Wild Coast

"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence- it is a force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master; never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action."

"Occupants of public offices love power and are prone to abuse it."

~George Washington

Government eyes out One Laptop per Child

By Alastair Otter
www.tectonic.co.za

The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project got a lot of attention from important government members at the Software Freedom Day celebrations on Saturday.

In this picture we have (left to right) Aslam Rafee, CIO of the SA department of science and technology, Maria Farelo, policy, strategy and regulations office of the government CIO of the department of public service and adminsitration, Karl Fischer, also of DST and the chief Software Freedom Day cheerleader, and Derek Hanekom, deputy minister of science and technology.

This is the start of a plan to collate and 'digitalize' comic content for the OLPC XOs and for the primary education sector in general.

A lot of NGOs have created comics on everything from Aids Awareness to alternative technologies.

I would like to get information about NGOs and organisations which have comics which can be licensed under Creative Commons . . . and solicit contributions of any comic material available... Perhaps there's already something like this underway somewhere?

From here this project will move to the wiki on www.laptop.org.za/wiki

Countries that have committed to OLPC so far:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLPC#Participating_countries

Argentina, Brazil, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Greece, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Rwanda, Tunisia, United States of America (specifically the states of Massachusetts and Maine), Uruguay

Paul Kagame, Rwanda's president, said the initiative would strengthen the quality of already existing free and compulsory primary education, by adopting new tools for learning and engaging children more directly, both inside and outside of school.

no comment

Because we don't think about future generations, they will never forget us.
~ Henrik Tikkanen

Does electronic learning (eLearning) threaten to displace the teacher? This question emerged at an international conference held in Nairobi last week, attended by 1,400 people from 88 countries. The latest in information communication technology (ICT) with a focus on education, training and development was showcased.

eLearning makes use of computers, radio or television in addition to books and classes. It ranges from single users to group learning in class. Students are able to talk on-line and exchange ideas. It is participatory and allows the sharing of learning material between networked users.

- A version of Wikipedia aimed at school children has been launched with the content limited to articles suitable for children. Accessible online and as a download, the encyclopedia will soon be found in all tuXlab schools in South Africa. (Source: Balancing Act)

- Intel is to team up with Asustek Computer Inc to produce a cheap computer for developing countries that might sell for as little as $200 but going up to $4-500. One Laptop Per Child has moved its launch date back to July this year. It may well have a flash memory hard drive, a 7-10 inch screen and wireless Internet. It will either run a freely available Linux operating system or Windows XP. (Source: Balancing Act)

The Xhosa months of the year are poetically named after stars and seasonal plants of Southern Africa.

The Xhosa year traditionally began in June and ended in May, when Canopus, the brightest star visible in the Southern Hemisphere, signalled the time for harvesting.

In urban areas today, anglicised versions of the months are used, especially by the younger generation. But in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape – the old names still stand.

www.oculture.com

There are many demonstrations of the power of community collaboration over the net - MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching), Curriki and Wiki Educator being fairly good examples.

Several African countries have joined the Wiki Educator FLOSS4Edu project; but SA is noticeably absent - as with the OLPC project (although there is a small hope of a groundswell movement at www.laptop.org.za.

The deputy minister of education, Enver Surty discussed the real challenges a digitally-supplemented education at primary and secondary level faces in South Africa. Approximately 30 percent of schools currently use computers for teaching and learning, with only 2 percent of those schools actually connected to the Internet. The Gauteng province is at the forefront to enable schools to engage in the digital age, but still faces a severe lack of infrastructure. The reality in South Africa is that most schools need to construct solid buildings before they can even consider putting ICT infrastructure in, hence the need for an integrated development strategy. The government has mandated that by 2013 no child will leave a government school in South Africa without basic computer literacy; and there is obviously a long road ahead.