Computer Instruction, high-speed access and Cambodia

I'm writing this entry as a response to Beth Kanter's challenge.

What advice would you offer to Mam Sari about incorporating computer instruction on a REALLY slow connection and with one computer connected to the Internet?

If he has time, he can prepare for the class by printing out a Google results page and then annotating with his own comments. For example, he might have (in colored ink) labels for each part of each results item. Going over these as handouts to the class will give them something to study prior to their own practice.

Perform some searches before class and use the forward and back browser buttons to shorten the wait time between pages.

Use the "wait" time effectively. This is where pre-written or printed materials are helpful. Go to Google Help (available through the About Google page) and use some of the pages, printed, as material to expand the students' understanding of what Google offers.


Are there any web resources or books that you think I should send over to him to read?

We in the developed world, have access to high-quality printers, plotters, etc. Having some color charts and handouts would be helpful. I don't know what your budget is, and if the students can read English well, but providing how-to books for the students would be great.


Dream a little dream with me, if we had a fast Internet connection, what are the possibilities?

What do the students need to be successful? Do they need money to go to school? Having access to a high-speed connection gives them the ability to participate in the person-to-person loans that are becoming more common on the Internet (e.g., fynanz). Actually, I'm not sure this requires a fast connection but it would certainly allow students to do a lot more exploration, to see how they can get additional help, even virtual tutoring.

Just today, a friend suggested that it would be cool to have a microfinance-like site similar to Kiva, which instead of providing money for a business, provides money in the form of loans for education. I think it's a great idea, although to get it to work effectively in countries like Cambodia will require some facilitative or management presence in the country. Making sure that the students have the support of their family, who may see education as a drain on their economic needs, to align students with programs and make sure the funds get to the school, etc. Sorry, I may be getting off topic a bit but the more that the everyday person in Cambodia can access the web as an extension of the market, the more likely such ventures will happen.

Cambodian Children's Education - thank you Nhuong Son

Beth sent me a link to Nhuong Son's blog and in particular the entry about his support for the Sharing Foundation. After reading this you will see why even a little bit of aid for children in such a poor country means so much. Truly inspiring! Thanks Nhuong and Beth! If you agree, consider giving to the Sharing Foundation using the widget on the right side of my blog.

Papert-style education and locative media devices

Seymour Papert, formerly an MIT professor and now at the University of Maine, is famous for his studies and publications on enhancing students' creativity in education with the use of technology. He professes the use of constructionist learning as opposed to instructionist learning. See this Papert speech for more information.

I just came across an interesting project named Frequency1550 by Waag, an organization in the Netherlands whose original mission was

"to make new media available for groups of people that have little access to computers and internet, thus increasing their quality of living."

Frequency1550 is a mobile game uses 3G cell phones and GPS devices to transport students back to medieval Amsterdam where they compete with other students to find answers about the city in those days. Although I love the idea of putting the control in the hands of the students, this is part of the constructivist learning strategy, I was surprised that students can sabotage other students by planting bombs to go off in particular locations.

Healthier Food in Schools

How to educate our children is a question answered in a multitude of ways, and there is enough controversy over it that it is often difficult to get clear information on the results of applying different educational techniques or systems. But one thing that I firmly believe is not controversial is that our children should learn good habits while they are in a formal school system. The diet of school-age (K-12) children is something that schools can teach through the practice of providing healthy meals and snacks. Soda machines and highly-processed foods have no place in a school.

To this end, US citizens have an opportunity to promote healthier food delivery in schools through a couple of measures currently going through the US House and Senate. Please follow these links to learn about these measures, sign the petition and send a note to your senators and congressmen. Thanks.

http://www.schoolfoods.org/
http://takeaction.cspinet.org/campaign/schoolfoodspetition

Kudos to Allan Classen of The NW Examiner

I look forward to getting The NW Examiner, a free monthly newspaper covering northwest Portland. Reading about new businesses in the area, local events and politics gives me a feeling of community in the rapidly privatized world we live in. Allan Classen, Editor and Publisher of the paper, pleasantly surprised me with his view on the blogosphere. At first I thought he was going to rant about how non-professionals are taking away the attention of readers who should be reading what the professional journalists write in brick and mortar (and paper) publications. Instead, he praised blogs because they are so up front with their opinions and do not attempt to walk an objective point of view to satisfy a theoretical standard. Classen states that

"While most of the conventional news stories I see serve only to spark speculation about what's happening between the lines, some local bloggers are steps ahead: pursuing angles I haven't even thought about."

And the different points of view that he gets in the blog replies adds to the enjoyment and the variety of points of view.

Kudos to Mr. Classen for his article (which appears in the Editor's Turn column on page 3 of the August issue)!

This evening while in my car on the way to a walk in northwest Portland, I heard Bill Moyers on the radio railing about the establishment media and their control over Americans' minds. It made me realize how lucky we are to have the Internet and the blogosphere. Blog proliferation has given us many places from which to gather news, hear opinions and learn. Maybe too many places but better than too few.

I believe everyone needs to learn how to analyze competing points of view and how to effectively absorb knowledge. When I was growing up, it meant paying attention in school, reading, having discussions. Formal education is still a valuable vehicle for training young minds. But the Internet, composed of the blogosphere, academic, non-profit and commercial sites and both known and anonymous interactions, provides a goldmine of information and opportunity to become educated, effective stewards of our planet and of our communities, local, regional and global.