Last week I was contacted by the Production Co-Ordinator at VoxAfrica TV, a Pan African, bilingual, independent TV channel which broadcasts throughout the African continent via satellite. Following Michael Joseph’s recent comments that mobile technology has had a greater impact on Africa’s development than international aid, the producers were keen to explore the state of ICT across the continent, and I was invited to take part in a live broadcast with another guest, Tunde Adebayo, on Sunday evening.

A special thanks to Lindsay Beyerstein for her excellent photography work.  Check out more photos of the  event on Flickr. 

Matthew Yglesias at the podium. To the right: me, Ray Offenheister, Anita Sharma, Ginny Simmons

Enthused audience member. 

Starting 5

Expansionist Desires Continued….



“Of course we can make that happen,” I responded in a haste gasp, barely catching my breath or noticing if I had interrupted him. “That’s precisely what we are here to do, Mr. Jacobs [the Soweto District Director from the Gauteng Department of Education]. We are hoping that the Lilydale deployment goes so well that we’ll be able to expand this program to schools, ideally, all over the country.”

“Good,” he said, as if I delivered the desirable answer he was anticipating. “I want to bring the XO to Soweto; have the entire district full of them. I want to move on this fast.”

I couldn’t believe my ears; was it really this easy?

Hey all, 

Thanks for this wise and balanced view. In the discussion, which I just joined, I see a back and forth movement between proposals that imply empowering children directly (e.g. like the XO) and those directed at empowering teachers. If one thing fifty years of "educational technology" has taught us, it is that trying to bypass the teachers doesn't work and doesn't make sense in the long run for educational quality. So, assuming advanced technologies will in the immediate future be on the margins in the poorest countries--reaching those currently unreached and providing pockets of excellence--how do we get the best value for money?

Ken Bacon passed away this week.  We honor his memory by reposting this item he originally wrote for us in May 2009.  Please visit his memorial page on the website of Refugees International

Before we left Freetown, Faaez had picked up a few phrases in Krio-the lingua franca of Sierra Leone-and he was quite sure he could understand almost anything someone says after spending six days in the crowded city. With Faaez convinced that he had the language under control, we decided it was time to head off to the village with our 100 XOs and our 8 other team members. The road was rough, and the journey was long. We knew ahead of time that we will face some challenges. However, we never anticipated the magnitude.

It's been a while since we've updated our blog on actual OLPCorps Senegal progress here in Mboro. It's been quite the eventful couple of weeks.

1. We finally received our new server, and then had problems with said server. It resulted in us being unable to connect to the internet properly.

2. Then we had a lightening storm and were further unable to connect to the internet.

3. Both teacher and student trainings are finished!