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Teacher in Ghana has no computers so he draws Microsoft Word on the blackboard

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Re: Teacher in Ghana has no computers so he draws Microsoft Word on the blackboard

#21

Post by saagarjha »

booleandilemma wrote: post #14
jay-anderson wrote: post #2

My first thought was that most of my computer science classes in college were in classrooms without computers. I think that was a very good thing. It's interesting that this is instead teaching an understand of basic UI concepts and specific applications.

I took my Java exams on these guys: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_book_exam

The AP Computer Science exam is still done with pencil and paper. Not because it has any inherent value, but because the CollegeBoard is too lazy to update their test format.

Re: Teacher in Ghana has no computers so he draws Microsoft Word on the blackboard

#22

Post by teej »

So I’ve been to Kumasi before. Take this with a grain of salt - this was over 10 years ago and I was there on a two week voluntourism trip. Here are some of the reasons it’s hard to use real computers as a part of the ciriculum there.

* Electricity. Blackouts and brownouts are a part of life in Ghana, especially Kumasi. On top of that, the quality of the electricity is low. This poses major challenges for computers in the classroom. The school I visited only had electricity in the main office but not in the classrooms.

* Air quality. It is so very dusty. The medical clinic I was volunteering at had a computer and was constantly on the fritz in part due to dust when dry and humidity when raining. Many of the places I visited were open to the outside air like that clinic.

* Literacy. It’s gotten way better since I’ve been there but you still need basic literacy to get any use out of a computer.

* Poverty. Ghana’s GDP per capita is $4,500 USD. Many people in this community live on an income of dollars a day.

* Internet. The only access to Internet is a nearby town with an Internet cafe. And you needed the power to be on to use it. And it was very expensive - a couple dollars an hour to use.

* Typing skills. Due to lack of exposure to computers, even the people with a job at the clinic who were supposed to use the computer had at best 5 was typing ability.

* Simple computer skills. The ladies at the clinic wanted to listen to a single song on windows media player. I tried to show them the loop button but they did not want it. They were happy to just restart it every 3 minutes for the entire 6 hour work day.

And lots of other reasons. I don’t really have any answers but I do wish to see it improve.

Re: Teacher in Ghana has no computers so he draws Microsoft Word on the blackboard

#23

Post by wjn0 »

mlevental wrote: post #11
wjn0 wrote: post #9

I wonder if rural areas like these have libraries, how close they are, and how funded they are, if at all. Rather than donate to a school, a program that funds libraries in areas like these, which in this day and age aren't only for books, but for digital media too, could go a long way in providing access not only for students, but for adults as well.

in rural areas like this the literacy rate is a tiny fraction of the population. the largest stores of books are at schools and they are mostly donated textbooks. source: lived in rural africa for two years and taught high school math.

Interesting. For a while now, I've thought about the idea that large "scientific" businesses (from software engineering, even to business) could somehow directly profit from educating people in these areas. Similar to how large companies in the US pay for people to get their graduate degrees. Unfortunately I'm sure it would be taken advantage of by bad actors.

Re: Teacher in Ghana has no computers so he draws Microsoft Word on the blackboard

#24

Post by mlevental »

contingencies wrote: post #20
mlevental wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I seriously doubt getting power is an issue you have no idea what you're talking about. the average salary of a teacher in subsaharan africa is 100$/month. a kwh in uganda is ~ $0.17. a liter of gas is ~$1.50. only the wealthiest schools have generators and they save them for powering lights during exam prep periods. people aren't getting around on motorbikes - moto taxis exist and people pay for them but only wealt…

OK well if they've got power, assuming your prices, let's say a KwH is about what an hour class would use. So USD$0.17/class, one class per day, 20 classes per month, 20 * USD$0.17 = USD$3.4/month. The teacher won't be the one paying, the community will gather money if required. A small generator is USD$40 to buy here in China as I stated, not USD$300. You are making a mountain out of a molehill. (Edit in response to…

>The teacher won't be the one paying, the community will gather money if required.

you are beyond clueless. any school that has a computer is a private school. public schools have zero money. there is no community doing fundraising - you're talking about people who absolutely literally live on >A small generator is USD$40 to buy here in China as I stated, not USD$300.

how much do you think it costs to ship? how high do you think import tariffs are? do you plan on holding every generator that every school needs on your lap on a flight over? i had to buy a socket wrench once - it cost me 30$ because it was imported.

>You are making a mountain out of a molehill.

i lived in rural uganda for two years and taught high school. i know exactly what i'm making into a mountain. these people can't afford toilet paper and soap. they shit into shallow holes in the ground. teachers read aloud from textbooks and students copy verbatim into trash notebooks (made out of discarded newspaper) because they can't afford textbooks. they eat boiled corn flour every day for their entire lives - a soda is a treat. just no clue man. how about this: spend the $1000 on a plane ticket and go see for yourself rather than sending rpis that no one will ever use and learn about what it's really like so you can then go on to educate others.

> I see solutions. You see problems.

lol. go ahead. do it. report back to us in a year how you've found the silver bullet the NGO community has been looking for for 40 years.

Re: Teacher in Ghana has no computers so he draws Microsoft Word on the blackboard

#25

Post by GuiA »

mlevental wrote: post #13
contingencies wrote: post #10

I live in Shenzhen. Hardware is cheap here. Why not spec out a cheap system and we can send them a few together from HN? Taobao parts... Screen @ 248RMB (USD$40) https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.42.21a554932... Raspberry Pi 3B + case + heatsink + power supply @ 250RMB (USD$40) https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.16.79304af9s... (set 3) Keyboard/mouse @ 20RMB (USD$3) https://item.taobao.com/…

how will they power it? the biggest problem is not cheap hardware but cheap/consistent power (both of which are problems - power is very expensive and very sparse and very unreliable).

You may be right, but in the interview the teacher does not seem to share your concern:

I've read in news reports that you've received an outpouring of help from foreigners who want to donate computers to your school. Is that actually happening?

No, they are showing interest but nothing has been brought to the school. We are praying that they are able to organize themselves and present us with computers.

Re: Teacher in Ghana has no computers so he draws Microsoft Word on the blackboard

#26

Post by smelendez »

saagarjha wrote: post #21
booleandilemma wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took my Java exams on these guys: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_book_exam

The AP Computer Science exam is still done with pencil and paper. Not because it has any inherent value, but because the CollegeBoard is too lazy to update their test format.

I suspect it's more about maintaining a lowest common denominator. AP CS, last time I saw the data, is already mostly limited to wealthy schools, even compared to other AP exams. When there were two levels, the upper level was even more skewed.

Giving the exam electronically would mean schools would have to provide some kind of minimal computing environment to run the software. I'm sure there are some schools offering the course or at least letting motivated kids take the exam (I went to a better than decent high school, and Physics C was essentially an extracurricular with a standardized test at the end) who only have ancient Dell machines full of malware.

Re: Teacher in Ghana has no computers so he draws Microsoft Word on the blackboard

#27

Post by mlevental »

GuiA wrote: post #25
mlevental wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how will they power it? the biggest problem is not cheap hardware but cheap/consistent power (both of which are problems - power is very expensive and very sparse and very unreliable).

You may be right, but in the interview the teacher does not seem to share your concern: I've read in news reports that you've received an outpouring of help from foreigners who want to donate computers to your school. Is that actually happening? No, they are showing interest but nothing has been brought to the school. We are praying that they are able to organize themselves and present us with computers.

if i gave you a lambo with no gas in sight would you turn it down?

Re: Teacher in Ghana has no computers so he draws Microsoft Word on the blackboard

#28

Post by mlevental »

wjn0 wrote: post #23
mlevental wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

in rural areas like this the literacy rate is a tiny fraction of the population. the largest stores of books are at schools and they are mostly donated textbooks. source: lived in rural africa for two years and taught high school math.

Interesting. For a while now, I've thought about the idea that large "scientific" businesses (from software engineering, even to business) could somehow directly profit from educating people in these areas. Similar to how large companies in the US pay for people to get their graduate degrees. Unfortunately I'm sure it would be taken advantage of by bad actors.

https://andela.com/

Re: Teacher in Ghana has no computers so he draws Microsoft Word on the blackboard

#29

Post by saagarjha »

smelendez wrote: post #26
saagarjha wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The AP Computer Science exam is still done with pencil and paper. Not because it has any inherent value, but because the CollegeBoard is too lazy to update their test format.

I suspect it's more about maintaining a lowest common denominator. AP CS, last time I saw the data, is already mostly limited to wealthy schools, even compared to other AP exams. When there were two levels, the upper level was even more skewed. Giving the exam electronically would mean schools would have to provide some kind of minimal computing environment to run the software. I'm sure there are some schools offerin…

I went to a high school that could have easily offered an exam on computers (in fact, that’s where we took our state exams), so obviously my viewpoint is biased. Keeping that in mind, I think the skew towards wealthier schools will not worsen by requiring it to be taken on a computer. I’ve talked to people whose schools did not even offer the exam to students, because since they did not have the resources to provide a proper class, too few people expressed interest for it to be administered.

Re: Teacher in Ghana has no computers so he draws Microsoft Word on the blackboard

#30

Post by fyfy18 »

teej wrote: post #22

So I’ve been to Kumasi before. Take this with a grain of salt - this was over 10 years ago and I was there on a two week voluntourism trip. Here are some of the reasons it’s hard to use real computers as a part of the ciriculum there. * Electricity. Blackouts and brownouts are a part of life in Ghana, especially Kumasi. On top of that, the quality of the electricity is low. This poses major challenges for computers i…

Regarding the first few points, I’ve heard of remote villages in the Himalayas having schools with Raspberry Pis and 12V monitors. The whole system was powered by solar. They then have an offline dump of Wikipedia for students to use for research.
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