Hi all,
I suppirt, PS Ndemo that we discuss the issues not sideshows.
Books - it will make no sense, to spend all this money on laptops, then have to buy text books. Let the Ministry/KIE develop standards for eBooks or eLearning in general to be used from Std 1 to 8. Ideally, with a similar curriculum, there us no reason why we shouldn't have standardized testing, like SAT/TOEFL for every term nationwide. So that ares lagging behind can be detected early and corrective measures taken.
Replacement - What happens when the kid loses their laptop? What is the replacement mechanism? Who eill supply replacements, at whose cost? Should we give new ones to each new class or instead have each class pass down their laptops to the next?
Regards
JG
On Thursday, June 6, 2013, Walubengo J <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Ikua,
>
> I feel you and I am tempted to support your sentiments. But I think this issue runs deeper than whether we should use Proprietary (Microsoft) or Open source software for our pupils in standard 1. My take is we are in a situation where we may NOT have defined the learning objectives, the curriculum, the teaching/delivery/assessments etc. I wish I am wrong but I think we have NO EDUCATIONAL SPECIFICATION of what we want this kids to come out with after blowing 60Billiion Ksh on laptops.
>
> In the absence of this specification, you will get all types of vendors surrounding you and selling you all types of hardware, curricula, software, etc. And then the choice of whom you work with, will very much depend on which vendor can pull the heaviest punch - financially speaking.
>
> But all is not lost, we just need to define educational specification and then panel-beat all the vendors to do what we want, not what THEY want. And maybe that specification exists but is a cabinet secret - and so we shall continue fire-fighting in darkness.
>
> walu.
>
> ________________________________
> From: Evans Ikua <ikua.evans@gmail.com>
> To: jwalu@yahoo.com
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>; "isoc@orion.my.co.ke" <isoc@orion.my.co.ke>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 4, 2013 8:54 PM
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] President Kenyatta secures Microsoft support for computers
>
> Dear Dr Ndemo,
> Now that you have outlined what MS will do, maybe you can share with us what is in it for them? I am sure they did not fly in their Global President for nothing. I suspect that they stand to gain immensely from this "partnership". The partners referred to must be their local distributors, or other Government agencies. They will win big and we will lose big time.
>
> It would be good to know how much the laptops will cost, and how much of that cost will go to software, or to MS for that matter. If they are offering a free OS, or a subsidised one for that matter, just remember the analogy of dope - the first dose is always free, its the subsequent one that you pay for!
>
> Dont even think about the fact that if we give proprietary solutions to our kids, we will be losing the opportunity to give them better options that are available in open source. But most sadly, we have just mortgaged our freedom and that of the future generations.
>
> Ikua
>
>
>
> On Tue, Jun 4, 2013 at 8:18 PM, Bitange Ndemo <bitange@jambo.co.ke> wrote:
>
> Barrack,
> As I promised, Prof. Godia accepted to respond to your questions on
> Kicktanet. You will need to fix e-mail, godiaes@yahoo.com into the
> mailing list to make it easier to reply.
>
> I attended the State House function and Microsoft agreed to do the following:
>
> 1. Work with different partners to Train ALL Primary School Teachers
> computers (more than 260,000) to enable them implement computer to schools
> programme by January. They are ready to start as soon as the Government
> of Kenya gives the go-ahead to start the programme at County level;
> 2. Work with different partners to develop and train at least five
> enterprises in each County to provide technical support in Hardware,
> Connectivity and Software to all schools within each County; and
> 3. Develop a research and innovation hub at Konza Technology Park to
> support software developers in the region.
> 4. Work with other Hardware manufacturers to develop a sustainable model
> that includes local assembly of computers as well as local software and
> content development that can be replicated in other African countries
>
> This will go a long way in realzing our President's commitment to
> achieving his promises to the Kenyan people.
>
> Regards
>
>
> Ndemo.
>
>
>
>
>
>> Walu,
>>
>> I think its time we focused on other issues, seems this project is a
>> foregone conclusion. We will take stock in 2017.
>>
>> Best Regards
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jun 4, 2013 at 2:59 PM, Walubengo J <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Whao!
>>>
>>> When I grow up, I want to work for M$oft :-)
>>>
>>> Sounds like they are concluding the deal to be on 1million laptops next
>>> year - as we are busy tweeting on what Software is relevant for pupils
>>> in
>>> Standard one. Read on
>>> @
>>> http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Uhuru-secures-Microsoft-support-for-computers/-/1056/1871904/-/7i517tz/-/index.html
>>>
>>> walu.
>>>
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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.