they had no choice, even with their might, to get there now since fifty years is all they had between now and then ...... Nevertheless, let not building *our* "silicon savannah" be the primary objective but the creation of a population that is capable of clearly reasoning and fixing their own inadequacies, be it with the economy, society or technology. As @Phares among a few others indicated, we really need to tackle the problem from another region. I really do not think the "One laptop per child" initiative came about as a result of serious discussions between the stakeholders in the education field and other parties. If this were the case, I suspect the actual issue with our education system could have been clearly pointed out in another direction. By simply working with the basics like well equipped libraries and labs, class rooms, good roads to schools, water and electricity, well trained and compensated teachers among others, good social amenities in schools, we will surely get there. Martin. On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 1:33 PM, Peter Karunyu <pkarunyu@gmail.com> wrote:
@Francis
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 1:09 PM, Francis Njenga <korefn@gmail.com> wrote:
As I read more comments, I believe we all(at least most of the contributers) agree that the education system needs to be "revolutionized"/"modernized"/'Re-engineered'. The question begs: "How do we do this?"
IMHO, it is incredibly difficult (not impossible) to change our education system since there are so many vested interests. And even if we did manage to change it, it would take several years for the effect to be felt tangibly.
Some of these vested interests are:
Ministry of Education KNUT TSC Teachers Parents Book publishers Our international donors/partners/financiers Students Our <*put here a bad word of your choice*> members of parliament and senate
Each one of these would form a point of resistance in the implementation of the change in our education system.
The statements of @Phares make a lot sense, but I think we are lacking in one area; applying scientific methodologies to separate fact from chaff, as Bitange Ndemo once implied.
These questions linger in my mind:
1. What change in the economy have the fiber optic cables introduced since they were lit? Can it be measured? 2. What contribution has the Thika superhighway contributed to the economy? Can it be measured? 3. If a quarter of thika road was implemented in the heart of Kericho (assuming this is where lots of tea comes from), would the impact of this be bigger or lesser than thika road? 4. Is a bigger JKIA more profitable for the economy than more milk processing plants in <that place where they were pouring milk>?
My point is, how can we measure what each *basic* arm of the economy contributes to the whole?
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@Martin - In as much as there is a point in the argument you put forward, the current system which involves bottle tops and said bricks for arithmetic should be in effect for early childhood. The appreciation we all have is that there have been inadequacies in this system, not all of it but there are major faults. The point I'm trying to put forth is that while we retrain teachers(primarily to be computer literate and educators in tech), we have an opportune chance to do a lot more. While coming up with the "laptop curriculum" why not fix the faults? It's logical, efficient and timely. On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 2:56 PM, Martin Chiteri <martin.chiteri@gmail.com>wrote:
Hi guys,
Sorry to differ again with the general opinion here. I am still not convinced that we need to give kids "a hundred dollar laptops" in order to make them learn better. My view is that children nowadays are informally trained to use computers at a very early age, thanks to the many play stations / XBoxes and smart phones + tablet computers available through their parents. I am also certain many of them get to use laptops at the same time for the same reasons. We really need to teach children just a little more to make them be fully comfortable with the use of other "advanced" computing equipment.
If the said "digital" dream is to be achieved by 2030, we should have already seen the fruits of this early exposure, and I believe we already are doing that but to smaller extents. Another thing we should really appreciate is that it took fifty years for the U.s of America to get the famous silicon valley to the point it is at now. Maybe they had no choice, even with their might, to get there now since fifty years is all they had between now and then ...... Nevertheless, let not building *our* "silicon savannah" be the primary objective but the creation of a population that is capable of clearly reasoning and fixing their own inadequacies, be it with the economy, society or technology.
As @Phares among a few others indicated, we really need to tackle the problem from another region. I really do not think the "One laptop per child" initiative came about as a result of serious discussions between the stakeholders in the education field and other parties. If this were the case, I suspect the actual issue with our education system could have been clearly pointed out in another direction. By simply working with the basics like well equipped libraries and labs, class rooms, good roads to schools, water and electricity, well trained and compensated teachers among others, good social amenities in schools, we will surely get there.
Martin.
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 1:33 PM, Peter Karunyu <pkarunyu@gmail.com> wrote:
@Francis
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 1:09 PM, Francis Njenga <korefn@gmail.com> wrote:
As I read more comments, I believe we all(at least most of the contributers) agree that the education system needs to be "revolutionized"/"modernized"/'Re-engineered'. The question begs: "How do we do this?"
IMHO, it is incredibly difficult (not impossible) to change our education system since there are so many vested interests. And even if we did manage to change it, it would take several years for the effect to be felt tangibly.
Some of these vested interests are:
Ministry of Education KNUT TSC Teachers Parents Book publishers Our international donors/partners/financiers Students Our <*put here a bad word of your choice*> members of parliament and senate
Each one of these would form a point of resistance in the implementation of the change in our education system.
The statements of @Phares make a lot sense, but I think we are lacking in one area; applying scientific methodologies to separate fact from chaff, as Bitange Ndemo once implied.
These questions linger in my mind:
1. What change in the economy have the fiber optic cables introduced since they were lit? Can it be measured? 2. What contribution has the Thika superhighway contributed to the economy? Can it be measured? 3. If a quarter of thika road was implemented in the heart of Kericho (assuming this is where lots of tea comes from), would the impact of this be bigger or lesser than thika road? 4. Is a bigger JKIA more profitable for the economy than more milk processing plants in <that place where they were pouring milk>?
My point is, how can we measure what each *basic* arm of the economy contributes to the whole?
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Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Kore Francis Njenga Running and Walking are only breaths apart.
Now that am convinced I am not being considered for the post of ICT PS I might as well comment. In my opinion, the laptop per child, if implemented in isolation will be a very irresponsible use of public funds. Why not one microscope per child? Don't we need doctors? One spanner per child (for engineers). Ridiculous but hope you get the point. I believe the priorities of anyone who wishes Kenya prosperity should be: a) Food security b) Health Security c) Physical security A healthy well fed nation with peace of mind will spar growth since people will get out of the hand-to-mouth cycle. I live off technology, yes, but to place the future of the country on technology is bad planning. We should instead invest everything we can to make Kenya an agriculture hub. Yes, I know, it's not as sexy but that will be the day Kenya will rule the region. Technology should be driven by need. How many people did IT and are working in other fields? If we are to buy the laptops (yes, they are not FREE) let us not kid ourselves it is going to sudden surge in ICT. On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 2:56 PM, Martin Chiteri <martin.chiteri@gmail.com>wrote:
Hi guys,
Sorry to differ again with the general opinion here. I am still not convinced that we need to give kids "a hundred dollar laptops" in order to make them learn better. My view is that children nowadays are informally trained to use computers at a very early age, thanks to the many play stations / XBoxes and smart phones + tablet computers available through their parents. I am also certain many of them get to use laptops at the same time for the same reasons. We really need to teach children just a little more to make them be fully comfortable with the use of other "advanced" computing equipment.
If the said "digital" dream is to be achieved by 2030, we should have already seen the fruits of this early exposure, and I believe we already are doing that but to smaller extents. Another thing we should really appreciate is that it took fifty years for the U.s of America to get the famous silicon valley to the point it is at now. Maybe they had no choice, even with their might, to get there now since fifty years is all they had between now and then ...... Nevertheless, let not building *our* "silicon savannah" be the primary objective but the creation of a population that is capable of clearly reasoning and fixing their own inadequacies, be it with the economy, society or technology.
As @Phares among a few others indicated, we really need to tackle the problem from another region. I really do not think the "One laptop per child" initiative came about as a result of serious discussions between the stakeholders in the education field and other parties. If this were the case, I suspect the actual issue with our education system could have been clearly pointed out in another direction. By simply working with the basics like well equipped libraries and labs, class rooms, good roads to schools, water and electricity, well trained and compensated teachers among others, good social amenities in schools, we will surely get there.
Martin.
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 1:33 PM, Peter Karunyu <pkarunyu@gmail.com> wrote:
@Francis
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 1:09 PM, Francis Njenga <korefn@gmail.com> wrote:
As I read more comments, I believe we all(at least most of the contributers) agree that the education system needs to be "revolutionized"/"modernized"/'Re-engineered'. The question begs: "How do we do this?"
IMHO, it is incredibly difficult (not impossible) to change our education system since there are so many vested interests. And even if we did manage to change it, it would take several years for the effect to be felt tangibly.
Some of these vested interests are:
Ministry of Education KNUT TSC Teachers Parents Book publishers Our international donors/partners/financiers Students Our <*put here a bad word of your choice*> members of parliament and senate
Each one of these would form a point of resistance in the implementation of the change in our education system.
The statements of @Phares make a lot sense, but I think we are lacking in one area; applying scientific methodologies to separate fact from chaff, as Bitange Ndemo once implied.
These questions linger in my mind:
1. What change in the economy have the fiber optic cables introduced since they were lit? Can it be measured? 2. What contribution has the Thika superhighway contributed to the economy? Can it be measured? 3. If a quarter of thika road was implemented in the heart of Kericho (assuming this is where lots of tea comes from), would the impact of this be bigger or lesser than thika road? 4. Is a bigger JKIA more profitable for the economy than more milk processing plants in <that place where they were pouring milk>?
My point is, how can we measure what each *basic* arm of the economy contributes to the whole?
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http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2013/05/01/why-isnt-there-a-glut-of-good-... As Google hires all of the world’s good software engineers and my friends with startup companies fight over the scraps I am left to wonder how everyone could have been so wrong in predicting that the world would be glutted with good programmers and sysadmins by now. On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 3:53 PM, Tech List Kenya <techlistkenya@gmail.com> wrote:
Now that am convinced I am not being considered for the post of ICT PS I might as well comment.
In my opinion, the laptop per child, if implemented in isolation will be a very irresponsible use of public funds. Why not one microscope per child? Don't we need doctors? One spanner per child (for engineers). Ridiculous but hope you get the point.
I believe the priorities of anyone who wishes Kenya prosperity should be:
a) Food security b) Health Security c) Physical security
A healthy well fed nation with peace of mind will spar growth since people will get out of the hand-to-mouth cycle. I live off technology, yes, but to place the future of the country on technology is bad planning. We should instead invest everything we can to make Kenya an agriculture hub. Yes, I know, it's not as sexy but that will be the day Kenya will rule the region.
Technology should be driven by need. How many people did IT and are working in other fields?
If we are to buy the laptops (yes, they are not FREE) let us not kid ourselves it is going to sudden surge in ICT.
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 2:56 PM, Martin Chiteri <martin.chiteri@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi guys,
Sorry to differ again with the general opinion here. I am still not convinced that we need to give kids "a hundred dollar laptops" in order to make them learn better. My view is that children nowadays are informally trained to use computers at a very early age, thanks to the many play stations / XBoxes and smart phones + tablet computers available through their parents. I am also certain many of them get to use laptops at the same time for the same reasons. We really need to teach children just a little more to make them be fully comfortable with the use of other "advanced" computing equipment.
If the said "digital" dream is to be achieved by 2030, we should have already seen the fruits of this early exposure, and I believe we already are doing that but to smaller extents. Another thing we should really appreciate is that it took fifty years for the U.s of America to get the famous silicon valley to the point it is at now. Maybe they had no choice, even with their might, to get there now since fifty years is all they had between now and then ...... Nevertheless, let not building our "silicon savannah" be the primary objective but the creation of a population that is capable of clearly reasoning and fixing their own inadequacies, be it with the economy, society or technology.
As @Phares among a few others indicated, we really need to tackle the problem from another region. I really do not think the "One laptop per child" initiative came about as a result of serious discussions between the stakeholders in the education field and other parties. If this were the case, I suspect the actual issue with our education system could have been clearly pointed out in another direction. By simply working with the basics like well equipped libraries and labs, class rooms, good roads to schools, water and electricity, well trained and compensated teachers among others, good social amenities in schools, we will surely get there.
Martin.
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 1:33 PM, Peter Karunyu <pkarunyu@gmail.com> wrote:
@Francis
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 1:09 PM, Francis Njenga <korefn@gmail.com> wrote:
As I read more comments, I believe we all(at least most of the contributers) agree that the education system needs to be "revolutionized"/"modernized"/'Re-engineered'. The question begs: "How do we do this?"
IMHO, it is incredibly difficult (not impossible) to change our education system since there are so many vested interests. And even if we did manage to change it, it would take several years for the effect to be felt tangibly.
Some of these vested interests are:
Ministry of Education KNUT TSC Teachers Parents Book publishers Our international donors/partners/financiers Students Our <put here a bad word of your choice> members of parliament and senate
Each one of these would form a point of resistance in the implementation of the change in our education system.
The statements of @Phares make a lot sense, but I think we are lacking in one area; applying scientific methodologies to separate fact from chaff, as Bitange Ndemo once implied.
These questions linger in my mind:
1. What change in the economy have the fiber optic cables introduced since they were lit? Can it be measured? 2. What contribution has the Thika superhighway contributed to the economy? Can it be measured? 3. If a quarter of thika road was implemented in the heart of Kericho (assuming this is where lots of tea comes from), would the impact of this be bigger or lesser than thika road? 4. Is a bigger JKIA more profitable for the economy than more milk processing plants in <that place where they were pouring milk>?
My point is, how can we measure what each basic arm of the economy contributes to the whole?
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-- Best Regards, Christian Ledermann
Guys The education system is not good because of the medium used, rather content and the ability of the students when they are done with the system. We don't know how the world will look, 20 years from now. Having a laptop does not automatically make one a critical thinker - a good education does. The visionary who built the iPad was not a digital native - he had a good education. A good education will require you to see what can be from what isn't. Now. Insisting that we have the latest medium to train digital natives misses the point… We are training people for the world in 2030. Will laptops be the main medium in 2030? We are moving into the post-pc environment… The digital natives argument fails to stand to this simple test - perhaps we should get them all Google Glasses - it's the future - or should we get them iPads? Google Nexus tablets? Everyone is in agreement that the curriculum is the difference - why are we then focusing on the delivery medium? Ultimately, we are training people for a future we *cannot understand* and the only skill we need to give these students is the ability to process information and make sound judgements from said information. To be able to reason. See the mountain top on their own, regardless of circumstance. After all, the current mode of education is not dated. Globally. It's what has given us the iPad, iPhone, Android, Google Glass, Electricity, cars, the airplane etc Insisting that we need laptops to produce digital natives is like insisting that the Wright Brothers needed to have worked for Boeing. It's a fundamentally flawed argument. The printing press was produced at a time when all manuscripts were hand written. The computer was invented largely by people who were born before electricity transmission or the car had been standardized… (Von Neumann was born in 1903)… About the policy - nobody is doing the math for how much it will *actually* cost. Yes. It's already policy, but do we have to back policy simply because it's been passed or because it's a good idea? On Monday, May 6, 2013 at 4:02 PM, Christian Ledermann wrote:
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2013/05/01/why-isnt-there-a-glut-of-good-...
As Google hires all of the world’s good software engineers and my friends with startup companies fight over the scraps I am left to wonder how everyone could have been so wrong in predicting that the world would be glutted with good programmers and sysadmins by now.
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 3:53 PM, Tech List Kenya <techlistkenya@gmail.com (mailto:techlistkenya@gmail.com)> wrote:
Now that am convinced I am not being considered for the post of ICT PS I might as well comment.
In my opinion, the laptop per child, if implemented in isolation will be a very irresponsible use of public funds. Why not one microscope per child? Don't we need doctors? One spanner per child (for engineers). Ridiculous but hope you get the point.
I believe the priorities of anyone who wishes Kenya prosperity should be:
a) Food security b) Health Security c) Physical security
A healthy well fed nation with peace of mind will spar growth since people will get out of the hand-to-mouth cycle. I live off technology, yes, but to place the future of the country on technology is bad planning. We should instead invest everything we can to make Kenya an agriculture hub. Yes, I know, it's not as sexy but that will be the day Kenya will rule the region.
Technology should be driven by need. How many people did IT and are working in other fields?
If we are to buy the laptops (yes, they are not FREE) let us not kid ourselves it is going to sudden surge in ICT.
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 2:56 PM, Martin Chiteri <martin.chiteri@gmail.com (mailto:martin.chiteri@gmail.com)> wrote:
Hi guys,
Sorry to differ again with the general opinion here. I am still not convinced that we need to give kids "a hundred dollar laptops" in order to make them learn better. My view is that children nowadays are informally trained to use computers at a very early age, thanks to the many play stations / XBoxes and smart phones + tablet computers available through their parents. I am also certain many of them get to use laptops at the same time for the same reasons. We really need to teach children just a little more to make them be fully comfortable with the use of other "advanced" computing equipment.
If the said "digital" dream is to be achieved by 2030, we should have already seen the fruits of this early exposure, and I believe we already are doing that but to smaller extents. Another thing we should really appreciate is that it took fifty years for the U.s of America to get the famous silicon valley to the point it is at now. Maybe they had no choice, even with their might, to get there now since fifty years is all they had between now and then ...... Nevertheless, let not building our "silicon savannah" be the primary objective but the creation of a population that is capable of clearly reasoning and fixing their own inadequacies, be it with the economy, society or technology.
As @Phares among a few others indicated, we really need to tackle the problem from another region. I really do not think the "One laptop per child" initiative came about as a result of serious discussions between the stakeholders in the education field and other parties. If this were the case, I suspect the actual issue with our education system could have been clearly pointed out in another direction. By simply working with the basics like well equipped libraries and labs, class rooms, good roads to schools, water and electricity, well trained and compensated teachers among others, good social amenities in schools, we will surely get there.
Martin.
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 1:33 PM, Peter Karunyu <pkarunyu@gmail.com (mailto:pkarunyu@gmail.com)> wrote:
@Francis
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 1:09 PM, Francis Njenga <korefn@gmail.com (mailto:korefn@gmail.com)> wrote:
As I read more comments, I believe we all(at least most of the contributers) agree that the education system needs to be "revolutionized"/"modernized"/'Re-engineered'. The question begs: "How do we do this?"
IMHO, it is incredibly difficult (not impossible) to change our education system since there are so many vested interests. And even if we did manage to change it, it would take several years for the effect to be felt tangibly.
Some of these vested interests are:
Ministry of Education KNUT TSC Teachers Parents Book publishers Our international donors/partners/financiers Students Our <put here a bad word of your choice> members of parliament and senate
Each one of these would form a point of resistance in the implementation of the change in our education system.
The statements of @Phares make a lot sense, but I think we are lacking in one area; applying scientific methodologies to separate fact from chaff, as Bitange Ndemo once implied.
These questions linger in my mind:
1. What change in the economy have the fiber optic cables introduced since they were lit? Can it be measured? 2. What contribution has the Thika superhighway contributed to the economy? Can it be measured? 3. If a quarter of thika road was implemented in the heart of Kericho (assuming this is where lots of tea comes from), would the impact of this be bigger or lesser than thika road? 4. Is a bigger JKIA more profitable for the economy than more milk processing plants in <that place where they were pouring milk>?
My point is, how can we measure what each basic arm of the economy contributes to the whole?
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-- Best Regards,
Christian Ledermann _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke (mailto:skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke) ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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-- Regards, Phares Kariuki | Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
I think we are all looking at it the wrong way, the assumption that only IT students should get a laptop and Engineer, Doctors et al do not need them is not well founded. Am a trained engineer so is a guy who trained before me but never got a chance to interact with Computers at that critical age in High school and campus. I was lucky enough to be and most of the things that I know today are probably from that time. He is still in the dark in many things. If I was exposed to computers early say even when I was younger in Primary and the like I would have gained the same or even more and at an even early age. I view the laptops as an 'eye' opener they are fascinating, they are interesting, believe you me the kids will even learn faster than they would have without them. It does not mean that all these Kids will end up in IT, the doctors will still be doctors so will be the lawyers ... and the IT geeks will start coding at an early age, :-) , I believe its going to change everything if well implemented, you should all have a look at what the same (Almost the same) policy has changed Estonia ... Kind regards, Watson Kambo
The Estonia policy is yet to produce results - the boom right now in technology is due to the education system in the 90's (when the current working class was getting trained). Additionally, Estonia are teaching their kids to code, not buying them laptops - it's a curriculum intervention not a medium of instruction intervention. Again, giving a stethoscope to a 7 year old will not make him a great doctor. On Monday, May 6, 2013 at 6:49 PM, Watson Kambo wrote:
I think we are all looking at it the wrong way, the assumption that only IT students should get a laptop and Engineer, Doctors et al do not need them is not well founded. Am a trained engineer so is a guy who trained before me but never got a chance to interact with Computers at that critical age in High school and campus. I was lucky enough to be and most of the things that I know today are probably from that time. He is still in the dark in many things. If I was exposed to computers early say even when I was younger in Primary and the like I would have gained the same or even more and at an even early age. I view the laptops as an 'eye' opener they are fascinating, they are interesting, believe you me the kids will even learn faster than they would have without them.
It does not mean that all these Kids will end up in IT, the doctors will still be doctors so will be the lawyers ... and the IT geeks will start coding at an early age, :-) , I believe its going to change everything if well implemented, you should all have a look at what the same (Almost the same) policy has changed Estonia ...
Kind regards,
Watson Kambo _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke (mailto:skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke) ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards, Phares Kariuki | Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
Giving a child a stethoscope might not compel him to become a physician later in life... However, It's very likely that the child will end up in STeM; which is exactly what we want. I am not advocating that we give students expensive gadgets. I am of the opinion that we give them knowledge or a portal to knowledge. A child with an agriculture kindle library might make quite an impact to his community. Empowered children have zest; they will experiment (in the farm, in the village, in science fairs) and that's what we want. Right?
'Are we there yet?' Nope
Will we get there? Depends on a lot of factors... Government policy, community, culture, an enabling economy....
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 7:52 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
The Estonia policy is yet to produce results - the boom right now in technology is due to the education system in the 90's (when the current working class was getting trained).
Additionally, Estonia are teaching their kids to code, not buying them laptops - it's a curriculum intervention not a medium of instruction intervention.
Again, giving a stethoscope to a 7 year old will not make him a great doctor.
On Monday, May 6, 2013 at 6:49 PM, Watson Kambo wrote:
I think we are all looking at it the wrong way, the assumption that only IT students should get a laptop and Engineer, Doctors et al do not need them is not well founded. Am a trained engineer so is a guy who trained before me but never got a chance to interact with Computers at that critical age in High school and campus. I was lucky enough to be and most of the things that I know today are probably from that time. He is still in the dark in many things. If I was exposed to computers early say even when I was younger in Primary and the like I would have gained the same or even more and at an even early age. I view the laptops as an 'eye' opener they are fascinating, they are interesting, believe you me the kids will even learn faster than they would have without them.
It does not mean that all these Kids will end up in IT, the doctors will still be doctors so will be the lawyers ... and the IT geeks will start coding at an early age, :-) , I believe its going to change everything if well implemented, you should all have a look at what the same (Almost the same) policy has changed Estonia ...
Kind regards,
Watson Kambo _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
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I am seeing lots of examples here of kids and reading in the same sentence. Now, I don't have any experience in that department, but since when do kids naturally like to read? On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 11:01 PM, Laban Mwangi <lmwangi@gmail.com> wrote:
Giving a child a stethoscope might not compel him to become a physician later in life... However, It's very likely that the child will end up in STeM; which is exactly what we want. I am not advocating that we give students expensive gadgets. I am of the opinion that we give them knowledge or a portal to knowledge. A child with an agriculture kindle library might make quite an impact to his community. Empowered children have zest; they will experiment (in the farm, in the village, in science fairs) and that's what we want. Right?
'Are we there yet?' Nope
Will we get there? Depends on a lot of factors... Government policy, community, culture, an enabling economy....
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 7:52 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
The Estonia policy is yet to produce results - the boom right now in technology is due to the education system in the 90's (when the current working class was getting trained).
Additionally, Estonia are teaching their kids to code, not buying them laptops - it's a curriculum intervention not a medium of instruction intervention.
Again, giving a stethoscope to a 7 year old will not make him a great doctor.
On Monday, May 6, 2013 at 6:49 PM, Watson Kambo wrote:
I think we are all looking at it the wrong way, the assumption that only IT students should get a laptop and Engineer, Doctors et al do not need them is not well founded. Am a trained engineer so is a guy who trained before me but never got a chance to interact with Computers at that critical age in High school and campus. I was lucky enough to be and most of the things that I know today are probably from that time. He is still in the dark in many things. If I was exposed to computers early say even when I was younger in Primary and the like I would have gained the same or even more and at an even early age. I view the laptops as an 'eye' opener they are fascinating, they are interesting, believe you me the kids will even learn faster than they would have without them.
It does not mean that all these Kids will end up in IT, the doctors will still be doctors so will be the lawyers ... and the IT geeks will start coding at an early age, :-) , I believe its going to change everything if well implemented, you should all have a look at what the same (Almost the same) policy has changed Estonia ...
Kind regards,
Watson Kambo _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
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skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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-- Regards, Peter Karunyu -------------------
One of the biggest problems in the information age is too much information( EDIT: Too much data)! The solution to this is equipping students and professionals with skills to be able to filter this data into information. As evidenced by the data mining field's latest boom. 'Can't teach an old dog new tricks' unless you taught it how to learn new tricks. If the youth grow up able to analyze and filter huge data, no matter what field they join... They will be more effective, better informed, more aware and the country will be the better for it. On Tue, May 7, 2013 at 8:10 AM, Peter Karunyu <pkarunyu@gmail.com> wrote:
I am seeing lots of examples here of kids and reading in the same sentence. Now, I don't have any experience in that department, but since when do kids naturally like to read?
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 11:01 PM, Laban Mwangi <lmwangi@gmail.com> wrote:
Giving a child a stethoscope might not compel him to become a physician later in life... However, It's very likely that the child will end up in STeM; which is exactly what we want. I am not advocating that we give students expensive gadgets. I am of the opinion that we give them knowledge or a portal to knowledge. A child with an agriculture kindle library might make quite an impact to his community. Empowered children have zest; they will experiment (in the farm, in the village, in science fairs) and that's what we want. Right?
'Are we there yet?' Nope
Will we get there? Depends on a lot of factors... Government policy, community, culture, an enabling economy....
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 7:52 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
The Estonia policy is yet to produce results - the boom right now in technology is due to the education system in the 90's (when the current working class was getting trained).
Additionally, Estonia are teaching their kids to code, not buying them laptops - it's a curriculum intervention not a medium of instruction intervention.
Again, giving a stethoscope to a 7 year old will not make him a great doctor.
On Monday, May 6, 2013 at 6:49 PM, Watson Kambo wrote:
I think we are all looking at it the wrong way, the assumption that only IT students should get a laptop and Engineer, Doctors et al do not need them is not well founded. Am a trained engineer so is a guy who trained before me but never got a chance to interact with Computers at that critical age in High school and campus. I was lucky enough to be and most of the things that I know today are probably from that time. He is still in the dark in many things. If I was exposed to computers early say even when I was younger in Primary and the like I would have gained the same or even more and at an even early age. I view the laptops as an 'eye' opener they are fascinating, they are interesting, believe you me the kids will even learn faster than they would have without them.
It does not mean that all these Kids will end up in IT, the doctors will still be doctors so will be the lawyers ... and the IT geeks will start coding at an early age, :-) , I believe its going to change everything if well implemented, you should all have a look at what the same (Almost the same) policy has changed Estonia ...
Kind regards,
Watson Kambo _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
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-- Regards, Peter Karunyu -------------------
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-- Kore Francis Njenga Running and Walking are only breaths apart.
In economics there is something they call opportunity cost. What are we foregoing at this expense? Is it worth it? Can we introduce the laptops later on? Form 1 maybe? This looks like its going to be an annual expense. Can we afford it? Class 1 enrollment is almost 100%. I am yet to hear of kids who drop out in nursery school. What happens when the kids go to class 2, 3, etc. I am very sure the laptop will not last to class 8. So what happens then? How do other countries do it? On Tue, May 7, 2013 at 9:16 AM, Francis Njenga <korefn@gmail.com> wrote:
One of the biggest problems in the information age is too much information( EDIT: Too much data)! The solution to this is equipping students and professionals with skills to be able to filter this data into information. As evidenced by the data mining field's latest boom.
'Can't teach an old dog new tricks' unless you taught it how to learn new tricks. If the youth grow up able to analyze and filter huge data, no matter what field they join... They will be more effective, better informed, more aware and the country will be the better for it.
On Tue, May 7, 2013 at 8:10 AM, Peter Karunyu <pkarunyu@gmail.com> wrote:
I am seeing lots of examples here of kids and reading in the same sentence. Now, I don't have any experience in that department, but since when do kids naturally like to read?
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 11:01 PM, Laban Mwangi <lmwangi@gmail.com> wrote:
Giving a child a stethoscope might not compel him to become a physician later in life... However, It's very likely that the child will end up in STeM; which is exactly what we want. I am not advocating that we give students expensive gadgets. I am of the opinion that we give them knowledge or a portal to knowledge. A child with an agriculture kindle library might make quite an impact to his community. Empowered children have zest; they will experiment (in the farm, in the village, in science fairs) and that's what we want. Right?
'Are we there yet?' Nope
Will we get there? Depends on a lot of factors... Government policy, community, culture, an enabling economy....
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 7:52 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
The Estonia policy is yet to produce results - the boom right now in technology is due to the education system in the 90's (when the current working class was getting trained).
Additionally, Estonia are teaching their kids to code, not buying them laptops - it's a curriculum intervention not a medium of instruction intervention.
Again, giving a stethoscope to a 7 year old will not make him a great doctor.
On Monday, May 6, 2013 at 6:49 PM, Watson Kambo wrote:
I think we are all looking at it the wrong way, the assumption that only IT students should get a laptop and Engineer, Doctors et al do not need them is not well founded. Am a trained engineer so is a guy who trained before me but never got a chance to interact with Computers at that critical age in High school and campus. I was lucky enough to be and most of the things that I know today are probably from that time. He is still in the dark in many things. If I was exposed to computers early say even when I was younger in Primary and the like I would have gained the same or even more and at an even early age. I view the laptops as an 'eye' opener they are fascinating, they are interesting, believe you me the kids will even learn faster than they would have without them.
It does not mean that all these Kids will end up in IT, the doctors will still be doctors so will be the lawyers ... and the IT geeks will start coding at an early age, :-) , I believe its going to change everything if well implemented, you should all have a look at what the same (Almost the same) policy has changed Estonia ...
Kind regards,
Watson Kambo _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
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-- Regards, Peter Karunyu -------------------
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-- Kore Francis Njenga Running and Walking are only breaths apart.
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Having dissected the pros and cons of the OSLPCI lets take a look at 2 Kenyan technologies that could potentially provide Mobile Device and Connectivity solutions even in remote parts of Kenya. *Mobile Device: SWAG Educator by Morris Mbesta* This is a solar powered tablet device designed and developed by renowned Kenyan Inventor Morris Mbesta see more here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiPVJ23lJSc *Connectivity Device: BRCK by Ushahidi see brck.com* The BRCK is the easiest, most reliable way to connect to the internet, anywhere in the world, even when you don’t have electricity. All kinds of jobs require steady connectivity, even when infrastructure is spotty due to wireless connections, intermittent power, or devices that can’t share connections. Seeing this, Ushahidi set out to redesign connectivity for the world we live in - Africa. As we laid out what such a device would look like - physically robust, able to connect to multiple networks, a hub for all local devices, enough backup power to survive a blackout - we realized that the way the entire world is connecting to the web is changing. We no longer only get online via desktops in our office, we have multiple devices, and we are all constantly on the move. So we designed the BRCK for the changing way we connect to the web around the world, from cafes-hoppers in San Francisco to struggling coders in Nairobi. What are your thoughts on the above two technologies in implementing the laptop initiative? On Tue, May 7, 2013 at 10:18 AM, Bwana Lawi <mail2lawi@gmail.com> wrote:
In economics there is something they call opportunity cost. What are we foregoing at this expense? Is it worth it?
Can we introduce the laptops later on? Form 1 maybe? This looks like its going to be an annual expense. Can we afford it? Class 1 enrollment is almost 100%. I am yet to hear of kids who drop out in nursery school.
What happens when the kids go to class 2, 3, etc. I am very sure the laptop will not last to class 8. So what happens then? How do other countries do it?
On Tue, May 7, 2013 at 9:16 AM, Francis Njenga <korefn@gmail.com> wrote:
One of the biggest problems in the information age is too much information( EDIT: Too much data)! The solution to this is equipping students and professionals with skills to be able to filter this data into information. As evidenced by the data mining field's latest boom.
'Can't teach an old dog new tricks' unless you taught it how to learn new tricks. If the youth grow up able to analyze and filter huge data, no matter what field they join... They will be more effective, better informed, more aware and the country will be the better for it.
On Tue, May 7, 2013 at 8:10 AM, Peter Karunyu <pkarunyu@gmail.com> wrote:
I am seeing lots of examples here of kids and reading in the same sentence. Now, I don't have any experience in that department, but since when do kids naturally like to read?
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 11:01 PM, Laban Mwangi <lmwangi@gmail.com> wrote:
Giving a child a stethoscope might not compel him to become a physician later in life... However, It's very likely that the child will end up in STeM; which is exactly what we want. I am not advocating that we give students expensive gadgets. I am of the opinion that we give them knowledge or a portal to knowledge. A child with an agriculture kindle library might make quite an impact to his community. Empowered children have zest; they will experiment (in the farm, in the village, in science fairs) and that's what we want. Right?
'Are we there yet?' Nope
Will we get there? Depends on a lot of factors... Government policy, community, culture, an enabling economy....
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 7:52 PM, Phares Kariuki < phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
The Estonia policy is yet to produce results - the boom right now in technology is due to the education system in the 90's (when the current working class was getting trained).
Additionally, Estonia are teaching their kids to code, not buying them laptops - it's a curriculum intervention not a medium of instruction intervention.
Again, giving a stethoscope to a 7 year old will not make him a great doctor.
On Monday, May 6, 2013 at 6:49 PM, Watson Kambo wrote:
I think we are all looking at it the wrong way, the assumption that only IT students should get a laptop and Engineer, Doctors et al do not need them is not well founded. Am a trained engineer so is a guy who trained before me but never got a chance to interact with Computers at that critical age in High school and campus. I was lucky enough to be and most of the things that I know today are probably from that time. He is still in the dark in many things. If I was exposed to computers early say even when I was younger in Primary and the like I would have gained the same or even more and at an even early age. I view the laptops as an 'eye' opener they are fascinating, they are interesting, believe you me the kids will even learn faster than they would have without them.
It does not mean that all these Kids will end up in IT, the doctors will still be doctors so will be the lawyers ... and the IT geeks will start coding at an early age, :-) , I believe its going to change everything if well implemented, you should all have a look at what the same (Almost the same) policy has changed Estonia ...
Kind regards,
Watson Kambo _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/|
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-- Regards, Peter Karunyu -------------------
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-- Kore Francis Njenga Running and Walking are only breaths apart.
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Just to add to what Bernard and Francis have said, I think to have the kind of quality digital natives we need to sustain the "Silicon Savannah" in this digital era people need to adapt to this technology at a very young age. Most of the software greats started design thinking early due to exposure to the cutting edge technologies at that time. On Phares's point of *basics first,* this sounds to me like trickle down economics this country has been engaging itself in for the last 50 years since independence which only servers to widen the gap between developed regions and under developed regions. A countrywide digital initiative like this one could serve as a great equalizer (at least for knowledge) for most parts of the country. Where I agree with Phares with the query whether the government is the most suitable vehicle to deliver this project. Short answer is that this initiative seems to me like a Public-Private Partnership that can fall under the Vision 2030 Social Pillar and it should be widened in future to be a digitization initiative of all sectors not just education. Lastly I am now more inclined *Solar Powered Kindles* running Android and local apps will be a good start for while laptop technology and assembly is identified and set up in Kenya in the coming years. *Original Source: http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... * On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Edward Mayaka <emayaka@gmail.com> wrote:
@Bernard Owuor: I fully concur our education system needs to be revolutionalized.
Edward
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 12:35 PM, Martin Chiteri <martin.chiteri@gmail.com>wrote:
Another interjection,
I think people here are over-estimating the ability of laptops to accelerate learning by kids. I had indicated earlier that children most importantly need to learn to count, read and write first using bottle tops / pieces of stone / marbles, abacii, etc and on "dead trees" (paper). Given their age, I hardly believe they are just ready for more sophisticated methods of acquiring knowledge. All they need first is toys. Most of the laptops are either going to be lost or damaged (dipped in water, stepped on, fought over, broken, thrown above the ground at reasonably fast speeds and so on). Someone please tell me how many e-books a class one pupil is going to read on average per month to justify the cost as compared to a good old text book?
What you need to remember is that some of us grew up at an age when most of these things were virtually non-existent in our sphere of the world or they were prohibitively expensive and complex. We had no major trouble picking up the skills required to operate them correctly when its time came. Some have gone ahead to become demonstrably adept at the use of such facilities. In my opinion, well equipped computing labs in schools are just as adequate for the purpose, together with a decent connection to the Internet and well trained tutors in all public schools. The government can surely fund this at a much lower cost. Classes should be well spread out with times for the pupils to engage in other activities like going to actual libraries and having sports / games time just like the rest of us "oldies" did.
I do not really see the urgency of having to put cheap laptops in the hands of children as a means of drastically improving their education process. This can be done from a different point altogether by changing some parts or all of the system of education in Kenya.
Martin.
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 12:15 PM, Francis Njenga <korefn@gmail.com> wrote:
People and society is resistant to change. Like a mule or an obstinate horse, a carrot and a stick are the necessary tools to ensure work is done.
The laptops are carrots. The structures and changes that will have to take place in order to make the program a success, the work. The benefits are numerous.
The real question is not whether it will succeed but rather should be, what should be done to make it a success.
On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 12:02 PM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com>wrote:
@Svarrer, This experiment only makes sense (to me) if students are allowed to keep the laptops at home - and maybe take them to school once a week. An information society feeds off the ability to absorb and manipulate info, which is a product of good language and arithmetic skills.
Otherwise, most of the Kenyan schools lucky enough to have computer labs often lock them up - to keep the computers safe! While we all know that mastery derives from playing with computers over long periods.
We should change the way school is done - the current one was supposed to serve the industrial age. We need to develop self-learning curricula for mature students, and interactive educational content for the young ones.
------------------------------ *From:* Bwana Lawi <mail2lawi@gmail.com> *To:* Skunkworks Mailing List <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> *Sent:* Friday, May 3, 2013 1:49 PM
*Subject:* Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
We need to redefine the meaning of free<http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/Treasury-unveils-Sh1-6trn-budget/-/1064/1839974/-/sduhsx/-/index.html>
On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 4:43 PM, Phares Kariuki < phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
I would buy that argument if it had actually worked. Look at what China (under Deng Xiaoping at the time) did after the failure of the communist experiment - the focused on the following:
[1] Agrarian reforms - they can now feed themselves and are one of the largest textile producers. [2] Commerce - They made it simpler to invest and do business - Currently, Kenya is a "spectacular position 121 globally". [3] They then focused on industry…
They are only now jumping onto the IT bandwagon. Look at the marshall plan implemented in South Korea and Japan post WW2. Focused on land reform. South Korea and Japan are now technological juggernauts which has a leading technology company that has quarterly revenues in excess of our GDP.
My point? Focus on the fundamentals - the rest will happen - people have initiative. Look at the US - people have iPads in school - why can the afford this? They have fed themselves, clothed themselves each individual earns enough money to afford an iPad for their toddler (per capita income is 45,000 USD thereabouts). Our per capita income is the value of a MacBook Pro. Where are our priorities? Isn't it better to have people alive as carpenters in 2030 then have a 'digital native' dead by 2020? On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 11:26 AM, Peter Karunyu wrote:
Once upon a time, I remember reading that the agrarian revolution took off because of mechanization.
I would posture a theory that our agriculture has hit a glass ceiling, that, *as is,* it cannot get any better.
Why?
1. We are not mechanizing as fast as we should 2. We are going more towards small scale than towards large scale. A father/mother with several children will break up their farm as inheritance for each of the children.
So, maybe these laptops will cause one of two things: 1. Move away from agriculture and into services as the backbone of our economy 2. Mechanize (or should I say computerize) our agriculture
On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:02 AM, Phares Kariuki < phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
:-). This fellow has vested interests. Yes. All these folks are going to be paid - who is going to foot the tax bill? My issue is not so much the project (which has noble beginnings) but the utility of the cash.
A kindle with WIFI is 7,000 KES. Buy students rugged kindles without WIFI with selected books from Project Gutenburg. You will laugh all the way to the bank.
The problem we have is assuming that all the knowledge a student needs to succeed in life is Information Technology - however, no knowledge exists in a silo. The reason we go through 12 years of primary and secondary education is because you call knowledge from various spheres of life in order to make decisions/products etc.
You cannot tell me that it makes sense to spend 7% of annual GDP (on a minimum) providing laptops to students and not all of them - just one stream. Do you have any idea what the remaining education budget will look like? We are giving birth at the rate of 1M per year. This cost will only increase. Significantly.
For context, we are an *AGRICULTURAL* economy. Agricultural. Tilling the land, herding goats, sheep, milking cows, wrestling with pigs etc employs 80% of our workforce. 80%. With a rate of 40% unemployment. We have other priorities.
We should really be addressing things like land reform, agricultural reform, making energy cheaper, strengthening our education system (Indeed, we need to invest more in critical thinking and reason to mitigate against such bad policy), infrastructure (rails etc) which will allow us to finance this ten years from now.
We are starving, unhealthy nation in the dark. Surely we have other priorities - like reducing infant mortality (currently 7.5% of all children born are dead by age 5), so that the students who we claim to be buying laptops for live long enough o use them! On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 10:25 AM, John Karanja wrote:
An interesting comment from the blog below... http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto...
*We are in Digital Age Institute already participating in this programme, in that we are educating Secondary School teachers in use of IT. Its our take, that the teachers are not having many problems adapting. It appears to me to be Nairobi Central City Thinking that teachers up country are not modern. Yes - indeed there are a few who need much more guidance - but they are few - and they are very motivated - playful - absorbing - I'm not in doubt that this will be an initiative working for a long time to come.* *In regards to taking the laptops home? I don't think so.* *One of the challenges is maintenance and repair. However - the polytechnics have already educated too many hardware competent repair guys - now the good news: Yoo Hooooo - there's a job for them !* *Embracing this new technology will most probably do what it has done elsewhere - speed up all development, education, society development tremendously.* *Now only missing that we all unite: Teachers / Students / Institutions - so that we can conquer this new world of Information Technology together.* *Kindly David Svarrer CEO / Principal Digital Age Institute Ltd. 0786 936 145 / 0714 503 333*
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Phares Kariuki < phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
A couple of things:
[1] Marginal utility of capital - Kenya has finite monetary resources. Is this the best way we can possibly spend this money to aid education? For example, the FPE initiated in 2003 did not increase the number of students who were in primary school, enrollment per capita is still the same, albeit with degraded quality - it increased access… [2] Support - What OS will the laptops run? Who will support this infrastructure - whats the total cost of ownership? Warranties? Replacement? What happens when a class one student lovingly pours his sugary juice or porridge onto the laptop? If the laptops are running windows, what happens when the laptop gets a virus? If they are running linux, who will handle basic user issues? [3] Government should in my opinion, focus on the basics, that have worked historically - making energy as cheap as possible (improve quality and quantity too), infrastructure (road/rail/pipeline), reduce regulation, buy books for schools (import used books)). The rest will take care of itself.
The IT sector will *not* be able to absorb the sort of unemployment we have in Kenya. That will be done by farming & manufacturing (btw, even with all the hype in Kenya, as of last year, Agriculture and related services employed 60% of Kenya's population)…
On Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM, John Karanja wrote:
I think I have seen from responses a lot of creative ways to mitigate against the concerns you have raised of this project on my blog post here http://bit.ly/YNnv0Q
To summarize:
1. Downgrade from solar powered laptop to solar powered ink e-readers with keyboard input. This will cost max $85/piece and will primarily solve text book crisis. 2. Require manufacturer to assemble the e-readers here in Kenya within 3 years of the program at Konza create local jobs and jump start Konza. 3. Require e-reader to run open source OS to allow porting of local Kenyan applications, games and content e.g Through a local app store. 4. Run of a Wireless Network built on LTE technology or Whitespaces within 3 years so internet access is controlled and monitored. 5. Why start in class one digital literacy is arguably just as important as "play" hence the need to ingrain the same at the ideal age of learning. Think 15 years to see massive benefits. 6. To mitigate against natural threats like theft/damage gadgets will be fitted with biometric id and software upgrades will only be possible remotely as the devices will have no external ports. 7. Insuring each device at say $5 will mitigate against loss as well damage.
In 2010 I visited a cyber cafe in Kibera that had been subsequently been turned into a gaming place because of cost of maintaining the lab even as a business. Kids adapt to technology easily and quickly once they handle their own devices even for a few months is enough to get them interested in tech. See video of my visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7b3DTehfg
I am more worried about the distribution logistics of it all!
John
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:45 AM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com>wrote:
Ashok, Those laptops are not free. The govt will buy them (just like the Passats) from those companies at govt prices and terms... with your tax money. So, the companies will be selling 500K more computers than otherwise. And this will be sustained for 5 years....
I love Uhuruto and I'm rooting for them, so this is where we tell the king that their "transparent" clothes are no clothes at all. Of course, the courtiers will tell them how great looking their gowns are, how bold, handsome & digital they look etc etc.
There's a wide chasm between "getting man on the moon" and "sending money to China". If we're determined to throw precious foreign exchange at our Chinese, Korean & American friends, at least let's ensure that we carefully invest the peanuts we get in return, where we have the best return.
This is where politics is funny. If any of your managers made such decisions with your money - our treasury coffers are reading negative - they'd get the sack at the double. It's not a poverty mentality, it's just plain old frugality, diligence and good stewardship. As a national character, these qualities will guarantee our prosperity, and contrast with procrastination, wishful thinking & guesswork.
This is why I like this 'bold' promise. As Ndemo alludes, the better outcome is more than assured: a 50+-seat computer lab at EVERY secondary school, complete with a self-learning curriculum and material. This is what will transform our society within the next 5 years, and hugely positively impact the lives of the Std. 1 pupils, who, BTW, should be playing with each other, and sleeping as much as they can.
At the bottomline, Kenyans Cheers!
------------------------------ *From:* "ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info" < ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info> *To:* mauxdatabase@gmail.com; Skunkworks Mailing List < skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> *Sent:* Wednesday, April 24, 2013 5:21 PM *Subject:* Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote:
But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/...
I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it.
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-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
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Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
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| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
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Ok so if I understand @phares, you argue that the fancy plans will not benefit solong as fundamentals are in shambles? Cant argue with that. On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 4:43 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com<javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', 'phares.kariuki@gmail.com');>
wrote:
I would buy that argument if it had actually worked. Look at what China (under Deng Xiaoping at the time) did after the failure of the communist experiment - the focused on the following:
[1] Agrarian reforms - they can now feed themselves and are one of the largest textile producers. [2] Commerce - They made it simpler to invest and do business - Currently, Kenya is a "spectacular position 121 globally". [3] They then focused on industry…
They are only now jumping onto the IT bandwagon. Look at the marshall plan implemented in South Korea and Japan post WW2. Focused on land reform. South Korea and Japan are now technological juggernauts which has a leading technology company that has quarterly revenues in excess of our GDP.
My point? Focus on the fundamentals - the rest will happen - people have initiative. Look at the US - people have iPads in school - why can the afford this? They have fed themselves, clothed themselves each individual earns enough money to afford an iPad for their toddler (per capita income is 45,000 USD thereabouts). Our per capita income is the value of a MacBook Pro. Where are our priorities? Isn't it better to have people alive as carpenters in 2030 then have a 'digital native' dead by 2020?
On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 11:26 AM, Peter Karunyu wrote:
Once upon a time, I remember reading that the agrarian revolution took off because of mechanization.
I would posture a theory that our agriculture has hit a glass ceiling, that, *as is,* it cannot get any better.
Why?
1. We are not mechanizing as fast as we should 2. We are going more towards small scale than towards large scale. A father/mother with several children will break up their farm as inheritance for each of the children.
So, maybe these laptops will cause one of two things: 1. Move away from agriculture and into services as the backbone of our economy 2. Mechanize (or should I say computerize) our agriculture
On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:02 AM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com<javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', 'phares.kariuki@gmail.com');>
wrote:
:-). This fellow has vested interests. Yes. All these folks are going to be paid - who is going to foot the tax bill? My issue is not so much the project (which has noble beginnings) but the utility of the cash.
A kindle with WIFI is 7,000 KES. Buy students rugged kindles without WIFI with selected books from Project Gutenburg. You will laugh all the way to the bank.
The problem we have is assuming that all the knowledge a student needs to succeed in life is Information Technology - however, no knowledge exists in a silo. The reason we go through 12 years of primary and secondary education is because you call knowledge from various spheres of life in order to make decisions/products etc.
You cannot tell me that it makes sense to spend 7% of annual GDP (on a minimum) providing laptops to students and not all of them - just one stream. Do you have any idea what the remaining education budget will look like? We are giving birth at the rate of 1M per year. This cost will only increase. Significantly.
For context, we are an *AGRICULTURAL* economy. Agricultural. Tilling the land, herding goats, sheep, milking cows, wrestling with pigs etc employs 80% of our workforce. 80%. With a rate of 40% unemployment. We have other priorities.
We should really be addressing things like land reform, agricultural reform, making energy cheaper, strengthening our education system (Indeed, we need to invest more in critical thinking and reason to mitigate against such bad policy), infrastructure (rails etc) which will allow us to finance this ten years from now.
We are starving, unhealthy nation in the dark. Surely we have other priorities - like reducing infant mortality (currently 7.5% of all children born are dead by age 5), so that the students who we claim to be buying laptops for live long enough o use them!
On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 10:25 AM, John Karanja wrote:
An interesting comment from the blog below... http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto...
*We are in Digital Age Institute already participating in this programme, in that we are educating Secondary School teachers in use of IT. Its our take, that the teachers are not having many problems adapting. It appears to me to be Nairobi Central City Thinking that teachers up country are not modern. Yes - indeed there are a few who need much more guidance - but they are few - and they are very motivated - playful - absorbing - I'm not in doubt that this will be an initiative working for a long time to come.*
*In regards to taking the laptops home? I don't think so.*
*One of the challenges is maintenance and repair. However - the polytechnics have already educated too many hardware competent repair guys - now the good news: Yoo Hooooo - there's a job for them !*
*Embracing this new technology will most probably do what it has done elsewhere - speed up all development, education, society development tremendously.*
*Now only missing that we all unite: Teachers / Students / Institutions - so that we can conquer this new world of Information Technology together.*
*Kindly David Svarrer CEO / Principal Digital Age Institute Ltd. 0786 936 145 / 0714 503 333*
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com<javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', 'phares.kariuki@gmail.com');>
wrote:
A couple of things:
[1] Marginal utility of capital - Kenya has finite monetary resources. Is this the best way we can possibly spend this money to aid education? For example, the FPE initiated in 2003 did not increase the number of students who were in primary school, enrollment per capita is still the same, albeit with degraded quality - it increased access… [2] Support - What OS will the laptops run? Who will support this infrastructure - whats the total cost of ownership? Warranties? Replacement? What happens when a class one student lovingly pours his sugary juice or porridge onto the laptop? If the laptops are running windows, what happens when the laptop gets a virus? If they are running linux, who will handle basic user issues? [3] Government should in my opinion, focus on the basics, that have worked historically - making energy as cheap as possible (improve quality and quantity too), infrastructure (road/rail/pipeline), reduce regulation, buy books for schools (import used books)). The rest will take care of itself.
The IT sector will *not* be able to absorb the sort of unemployment we have in Kenya. That will be done by farming & manufacturing (btw, even with all the hype in Kenya, as of last year, Agriculture and related services employed 60% of Kenya's population)…
On Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM, John Karanja wrote:
I think I have seen from responses a lot of creative ways to mitigate against the concerns you have raised of this project on my blog post here http://bit.ly/YNnv0Q
To summarize:
1. Downgrade from solar powered laptop to solar powered ink e-readers with keyboard input. This will cost max $85/piece and will primarily solve text book crisis. 2. Require manufacturer to assemble the e-readers here in Kenya within 3 years of the program at Konza create local jobs and jump start Konza. 3. Require e-reader to run open source OS to allow porting of local Kenyan applications, games and content e.g Through a local app store. 4. Run of a Wireless Network built on LTE technology or Whitespaces within 3 years so internet access is controlled and monitored. 5. Why start in class one digital literacy is arguably just as important as "play" hence the need to ingrain the same at the ideal age of learning. Think 15 years to see massive benefits. 6. To mitigate against natural threats like theft/damage gadgets will be fitted with biometric id and software upgrades will only be possible remotely as the devices will have no external ports. 7. Insuring each device at say $5 will mitigate against loss as well damage.
In 2010 I visited a cyber cafe in Kibera that had been subsequently been turned into a gaming place because of cost of maintaining the lab even as a business. Kids adapt to technology easily and quickly once they handle their own devices even for a few months is enough to get them interested in tech. See video of my visit John Karanja & Whive<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7b3DTehfg>
I am more worried about the distribution logistics of it all!
John
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:45 AM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com<javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', 'b_owuor@yahoo.com');>
wrote:
Ashok, Those laptops are not free. The govt will buy them (just like the Passats) from those companies at govt prices and terms... with your tax money. So, the companies will be selling 500K more computers than otherwise. And this will be sustained for 5 years....
I love Uhuruto and I'm rooting for them, so this is where we tell the king that their "transparent" clothes are no clothes at all. Of course, the courtiers will tell them how great looking their gowns are, how bold, handsome & digital they look etc etc.
There's a wide chasm between "getting man on the moon" and "sending money to China". If we're determined to throw precious foreign exchange at our Chinese, Korean & American friends, at least let's ensure that we carefully invest the peanuts we get in return, where we have the best return.
This is where politics is funny. If any of your managers made such decisions with your money - our treasury coffers are reading negative - they'd get the sack at the double. It's not a poverty mentality, it's just plain old frugality, diligence and good stewardship. As a national character, these qualities will guarantee our prosperity, and contrast with procrastination, wishful thinking & guesswork.
This is why I like this 'bold' promise. As Ndemo alludes, the better outcome is more than assured: a 50+-seat computer lab at EVERY secondary school, complete with a self-learning curriculum and material. This is what will transform our society within the next 5 years, and hugely positively impact the lives of the Std. 1 pupils, who, BTW, should be playing with each other, and sleeping as much as they can.
At the bottomline, Kenyans Cheers!
------------------------------ *From:* "ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', 'ashok%2Bskunkworks@parliaments.info');>" < ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', 'ashok%2Bskunkworks@parliaments.info');>> *To:* mauxdatabase@gmail.com <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', 'mauxdatabase@gmail.com');>; Skunkworks Mailing List < skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', 'skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke');>> *Sent:* Wednesday, April 24, 2013 5:21 PM *Subject:* Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com<javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', 'mauxdatabase@gmail.com');>
wrote:
But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/...
I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it.
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-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
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-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
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-- Regards, Peter Karunyu ------------------- _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', 'skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke');> ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
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-- Regards, Mark Mwangi markmwangi.me.ke -- Regards, Mark Mwangi markmwangi.me.ke
Yep! Lets fix the fundamentals! Spot on! The government has never subsidised Internet connectivity. It's available in Rural Kenya. All the government did was terminate fiber at the coast... The rest happened. Whenever you are considering government intervention - ask yourself, like a soviet did in the 80's in London, "Who is in charge of London's bread supply". I'm a free market advocate and to rip of an example someone in this mailing list gave - we have a sugar authority, a dairy board, a maize authority etc. government intervention. Skuma Wiki has never been regulated. There is no board. Ever heard folks complain that there is a shortage? Or that the price is too high? Sent from my iPhone On 3 May 2013, at 19:54, Mark Mwangi <mwangy@gmail.com> wrote:
Ok so if I understand @phares, you argue that the fancy plans will not benefit solong as fundamentals are in shambles? Cant argue with that.
On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 4:43 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
I would buy that argument if it had actually worked. Look at what China (under Deng Xiaoping at the time) did after the failure of the communist experiment - the focused on the following:
[1] Agrarian reforms - they can now feed themselves and are one of the largest textile producers. [2] Commerce - They made it simpler to invest and do business - Currently, Kenya is a "spectacular position 121 globally". [3] They then focused on industry…
They are only now jumping onto the IT bandwagon. Look at the marshall plan implemented in South Korea and Japan post WW2. Focused on land reform. South Korea and Japan are now technological juggernauts which has a leading technology company that has quarterly revenues in excess of our GDP.
My point? Focus on the fundamentals - the rest will happen - people have initiative. Look at the US - people have iPads in school - why can the afford this? They have fed themselves, clothed themselves each individual earns enough money to afford an iPad for their toddler (per capita income is 45,000 USD thereabouts). Our per capita income is the value of a MacBook Pro. Where are our priorities? Isn't it better to have people alive as carpenters in 2030 then have a 'digital native' dead by 2020? On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 11:26 AM, Peter Karunyu wrote:
Once upon a time, I remember reading that the agrarian revolution took off because of mechanization.
I would posture a theory that our agriculture has hit a glass ceiling, that, as is, it cannot get any better.
Why?
1. We are not mechanizing as fast as we should 2. We are going more towards small scale than towards large scale. A father/mother with several children will break up their farm as inheritance for each of the children.
So, maybe these laptops will cause one of two things: 1. Move away from agriculture and into services as the backbone of our economy 2. Mechanize (or should I say computerize) our agriculture
On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:02 AM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
:-). This fellow has vested interests. Yes. All these folks are going to be paid - who is going to foot the tax bill? My issue is not so much the project (which has noble beginnings) but the utility of the cash.
A kindle with WIFI is 7,000 KES. Buy students rugged kindles without WIFI with selected books from Project Gutenburg. You will laugh all the way to the bank.
The problem we have is assuming that all the knowledge a student needs to succeed in life is Information Technology - however, no knowledge exists in a silo. The reason we go through 12 years of primary and secondary education is because you call knowledge from various spheres of life in order to make decisions/products etc.
You cannot tell me that it makes sense to spend 7% of annual GDP (on a minimum) providing laptops to students and not all of them - just one stream. Do you have any idea what the remaining education budget will look like? We are giving birth at the rate of 1M per year. This cost will only increase. Significantly.
For context, we are an *AGRICULTURAL* economy. Agricultural. Tilling the land, herding goats, sheep, milking cows, wrestling with pigs etc employs 80% of our workforce. 80%. With a rate of 40% unemployment. We have other priorities.
We should really be addressing things like land reform, agricultural reform, making energy cheaper, strengthening our education system (Indeed, we need to invest more in critical thinking and reason to mitigate against such bad policy), infrastructure (rails etc) which will allow us to finance this ten years from now.
We are starving, unhealthy nation in the dark. Surely we have other priorities - like reducing infant mortality (currently 7.5% of all children born are dead by age 5), so that the students who we claim to be buying laptops for live long enough o use them! On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 10:25 AM, John Karanja wrote:
An interesting comment from the blog below... http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto...
We are in Digital Age Institute already participating in this programme, in that we are educating Secondary School teachers in use of IT. Its our take, that the teachers are not having many problems adapting. It appears to me to be Nairobi Central City Thinking that teachers up country are not modern. Yes - indeed there are a few who need much more guidance - but they are few - and they are very motivated - playful - absorbing - I'm not in doubt that this will be an initiative working for a long time to come.
In regards to taking the laptops home? I don't think so.
One of the challenges is maintenance and repair. However - the polytechnics have already educated too many hardware competent repair guys - now the good news: Yoo Hooooo - there's a job for them !
Embracing this new technology will most probably do what it has done elsewhere - speed up all development, education, society development tremendously.
Now only missing that we all unite: Teachers / Students / Institutions - so that we can conquer this new world of Information Technology together.
Kindly David Svarrer CEO / Principal Digital Age Institute Ltd. 0786 936 145 / 0714 503 333
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
A couple of things:
[1] Marginal utility of capital - Kenya has finite monetary resources. Is this the best way we can possibly spend this money to aid education? For example, the FPE initiated in 2003 did not increase the number of students who were in primary school, enrollment per capita is still the same, albeit with degraded quality - it increased access… [2] Support - What OS will the laptops run? Who will support this infrastructure - whats the total cost of ownership? Warranties? Replacement? What happens when a class one student lovingly pours his sugary juice or porridge onto the laptop? If the laptops are running windows, what happens when the laptop gets a virus? If they are running linux, who will handle basic user issues? [3] Government should in my opinion, focus on the basics, that have worked historically - making energy as cheap as possible (improve quality and quantity too), infrastructure (road/rail/pipeline), reduce regulation, buy books for schools (import used books)). The rest will take care of itself.
The IT sector will *not* be able to absorb the sort of unemployment we have in Kenya. That will be done by farming & manufacturing (btw, even with all the hype in Kenya, as of last year, Agriculture and related services employed 60% of Kenya's population)…
On Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM, John Karanja wrote:
> I think I have seen from responses a lot of creative ways to mitigate against the concerns you have raised of this project on my blog post here http://bit.ly/YNnv0Q > > To summarize: > Downgrade from solar powered laptop to solar powered ink e-readers with keyboard input. This will cost max $85/piece and will primarily solve text book crisis. > Require manufacturer to assemble the e-readers here in Kenya within 3 years of the program at Konza create local jobs and jump start Konza. > Require e-reader to run open source OS to allow porting of local Kenyan applications, games and content e.g Through a local app store. > Run of a Wireless Network built on LTE technology or Whitespaces within 3 years so internet access is controlled and monitored. > Why start in class one digital literacy is arguably just as important as "play" hence the need to ingrain the same at the ideal age of learning. Think 15 years to see massive benefits. > To mitigate against natural threats like theft/damage gadgets will be fitted with biometric id and software upgrades will only be possible remotely as the devices will have no external ports. > Insuring each device at say $5 will mitigate against loss as well damage. > > In 2010 I visited a cyber cafe in Kibera that had been subsequently been turned into a gaming place because of cost of maintaining the lab even as a business. Kids adapt to technology easily and quickly once they handle their own devices even for a few months is enough to get them interested in tech. See video of my visit John Karanja & Whive > > I am more worried about the distribution logistics of it all! > > John > > > On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:45 AM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com> wrote: >> Ashok, >> Those laptops are not free. The govt will buy them (just like the Passats) from those companies at govt prices and terms... with your tax money. So, the companies will be selling 500K more computers than otherwise. And this will be sustained for 5 years.... >> >> I love Uhuruto and I'm rooting for them, so this is where we tell the king that their "transparent" clothes are no clothes at all. Of course, the courtiers will tell them how great looking their gowns are, how bold, handsome & digital they look etc etc. >> >> There's a wide chasm between "getting man on the moon" and "sending money to China". If we're determined to throw precious foreign exchange at our Chinese, Korean & American friends, at least let's ensure that we carefully invest the peanuts we get in return, where we have the best return. >> >> This is where politics is funny. If any of your managers made such decisions with your money - our treasury coffers are reading negative - they'd get the sack at the double. It's not a poverty mentality, it's just plain old frugality, diligence and good stewardship. As a national character, these qualities will guarantee our prosperity, and contrast with procrastination, wishful thinking & guesswork. >> >> This is why I like this 'bold' promise. As Ndemo alludes, the better outcome is more than assured: a 50+-seat computer lab at EVERY secondary school, complete with a self-learning curriculum and material. This is what will transform our society within the next 5 years, and hugely positively impact the lives of the Std. 1 pupils, who, BTW, should be playing with each other, and sleeping as much as they can. >> >> At the bottomline, Kenyans >> Cheers! >> >> From: "ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info" <ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info> >> To: mauxdatabase@gmail.com; Skunkworks Mailing List <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> >> Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 5:21 PM >> Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative >> >> >> >> >> On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: >> But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard… >> http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/... >> >> >> I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it. >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> skunkworks mailing list >> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >> ------------ >> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >> ------------ >> >> Skunkworks Rules >> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >> ------------ >> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> skunkworks mailing list >> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >> ------------ >> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >> ------------ >> >> Skunkworks Rules >> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >> ------------ >> Other services @ http://my.co.ke > > _______________________________________________ > skunkworks mailing list > skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke > ------------ > List info, subscribe/unsubscribe > http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > ------------ > > Skunkworks Rules > http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 > ------------ > Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
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-- Regards,
Mark Mwangi
markmwangi.me.ke
-- Regards,
Mark Mwangi
markmwangi.me.ke
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I think dishing out laptops without a plan is also a bad idea. I have however also seen what simply availing resources to kids can do. I remember reading about Attila the Hun and super-conductivity and the chemical properties of the surface of Io, one of Jupiter's moons when I was still in class 5. I found this fascinating and I thank the various primary schools for stocking these in their libraries. I was considered a genius back in school yet this was within anyone's reach at my school. The kids in underfunded schools with pitiful libraries with the same interest were obviously frustrated and with the same playing field would probably be brilliant scientists now. I imagine with an affordable tablet loaded with hundreds of books, days spent idling about would have been used adding on to knowledge as a way to pass time and this is what I imagine such gadgets would achieve. Ignorance would fade in the general public and this would be a better investment than producing another Facebook. Tablets would be better for kids. Laptops for older students. Dismissing the idea however and turning attention towards the failings of Kenya power and the Agriculture based economy is however not dealing with the problem but shooing it away. Yes our agricultural,power and manufacturing sectors need a serious jolt. I hope this is dealt with in other facets of the Jubilee manifesto but empowering children would be the best long-term strategy I have seen yet. On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:02 AM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com>wrote:
:-). This fellow has vested interests. Yes. All these folks are going to be paid - who is going to foot the tax bill? My issue is not so much the project (which has noble beginnings) but the utility of the cash.
A kindle with WIFI is 7,000 KES. Buy students rugged kindles without WIFI with selected books from Project Gutenburg. You will laugh all the way to the bank.
The problem we have is assuming that all the knowledge a student needs to succeed in life is Information Technology - however, no knowledge exists in a silo. The reason we go through 12 years of primary and secondary education is because you call knowledge from various spheres of life in order to make decisions/products etc.
You cannot tell me that it makes sense to spend 7% of annual GDP (on a minimum) providing laptops to students and not all of them - just one stream. Do you have any idea what the remaining education budget will look like? We are giving birth at the rate of 1M per year. This cost will only increase. Significantly.
For context, we are an *AGRICULTURAL* economy. Agricultural. Tilling the land, herding goats, sheep, milking cows, wrestling with pigs etc employs 80% of our workforce. 80%. With a rate of 40% unemployment. We have other priorities.
We should really be addressing things like land reform, agricultural reform, making energy cheaper, strengthening our education system (Indeed, we need to invest more in critical thinking and reason to mitigate against such bad policy), infrastructure (rails etc) which will allow us to finance this ten years from now.
We are starving, unhealthy nation in the dark. Surely we have other priorities - like reducing infant mortality (currently 7.5% of all children born are dead by age 5), so that the students who we claim to be buying laptops for live long enough o use them!
On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 10:25 AM, John Karanja wrote:
An interesting comment from the blog below... http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto...
*We are in Digital Age Institute already participating in this programme, in that we are educating Secondary School teachers in use of IT. Its our take, that the teachers are not having many problems adapting. It appears to me to be Nairobi Central City Thinking that teachers up country are not modern. Yes - indeed there are a few who need much more guidance - but they are few - and they are very motivated - playful - absorbing - I'm not in doubt that this will be an initiative working for a long time to come.*
*In regards to taking the laptops home? I don't think so.*
*One of the challenges is maintenance and repair. However - the polytechnics have already educated too many hardware competent repair guys - now the good news: Yoo Hooooo - there's a job for them !*
*Embracing this new technology will most probably do what it has done elsewhere - speed up all development, education, society development tremendously.*
*Now only missing that we all unite: Teachers / Students / Institutions - so that we can conquer this new world of Information Technology together.*
*Kindly David Svarrer CEO / Principal Digital Age Institute Ltd. 0786 936 145 / 0714 503 333*
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com>wrote:
A couple of things:
[1] Marginal utility of capital - Kenya has finite monetary resources. Is this the best way we can possibly spend this money to aid education? For example, the FPE initiated in 2003 did not increase the number of students who were in primary school, enrollment per capita is still the same, albeit with degraded quality - it increased access… [2] Support - What OS will the laptops run? Who will support this infrastructure - whats the total cost of ownership? Warranties? Replacement? What happens when a class one student lovingly pours his sugary juice or porridge onto the laptop? If the laptops are running windows, what happens when the laptop gets a virus? If they are running linux, who will handle basic user issues? [3] Government should in my opinion, focus on the basics, that have worked historically - making energy as cheap as possible (improve quality and quantity too), infrastructure (road/rail/pipeline), reduce regulation, buy books for schools (import used books)). The rest will take care of itself.
The IT sector will *not* be able to absorb the sort of unemployment we have in Kenya. That will be done by farming & manufacturing (btw, even with all the hype in Kenya, as of last year, Agriculture and related services employed 60% of Kenya's population)…
On Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM, John Karanja wrote:
I think I have seen from responses a lot of creative ways to mitigate against the concerns you have raised of this project on my blog post here http://bit.ly/YNnv0Q
To summarize:
1. Downgrade from solar powered laptop to solar powered ink e-readers with keyboard input. This will cost max $85/piece and will primarily solve text book crisis. 2. Require manufacturer to assemble the e-readers here in Kenya within 3 years of the program at Konza create local jobs and jump start Konza. 3. Require e-reader to run open source OS to allow porting of local Kenyan applications, games and content e.g Through a local app store. 4. Run of a Wireless Network built on LTE technology or Whitespaces within 3 years so internet access is controlled and monitored. 5. Why start in class one digital literacy is arguably just as important as "play" hence the need to ingrain the same at the ideal age of learning. Think 15 years to see massive benefits. 6. To mitigate against natural threats like theft/damage gadgets will be fitted with biometric id and software upgrades will only be possible remotely as the devices will have no external ports. 7. Insuring each device at say $5 will mitigate against loss as well damage.
In 2010 I visited a cyber cafe in Kibera that had been subsequently been turned into a gaming place because of cost of maintaining the lab even as a business. Kids adapt to technology easily and quickly once they handle their own devices even for a few months is enough to get them interested in tech. See video of my visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7b3DTehfg
I am more worried about the distribution logistics of it all!
John
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:45 AM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com> wrote:
Ashok, Those laptops are not free. The govt will buy them (just like the Passats) from those companies at govt prices and terms... with your tax money. So, the companies will be selling 500K more computers than otherwise. And this will be sustained for 5 years....
I love Uhuruto and I'm rooting for them, so this is where we tell the king that their "transparent" clothes are no clothes at all. Of course, the courtiers will tell them how great looking their gowns are, how bold, handsome & digital they look etc etc.
There's a wide chasm between "getting man on the moon" and "sending money to China". If we're determined to throw precious foreign exchange at our Chinese, Korean & American friends, at least let's ensure that we carefully invest the peanuts we get in return, where we have the best return.
This is where politics is funny. If any of your managers made such decisions with your money - our treasury coffers are reading negative - they'd get the sack at the double. It's not a poverty mentality, it's just plain old frugality, diligence and good stewardship. As a national character, these qualities will guarantee our prosperity, and contrast with procrastination, wishful thinking & guesswork.
This is why I like this 'bold' promise. As Ndemo alludes, the better outcome is more than assured: a 50+-seat computer lab at EVERY secondary school, complete with a self-learning curriculum and material. This is what will transform our society within the next 5 years, and hugely positively impact the lives of the Std. 1 pupils, who, BTW, should be playing with each other, and sleeping as much as they can.
At the bottomline, Kenyans Cheers!
------------------------------ *From:* "ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info" < ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info> *To:* mauxdatabase@gmail.com; Skunkworks Mailing List < skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> *Sent:* Wednesday, April 24, 2013 5:21 PM *Subject:* Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote:
But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/...
I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it.
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Regards, Mark Mwangi markmwangi.me.ke
The problem I have, that most are missing is that this is actually doing the children a disservice! As things stand, a primary school teacher earns 13,650 thereabouts per month - this means that anybody who is good at their craft either joins a private school or leaves the teaching profession. The age of the teachers is progressively aging. What's the best thing you can do? Pay teachers decent wages - train them. Ensure literacy. That goes a longer way than laptops. After all, students in the US did not receive laptops in their youth. They are leading the technology revolution. South Korea did not give their students laptops, we are falling over to pay for their tech innovations. So really, the argument that giving laptops results in technology innovation because a couple of kids hacked android is a classic post hoc ergo proper hoc logical fallacy. Giving 10,000 students laptops will not lead to Apple Inc in 2040. After all, kids hacked Android in Ethiopia - watched porn in lagos http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1020167/olpc-helps-nigerian-kids-su... Why do I care about agricultural reform? We have *finite* resources in Kenya - we should be looking at what gets the best results for the students - is it improving quality of teaching or giving the kids laptops? Improving agriculture will result in more money tomorrow! Fixing the rail will result in more money tomorrow! Proper education means that in 2030, we are not worried about the same issues that we worried about before. BTW - without a focus on agrarian and manufacturing reforms, we won't be able to soak most people into the job market leading to increased inequality - which consequently reduces quality of life for all (crime etc). On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 11:38 AM, Mark Mwangi wrote:
I think dishing out laptops without a plan is also a bad idea.
I have however also seen what simply availing resources to kids can do. I remember reading about Attila the Hun and super-conductivity and the chemical properties of the surface of Io, one of Jupiter's moons when I was still in class 5. I found this fascinating and I thank the various primary schools for stocking these in their libraries. I was considered a genius back in school yet this was within anyone's reach at my school. The kids in underfunded schools with pitiful libraries with the same interest were obviously frustrated and with the same playing field would probably be brilliant scientists now.
I imagine with an affordable tablet loaded with hundreds of books, days spent idling about would have been used adding on to knowledge as a way to pass time and this is what I imagine such gadgets would achieve. Ignorance would fade in the general public and this would be a better investment than producing another Facebook.
Tablets would be better for kids. Laptops for older students.
Dismissing the idea however and turning attention towards the failings of Kenya power and the Agriculture based economy is however not dealing with the problem but shooing it away.
Yes our agricultural,power and manufacturing sectors need a serious jolt. I hope this is dealt with in other facets of the Jubilee manifesto but empowering children would be the best long-term strategy I have seen yet.
On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:02 AM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com (mailto:phares.kariuki@gmail.com)> wrote:
:-). This fellow has vested interests. Yes. All these folks are going to be paid - who is going to foot the tax bill? My issue is not so much the project (which has noble beginnings) but the utility of the cash.
A kindle with WIFI is 7,000 KES. Buy students rugged kindles without WIFI with selected books from Project Gutenburg. You will laugh all the way to the bank.
The problem we have is assuming that all the knowledge a student needs to succeed in life is Information Technology - however, no knowledge exists in a silo. The reason we go through 12 years of primary and secondary education is because you call knowledge from various spheres of life in order to make decisions/products etc.
You cannot tell me that it makes sense to spend 7% of annual GDP (on a minimum) providing laptops to students and not all of them - just one stream. Do you have any idea what the remaining education budget will look like? We are giving birth at the rate of 1M per year. This cost will only increase. Significantly.
For context, we are an *AGRICULTURAL* economy. Agricultural. Tilling the land, herding goats, sheep, milking cows, wrestling with pigs etc employs 80% of our workforce. 80%. With a rate of 40% unemployment. We have other priorities.
We should really be addressing things like land reform, agricultural reform, making energy cheaper, strengthening our education system (Indeed, we need to invest more in critical thinking and reason to mitigate against such bad policy), infrastructure (rails etc) which will allow us to finance this ten years from now.
We are starving, unhealthy nation in the dark. Surely we have other priorities - like reducing infant mortality (currently 7.5% of all children born are dead by age 5), so that the students who we claim to be buying laptops for live long enough o use them!
On Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 10:25 AM, John Karanja wrote:
An interesting comment from the blog below... http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto...
We are in Digital Age Institute already participating in this programme, in that we are educating Secondary School teachers in use of IT. Its our take, that the teachers are not having many problems adapting. It appears to me to be Nairobi Central City Thinking that teachers up country are not modern. Yes - indeed there are a few who need much more guidance - but they are few - and they are very motivated - playful - absorbing - I'm not in doubt that this will be an initiative working for a long time to come.
In regards to taking the laptops home? I don't think so.
One of the challenges is maintenance and repair. However - the polytechnics have already educated too many hardware competent repair guys - now the good news: Yoo Hooooo - there's a job for them !
Embracing this new technology will most probably do what it has done elsewhere - speed up all development, education, society development tremendously.
Now only missing that we all unite: Teachers / Students / Institutions - so that we can conquer this new world of Information Technology together.
Kindly David Svarrer CEO / Principal Digital Age Institute Ltd. 0786 936 145 / 0714 503 333
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Phares Kariuki <phares.kariuki@gmail.com (mailto:phares.kariuki@gmail.com)> wrote:
A couple of things:
[1] Marginal utility of capital - Kenya has finite monetary resources. Is this the best way we can possibly spend this money to aid education? For example, the FPE initiated in 2003 did not increase the number of students who were in primary school, enrollment per capita is still the same, albeit with degraded quality - it increased access… [2] Support - What OS will the laptops run? Who will support this infrastructure - whats the total cost of ownership? Warranties? Replacement? What happens when a class one student lovingly pours his sugary juice or porridge onto the laptop? If the laptops are running windows, what happens when the laptop gets a virus? If they are running linux, who will handle basic user issues? [3] Government should in my opinion, focus on the basics, that have worked historically - making energy as cheap as possible (improve quality and quantity too), infrastructure (road/rail/pipeline), reduce regulation, buy books for schools (import used books)). The rest will take care of itself.
The IT sector will *not* be able to absorb the sort of unemployment we have in Kenya. That will be done by farming & manufacturing (btw, even with all the hype in Kenya, as of last year, Agriculture and related services employed 60% of Kenya's population)…
On Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM, John Karanja wrote:
I think I have seen from responses a lot of creative ways to mitigate against the concerns you have raised of this project on my blog post here http://bit.ly/YNnv0Q
To summarize: Downgrade from solar powered laptop to solar powered ink e-readers with keyboard input. This will cost max $85/piece and will primarily solve text book crisis. Require manufacturer to assemble the e-readers here in Kenya within 3 years of the program at Konza create local jobs and jump start Konza. Require e-reader to run open source OS to allow porting of local Kenyan applications, games and content e.g Through a local app store. Run of a Wireless Network built on LTE technology or Whitespaces within 3 years so internet access is controlled and monitored. Why start in class one digital literacy is arguably just as important as "play" hence the need to ingrain the same at the ideal age of learning. Think 15 years to see massive benefits. To mitigate against natural threats like theft/damage gadgets will be fitted with biometric id and software upgrades will only be possible remotely as the devices will have no external ports. Insuring each device at say $5 will mitigate against loss as well damage.
In 2010 I visited a cyber cafe in Kibera that had been subsequently been turned into a gaming place because of cost of maintaining the lab even as a business. Kids adapt to technology easily and quickly once they handle their own devices even for a few months is enough to get them interested in tech. See video of my visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7b3DTehfg
I am more worried about the distribution logistics of it all!
John
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:45 AM, Bernard Owuor <b_owuor@yahoo.com (mailto:b_owuor@yahoo.com)> wrote:
Ashok, Those laptops are not free. The govt will buy them (just like the Passats) from those companies at govt prices and terms... with your tax money. So, the companies will be selling 500K more computers than otherwise. And this will be sustained for 5 years....
I love Uhuruto and I'm rooting for them, so this is where we tell the king that their "transparent" clothes are no clothes at all. Of course, the courtiers will tell them how great looking their gowns are, how bold, handsome & digital they look etc etc.
There's a wide chasm between "getting man on the moon" and "sending money to China". If we're determined to throw precious foreign exchange at our Chinese, Korean & American friends, at least let's ensure that we carefully invest the peanuts we get in return, where we have the best return.
This is where politics is funny. If any of your managers made such decisions with your money - our treasury coffers are reading negative - they'd get the sack at the double. It's not a poverty mentality, it's just plain old frugality, diligence and good stewardship. As a national character, these qualities will guarantee our prosperity, and contrast with procrastination, wishful thinking & guesswork.
This is why I like this 'bold' promise. As Ndemo alludes, the better outcome is more than assured: a 50+-seat computer lab at EVERY secondary school, complete with a self-learning curriculum and material. This is what will transform our society within the next 5 years, and hugely positively impact the lives of the Std. 1 pupils, who, BTW, should be playing with each other, and sleeping as much as they can.
At the bottomline, Kenyans Cheers! From: "ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info (mailto:ashok%2Bskunkworks@parliaments.info)" <ashok+skunkworks@parliaments.info (mailto:ashok%2Bskunkworks@parliaments.info)> To: mauxdatabase@gmail.com (mailto:mauxdatabase@gmail.com); Skunkworks Mailing List <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke (mailto:skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke)> Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 5:21 PM Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] A pre-analysis of Jubilee’s One Solar Laptop per Child Initiative
On 24 April 2013 16:45, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com (mailto:mauxdatabase@gmail.com)> wrote: > But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard… http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Stop-doubting-laptop-project-PS/-/1056/1757042/...
I am surprised no one has mentioned that this plan fructifies, it will create a gray-market for cheap laptops. Many students will end up selling their "free" laptops at rock bottom prices (for whatever reason ... poverty, ignorance, beer money ... ). This will end up undercutting the very same laptops sold by the companies which supply the free laptops to the government, who will then complain to the government about stopping the students from selling laptops. But its a demand / supply equation - if you provide something (with good resale value ) for free, there will be abuse, and it will be nearly impossible to control it.
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke (mailto:skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke) ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
_______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke (mailto:skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke) ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------
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-- Regards,
Phares Kariuki
| Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
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-- Regards,
Mark Mwangi
markmwangi.me.ke (http://markmwangi.me.ke)
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-- Regards, Phares Kariuki | Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
Barrack seems to me that should the right durable mobile computing device be found it would offer great leap frog advantages to marginalized children... On Apr 14, 2013 2:35 PM, "Barrack Otieno" <otieno.barrack@gmail.com> wrote:
The reality on the ground is quite different from the hype, we had a laptop per child initiative in Kamiti primary school, i think it was spearheaded by Intel, i am not sure how successfull this scheme and we might need to check how prepared the teacher and the parents are before deploying the project fullscale. Kenya is not Nairobi and Nairobi is not Kenya , we have to think of Informal schools in Samburu, Modogashe and the far flung places that are really marginalised, i have been to an informal school in Samburu and it was similar in build to our cattle Boma in shags, i am picturing a child with a laptop sitting on the ground without a roof how long will this device survive? which leads me to the next question of maintenance, how will this be handled and after how long does the government replace the laptops?, it is one thing to have computers in schools or to give out computers to kids and it is another thing to use computers to facilitate education, the later takes a deliberate and intentional strategy which we need to see.
Best Regards
On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 10:24 AM, SpaceKenya.com <info@spacekenya.com>wrote:
simply brilliant approach... not sure on relying on MNO's to supply data network.
Government is investing in its own LTE network.
I think starting at class one is really important for maximizing long term benefits of cognitive adoption of technology aided learning...much like learning a language.
The security issue abounds though insurance in addition to biometric locking could be a possible solution... On Apr 13, 2013 3:39 PM, "Laban Mwangi" <lmwangi@gmail.com> wrote:
Having thought more about this... 1. We can give ebook readers to standard 3 kids. (Standard 1 might be a bit too young for ebook readers) + Parents no longer think of buying books from bookshops. + Govt can easily buy books for every single child in the country; bulk buy from publishers and wireless push to e-readers. + Kids have a vast array of books to read. + Reading culture becomes ingrained at an early age. + You can push copyleft books (Classics such as: Around the world in 80 days to wikibooks to creative common books) + Eink readers can last for weeks on a single charge. + Eink readers are relative cheap. [1]
2. At around standard 5, start priming kids for computer basics + programming basics 3. At around standard 6. Push netbooks to every single child. + Mature age for computer use. + Kids at this age probably have an idea about what they want to do. Providing them with a laptop and Internet use widens their view. + Probably give every child a monthly data bundle (say 50mb) that can be purchased from the govt through telcos. + Collate and preload netbooks with videos from khan academy et al.
Some statistics: - KCPE candidates[2]: ~800k - The likely figure of standard one students is probably around 1 million. - The minimalist ebook reader is going to cost you 90USD [3]. Ballpark figure for cost of e-readers to students starting with standard 3, 4, 5 is going to be 3 * 90 * 1e6 = 270 million dollars - Depending on the build quality, you can get cheap 10inch netbooks for ~100 USD [4]. Ballpark figures for pushing netbooks to standard 6, 7, 8 is 3 * 100 * 1e6 = 300 million dollars.
- Pushing a netbook to every standard 6 student and a eink reader to every standard 3 student is going to cost the government 40 Billion shillings (0.5 billion USD). Remember that you have students in standard 7 & 8 who are yet to receive netbooks and students in 4,5,6,7,8 w/out kindles. Also remember that you have not factored high school/university students.
So how do we do this? 1. Economies of scale for such an order would significantly lower the prices by 10-30%. 2. Require that any purchased device be assembled in Kenya. Making at least 2 million devices per year can jumpstart an electronics manufacturing segment. As an aside: I believe that aircraft manufacture frequently uses this model. Place an order of X and get the tail manufacturing, Y orders and you get fuselage.. 3. Provide tax incentives for SMT companies that operate in Kenya. No tax on SMT tech imports, token tax on manufactured devices... 4. Sell these devices to governments around Africa for a tiny profit.
Benefits: 1) Above average tech savvy society within 5-10 years. 2) Newly minted electronics manufacturing segment might be very lucrative to the taxman. 3) Helluva lots of jobs from manufacturing, logistics, electronic book publishing, software industry. 4) Bragging rights?
Caveat: - These are just words. We'd need political backing for this to happen. I don't know whether our newly minted government is all action and no words or all words and no action
1. http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/CN/e-ink-reader.html 2. http://www.jamiiforums.com/kenyan-news/391881-knec-releases-kcpe-results-for... 3. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HCCOD0/ref=amb_link_85156411_1?pf_rd_m=... 4. http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/cheap-linux-netbook.html
On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:19 AM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Thanks Martin, this raises the question - How important is mobility of the devices in this Initiative? It seems to me the initiative you have described is suitable for the older students particularly High Schools...
On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:31 AM, Martin Gicheru <martin@techweez.com>wrote:
In regards to what other parts are integral to the success of the laptops for children initiative, there are some that have sought to develop a product that can try solve this in a lasting way, obviously dependent on whether it's adopted. Samsung has partnered with Intel, Microsoft, KIE and other partners to develop a solution that will involve Internet school, a learning management software that will harmonize the way teachers teach, laptops and solar powered containers for places where the power grid has not reached. Note, these are not solar laptops but solar powered internet schools, the whole hog of laptops, server, smartboard and learning software developed with KIE as partner.
Now what this raises,
- Cost of internet setup and running - adoption and resistance to change by teachers - others you may find from this.
Read here, an interview I had with Robert Ngeru, to collect these points http://ow.ly/k1Mdr
Regards,
Martin Gicheru | Founder and Editor at Techweez
Tel:254721906171 | Website:http://www.techweez.com | Skype ID: martingicheru | Twitter ID:martingicheru | Gplus: gplus.to/martingicheru
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 6:55 PM, John Karanja <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>wrote:
Here is a comment from the blog from someone who has been involved in OLAP on that score...
*I think the “Harmonization Jubilee Manifesto” Is a new Era for the Kenya Education, Providing a solar laptop to every child will have so many potential in enhancing the education system in Kenya. The implementation, deployment and scalability of the program will become more easy through the support and facilitation from the government,…*
*Nonetheless, from my long time experience, In order for the program to be successful, the government will have to face so many challenges; elaborate a clear plan including incorporate “One laptop Per child Initiative” in the Kenyan curriculum and work closely with institutions like the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of Education “KIE” to elaborate the right content that will be relevant to kids in the Kenyan environment.*
*The government should also think to work closely with NGO’s and research institutions to support, collect data and measure the impacts of this new technology in Kenya so as to provide feedback to contributors program “OLPC Foundation” which will allow to build the right hardware with components that are useful for our kids,*
*The tech community, developers and programmers who create apps for education need to be part of the initiatives in testing, creating and adapting their software “Activities” for this particular hardware.*
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 5:59 PM, David Njuguna <dnjuguna@gmail.com>wrote:
> A lot of research, try and error has gone into OLAP. Perhaps Kenya > government could build on OLAP's successes. > > > On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 4:04 PM, george < > theonlydamnedavailablename@gmail.com> wrote: > >> The benefits to the students and the country as a whole that would >> be brought about by the successful implementation of this project are huge. >> >> In my opinion the biggest emphasis to eventual success should be >> paid to; >> >> (1) The teachers - the ordinary teacher has to buy the idea first. >> Sell it to them and the chances of success are pretty good. >> >> (2) Government implementation - This should be treated like a >> business complete with a CEO who reports directly to the president. This >> might very well be Jubilee's Thika Road. >> >> >> George >> >> >> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 3:25 PM, John Karanja < >> mauxdatabase@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Hi Listers, >>> >>> I recently wrote this blogpost, looking forward to your views >>> >>> -- >>> >>> During the recently concluded electoral campaigns President Uhuru >>> Kenyatta <http://uhuru.co.ke/> and his Deputy William Ruto >>> captivated the minds of Kenyan parents with a promise of delivering to >>> every Standard One pupil entering school in 2014 asolar powered >>> laptop <http://uhuruto2013.com/?p=113> to enhance and aid their >>> learning environment(see video below). >>> >>> As expected many Kenyans were sceptical given the perception that >>> many Government projects begin with pomp and fury but end up as duds; >>> wasting billions of shillings that could otherwise have gone to more basic >>> and immediate needs. >>> >>> I thought it would be prudent for us to examine through a *Strength >>> Weakness Opportunity Threat( SWOT)* analysis the feasibility of >>> such a project in present day Kenya<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya> >>> . >>> >>> *Read more: >>> http://johnkaranja.com/2013/04/10/a-pre-analysis-of-jubilees-one-solar-lapto... >>> * >>> >>> Kind Regards, >>> >>> John >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> skunkworks mailing list >>> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>> ------------ >>> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>> ------------ >>> >>> Skunkworks Rules >>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>> ------------ >>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> skunkworks mailing list >> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >> ------------ >> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >> ------------ >> >> Skunkworks Rules >> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >> ------------ >> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >> > > > _______________________________________________ > skunkworks mailing list > skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke > ------------ > List info, subscribe/unsubscribe > http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > ------------ > > Skunkworks Rules > http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 > ------------ > Other services @ http://my.co.ke >
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participants (20)
-
ashok+skunkworks＠parliaments.info -
Barrack Otieno -
Bernard Owuor -
Bwana Lawi -
Christian Ledermann -
David Njuguna -
Edward Mayaka -
Francis Njenga -
george -
John Karanja -
Laban Mwangi -
Mark Mwangi -
Martin Chiteri -
Martin Gicheru -
Peter Karunyu -
Phares Kariuki -
Simon Wainaina -
SpaceKenya.com -
Tech List Kenya -
Watson Kambo