ebook readers (Kindles) in African education - Page 3

carpetmojo · 05-02-2012, 05:52 AM

[QUOTE=BWinmill;2064378]In that case, I suppose the most cost effective thing to do would be to airlift in some 1980s vintage textbooks that are written for a culture and in a language that they don't even understand......QUOTE]

Oh, please, of course not - but yes to up-to-date texts, in a language they understand, and with a knowledge of the culture that will recieve them (sadly not a massive problem due to the pervasive "world culture" we think is what they need/want.) preferably produced "in country."
Appropriate and badly needed texts are often available in the country/area concerned, but probably too expensive (relatively, in that environment) for the numbers wanted to make a difference - which would be a lot more than 600 fortunate children.
And profits/kudos for the project could primarily be attributed to the country/society involved, not Big Business .

applesauce · 05-05-2012, 04:06 AM

the other problem you have is giving out something of value, how many will make it into the hands intended and how many will be stolen and sold. far less likely to steal a text book to sell.
The percentage of donated stuff that actually reach whom it was intended in 3rd world countries can be appalling.

applesauce

BWinmill · 05-06-2012, 03:06 AM

In the case of mass market Kindles, I theft may be a problem. The OLPC project took this into consideration by tying the ereader to a school server. If the computer did not connect to the school server every few days, it would no longer function. This discouraged blackmarket sales and leaves the device with less monetary value than books.

(Contrary to popular belief, the people who run these pilots are not stupid. They put considerable thought into the project's design and do a cost benefit analysis after the fact.)

05-02-2012, 05:52 AM	#31
carpetmojo Wizard Posts: 3,117 Karma: 9269999 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: UK Device: Sony- T3, PRS650, 350, T1/2/3, Paperwhite, Fire 8.9,Samsung Tab S 10.5	[QUOTE=BWinmill;2064378]In that case, I suppose the most cost effective thing to do would be to airlift in some 1980s vintage textbooks that are written for a culture and in a language that they don't even understand......QUOTE] Oh, please, of course not - but yes to up-to-date texts, in a language they understand, and with a knowledge of the culture that will recieve them (sadly not a massive problem due to the pervasive "world culture" we think is what they need/want.) preferably produced "in country." Appropriate and badly needed texts are often available in the country/area concerned, but probably too expensive (relatively, in that environment) for the numbers wanted to make a difference - which would be a lot more than 600 fortunate children. And profits/kudos for the project could primarily be attributed to the country/society involved, not Big Business . Last edited by carpetmojo; 05-02-2012 at 05:55 AM.

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05-05-2012, 04:06 AM	#32
applesauce Addict Posts: 385 Karma: 3553492 Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Perth Western Australia Device: kindle oasis	the other problem you have is giving out something of value, how many will make it into the hands intended and how many will be stolen and sold. far less likely to steal a text book to sell. The percentage of donated stuff that actually reach whom it was intended in 3rd world countries can be appalling. applesauce

05-06-2012, 03:06 AM	#33
BWinmill Nameless Being	In the case of mass market Kindles, I theft may be a problem. The OLPC project took this into consideration by tying the ereader to a school server. If the computer did not connect to the school server every few days, it would no longer function. This discouraged blackmarket sales and leaves the device with less monetary value than books. (Contrary to popular belief, the people who run these pilots are not stupid. They put considerable thought into the project's design and do a cost benefit analysis after the fact.)

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