help on africa and computer donations
This student is looking for help. Any suggestions? -robert ----------------------------------------------- Hello, I am Alok Kotecha, a Computer Science major at the College of Charleston. I am working on a paper for my English 102 class that is based mainly on donating computers to the developing nations of Africa, mostly Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mozambique & Zambia. My main argument is that developed nations donate technology such as computers to these counties with the aim of technologically advancing the nations, however they do not consider the fact that donating computers is not the main thing to be done at this stage. Below are some other arguments that I address in my paper: 1. Lack of infrastructure e.g. very few people have telephone lines and this will stop them from connecting to the internet. (Wireless connections are out of question in most places due to the high set up costs and regular maintenance required.) 2. Security would be a concern - High crime rates might mean that high security would be needed in order to protect computers from theft. 3. Language would be a concern as well - Operating a computer that interacts in English my be a problem for many people. 4. Health Care - Many people die everyday form malaria and other diseases. In these cases it is always a good idea to save lives first by providing better health care and medical services rather then donating computers. Currently I have based my paper on statistics from UNDP and NYT articles, but because this is a very recent issue I am currently having problems finding more scholarly articles and I would appreciate any suggestions you can provide. Thank you, Alok Kotecha
Hi, Here's the keynote address by MIT Media Lab's Nicholas Negroponte about the One Laptop per Child or XO-1 initiative at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society this year on May 31 - http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mediaberkman/2007/06/17/nicholas-negroponte-key.... In it , he tells how the initiative is proceeding, that this laptop will cost about $130, that it is basically ready, that they are targeting about 8 countries, and that one company built a new factory for them due to the scale of the project. It is primarily an educational endeavor. They'll use a mesh network that will work in remote locations. I'm not sure how they'll approach the language and literacy questions, from a partly engineering orientation. All of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society's media at Media Berkman is a rich resource. The scale and implementation of this project is impressive. Scott MacLeod See also wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_laptop_per_child On 8/27/07, nativebuddha <nativebuddha@gmail.com> wrote:
This student is looking for help. Any suggestions?
-robert
-----------------------------------------------
Hello,
I am Alok Kotecha, a Computer Science major at the College of Charleston. I am working on a paper for my English 102 class that is based mainly on donating computers to the developing nations of Africa, mostly Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mozambique & Zambia.
My main argument is that developed nations donate technology such as computers to these counties with the aim of technologically advancing the nations, however they do not consider the fact that donating computers is not the main thing to be done at this stage.
Below are some other arguments that I address in my paper:
1. Lack of infrastructure e.g. very few people have telephone lines and this will stop them from connecting to the internet. (Wireless connections are out of question in most places due to the high set up costs and regular maintenance required.)
2. Security would be a concern - High crime rates might mean that high security would be needed in order to protect computers from theft.
3. Language would be a concern as well - Operating a computer that interacts in English my be a problem for many people.
4. Health Care - Many people die everyday form malaria and other diseases. In these cases it is always a good idea to save lives first by providing better health care and medical services rather then donating computers.
Currently I have based my paper on statistics from UNDP and NYT articles, but because this is a very recent issue I am currently having problems finding more scholarly articles and I would appreciate any suggestions you can provide.
Thank you,
Alok Kotecha _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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In my view, this student is on the right track - but still short of a series of additional questions that I believe need to be taken into consideration. As briefly as I can: because these technologies embed and foster the cultural values and communicative preferences of their designers - whatever the good intentions of such projects, they run the very real risk of serving as a form of computer-mediated colonization. This colonization is all the more insidious because it is more subtle than gunboats or even smallpox-infected blankets - but the format is the same: a form of cultural imperialism towards "the Other" issuing from a naïve ethnocentrism that presumes that "our" ways of doing things, including communicating and the technologies that support communication, are universal. Those who do things differently are simply wrong, primitive, etc., and must simply learn to do things our way. Worst-case scenario: "wiring the world" in the name of democracy, freedom of expression, economic development, etc. becomes simply a high-tech way of obliterating the differences that define individual and cultural identity. The literature affiliated with the CATaC (Cultural Attitudes Towards Technology and Communication) conferences is chock-full of case-studies from around the world that demonstrate (a) many such projects fail - and sometimes fail disastrously - because designers and sponsors, to put it bluntly, are clueless about the cultural dimensions of what they're up to. This happens in spectacular ways with projects oriented towards indigenous peoples, for example (the South African Learning Centres are a primary example) - but similar results often crop up when crossing into Confucian-shaped societies in particular and more communitarian-oriented societies in general. (Crudely, ICTs have a built-in bias towards the individual - a bias that can foster behavior contrary to the prevailing cultural norms in such societies.) (b) such projects can succeed marvelously - but only by taking into account the cultural and communicative dimensions at work "from the ground up," i.e., by design and implementation processes that start with the clearest possible understanding of the cultural values and communicative preferences of the peoples, organizations, etc., to be involved. The literature here is extensive - much of it online, e.g. in special issues of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, as well as in more traditional print-based journals and a few books: Emma Rooksby & John Weckert (eds.) 2007. Information Technology and Social Justice. Hershey, PA: Idea Publishing Sri Kurniawan & Panayiotis Zaphiris (eds.). 2007. Advances in Universal Web Design and Evaluation Laurel Evelyn Dyson, Max Hendriks & Stephen Grant (eds.) 2007. Information Technology and Indigenous People. Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing. C. Ess, Akira Kawabata, and Hiroyuki Kurosaki (eds.), "Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Religion and Computer-Mediated Communication," Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 12 (3), April, 2007. <http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue3/ess.html> C. Ess. 2006. Du colonialisme informatique à un usage culturellement informé des TIC. In J. Aden (ed.), De Babel à la mondialisation: apport des sciences sociales à la didactique des langues. Dijon : CNDP - CRDP de Bourgogne, p. 47-61. C. Ess and F. Sudweeks (eds.), Culture and CMC: Toward New Understandings - special issue of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 11 (1) (October 2005) <http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue1/> C. Ess and F. Sudweeks (eds.), Technology of Despair and Hope: CMC in the Middle East - a special issue of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (November 2003) <http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol8/issue2/> Jonathan Zhu, Fay Sudweeks, and C Ess (eds.), Internet Adoption in the Asia-Pacific Region, special issue of Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 7: 2 (January, 2002). <http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol7/issue2/> C. Ess (ed.). 2001. Culture, Technology, Communication: Towards an Intercultural Global Village. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. On the South African Learning Centres: Postma, L. (2001). A theoretical argumentation and evaluation of South African learners¹ orientation towards and perceptions of the empowering use of information. New Media and Society, 3(3: September), 315-28. Snyman, M., & Hulbert, D. (2004). Implementing ICT Centres for Development in South Africa: Can cultural differences be overcome?² In F. Sudweeks & C. Ess (Eds.), Proceedings Cultural Attitudes Towards Technology and Communication (pp. 626-630). Murdoch, Western Australia: Murdoch University Hope that helps! - charles ess
This student is looking for help. Any suggestions?
-robert
-----------------------------------------------
Hello,
I am Alok Kotecha, a Computer Science major at the College of Charleston. I am working on a paper for my English 102 class that is based mainly on donating computers to the developing nations of Africa, mostly Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mozambique & Zambia.
My main argument is that developed nations donate technology such as computers to these counties with the aim of technologically advancing the nations, however they do not consider the fact that donating computers is not the main thing to be done at this stage.
Below are some other arguments that I address in my paper:
1. Lack of infrastructure e.g. very few people have telephone lines and this will stop them from connecting to the internet. (Wireless connections are out of question in most places due to the high set up costs and regular maintenance required.)
2. Security would be a concern - High crime rates might mean that high security would be needed in order to protect computers from theft.
3. Language would be a concern as well - Operating a computer that interacts in English my be a problem for many people.
4. Health Care - Many people die everyday form malaria and other diseases. In these cases it is always a good idea to save lives first by providing better health care and medical services rather then donating computers.
Currently I have based my paper on statistics from UNDP and NYT articles, but because this is a very recent issue I am currently having problems finding more scholarly articles and I would appreciate any suggestions you can provide.
Thank you,
Alok Kotecha _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
Distinguished Research Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies <http://www.drury.edu/gp21> Drury University 900 N. Benton Ave. Voice: 417-873-7230 Springfield, MO 65802 USA FAX: 417-873-7435 Home page: http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html Guest Professor (fall, 2007), Department of Media Studies, Aarhus University, Denmark Information Ethics Fellow, 2006-07, Center for Information Policy Research, School of Information Studies, UW-Milwaukee <http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/SOIS/cipr/ethics.html> Co-Editor, International Journal of Internet Research Ethics http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/SOIS/cipr/ijire.html Co-chair, CATaC conferences <www.catacconference.org> Vice-President, Association of Internet Researchers <www.aoir.org> Professor II, Globalization and Applied Ethics Programmes <http://www.anvendtetikk.ntnu.no/pres/bridgingcultures.php> Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23
I have published /researched (and continue to do so) on exploring related issues - if Alok can contact me offlist - I am willing to dialogue with him on the issues. r On Aug 27, 2007, at 8:18 PM, nativebuddha wrote:
Hello,
I am Alok Kotecha, a Computer Science major at the College of Charleston. I am working on a paper for my English 102 class that is based mainly on donating computers to the developing nations of Africa, mostly Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mozambique & Zambia.
My main argument is that developed nations donate technology such as computers to these counties with the aim of technologically advancing the nations, however they do not consider the fact that donating computers is not the main thing to be done at this stage.
Radhika Gajjala Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator School of Communication Studies 302 West Hall Bowling Green State University Bowling Green, OH 43402 http://personal.bgsu.edu/~radhik http://www.cyberdiva.org/blog
Dear Alok: I am also working my DU paper regarding ICTs role int the third world (education in this case). I am quite reluctant about this kind of measures and also had looked at Kenny's point of view which remarks the weaknesses of these plans. I will be happy to share my thought with you. Cristian Berrío Zapata Colombia - South America -----Mensaje original----- De: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] En nombre de Radhika Gajjala Enviado el: martes, 28 de agosto de 2007 08:01 a.m. Para: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Asunto: Re: [Air-L] help on africa and computer donations I have published /researched (and continue to do so) on exploring related issues - if Alok can contact me offlist - I am willing to dialogue with him on the issues. r On Aug 27, 2007, at 8:18 PM, nativebuddha wrote:
Hello,
I am Alok Kotecha, a Computer Science major at the College of Charleston. I am working on a paper for my English 102 class that is based mainly on donating computers to the developing nations of Africa, mostly Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mozambique & Zambia.
My main argument is that developed nations donate technology such as computers to these counties with the aim of technologically advancing the nations, however they do not consider the fact that donating computers is not the main thing to be done at this stage.
Radhika Gajjala Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator School of Communication Studies 302 West Hall Bowling Green State University Bowling Green, OH 43402 http://personal.bgsu.edu/~radhik http://www.cyberdiva.org/blog _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
Dear AIR-ers - I actually organized a computer donation to Ghana in 1997. It was very difficult on many levels. It was almost impossible to secure grid power to the research centre at any given moment in time. When the generators kicked in, all the computers would re-boot. As one of my participants said, "well we come to work and if there is power we do work otherwise it is back to pencil and paper" I will note that despite wind-up batteries there are other issues - heat, humidity, dust and at my site ANTS. I toured an IBM computer lab at the Kumasi Inst of Technology. In 1995, IBM had donated 66 computers, and in 1997 only four of them were still working. Before people scoff at IBM, their machines held up better on this research station than any other brand. Particularly the keyboards. Laptops in particular were fairly quickly overwhelmed by heat, humidity, dust and insects. I kept some of the residual moisture at bay by zipping up my laptop case tightly with a hot machine inside. Floppy diskettes of course could be opened and washed to remove the mold. I NOTE that Computer donations to Africa have been going on for decades. Many of the issues presented in this classic text: Lewis, S. G. and J. Samoff (1992). Microcomputers in African development. Boulder, CO, Westview Press. are still active today. For instance, the Lewis & Samoff discussions of cross cultural misunderstandings and miscommunications about what computers should accomplish are still spot on. The role of women and computing is still hugely problematic. The theory has been explored by Jules-Rossette: Jules-Rossette, B. (1990). Terminal signs: Computers and social change in Africa. Berlin, Mouton-de Gruyter. "The more things change the more they stay the same" Those donating laptops to Africa should spend the time to understand the micro-climates and entomology of the sites where they expect to donate. It's easy to discuss the theory, the hard facts are the insects. My supervisor (former) just returned from Thailand without his internal keyboard as he was on aan archelogical dig and the dust destroyed it. Since cockroaches have recently eaten the circuit boards in both our dishwasher and television recently, I guess that also goes for northern New South Wales. (yes we spray but not often - it's the environment, stupid!) Cheers, Denise Denise N. Rall, PhD Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW 2480 AUSTRALIA Tues: Room T2.17, +61 (0)2 6620 3577 Mobile 0438 233 344 http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/rsm/staff/pages/drall/ Virtual member, Cybermetrics Group, University of Wolverhampton, UK http://cybermetrics.wlv.ac.uk/index.html ____________________________________________________________________________________ Get the World's number 1 free email service. http://mail.yahoo.com.au
Again I am sending this. Sorry. The points to address that will allow these computers to work: 1. Climate 2. Insects THEN . . . . 3. Lack of infrastructure Get real! It's a jungle out there! Or, a desert! NO laptop withstands much sand. Perhaps re-design with a "crumb tray" underneath the case that can be emptied periodically of sand and ants? P.S. Do any students on this list actually compute in the wild, offline, offgrid??? Cheers, DNR
Below are some other arguments that I address in my paper:
1. Lack of infrastructure e.g. very few people have telephone lines and this will stop them from connecting to the internet. (Wireless connections are out of question in most places due to the high set up costs and regular maintenance required.)
2. Security would be a concern - High crime rates might mean that high security would be needed in order to protect computers from theft.
3. Language would be a concern as well - Operating a computer that interacts in English my be a problem for many people.
4. Health Care - Many people die everyday form malaria and other diseases. In these cases it is always a good idea to save lives first by providing better health care and medical services rather then donating computers.
Currently I have based my paper on statistics from UNDP and NYT articles, but because this is a very recent issue I am currently having problems finding more scholarly articles and I would appreciate any suggestions you can provide.
Thank you,
Alok Kotecha _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
Denise N. Rall, PhD Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW 2480 AUSTRALIA Tues: Room T2.17, +61 (0)2 6620 3577 Mobile 0438 233 344 http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/rsm/staff/pages/drall/ Virtual member, Cybermetrics Group, University of Wolverhampton, UK http://cybermetrics.wlv.ac.uk/index.html ____________________________________________________________________________________ Feel safe with award winning spam protection on Yahoo!7 Mail. http://mail.yahoo.com.au
P.S. Do any students on this list actually compute in the wild, offline, offgrid??? I am reminded of the first Micro I ever used - and described in my book "Alex Randall's Used Computer Handbook"... Microsoft Press 1990. It had a handmade wooden case, CP/M operating system and it was powered by generator attached to a pedal bicycle. Pedal hard and you could compute. Relax and the data would disappear. I ran the East West Education Development Foundation from 1990 to 1995 and placed over 6,000 donated computers all over Africa and Asia and the former Soviet Union. We faced all these issues of dust, power grid problems, language barriers and the confiscation of computers by the police. One of my human rights workers in Africa got busted so frequently and had his computers confiscated that we gave him a huge pile of broken Macs. He kept the real data on a laptop with removable HD at home and left the broken Macs at the office so the cops could cart them away and try to figure out what they contained... There is no barrier that can not be overcome. The computer is the current evolution of intelligence on this planet. Millions of years of evolution prove that nothing stops this drive to inquire. Right now I computer in the US Virgin Islands where the electrical power is sporadically off, spikes are frequent and the internet comes and goes. I have never had cockroaches eat my motherboard... Alex Randall Professor of Communication University of the Virgin Islands
participants (7)
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Alex -Vipowernet -
Charles Ess -
Cristian Berrio Zapata -
Denise N. Rall -
nativebuddha -
Radhika Gajjala -
Scott MacLeod