Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Not your cup of tea?
So Charles has an open suit case sitting in our room into which he puts all of the stuff that we are collecting to take with us to Costa Rica. I thought, I should sneak in a stuffed animal so that he won't be scared at night. So there I was, having my breakfast, when Trouble, our hound, comes into the room carrying a stuffed moose. No, says I, give that to me. Somehow Trubs understands and hands me the moose. Then he pounces on my blue, fuzzy slipper. I tell him to fetch, and he does. Now I am really impressed so I tell him to fetch my other slipper. To my surprise, off he goes gets my slipper and, ploosh, he drops it into my cup of tea. I blame Charles.
Why Computers?
Good question! So since I'm tired of packing, I thought I'd take a break and try to answer it.
At first blush, computers in remote school locations seems silly. Why drag a piece of technology miles from power lines, figure out some obscure method of powering it, only to have it break down every year or two due to heat, humidity, dust, or accident, and have nobody around able to repair it?
The answer is, strangely enough, cost.
Education is expensive:
Ontario paid $150 per elementary school student for text books in 1998 –1999 school year.
If you know somebody trying to get their high school diploma after they’ve been out of school for awhile, you can verify the cost of books average $125 per subject year. College or University students average $150 per book per year depending on area of specialization. Reference books can be tough to get hold of when the nearest library is many kilometres away, and expensive to buy to support 5 or 6 students in a one room school.
And then, there are pens, pencils, papers, binders, folders, construction paper, glue, paints, erasers, and a long list of other school supplies that are needed for traditional education.
A large portion of the above expenses can be reduced or eliminated with computers, particularly if there is some flexibility around the curriculum. Reports can be written and presented without consuming resources like paper and art supplies. An encyclopaedia on CD, like Microsoft Encarta can provide most of the textbook materials. The addition of an internet connection, where possible, adds not just a whole new level of research material, but opportunities for social interaction through tools like email, instant messaging, blogging, and entertainment or video conferences with other students - both in country, and around the world. New opportunities also present themselves for art and expression, as computers can record music, or capture and edit pictures or video.
There are other benefits to the community. The machines can be used outside school hours to educate adults, provide news from the world, enable email and even voice communications with internet access. Computer literacy is rapidly becoming mandatory for even service industry jobs, and skilled or certified computer workers are in demand in most countries.
Costa Rica was one of the first countries to embrace this idea, and is proving the value of this approach every day. Check out the Opportunity Access website for examples. (link below)
At first blush, computers in remote school locations seems silly. Why drag a piece of technology miles from power lines, figure out some obscure method of powering it, only to have it break down every year or two due to heat, humidity, dust, or accident, and have nobody around able to repair it?
The answer is, strangely enough, cost.
Education is expensive:
Ontario paid $150 per elementary school student for text books in 1998 –1999 school year.
If you know somebody trying to get their high school diploma after they’ve been out of school for awhile, you can verify the cost of books average $125 per subject year. College or University students average $150 per book per year depending on area of specialization. Reference books can be tough to get hold of when the nearest library is many kilometres away, and expensive to buy to support 5 or 6 students in a one room school.
And then, there are pens, pencils, papers, binders, folders, construction paper, glue, paints, erasers, and a long list of other school supplies that are needed for traditional education.
A large portion of the above expenses can be reduced or eliminated with computers, particularly if there is some flexibility around the curriculum. Reports can be written and presented without consuming resources like paper and art supplies. An encyclopaedia on CD, like Microsoft Encarta can provide most of the textbook materials. The addition of an internet connection, where possible, adds not just a whole new level of research material, but opportunities for social interaction through tools like email, instant messaging, blogging, and entertainment or video conferences with other students - both in country, and around the world. New opportunities also present themselves for art and expression, as computers can record music, or capture and edit pictures or video.
There are other benefits to the community. The machines can be used outside school hours to educate adults, provide news from the world, enable email and even voice communications with internet access. Computer literacy is rapidly becoming mandatory for even service industry jobs, and skilled or certified computer workers are in demand in most countries.
Costa Rica was one of the first countries to embrace this idea, and is proving the value of this approach every day. Check out the Opportunity Access website for examples. (link below)
Here are a couple examples of existing installations:
O.K. - off the soapbox and back to getting organized...
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Stealth Arrival
Dianne did a great job of setting this up, but I had to put my own touches on it too.
So when she wasn't looking, I logged into her account and invited myself to be a contributer. This way you can get both points of view - and whichever of us has a few minutes, can post. I bet she'll be happy when she finds out. Or I might get some practice sleeping on the ground... I'll let you know which way it goes ;-)
Meanwhile, back to the preparations...
So when she wasn't looking, I logged into her account and invited myself to be a contributer. This way you can get both points of view - and whichever of us has a few minutes, can post. I bet she'll be happy when she finds out. Or I might get some practice sleeping on the ground... I'll let you know which way it goes ;-)
Meanwhile, back to the preparations...
Thursday, January 17, 2008
What are those Gales up to?
Hi everyone,
Charles and I have set up this blog to that you can see where we are and what we are up to. We are planning to go to Costa Rica for 2 months to work with a group called Opportunty Access Inc. Below is a link explaining the work done by OAI. We will be working out of Cahuita in Limon province. We will be going from there to 10 different villages to replace, repair, and test computers.
http://www.oaccess.org/
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/cahuita/3169010001.html
Charles and I have set up this blog to that you can see where we are and what we are up to. We are planning to go to Costa Rica for 2 months to work with a group called Opportunty Access Inc. Below is a link explaining the work done by OAI. We will be working out of Cahuita in Limon province. We will be going from there to 10 different villages to replace, repair, and test computers.
http://www.oaccess.org/
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/cahuita/3169010001.html
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