Re:Given Tablets but No Teachers, Ethiopian Children Teach T...
by wisty on Thursday November 01, 2012 @01:20AM
(#4726325)
> a) these tablets are vastly more expensive than just hiring teachers locally - by orders of magnitude. This is not a remotely scalable scheme, and frankly research budgets would be much better put to use working out how to distribute cheap teaching materials through existing education networks.
I don't like to be harsh, but what is the quality of the teachers they are likely to get? A bad teacher can be worse than no teacher. By "bad teacher", I mean one who doesn't understand the material themselves.
> b) More perniciously, the tablets educate in English or Amharic: not in the local language of the population in question, which these children would otherwise speak; their parents are often not fluent in either.
It's a complex issue, but if people can only speak a local language they'll face heavy discrimination if they try to get a job elsewhere.
I don't like to be harsh, but what is the quality of the teachers they are likely to get? A bad teacher can be worse than no teacher. By "bad teacher", I mean one who doesn't understand the material themselves.
> b) More perniciously, the tablets educate in English or Amharic: not in the local language of the population in question, which these children would otherwise speak; their parents are often not fluent in either.
It's a complex issue, but if people can only speak a local language they'll face heavy discrimination if they try to get a job elsewhere.