Re: [DDN] A Stand Against Wikipedia

[Sarah Blackmun-Eskow]

Exactly. Students can develop their critical skills by analyzing Wikipedia
articles, just like they should/would any other material they encounter.

Wikipedia seems especially helpful when one needs to be able to place a
theorist/researcher/practitioner in the context of a field or discipline or
history or whatever. 

S.

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of David P.
Dillard
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 9:53 AM
To: Kinyua Martin
Cc: The Digital Divide Network discussion group
Subject: Re: [DDN] A Stand Against Wikipedia


Me again.  I do not think a group of faculty members at various institutions
changes the equation much.  There is a growing group of professional
educators who recognize and support value in the Wikipedia. A recent poster
to EDTECH, an H-Net discussion group, who is a library science faculty
member indicated in a post that she is beginning to have major second
thoughts about prior negative attitudes toward the Wikipedia.
I suspect many reference librarians in academic and public libraries see the
good and try to teach students in reference encounters to use their thinking
and analyzing skills to find and deal with any bad in the Wikipedia.

EDTECH



There are 173 posts that mention Wikipedia on EDTECH and these are quite
interesting and overall more positive in overall trend than what one might
find in discussion of this source on a medieval history scholars list or a
discussion group of philosophy professors.  Those who engage in rigorous
scholarship will be very likely to miss the values of a tool like the
Wikipedia and not realize as well some of the powerful uses of Google,
Ask.com, Yahoo and so forth.  But this will be counterbalanced by many in
K-12 fields, as well as those in colleges who teach curriculums like
business or journalism or even fields like sociology or medicine who see
some important positive sides of this resource.

I do apologize for the last segment of my first post as I was trying to
finish rapidly as I needed to be at a meeting and I did not communicate in
that last sentence.  My point was that Google and the Wikipedia have been
heavily covered as a source for information in lots of Net-Gold posts and as
a topic of discussion in many Net-Gold posts.  The Wikipedia will remain a
controversial tool, but many will recognize its values and use it and this
includes some of those folks in academic circles.

Here is the quote of the library and information science professor that I
alluded to above in this post.


"4. Finally, have you changed your mind about some tech in the last year.
For example, I used to be 100% leery of Wikipedia, but now see its pluses.
I am interested in things that have just lately caught your eye. They do
nothave to be brand new, but new to you. They can be useful, entertaining,
or of course both!

Only a few things come to my tired brain right now

I have definitely changed my tune about wikipedia.  I still teach kids to be
more than a little sceptical - but you absolutely can't beat it as a place
to start researching new trends/issues/people etc."


From: Mary Ann Bell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> List Editor: EDTECH
Editor-Jones <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Editor's Subject: HIT: New
devices, apps, sites (second of two) Author's Subject: HIT: New devices,
apps, sites (second of two) Date Written: Thu, 11 Jan 2007 21:31:47 -0500


*
"Try curiosity!"--Dorothy Parker
*

Dr. Mary Ann Bell
Associate Professor, Library Science
Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, TX
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]



A shorter URL for the above link:





Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Net-Gold


General Internet & Print Resources



Digital Divide Network

Educator-Gold




On Mon, 5 Feb 2007, Kinyua Martin wrote:

> This is a blow to a wonderful resource. Professors should probably 
> take a greater role in reviewing the material on Wikipedia. With time 
> the resource will become more and more accurate as opposed to 
> discouraging its use altogether.

> Martin Kinyua
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]

> -Original Message-
> From: David P. Dillard [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 2:55 PM
> To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group
> Subject: [DDN] A Stand Against Wikipedia


> REFERENCE: ENCYCLOPEDIAS :
> REFERENCE: TOOLS: 

Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

[Sarah Blackmun-Eskow]

Metaphors, while compelling, can be misleading and ultimately destructive.

A chunk of the billions of dollars of "aid" goes to Western "experts" and
consultants: the aid establishment, looking out for its own financial
interests. Another goes to the corrupt indigenlous politicians and
government functionaries who skim money off the top in order to achieve the
affluence that their positions require. How much is actually used for the
benefit of poor people is not known. 

In addition, "locally controlled development" often needs Western expert
help to succeed, but is reluctant to accepting Western help because of
centuries of abuse from the West.

There is no good metaphor to express this situation in all of its raw power
and destructiveness. Perhaps a non-metaphorical expression is needed.



-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Steve Eskow
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2008 9:42 AM
To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group
Subject: Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

Joe Beckmann's warning about the limits of the "first things first" axiom is
well taken--and it's the danger that the "ecology" metaphor intends to
avoid. There is no necessary linearity in a web of interconnections, and no
obvious starting point.

Those who have watched developments, or in many cases lack of developments,
in some of the poor countries--who have watched billions of dollars of
well-intentioned "aid" result in no visible betterment of human
conditions--might understandably question the utilty and the accuracy of
such a notion as "an indigenous capacity to succeed." At times, indeed, it
seems as if there is an indigenous capacity to fail.

The "positive deviants" notions is another usefl idea that can have
disastrous results in practice. Those who the intervener sees as "positive
deviants" might be seen as "negative idiots" by those locals whose
cooperation  is crucial to the success of an intervention.

And even the universally applauded notion of "home grown" and locally
controlled development is often a fiction. Quite often the "positive
deviants" know that the resources and the skills that the community needs to
break out of poverty aren't in the local community: if the local medicine
man could prevent and cure AIDS they wouldn't need non-local doctors and
antiretrovirals.

So: all the metaphors, and all the formulas, and all of the homilies point
us in important directions, and all of them have to be used with great care.

Steve Eskow.

On Thu, Aug 14, 2008 at 8:07 AM, Joe Beckmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:

> My only reservation about an "ecology of need" is an implication that 
> there are a sequence of "readiness" opportunities, that it's hard to do
"d"
> before
> doing "a," "b," and "c." There is a need/readiness system, and the 
> system also includes - almost inevitably but not at all obviously - an 
> indigenous capacity to succeed. Social interventions that ignore those 
> "positive deviants" where success can be a foundation for further 
> success will almost inevitably fail; others, that build on local 
> capacity to enhance locally derived strategies for success, are far 
> more sustainable because they have local sponsors, invested in expanding
their efficacy.
>
> One of the more interesting approaches is a formal evaluation of that 
> "positive deviance" adapted by the Institute of Positive Deviance at
Tufts.
> http://www.positivedeviance.org/ The Institute of Positive Deviance 
> has begun to ramp up a variety of programs in a variety of social 
> services to demonstrate this approach. In education, for example, 
> there is
http://www.teacherdrivenchange.org/teacherdrivenchange/2008/07/index.html.
> Their model is a slightly more academic spin on the older organizers'
> strategies framed by people like Saul Alinsky (well represented here 
> http://www.itvs.org/democraticpromise/alinsky.html).
>
> In short, this is anti-imperialism: solutions don't come from one 
> place and get dropped on another; they've got to be home grown, 
> nursed, and with local support.
>
> For the Digital Divide this means well documented local change has the 
> greatest transportability, since others can see what people went 
> through in creating their own solutions. It is the process that can be 
> transferred, not it's product.
>
> On Thu, Aug 14, 2008 at 8:46 AM, Jaevion Nelson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >wrote:
>
> > Thanks, this is very useful. I really like the last idea of the 
> > ecology
> of
> > need. I beleive it is one of the things that are preventing the 
> > sustainability for nmany social interventions and programmes across 
> > the world and in the Caribbean. For example in Jamaica, several 
> > persons enter
> a
> > community provide persons with the opportunity but illiteracy, 
> > poverty, culture, etc prevents the programme from making that 
> > exponential impact
> that
> > it had intended to. The result is that within months the programme 
> > fails

Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

[Sarah Blackmun-Eskow]

Good heavens, what a cliché! If you take that view, denying that societies
have segments and interest groups, rich and poor, powerful and powerless,
and everything in between and all about, then hoping for justice is
pointless. 

My suggestion is: No society has just one set of expectations. It has many,
and some win out over others, and some rise to power and then decline. 

S. 

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Taran
Rampersad
Sent: Friday, August 15, 2008 7:32 AM
To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group
Subject: Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

Sarah Blackmun-Eskow wrote:
> There is no good metaphor to express this situation in all of its raw 
> power and destructiveness. Perhaps a non-metaphorical expression is
needed.
>   
Any society is the sum of it's expectations.

--
Taran Rampersad
Presently in: San Fernando, Trinidad
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

http://www.knowprose.com
http://www.your2ndplace.com

Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knowprose/

"Criticize by creating." — Michelangelo
"The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine." -
Nikola Tesla

___
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.


___
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE 
in the body of the message.

Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

[Sarah Blackmun-Eskow]

What's the difference between a development phenomenon and an economic
"deal" or phenomenon? 

This is a real question, not a rhetorical one.

S. 

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of tom abeles
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2008 2:44 PM
To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group
Subject: Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking


hi steve

I think you are right- Hope is the key

But bad policy and false hope is another issue.
And a lot of the precious capital in the development arena has this problem

cell phones are not a development phenomenon- it's an economic and business
deal with political participation

tom

> Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:46:51 -0700
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> To: digitaldivide@digitaldivide.net
> Subject: Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking
> 
> Perhaps, Tom, hope is the only constant we have, the driver and the
engine.
> Remember Emily Dicinson's "Hope"--it begins
> 
> Hope
> 
> Hope is the thing with feathers
> That perches in the soul,
> And sings the tune--without the words, And never stops at all, Perhaps 
> the only universal law worth remembering for our work is that there is 
> no universal law that works every time.
> What works today in Situation A lets us down in Situation B.
> 
> Those of us in the rich countries have some reason to be grateful to 
> science and technology. Many of us are alive and functioning because 
> science and technology has cut us apart and reassembled us with metal and
plastic parts.
> We are cyborgs.
> 
> And there always surprises to confound us. Many technologies get to 
> Accra and stay there, or diffuse throughout the nation slowly and 
> painfully. But cell phone: overnight they are everywhere.
> 
> Scott Fitzgerald said something like So we press on, boats against the 
> current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. Something like that.
> 
> Good to be in touch again.
> 
> Steve
> 
> On Thu, Aug 14, 2008 at 12:07 PM, tom abeles <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> >
> > Thanks for this post Steve. Perhaps some insights from a few "gray
beards"
> > on the list are needed from time-to-time.
> > Let me suggest some other issues:
> >
> > a) The problem with science is that it works, to a certain extent, 
> > for the natural environment. As many have pointed out the idea of 
> > finding universal laws, programs that can be cloned, etc in social 
> > systems, the false notion of western Enlightenment, might be called 
> > as in Levin's book, "The Tyranny of Reason"
> > The political philosopher John Gray (not the Mars Venus person) 
> > points out similar ideas in his collection, "Heresies". Yet, in the 
> > development community hope springs eternal, like the milk horse 
> > hoping to catch that elusive carrot held out by the driver
> >
> > b) Natural or human created Tsunamies- weather or changing political 
> > and economic acts, across the oceans can change a small village in a 
> > small country in Africa at the click of a mouse.
> > Many in the development community keep hoping for such a perfect 
> > storm, like the Cargo Cults, unwilling to accept that life is 
> > fragile for all creatures on the earth and there is no guarantee 
> > that on this planet change will not lead to losses. After all, most 
> > development has a strong polyanna element.  Triage is not seen as an 
> > option.
> >
> > c) we are enamored with technology (things and social technology). 
> > Thus the problems between the enfranchised and disenfranchised (in 
> > all dimensions) is
> > knowledge-
> > educate and the rising tide will equalize all boats on the seas and 
> > raise all ships equally. Hence the problem has been cast as a "digital
divide".
> > Instead of the US political cliche, a chicken in every pot, it is 
> > now a smart phone in every home.
> > information/knowledge/education, hopefully digitally distributed, is 
> > the equivalent of the 6-gun in the US west, the great equalizer. 
> > It's the liberal (or progressive) answer to problems created by a 
> > conservative past.
> >
> > Esperaremos
> >
> > tom
> >
> > > Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:41:46 -0700
> > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > > To: digitaldivide@digitaldivide.net
> > > Subject: Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking
> > >
> > > Joe Beckmann's warning about the limits of the "first things 
> > > first" axiom
> > is
> > > well taken--and it's the danger that the "ecology" metaphor 
> > > intends to avoid. There is no necessary linearity in a web of 
> > > interconnections, and
> > no
> > > obvious starting point.
> > >
> > > Those who have watched developments, or in many cases lack of
> > developments,
> > > in some of the poor countries--who have watched billions of 
> > > dollars of well-intentioned "aid" result in no visible betterment 
> > > of human conditions--might understandably question the utilty and 
> > > the accuracy of such a notion as "an indigenous capacity to 
> > > succeed." At times, indeed,
> > it
>

Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

[Sarah Blackmun-Eskow]

One of the most successful forces against the spread of HIV in Africa is one
of your favorites: the church people. In Uganda, for example, clergy
promoted the ABC approach: Abstinence, Be faithful, use a Condom. If church
(and mosque) leaders do have the reputation and credibility we think they
do, and that seemed to be true in Uganda, then we have a simple, honest,
moral approach right at hand.

S. 

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Joe Beckmann
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2008 8:16 PM
To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group
Subject: Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

A meeting of minds is far from difficult: western techniques are easier to
transport than western technology - and netting via medicine men is
virtually how the Edna McConnell Clark foundation almost wiped out Trachoma
(http://www.trachoma.org/).

It's a lot more complicated than condoms imply, since it takes disclosure to
deal with condoms, and that disclosure is pretty culture-bound. Hence 52% of
the new HIV cases in the US are black women. The newest rage of PEP pill
pushing is much, much more controversial - if anybody has any real interest
in ending the epidemic - since (a) we've known for more than a decade that
it works, and waited until pharma found a financial incentive to make it
popular and (b) we've also known that it doesn't take a lifetime of pill
taking, in spite of last week's notice that it is precisely that treatment
that pharma is now pushing. The corruption of the west is something that
spreads a lot faster and easier than our benevolence.

On Thu, Aug 14, 2008 at 4:19 PM, Steve Eskow <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> There is the digital divide, and the health divide.  And perhaps those 
> divides are related.
>
> Westerners live longer than those in the poor countries, or so the 
> mortality tables tell us.
>
> Western hard and software interests: are they the ones who are 
> promoting the digital divide idea for their shareholders and 
> executives? Is this list part of a Microsoft/Intel conspiracy?
>
> And big pharma: are they the ones promoting antiretrovirals for their 
> shareholders?
>
> "Western" DDT almost wiped out malaria in parts of sub-Saharan Africa 
> until it was banned--and the mosquitoes and malaria returned with a
vengeance.
>
> There seems to be little evidence that local medical knowledge can 
> prevent or treat malaria. The bed netting developed in the West, but 
> certainly able to be produced locally, can. What, if anything, is the 
> right thing to do or not do, say or not say, about bed netting and 
> malaria in sub-Saharan Africa?
> And should the help of the local medicine man be enlisted in the bed 
> netting campaign?
>
> Condoms can reduce the frequency of death-dealing AIDS in Africa. Big 
> pharma medications can keep people alive once they have contracted the 
> disease.
> ICT
> can bring information about these life-enhancing possibilities to Africa.
> What do we do, or not do, about life and death in Africa, and who will 
> involve the local medicine man, and how, and what to do if he is not 
> interested but has his own routines?
>
> Steve Eskow
>
> On Thu, Aug 14, 2008 at 12:39 PM, Joe Beckmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >wrote:
>
> > To get back to that medical model, don't under-estimate the medicine 
> > man
> vs
> > the doctor. Last week's HIV/AIDS Conference in Mexico City "discovered"
> > that
> > pre-exposure prophylaxes (PEP) actually work, but framed that "working"
> in
> > terms of a daily dose of an anti-viral and/or use of microbicides 
> > (which are still in testing). There is over 15 years of research 
> > that proves fairly conclusively that PEP has always "worked" about 
> > 87% of the time, and
> that,
> > in most cases, a single dose of a microbicide before exposure is all 
> > it takes. It is not coincidental that Bush signed a $55billion 
> > subsidy the week before the PEP announcement, and that lots of big 
> > pharma can support any "solution" that guarantees a daily pill, 
> > subsidized, will achieve that
> same
> > 87% prevention rate. Bah and humbug.
> >
> > Surely, before celebrating the universal solutions of the west, it 
> > makes some sense to look more closely at solutions locally, and 
> > explore how
> some
> > synergies might accomplish more with less for more people. Promoting 
> > western medicine means more than promoting western big pharma way 
> > beyond the
> scale
> > of either need or good practice. Yet when big pharma pays for the 
> > promotion, and the social research remains unclear, the benefits 
> > ought not be
> presumed
> > for the high tech solution.
> >
> > Just as big pharma has "unexamined consequences," it benefits any 
> > culture to explore what those consequences may be in crossing the 
> > digital divide without a map for what's to come.
> >
> > On Thu, Aug 14, 2008 at 3:07 PM, tom abeles <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > Thanks for this post Steve

Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

[Sarah Blackmun-Eskow]

Yes, of course we want everyone to learn to read. But in the meantime, in
oral cultures like those in rural Africa, arranging for the local minister
or imam to speak from the pulpit may be the most effective action that can
be taken immediately.  

This is what we are doing in Ghana.

See http://www.pangaeanetwork.org

Sarah

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Paperless
Homework
Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 9:35 PM
To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group
Subject: Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

Good. What you point out is essentially education.

This education about dangers of aids should begin in schools. Children will
know and how to advise their illiterate parents. We do it by "Learning
English through anti-Aids campaign"
where subjects like comprehension are based on aids. They learn English at
the same time the dangers of aids. They remember because they need to get
the right scores.

Catch them young before they gets it.

Any volunteers or contributors of such articles among members? Action not
just talk :>) Anyone who knows any NGOs wishing to go into this direction?
We have no resources to develop this at the moment.

Regards
Alan Foo
www.paperlesshomework.com
[EMAIL PROTECTED]






--- On Sat, 8/16/08, Sarah Blackmun-Eskow <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
From: Sarah Blackmun-Eskow <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking
To: "'The Digital Divide Network discussion group'"

Date: Saturday, August 16, 2008, 4:15 AM

One of the most successful forces against the spread of HIV in Africa is one
of your favorites: the church people. In Uganda, for example, clergy
promoted the ABC approach: Abstinence, Be faithful, use a Condom. If church
(and mosque) leaders do have the reputation and credibility we think they
do, and that seemed to be true in Uganda, then we have a simple, honest,
moral approach right at hand.

S. 

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Joe Beckmann
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2008 8:16 PM
To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group
Subject: Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

A meeting of minds is far from difficult: western techniques are easier to
transport than western technology - and netting via medicine men is
virtually how the Edna McConnell Clark foundation almost wiped out Trachoma
(http://www.trachoma.org/).

It's a lot more complicated than condoms imply, since it takes disclosure to
deal with condoms, and that disclosure is pretty culture-bound. Hence 52% of
the new HIV cases in the US are black women. The newest rage of PEP pill
pushing is much, much more controversial - if anybody has any real interest
in ending the epidemic - since (a) we've known for more than a decade that
it works, and waited until pharma found a financial incentive to make it
popular and (b) we've also known that it doesn't take a lifetime of pill
taking, in spite of last week's notice that it is precisely that treatment
that pharma is now pushing. The corruption of the west is something that
spreads a lot faster and easier than our benevolence.

On Thu, Aug 14, 2008 at 4:19 PM, Steve Eskow <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:

> There is the digital divide, and the health divide.  And perhaps those 
> divides are related.
>
> Westerners live longer than those in the poor countries, or so the 
> mortality tables tell us.
>
> Western hard and software interests: are they the ones who are 
> promoting the digital divide idea for their shareholders and 
> executives? Is this list part of a Microsoft/Intel conspiracy?
>
> And big pharma: are they the ones promoting antiretrovirals for their 
> shareholders?
>
> "Western" DDT almost wiped out malaria in parts of sub-Saharan
Africa 
> until it was banned--and the mosquitoes and malaria returned with a
vengeance.
>
> There seems to be little evidence that local medical knowledge can 
> prevent or treat malaria. The bed netting developed in the West, but 
> certainly able to be produced locally, can. What, if anything, is the 
> right thing to do or not do, say or not say, about bed netting and 
> malaria in sub-Saharan Africa?
> And should the help of the local medicine man be enlisted in the bed 
> netting campaign?
>
> Condoms can reduce the frequency of death-dealing AIDS in Africa. Big 
> pharma medications can keep people alive once they have contracted the 
> disease.
> ICT
> can bring information about these life-enhancing possibilities to Africa.
> What do we do, or not do, about life and death in Africa, and who will 
> involve the local medicine man, and how, and what to do if he is not 
> interested but has his own routines?
>
> Steve Eskow
>
> On Thu, Aug 14, 2008 at 12:39 PM, Joe Beckman

Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

[Sarah Blackmun-Eskow]

Great response, very illuminating. Thanks! 


The narratives of the world are numberless. . . . there nowhere is nor has
been a people without narrative.--Roland Barthes
 
Sarah Blackmun-Eskow
President, The Pangaea Network
290 North Fairview Avenue
Goleta CA 93117
805-692-6998
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.pangaeanetwork.org

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2008 7:01 AM
To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group
Subject: Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking


> Sarah Blackmun-Eskow wrote:
> > What's the difference between a development phenomenon and an 
> > economic "deal" or phenomenon?
> >
> > This is a real question, not a rhetorical one.
> > S.
>
Dear all:
I did not get all the mails on this topic since our mail server did not work
during a few days last week, so I hope I am not repeating what you have said
before. I agree that this is a real question.
An economic phenomenon can be almost anything related to markets, and
therefore transactions. The word "deal" refers to this transaction view.
Development, on the other hand, involves a value judgement. A development
phenomenon means that something good or desirable has taken place, and
different groups may make different value judgements as to the desirability
or goodness of a phenomenon or situation.
Reaching consensus about  whether we have witnessed an economic phenomenon
is easy.Reaching consensus about a development phenomenon may not be.
Also, development implies moving forward in a desirable direction. Learning
is also involved in development. As societies and communities learn (by
doing, by interacting, by observing)they change their judgement and values
about development. That´s how sustainable development evolved.
Keeping this difference in mind helps us help others. The values of "those
who have" are different than the values of "those who don´t have". So, who
decides what can be considered a development phenomenon towards bridging the
digital divide?
Hope this helps.
Maria Laura


Secretaria de Desarrollo Universitario
Instituto Universitario Aeronautico
Avda Fuerza Aerea 6500
Cordoba 5010,  Argentina
Tel:: +54 351 5688832
http:// www.iua.edu.ar
___
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.


___
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE 
in the body of the message.

Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

[Sarah Blackmun-Eskow]

What do you-all mean by "the latest ICT gadget"? Do you think it is trivial
and will decline? From what I've seen all over West Africa, it is nontrivial
and here to stay. We are working on how to use it for getting information to
villagers, who despite their remoteness seem to have access (Ghana, e.g.,
has 300+ cell towers).

Sarah Blackmun-Eskow, M.A.
Deputy Director
Office of External Affairs
Ghana Telecom University College
PMB 100, Tesano-Accra, Ghana
U.S. Address: 290 North Fairview Avenue
Goleta CA 93117
805-692-6998
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.gtuc.edu.gh
 
 


The narratives of the world are numberless. . . . there nowhere is nor has
been a people without narrative.--Roland Barthes
 
Sarah Blackmun-Eskow
President, The Pangaea Network
290 North Fairview Avenue
Goleta CA 93117
805-692-6998
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.pangaeanetwork.org

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Daniel O.
Escasa
Sent: Saturday, September 06, 2008 7:30 AM
To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group
Subject: Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

Sabi ni Jacky noong Wed, 3 Sep 2008 23:31:29 -0400:
> I agree with the idea that mobile phone is the latest ICT gadget; 
> however, there is a lot that remains to be done in terms of broadband 
> penetration.

You don't need much bandwidth for SMS, and there's a lot you can do with
SMS. For example, the Community Heath Information System (CHITS --
http://www.apdip.net/resources/case/rnd48/view)


In this study free and open source tools from the Linux community combined
with participatory people-centric strategies were employed to enable
implementation of an injury surveillance system by health workers. The
project has three main components: a Short Messaging Service (SMS) for
reporting injuries, training of health workers on injury surveillance and a
web-based system for the graphic presentation of injury data used by
decision makers. The pilot project was implemented in a poor urban village
of the Philippines. SMS was selected because of its widespread penetration
in the Philippines and its wireless capabilities.


Another SMS-enabled service is B2Bpricenow (www.b2bpricenow.com), a portal
that provides up-to-the-minute price updates on market information for
agriculture, consumer manufactures, and industrial produce. It brings
together farmers and transport providers so that the former can get
information such as pricing and transport availability from the latter.

In a previous post (or it might've been in another mailing list), I thought
that mobile telephone carriers could tie up with The Knowledge Channel (TKC)
or some similar educational TV station to provide quick quizzes to the
student viewers. TKC would flash a question on screen and invite viewers to
SMS in their answers, and TKC would reply to a viewer's cell phone with
either "correct" or "wrong". In the latter case, it would send the correct
answer. The carriers would lend their infrastructure, ideally at reduced SMS
rates.

So who needs 3G? 
--
Daniel O. Escasa
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
contributor, Free Software Magazine (http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com)
personal blog at http://descasa.i.ph

--
http://www.fastmail.fm - Or how I learned to stop worrying and
  love email again

___
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.


___
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE 
in the body of the message.

Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC

[Sarah Blackmun-Eskow]

"Marketing" and "corporate success" can't be judged in isolation from the
values that power them. Legitimate questions are: What ends is marketing
being used for? How do it affect the well-being of the society? Is marketing
responsible, truthful, positive? Same for corporate success: How does it
help or hinder the goals of a people? Who is enriched, and who, if anyone,
is made poorer?

This sort of analysis is especially important in emerging economies where
many people live in poverty.


The narratives of the world are numberless. . . . there nowhere is nor has
been a people without narrative.--Roland Barthes
 
Sarah Blackmun-Eskow
President, The Pangaea Network
290 North Fairview Avenue
Goleta CA 93117
805-692-6998
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.pangaeanetwork.org

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Satish Jha
Sent: Saturday, September 06, 2008 11:38 PM
To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group
Subject: Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC

I regret that I do not understand what is being argued here.. Are we for or
against corporate success or marketing or what have you?..

>From the point of view of "Development" and technology for it, I would
rather look at what gets achieved in terms of helping those who need help to
get included in the "progress" that we achieve as a global society and
create possibilities to make it more inclusive. If marketing does that,
isn't that something we want? Marketing is but an instrument to extend the
frontiers of progress. And we can also see it as an instrument of mopping
profits. Much depends on how we see it.

Any laptop will reside on top of an existing infrastructure and OLPC XO does
not need anything more than what you and I need to access the world of
technology enabled communication. In fact, what it needs is less than
required for the world we seem to know a bit  better as it has been designed
to address and overcome those questions of infrastructure and other
deficiencies.

How does "corporate success" enter this discussion? If the ideas of
technology for education and bridging the digital divide do converge, how do
we want to achieve them? OLPC is a creative institution and having created
the product would ideally like the world to take the next step of embracing
and deploying it. However, how many of us can site a product, regardless of
how needed and responsive to people's dream it may have been, really went
beyond the its confines without a comprehensive marketing strategy? It will
be educative and illustrative in this context.
It has been successful in Uruguay and you may like to call it developed as
well as Peru where the infrastructure is spread out thinly. It has succeeded
at the pilot level in the villages of India where electricity may be
available for a couple hours a day and it works where solar power is usable.

As regards employment, would you recruit a high school kid who began
learning on screen, using both the Windows and Linux from the first grade or
someone who began touching the keyboards after passing out of school?

Thanks much
Satish Jha

On Fri, Sep 5, 2008 at 5:43 PM, Taran Rampersad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> That it is more robust certainly is nice. However, the fact that 
> infrastructure development is robbed by a well marketed feature filled 
> (narrated below) *product* does not mean that it will solve anything. 
> Odd that the iPhone was brought up - it has had such good marketing 
> that people are buying it even in areas where the features don't work.
>
> If that's not corporate success, I don't know what is. But we're not 
> talking about corporate success or are we? It seems to me that the 
> mission of education and the closing of the digital divide have 
> different goals when compared to corporate interests.
>
> The proof will be in the pudding. I'd like to hear success in any way, 
> but I am fairly certain that the successes will mainly be seen in areas
that...
> already have the necessary infrastructure in place. And in the long 
> term, I have sincere doubts as to whether the OLPC will create 
> employment for people once they do become computer literate in the 
> context of the OLPC - or outside of the context.
>
> Good technology, but I seriously question the use of it.
> Satish Jha wrote:
>


> --
> Satish Jha
> President & CEO
> OLPC India
> One Cambridge Center
> Cambridge, MA 02142
> T: 301 841 7422
> F:301560 4909
> www.laptop.org
> __
> http://www.linkedin.com/myprofile?trk=tab_pro
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satish_Jha
>
___
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC

[Sarah Blackmun-Eskow]

A more practical approach is "community computers" (in contrast to "personal
computers") available in a school, church, community center, etc., where
everyone in the village can have access. It is much more reasonable to
provide internet connection for one such community computing center than for
personal laptops. 

A good model is a thin client/server model, in which one powerful server
would serve programs and internet access to many thin clients with limited
computing and storage capacity. (Community users would have their own pen
drives for storing their own files.)

We (Pangaea Network) are testing this idea in Ghana in Asante Akim district.


Sarah Blackmun-Eskow
President, The Pangaea Network
290 North Fairview Avenue
Goleta CA 93117
805-692-6998
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.pangaeanetwork.org

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Paperless
Homework
Sent: Friday, September 19, 2008 5:02 AM
To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group
Subject: Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC

Dear Caroline,
 
What you are doing is exactly what our project is about.
 
We believe that a practical approach should be the way rather than fancy
ideas about One laptop per child for the developing countries. It isn't
practical even in developed countries much less developing countries.
 
It is in this direction that we have created a simple tool to create small
sized tutorials and exercises to enable such multimeda contents to be saved
in diskettes or Pen drives. Yes even diskettes can accommodate multimedia
contents. So in the end the entire extra financial need of the students
would be digitally connected would be the cost of a pen drive.
It can contain the entire contents for the whole life of the students
that is our aim.
 
Computers, students would know how to get access to for those students
without computers.
 
The good thing about OLPC project is the development of low cost units and
its low power needs with longer hours of operation. To use OLPC for each
child in developing countries... it would never come to pass.
 
An interesting article about our concept of Practical tech not high tech
www.paperlesshomework.com/surf
 
Currently we have tremendous response to our free for schools initiative in
Malaysia. We would extend it to other developing countries including China,
India and Indonesia which practically form nearly half the world's
population. If we succeed here , our job is done.
 
See videos of our contents here www.paperlesshomework.ning.com/video
 
Want to really close the digital divide? Join us. It is the ONLY such
project in the world.
 
Regards
Alan Foo
www.paperlesshomework.com
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


www.paperlesshomework.com
An elearning solution for rural areas where online/CDs cannot reach.

Get the latest happenings through paperlesshomework tool bar
www.paperlesshomework.communitytoolbars.com

--- On Thu, 9/18/08, Caroline Meeks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

From: Caroline Meeks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC
To: "The Digital Divide Network discussion group"

Date: Thursday, September 18, 2008, 8:20 AM

Thank you all for this interesting discussion.

As someone embarking on a project similar to OLPC I'm interested in what
advice you have on effective and ethical marketing and corporate
relationships.

School Key is "One KeyFob per Child".  Basically, we question that the best
way for children to have ubiquitous access to computers is to have them
carry laptops with them.  Even if they did cost $100 in a city like Boston
kids are not safe carrying home computers.  Instead we propose to give each
student a 1GB USB Key (currently $5 at Target, probably closer to $1 or $2
in bulk) and arrange for them to be able to boot every computer at school,
the library, the ICT center and at home with it.

When you buy one computer per student it will always be a compromise.
Instead, afterschool programs can have big color screens for art, High use
compuer labs can use low power computers, Science departments can have a
cart of sturdy laptop with cameras and sensors, and low-cost referbished
computers, that doen't even need a hard drives, could be supplied for home.
Content can be automatically downloaded when connected to the internet at
school letting students do homework offline if they don't have internet at
home, then automatically save thier work back to the server when they
reconnect at School.

Currently this is a Grad school project, developed with open source software
by me and Amy Bisiewicz, a Boston Public Schools IT professional, who
attended Harvard Grad School of Education last year thanks to a scholarship
program for Boston Public School employees.  As an Internship for credit at
HGSE, I am doing very intial pilot work this fall at two Boston schools.

Right now we have no grants, no marketing, no corporate partners. Its seems
clear to me that we 

Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC

[Sarah Blackmun-Eskow]

"Out of context"--what a very useful idea. 

Solar home lighting, foot-driven water pumps for crop irrigation, bicycles
for transport of products to market: all these seem to fit comfortably into
the context of village life in Ghana. 

OLPC, not so much. Here are schoolchildren whose mothers can't afford to buy
them the required notebook ($1.00)and uniform ($4.00), so they're not going
to school. Those who do go to school don't have any books of their own, and
the school doesn't have many either. Often the school does not have
electricity, reliably or at all. Almost certainly it doesn't have, and can't
afford, connection to the Internet.

Trying to envision OLPC in this context is pretty challenging, don't you
think? Less difficult is the notion of a community centre that has shared
computers as well as other services (health, literacy, job skills, craft
workshop, bike conversion and repair, etc.).

The problem of "context" has dogged Western-driven "development" since t5he
1950s, and brought the demise of many expensive projects. I guess that's why
the World Bank finally started hiring anthropologists in the 1980s--to get
some folks with the ability to see and understand "context." 

Sarah Blackmun




The narratives of the world are numberless. . . . there nowhere is nor has
been a people without narrative.--Roland Barthes
 
Sarah Blackmun-Eskow
President, The Pangaea Network
290 North Fairview Avenue
Goleta CA 93117
805-692-6998
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.pangaeanetwork.org

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Joel
Sent: Sunday, September 21, 2008 8:56 PM
To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group
Subject: Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC

On Mon, Sep 22, 2008 at 5:09 AM, Cindy Lemcke-Hoong
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> what is the different between telecenters and 'community computers'? If
they are the same, for search purpose, perhaps we could keep to the same
terms?
> Cindy

In the 3rd world countries, a PC is generally too expensive for individual
ownership (hence the relevance of the OLPC). The cost is not just the
purchase price of the HW, but must include the SW costs, and the user's time
to learn and use the technology.

It is simply that an OLPC is so "out-of-context" in the lives of the average
citizen. It is our belief that this is because too little effort is placed
in providing appropriate applications / solutions at the 3rd world
point-of-view.

The telecenter OTOH MUST contextualize at the community level. Can the same
be said for the OLPC?

J Galgana
BayangPinoy Organization, Inc.
___
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.


___
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE 
in the body of the message.

Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC

[Sarah Blackmun-Eskow]

Reinvent the word, not the concept, because the word "telecenter" does not
convey meaning to anyone who doesn't already know what it means. Whereas
"community computing center" does convey meaning even if you never heard the
phrase before. 

In other words, "telecenter" is already jargon that has meaning only to
insiders (which is the definition of jargon). It seems too early in the work
of getting computing into African villages to start using jargon that
villagers won't understand.

Sarah Blackmun, proponent of community computing no matter what it's called 


The narratives of the world are numberless. . . . there nowhere is nor has
been a people without narrative.--Roland Barthes
 
Sarah Blackmun-Eskow
President, The Pangaea Network
290 North Fairview Avenue
Goleta CA 93117
805-692-6998
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.pangaeanetwork.org

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Cindy
Lemcke-Hoong
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 7:26 PM
To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group
Subject: Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC

Hello Joel,

I think you misunderstood me. I was only asking for clarifications of the
differences between the term 'community computers' vs. telecenters. If you
read any of my previous posts you would understand that I am not supporter
of OLPC.

To my understanding 'community computers' is no different than telecenters.
Just another new terms that says the same thing. 

Telecenter has been in existence for more than 20 years and there are many
well researched documents written on telecenter. Why reinventing the wheels?

Cindy

=



[EMAIL PROTECTED]

--- On Mon, 22/9/08, Joel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
From: Joel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC
To: "The Digital Divide Network discussion group"

Date: Monday, 22 September, 2008, 5:55 AM

On Mon, Sep 22, 2008 at 5:09 AM, Cindy Lemcke-Hoong
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> what is the different between telecenters and 'community
computers'? If they are the same, for search purpose, perhaps we could keep
to the same terms?
> Cindy

In the 3rd world countries, a PC is generally too expensive for individual
ownership (hence the relevance of the OLPC). The cost is not just the
purchase price of the HW, but must include the SW costs, and the user's time
to learn and use the technology.

It is simply that an OLPC is so "out-of-context" in the lives of the average
citizen. It is our belief that this is because too little effort is placed
in providing appropriate applications / solutions at the 3rd world
point-of-view.

The telecenter OTOH MUST contextualize at the community level. Can the same
be said for the OLPC?

J Galgana
BayangPinoy Organization, Inc.
___
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
___
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.


___
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE 
in the body of the message.

Re: [DDN] Fw: Re: PhD research on OLPC

[Sarah Blackmun-Eskow]

Oh, yeah! Just go spend a few days in an African village and then come back
and tell me what it is you think you can sell there. 

Composting toilets? (50% of Ghanaian villagers have NO toilets of any kind
and use the bushes.)

Solar lanterns? Some unknown majority of Ghanaian villagers use KEROSENE (a
dangerous poison) to "light" their homes.

Post-harvest processing equipment? A big part of every harvest rots in the
marketplace because the village doesn't have canning or bottling or
packaging equipment.

Foot-operated irrigation equipment? 99% of African farms are watered only by
rain, only in the rainy season.

School uniforms and notebooks for all children, including girls? AT least
1/2 of African girls don't go to secondary school.

I bet there are 100 other appropriate, low-cost products that villagers
would buy before a laptop computer 

Sarah 


The narratives of the world are numberless. . . . there nowhere is nor has
been a people without narrative.--Roland Barthes
 
Sarah Blackmun-Eskow
President, The Pangaea Network
290 North Fairview Avenue
Goleta CA 93117
805-692-6998
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.pangaeanetwork.org

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of arthur
richards
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 5:14 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: digitaldivide@digitaldivide.net
Subject: [DDN] Fw: Re: PhD research on OLPC

I think quite frankly in the developing world where I was brought up and
come from an OLPC is not the first need, it is not the second, it is not the
third, nor the fourth need nor the 10th most important need!
Business people want to sell and still have their heads in the sand that a
parent or government is going to squander $100 or $200 to buy a laptop when
that parent does not earn that in one year!

Wake up guys! Go to where you want to sell these things and come back.
You might just change your mind.

Arthur

--- On Mon, 22/9/08, Joel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
From: Joel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC
To: "The Digital Divide Network discussion group"

Received: Monday, 22 September, 2008, 1:55 PM

On Mon, Sep 22, 2008 at 5:09 AM, Cindy Lemcke-Hoong
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> what is the different between telecenters and 'community
computers'? If they are the same, for search purpose, perhaps we could keep
to the same terms?
> Cindy

In the 3rd world countries, a PC is generally too expensive for individual
ownership (hence the relevance of the OLPC). The cost is not just the
purchase price of the HW, but must include the SW costs, and the user's time
to learn and use the technology.

It is simply that an OLPC is so "out-of-context" in the lives of the average
citizen. It is our belief that this is because too little effort is placed
in providing appropriate applications / solutions at the 3rd world
point-of-view.

The telecenter OTOH MUST contextualize at the community level. Can the same
be said for the OLPC?

J Galgana
BayangPinoy Organization, Inc.
___
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.



  Make the switch to the world's best email. Get Yahoo!7 Mail!
http://au.yahoo.com/y7mail ___
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.


___
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE 
in the body of the message.

Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC

[Sarah Blackmun-Eskow]

Thank you, Joel, for pointing out all the taken-for-granteds implicit in the
advocacy of OLPC. Sarah 


The narratives of the world are numberless. . . . there nowhere is nor has
been a people without narrative.--Roland Barthes
 
Sarah Blackmun-Eskow
President, The Pangaea Network
290 North Fairview Avenue
Goleta CA 93117
805-692-6998
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.pangaeanetwork.org

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Joel
Sent: Friday, October 03, 2008 10:57 AM
To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC

Hi, Cindy!

My post was not intended as a response to your inquiry (to which I extend my
apologies), but to segue BACK to the topic (OLPC) by relating it to
telecenters. Personally, I am in favor of both developments. BayangPinoy has
been working for the implementation of community/telecenters in the
Philippines for over 10 years now, and we actually look forward to a $100 PC
as something that a community of 100 families can afford 5 units of (as the
HW component of the telecenters).

FYI, my post was intended to point out that "community centers" (and
telecenters) are focused on COMMUNITY, while OLPCs (P - PERSONAL) and other
computer technologies are focused on individuals that can afford at least:
a) $100 for a computer,
b) $20/month for "acceptable broadband",
c) understands English (to maximize the value of the material available on
the internet)
d) has access to electronic bank accounts or credit cards (to be able to
participate in ecommerce),

and presumably:
c) understands English (to maximize the value of the material available on
the internet)
d) has access to electronic bank accounts or credit cards (to be able to
participate in ecommerce),
e) has the time / motivation / (?luxury) of "catching up" to all the
background knowledge that is a prerequisite of a "point-and-click"
networked system.

These items (a-e) are definitely not easy (or even possible) for the
majority of the citizens of under-developed countries.

Regards,
J Galgana
BayangPinoy Organization, Inc.


On Tue, Sep 23, 2008 at 10:26 AM, Cindy Lemcke-Hoong
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hello Joel,
> I think you misunderstood me. I was only asking for clarifications of the
differences between the term 'community computers' vs. telecenters. If you
read any of my previous posts you would understand that I am not supporter
of OLPC.
>
> To my understanding 'community computers' is no different than
telecenters. Just another new terms that says the same thing.
>
> Telecenter has been in existence for more than 20 years and there are many
well researched documents written on telecenter. Why reinventing the wheels?
>
> Cindy
>
___
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.


___
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE 
in the body of the message.