Laptops Heading to Uganda

Things have been a little quiet on our blog over the past couple months. But we promise our absence is for a good reason: Julia Ogris (E4P’s Founder) has been working hard on getting four laptops, two iPads and one iPhone 4 ready to ship to Masaka, Uganda!

Our latest batch getting ready for the long journey to Uganda.

Over the next month, our good friend Michael Forbes (of Biarri) will be personally delivering these offline-ready devices to the community in Masaka. Keep an eye out for an upcoming post by Michael on his travels and experiences in Masaka.

How does the setup work?

There is one major issue to consider when taking the Khan Academy software offline: without access to the internet, users will not be able to access their scores or track their progress unless they log on to the same device each time. If you’ve ever been to your local library’s computer lab, you know just how unlikely it is for you to snag the same computer twice. But, luckily, this obstacle can be overcome.

In order to give the students the freedom to move from one device to another, we’ve simply set up one of the four laptops as a local server. By doing this, all other devices can be in communication with each other, allowing the students to access their scores from any linked device.

If you’re curious to know more about how the KA Lite team has taken the Khan Academy offline, visit Jamie Alexandre’s blog.

What’s installed?

Each device is equipped with the Ubuntu Linux operating system and KA Lite, the Khan Academy’s offline software.

Along with KA Lite, students can also find an offline version of Python’s coding tutorial. As our world becomes more digitized, the importance of a basic understanding of computer programming and information technology grows.  In Australia alone, the computer and information services industry has grown at least threefold over the last 10 years, and is expected to continue growing. We want to try to give our learners concrete skills that will help prepare them for the global job market. And as Julia says, “Learning to code is not only incredibly empowering, but it is also a lot of fun.”

If you want to know more technical information about how Julia prepares devices, just drop us a line.

The next batch & upcoming goals

Our next batch of devices is set to go to Jamnagar, India in June. For this batch, we’re hoping to be able to install an offline version of Wikipedia and Udacity (a free online university), along with books from the Gutenberg Project.

All packed up and ready to go!

The Online Learning Revolution & the Khan Academy

It almost goes without saying; the Internet has been one of the biggest technological achievements in human history. If you’re reading this, you probably already understand that the Internet has dramatically changed the way we live; that communities, ways of life, and opinions, once distant, are now before us, backlit on our screens, and ready for us to learn from.

The Internet has changed much more than our personal lives. It has changed the way that we interact with information. I know I’m not the only one who frequently gets lost in Wikipedia information tunnels, reading article after article. We are now consuming information at a faster rate than ever.

Now, in the midsts of this online learning revolution, a quality education is no longer a stepping-stone placed before the feet of a select few—it’s just a few clicks away. Even globally recognized universities, like Harvard and Princeton, are beginning to offer online courses to the general public. But, these courses are often limited to a single subject and cost a pretty penny.

And this is where the Khan Academy comes in. Created in 2006 by Salman Khan, the Khan Academy is an online initiative dedicated to bringing a world-class education to anyone who wants it—for free.

With over 4,000 digestible videos (sample video below) covering everything from physics to art history, the Khan Academy offers learners of any age or background the chance to learn and practice new skills at their own pace. By ensuring that learners get at least three questions of a type correct in a row, the program focuses on subject mastery, not just rote memorization. Learners can follow their progress and choose for themselves when they are ready to move on to a new subject.

Teachers can even use the Khan Academy in their own classrooms. By registering their students in the program, teachers can track their student’s progress and help to ensure class-time is more productive. Here’s a testimonial about how the Khan Academy has helped to improve the quality of education in a U.S. public school.  

And while the Khan Academy has made significant leaps in bringing “a free world-class education for anyone anywhere,” there is one issue in the way of their mission. 65% of the world does not have access to the Internet, putting them at a significant educational disadvantage.

That’s why Jamie Alexandre, previous intern at the Khan Academy, has created KA Lite. This lightweight app offers the core suite of Khan Academy videos and exercises without needing an internet connection.

Now this wonderfully comprehensive, free education tool can truly be available to anyone—with a computer.

And that’s where we come in.

Learn more about the Khan ACademy and KA Lite:

https://www.khanacademy.org/

http://kalite.adhocsync.com/

http://jamiealexandre.com/blog/2012/12/12/ka-lite-offline-khan-academy/

E-waste and the Beauty of Recycling

I don’t have to tell you that electronics are almost inseparable from modern life in the developed world. The US Census estimates that over 75% of US households have a computer. And here in Australia, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that over 80% of households have access to a computer. 

E-waste, otherwise known as electronic waste, is a general term to describe discarded electronic devices like tablets, cell phones, computers, laptops or televisions. And while it’s hard to know exactly how quickly we churn through our electronic devices, the Environmental Protection Agency (USA) estimates that 438 million new consumer electronics were sold in the US in 2009 alone, of which only 25% will be recycled. That means, around 75% of electronics (TVs, smart phones, computers, tablets, etc) go to landfill or are exported -- that’s around 328.5 million consumer electronics. Australian e-waste is growing at over three times the rate of general municipal waste, making it a significant waste management challenge. And the Australia Bureau of Statistics estimates that over 60% of computers will go to landfill each year (around 1.6 million personal computers), most of the remaining computers will stay in storage.

The concern? All electronics contain some form a toxic material. The most common materials include lead, cadmium, beryllium or flame retardants. Around 50-80% of US waste is exported to developing countries, 25% of which consists of e-waste materials. And in these developing countries recycling is often done by hand in scrap yards, exposing workers to these highly toxic materials (for more information, see this photo gallery of China’s Guiyu, “the electronic waste village”). And sometimes poor regulations lead to contaminent runoff into rivers and oceans.

Guiyu, China. Photograph by CHIEN-MIN CHUNG. Source: Time

Recycling electronic hardware not only reduces health and environmental risks, recycling electronics for their parts is also energetically efficient and beneficial. Electronics are made up of valuable (and easily recyclable) materials like metals, plastics and glass. (Check out the EPA's site for more information on the energetic benefits of recycling computers.) Unfortunately, many of the electronics we discard are still functional. While it is difficult to statistically monitor the number of fully functional electronics going to landfill, it is not hard to imagine that it happens world more often than not, especially in the developed world. I can’t even count the amount of times I (or my friends and family) have replaced a completely functional device for a newer one. At Education4Progress we understand the growing e-waste problem and we want to do all that we can to recycle as many functional computers as possible. If you know of anyone looking to replace their old electronics for new ones, we ask that you gently point them in our direction. We’d love to put their electronics to good use. Thank you for reading. Share the love :)

E-Waste Sources:

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_waste
University of Arkansas: http://ecycle.uark.edu/ewaste_facts.php
EPA (USA): http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/ecycling/docs/fullbaselinereport2011.pdf
EPA (USA): http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/ecycling/pubs.htm
ABS: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/8146.02010-11?OpenDocument
ABS: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/4613.0Media%20Release2006
US Census: http://www.census.gov/hhes/computer/publications/2010.html

How it All Began

The Education4Progress project was born out of the natural merger of four passions: a medium-sized gadget fetish, some serious fandom of the Khanacdemy, coding for kicks and living, as well as a desire to try to do a little to even out some of the world’s crazy inequalities.

Firstly, my passion for gadgets and a career in IT showed me the incredible speed at which we can churn through electronics and the vast amounts of laptops, tablets, and smartphones that are subsequently discarded, many of which are fully functional.

As I’ve mentioned, my love for the Khanacademy runs deep. For those who are unfamiliar, the Khanacademy is an online education platform that offers enthusiastic, engaging, humble and accessible video lectures on everything from arithmetic to art history. On top of their excellent lectures, the online platform also offers mastery-based exercises for free, at all times. For most of us, the Khanacademy provides a better quality and more interactive education than the one we grew up with. Recently, KA Lite has made Khanacdemy’s education platform available to the offline community by providing a standalone application that can be run on a computer without internet access.

Put these two KA platforms together, add in tons of old hardware and connections to several less advantaged communities - Et voilà! Education4Progress is born.

In its first pilot project, Education4Progress sent a few laptops to Masaka, Uganda (another blog post on this soon). And now, due to the success of the pilot project, several more laptops and tablets are being prepared to be taken to Masaka, Uganda in June, followed by another set heading to Jamnagar, India in August.

If you have any old but functioning laptops, tablets, smartphones, routers, usb flash drives, headphones, mice or keyboards that you are happy to donate; if you know about a community with reliable local supporters willing to help set up computers and train students; or if you just want to say hi, please drop us a line at hello@education4progress.org. We’d love to hear from you.

Lastly, some heartfelt gratitude where it is due: even in its early stages this project wouldn’t be where it is without the help of some amazing people: Michael Forbes courierd and deployed the first laptops to Masaka Uganda and employed local staff to manage them; Jason Strachan gifted the website design; and Jess Graves’ donated wordsmithery. You all rock, thanks heaps! A big thank you to Steve Baker from Silverback Cargo Care, Peter Forbes from Navigo and Iris Nemecek for hardware donations. Finally a special shout out to Jamie Alexandre and the KA Lite team for their wonderful work and support .