Have information, will travel!


When looking for information on education and literacy in developing nations, I searched for a story I had read about in the past about floating schools that travel a weekly schedule down the river to reach isolated populations. I searched for that video and found it: the solar-powered floating schools in Bangledesh. Then stumbled upon the videos about the book donkey in Ethiopia and the floating library in Laos. Each of these videos shows dedicated people bringing learning opportunities to those who have little access to it. I must admit, I felt a powerful connection to these videos. I feel like I have seen my future retirement plans and I can't wait!  It got me thinking that these methods of conveyance (donkey, boat, barge) that reach the most remote areas could just as easily bring along mobile devices as well as books and solar panels could power the device! I have included these short videos (the longest is 3 minutes) in case anyone wants to see them. 


"Ethiopia Reads - Donkey Mobile Library"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv__84Yo9KI&t=2s



"Mekong River Library Boat"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXLBHM51ivs&t=21s


"Solar Powered Floating Schools in Bangledesh"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3j2K2XQz7I

Later I searched for another story I had read about that showed computers being placed in the slums of developing nations such as India. I remember being fascinated about how these kids who had never seen a computer and who got no instructions, figured out everything about the computer. I couldn't find the original article but I found the person who conducted the "Hole in the Wall" experiment on TedTalks.  He outlined is research where the focus is on exploration and collaborative learning. It is a bit longer but I would strongly recommend watching this video by Sugata Mitra. It suggests to me that the solution to offering a more equitable access to the internet and information in developing nations does not have to be one device for every kid but could be these "holes" in the wall - computers placed in the center of the town for all to use. These computers could be easily be mobile as well thereby hitting different places within a location. Users could access the internet, the "granny cloud", or even on-line courses as shown in another video.
"New Experiments in Self Teaching - Sugata Mitra"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk60sYrU2RU

This led me to think about those university online courses and I found a TedTalk by Scott Young who is recreating a 4 year MIT degree in Computer Science through their free online courses but is going to complete it in 12 months instead of four and with the only cost being the textbooks.  Check out his TedTalk video here.
"Can you get an MIT education for $2,000? - Scott Young
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piSLobJfZ3c

So, as internet access becomes more readily available and reliable in developing nations, access to education and literacy will become much easier through mobile devices, passionate people who could bring mobile devices to isolated areas along their already established routes, informal exploration on these devices as well as free online courses offered by formal institutions like MIT and Harvard.

Comments

  1. SukhiJune 17, 2018 at 10:47 PM

    Thanks for sharing! This was new information for me. It's amazing what some people will do to enforce learning with such limited resources and lack of infrastructure. Their determination and dedication to the education of children is admirable and reinforces how the world needs to come together and support the education of children around the world. Mobile devices and internet access would go a long way in developing countries to support literacy in all people.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Heather DalyJune 19, 2018 at 10:11 PM

    You have located information on some interesting stories and projects. I am glad to read that you felt a connection to the stories. There are several examples of the use of conveyances to bring electricity and internet access to remote areas. I was wondering if you saw a role for libraries in relation to the “hole in the wall” story?

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