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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

#121

Post by factsaresacred »

lozenge wrote: post #112
factsaresacred wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm with you on the absurdity of the West. The isolation, sterility and atomisation of life in large cities (self service checkouts, lack of street life/physicality, laws wrapped in regulations wrapped in rules) is soul destroying. But we live until 80, our institutions work, we want for little (materially), and trust is higher. So depends on what you value. Africa doesn't have to emulate anybody. It can move up the…

Do you miss queuing up to withdraw money or check the balance of your bank account? I don't see how self service checkouts are philosophically different from ATMs.

No, I love the convenience! I'm just using it as an example of how we continue to automate away human interaction.

Maybe that's fine. But spend time in Africa or South East Asia where you can't help but interact with people every day (just walking through a city like Bangkok makes you feel alive) and it feels clinical and cold by comparison.

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

#122

Post by tiuPapa »

To be honest, a computer is not that important. I would be graduating out of high school this year and my school still don't have any computers, doubt they will anytime soon. By no means, my education has suffered due to that reason. Computers are easy to pick up, most people have had fiddled with a phone at least and from there, computers are no big deal. I received my first computer just last April and I have already learned to code(more or less, still needs years of polishing). I am not trying to belittle the work of this teacher and he is awesome, but I think instead of trying to send them computers, initiatives should be taken to build a proper infrastructure first. Without proper infrastructure, no matter how many computers you send, very few will benefit from it.

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

#125

Post by pbhjpbhj »

fyfy18 wrote: post #30
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.

There was a segment on the BBC Click TV programme on such a project recently. They also featured installation of Solar grids in small mountain villages.

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

#126

Post by SlowBro »

wutbrodo wrote: post #81
kw71 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm personally shunning black rectangle devices. But I'm still curious - can it print? I'm in the USA where it's a hardship to participate in normal business without windoze. It's a very unfortunate situation due to the costs involved. Also when you are evaluated for low level jobs you are generally put in front of MS office and directed to perform some tasks. If you hunt around looking for features it looks bad to t…

> m in the USA where it's a hardship to participate in normal business without windoze. It's a very unfortunate situation due to the costs involved. Also when you are evaluated for low level jobs you are generally put in front of MS office and directed to perform some tasks Yeesh, what industry are you in? I'm lucky enough that I haven't used windows since high school, but my impression was that OS X, chrome books, a…

How about using the Android tablet to connect to a Windows Terminal Server instance on AWS? Requires more setting up and requires a reliable-ish connection but it’s lighter on resources and that connection can be much cheaper than providing full internet.

I had in mind to do the same on a Linux terminal. Posted my question here as an Ask HN but never got a bite. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16402404

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

#127

Post by girvo »

hordeallergy wrote: post #113
vertis wrote: post #85

A few years ago there was a program[1] on ABC (Australia) about South Africa detailing some of the mismanagement of public funds. Mid way through the story they introduced a young woman from Tembisa who had finished school and had the marks to go to university, but not the money. A group of about 10-12 of us contacted ABC and asked how we could help. The journalist connected us together and we self organized to fund…

Why was buying a computer problematic? SA has computer shops, has had for decades. I bought a zx81 there. Am I missing something?

Buying a computer in SA to SA from Australia is difficult, yeah.

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

#128

Post by crypt1d »

mtgx wrote: post #115

How many people will be able to even afford Microsoft Word in Ghana? He probably knows most people he's teaching there will end-up pirating it once they can even afford a cheap computer. He would do a better job teaching them to use LibreOffice or even Google Docs, at least that doesn't have to be pirated.

In the developed world piracy seems like this big naughty thing you shouldn't do. In places like Ghana, and many other undeveloped areas, its considered normal and expected. Provided you can even afford a computer.

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

#129

Post by SlowBro »

mlevental wrote: post #49
jacobolus wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is somewhat patronizing. Have you tried asking rural African schoolteachers what they most need? Empirically, many people all over the developing world are prioritizing communication devices over those other things you listed.

>Have you tried asking rural African schoolteachers what they most need? yes. many times.

How about: Each computer comes with a bar of soap, and with the skills learned you can compete in the world and afford all the soap you will ever need? I don’t see it as either/or.

When computers are used properly many can lift themselves from poverty.

I know because that’s what I did.

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

#130

Post by purple-again »

ggg9990 wrote: post #103
grecy wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> West Africa could be so much more prosperous if only they would will their way towards it. I have just spent a year and a half driving through 20 countries in West Africa. [1] At times I would have agreed with your comments, though lately I have been taking another tact. The developed world has stress, heart disease, cancer and hundreds of millions of people going to jobs every day they hate with a passion. People…

There are different ways to be a developed country. Canada and the US are similarly developed but Canada has a vastly higher quality of life.

Evidenced by the constant brain drain from the US to Canada to take advantage of that massive increase in quality of life...oh shit wait.
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