When things do not go as you planned.
When it all falls asunder.
Then it is that you perhaps might see.

What it is all about.

- dltq :(

CNN reported that Beijing officials are cracking down on the booming net cafe industry there.

For many students and other uses of ICT, net cafes are their primary connection to the net, computers being unaffordable for their family.

After a fire which cost the life of 24 people, the authorities are exploiting this crisis as much as possible to fight "rogue net cafes", which - for instance - do not bar the chinese from viewing certain web-sites. cnn.com is, as far as I know, one of the sites which the Chinese are not allowed to view.

But I guess that we all know about the tyranny in any oligarchy country, which is what China basically is.

Opinion/Review: Does Education Matter?

In the June 8th issue of The Economist, there is a review of a book called "Does Education Matter? Myths about Education and Economic Growth", written by Alison Wolf.

I have not read the book yet, but would still like to quote the review which really provoked some thoughts in me.

What do you think?

dltq

"

The education shibboleth

Extra years of schooling and wider access to university are everywhere supposed to be good for growth. Think again.

One of the bravest, most interesting and most valuable books about economic policy to have appearted of late has just been published - and it was written by a non-economist. Alison Wolf is a professor of education at the University of London. Few academics with a position such as that would choose to write a book questioning what is today probably the most cherished myth of economic policymakers all over the world: the idea that more education is the key to economic success. Yet this is the daring mission which "Does Education Matter?" taken on. The book is chiefly concerned with Britain, whose prime minister, TOny Blair, declared his three highest priorities in government to be "education, education, education". The arguments and the findings are of much wider relevance, and of pressing importance too.

So far as individuals are concerned, the evidence reviewed in the book shows, as you would expect, that education - "having the right qualifications, in the right subjects, from the right institutions" - matters. Indeed, it matters more than ever before. Those who leave school early or without qualifications are tagged, as it were, fow low incomes, with a probability that is high and rising. Increasingly, those who fail to get a degree, or in some cases a degree from a good university, are sorted in a similarly brutal way. In other words, the private returns to education are high. But another question also needs to be answered, especially in countries with education systems (up to and including the universities) that are financed by the state: namely, what are the returns for society as a whole?

The book shows that they can be a lot lower than you might think. In particular, more education does not necessarily mean more growth, as most politicians (and economists) unthinkingly suppose.

The doubts do not arise so much over primary and secondary education. Modern societies depend on high levels of literacy and basic skills in mathematics. If students leave primary and secondary schools without them, that is a public burden as well as a private one. At the top, modern societies also need excellent universities producing substantial but not vast numbers of graduates equipped to be researchers and practitioners in medicine, engineering and the sciences. More generally, education does (or can) contribute to an individual's human capital, which makes peopel more productive. And if a society's individuals are more productive, you might suppose, the society itself is more productive.

So what is the problem? If all this is true, how can more education fail to make a country more prosperous? A first crucial point is that education is a "positional good": that is, getting yourself tagged for high wages is not just about being educated, it is also about being better educated than the next man. To some extent, education is a race: if everybody runs faster, that may be good in itself, but it does not mean that more people can finish in the top 10%. In that sense, much of the extra effort may be wasted. In weighing the social benefits of higher spending on education against the cost, this needs to be borne in mind.

Where the book excels is not in making this somewhat familiar point, important though it may be, but in drawing attention to other dangers in the present obsession with education and growth. One is that expanding education thoughtlessly may actually weaken the link with growth, such as it is. Another is that the preoccupation iwth economic growth narrows and distorts society's idea of what education should be.

In Britain, as in many other countries, the economic emphasis has produced a fixation with quantitative targets: the government wants ever more people to go to university, and has tailored its financing policies to that end. The increase in numbers appears to have reduced the average quality of a university education. That is one cost. Any gains to be expected from pushing out more graduates are then further reduced by the positional-good effect. In addition, expanding recruitment of teachers at the tertiary level drains the best recruits from teaching posts in secondary schools. Worst of all, maybe, from an economic point of view, the best universities are being starved of resources. As a result, they are no longer able to do as good a job of preparing the very brightest students for their role at the cutting-edge of science and technology.

Equally impoverished
Why should this draining of resources from elite universities happen? You may think it unlikely, especially if the government is convinced that education spurs growth. Experience proves otherwise, as the book shows. Great efforts to expand the number of graduates have gone hand-in-hand with budgetary stringency across the system, to make the overall strategy affordable. Also, in a regime that is moving towards very wide access to university education - for the most part, at taxpayer's expense - it becomes politically difficult to discriminate in favour of the top universities. That would undercut the egalitarian thrust of the whole enterprise. Thus the best universities find themselves squeezed, and one of the main links between education and economic growth gets hammered.

Measured against its own bean-counting goals, "education, education, education" leaves a lot to be desired. But in any case, the book insists, education is about more than economics. (This column's prejudices, you see, are not spared.) Insisting on ramming more people through a degraded university system is not just sure, for all the reasons mentioned, to disappoint economically. It is also bound, through its self-defeating preoccupation with economic growth, to sideline aspects that do not claim to serve that purpose. "Our recent forebears", the autho concludes, "living in significantly poorer times, were occupied with the cultural, moral and intellectual purposes of education. We impoverish ourselves by neglecting these".
"
Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2002.

Opinion: Transnational Education

"Over the last four decades, trade agreements and their concomitant reduction in tariffs and expansion of transnational movement of goods and services have generated global markets in excess of $4 trillion annually. Market demand for world class human capital has kept pace and to respond to this demand, education and training programs have moved beyond traditional models of classroom-based, seat-time instruction. Cyber dimensions of learning have also emerged through advances in information technology such as the Internet." - from edugate.org

Transnational Education (education spanning over more than one country) is a booming industry. Think about it, how educational institutions in different ways tap into the global market. Some education institutions branch into new regions, using their global prestige to attract students to come to these private institutions in new countries. This kind of branching is, for instance, very common in eastern europe.

With the private institutions spearheading, the trend is also towards joint degrees where the students get their education at more than one university, like the example of the International MBA at the University of Florida. There students can take parts of their courses in for instance Hong Kong.

There is a huge difference between the classic "studying a few semesters abroad" to these more closely collaborated joint degrees. When you study abroad for one semester at some "random university", there is not always a guarantee that the courses at your host institution will fit well with the courses at your home institution.

Since this is not an article I do not wish to focus too much on introducing the topic of transnational education. My point of view is that transnational education/joint degrees etc sound very good, but there is the matters of

cost for the end user (student)

too much harmonizing of different educational systems in different countries.

To take the last point first. Why is harmonizing/tuning of educational systems in different countries something I am sceptical towards? Of course, I am not sceptical against making it possible/easier for students to study abroad, as part of their degree at their home institutions. I am rather sceptical towards a system where there is a risk of losing the diversity which today exists. I believe in harmonizing, but not making equal.

Cost for the end user - well there is a growing movement towards letting the end user pay more of the costs for higher education. This is, maybe, a part of the whole liberal goal of reducing the state/government's stakes in areas where the market should be able to stabilize itself. Or it might be merely a result of the fact that today's students are studying far too long in the view of the government (like in Germany, or Norway), and to make the student more aware of the costs of this would be one way of making them finish their studies faster.


I am very well aware of the fact that I am speaking here from a very northern European perspective. In Norway, higher education is today free for the student. (at most higher education institutions, unless a few private ones). This system is under heavy pressure internationally, especially under the framework of the GATS treaty.

I do not know much about the discussion in other parts of the world (outside Europe), and would be very pleased for any comments from people knowing about the current discussion/situation in South America, Africa, Asia or Australia / New Zealand.

yup.

Call for input

Reviewing ICT applications for learning and community development

UNESCO has in 2002 launched the project, "Developing open learning
communities for gender equity with the support of ICTs." The project is
one example of UNESCO's efforts to contribute to the process of creating
open learning communities by developing ICT based content for community
learning and problem solving through telecentres. The project is being
implemented with community centres in Mozambique and South Africa and
aims at facilitating the ICT-based content development process at
community telecentres in the region.

As a part of this project we are conducting a review of existing ICT
applications used in telecentres for community development. We will
assess the merits of various methods of electronic information and
training modalities such as web-based, interactive, 3D,
graphical/audio/text-based applications including the use of local
languages, images and traditions etc. We expect that this will enable us
to present a review of existing ICT applications for community learning
and development, as well as guide us to select appropriate technology
and methods for applications to be developed in the current project.
Below are some examples of the types of applications that we are looking
for: Tools on how to take part in decision-making processes
* ICT based materials to participate in public policy processes
* CD-ROMs to share local culture, knowledge and ideas
* Interactive tools on learning about sensitive issues, such as HIV/AIDS
or preventive education
* Electronic books on community development issues
* Educational games in areas such as literacy, languages and conflict
resolution
* Tools for local development of training/learning materials
* Guidelines for community project development

For more information on the project and the concepts, you may consult:
i. UNESCO's Education Sector
Website,www.unesco.org/education/educprog/lwf/lwf_docs.html, which
introduces links between learning and technology as well as the concept
of open learning communities.
ii. The Global Community Telecentre Resources Website,
http://www.unesco.org/webworld/build_info/gct/index.shtml, which gives
some examples of software used, as well as guidelines and best practices
developed in different tele-centres worldwide.


Please forward any comments, information or examples you might have on
this topic to the UNESCO Team, attention Mianna Meskus
(m.meskus@unesco.org).

The results of this survey will be published on WebWorld
(www.unesco.org/webworld) in early July 2002 and contributors will be
acknowledged and informed directly of the outcome.

Thanking you in advance for your cooperation.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Hector
Focal point on Reviewing ICT applications for lifelong learning and
development
UNESCO Cross-cutting Project
Developing open learning communities for gender equity with the support of
ICTs

Other UNESCO team members : Janne Kjaersgaard Perrier, UNESCO Maputo:
J.Kjaersgaard@unesco.org; Elke Zimprich-Maziv, UNESCO Windhoek:
E.Zimprich-Mazive@unesco.org / zimprich@unesco.un.na; Annali Kristiansen,
UNESCO HQ: a.kristiansen@unesco.org; Ushio Miura, UNESCO HQ:
u.miura@unesco.org; Claire Mollard, UNESCO HQ: c.mollard@unesco.org; Peter
Schioler, UNESCO HQ: Pt.Schioler@unesco.org; Susanne Schnuttgen, UNESCO HQ
: s.schnuttgen@unesco.org.

"An article is officially "published" in the place where it is downloaded from the Internet, a judge rules."

"A media company can now be sued in any country in the world where its material is viewed over the Internet."

Read the story here.

Does this mean that publishers will want to take more content offline?

Today I finally spent some time working on my website :) It had been looking kinda bad for a long time, so I gave it a new design and am now adding content / linking to content already on the site somewhere :)

please go visit the page one day if you wish, and leave a comment if you wish

www.ehich.net

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ANNOUNCING THE APC AFRICA HAFKIN
COMMUNICATIONS PRIZE IN 2002
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS: September 15, 2002

THIS YEAR'S THEME: People-Centred Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) Policy in Africa

THE PRIZE IS OPEN TO: civil society organisations, government
institutions, educational organisations, community-based groups,
networks, social movements and individuals anywhere in Africa

WE ARE LOOKING FOR ICT *POLICY* INITIATIVES THAT:
* are people-centred and mobilise participation
* raise awareness and build capacity
* are Africa-driven and that develop Africa
* have positive community impact at community level

THE PRIZE: USD$7,500.00 will be shared amongst up to three winning
initiatives.

MORE ABOUT THE APC AFRICA HAFKIN PRIZE:
http://www.apc.org/english/hafkin/2002.shtml or write to hafkin-
prize@apc.org

ABOUT THE APC'S ICT POLICY WORK IN AFRICA Africa ICT
Policy Monitor: http://africa.rights.apc.org or write to
africa.rights@apc.org

The Africa ICT Policy monitor website, launched in May 2002, is a
user-friendly resource which aims at demystifying the concepts of ICT
policy-making. APC hopes that the Website content will stimulate
discussion between users from around the continent about the use and
relevance of ICTs for development in Africa, and facilitate the
development of a network of civil society organisations promoting development of a network of civil society organisations promoting
African Internet rights issues.

ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION FOR PROGRESSIVE
COMMUNICATIONS (APC) http://www.apc.org

The Association for Progressive Communications is an international
network of civil society organisations dedicated to empowering and
supporting groups and individuals through the strategic use of
information and communication technologies, especially Internet-technologies. APC and its members pioneer practical and
relevant uses of ICTs for civil society, especially in developing
Countries. APC is an international facilitator of civil society's
engagement with ICTs and related concerns, in both policy and practice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ANNONCE DU PRIX APC HAFKIN POUR
LES COMMUNICATIONS AFRICAINES 2002
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DATE LIMITE DE CANDIDATURE : 15 septembre 2002

LE THEME DE CETTE ANNEE : Programme d'actions centrEes sur les personnes
dans le domaine des Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication
(TIC) en Afrique

LE PRIX EST OUVERT AUX : organisations de la societe civile,
institutions gouvernementales, organisations liEes * l'Education,
groupes communautaires, reseaux, tout mouvement social ou personne en
Afrique

NOUS RECHERCHONS DES PROGRAMMES DANS LE
DOMAINE DES TIC QUI :

* Sont Ciblees sur les personnes et mobilisent leur participation
* Sensibilisent et creent des capacites
* Sont centrees sur l'Afrique et favorisent son developpement
* Ont un impact positif au niveau communautaire

LE PRIX: un montant de 7,500 USD$ sera partage entre les trois laureats

PLUS D'INFORMATIONS SUR LE PRIX APC HAFKIN:
http://www.apc.org/francais/hafkin/2002.shtml ou vous pouvez
Ecrire :
hafkin-prize@apc.org

AU SUJET DES PROGRAMMES D'APC DANS LE DOMAINE
DES TIC EN AFRIQUE < Afrique>>:
http://africa.rights.apc.org ou
Ecrire :
africa.rights@apc.org

Le site de <> fut lance en
mai 2002. Facile d'accees, il a pour objectif de demystifier la
conception et la realisation de programmes dans le domaine des TIC. APC
espeere que le contenu du site stimulera la discussion entre utilisateurs
* travers le monde, au sujet de l'utilisation et de l'interIt des TIC
pour le developpement en Afrique. Il a egalement pour ambition de
favoriser le developpement d'un reseau d'organisations de la societe
civile actives dans les questions des droits internet en Afrique.

AU SUJET DE L'ASSOCIATION POUR LE PROGRES DES
COMMUNICATIONS (APC) http://www.apc.org

L'Association pour le Progrees des Communications (APC) est un reseau
international d'organisations de la societe civile dont la vocation est
de renforcer et de soutenir des groupes et des personnes gr,ce *
l'utilisation strategique des Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication, en particulier liees * internet. APC et ses membres
preconisent et oeuvrent pour une utilisation pratique et adequate des
TIC par la societe civile, particulieerement dans les pays en
developpement. APC agit au niveau international pour favoriser
l'implication de la societe civile dans les TIC, en terme de programme
et de pratique.
------------------------------------------------------

Anriette Esterhuysen, Executive Director
Association for Progressive Communications
anriette@apc.org
http://www.apc.org
Tel. 27 11 726 1692
Fax 27 11 726 1692

ok, i just went to blah where I signed that I am planning to attend an event in Geneve this july, and I then clicked on "Click here" to discuss this event. There was no post there yet, so I wrote a message, whereafter I tried to go to the front page of the discussions page in order to see how far down on the list my nice little post had come. Wow, I didn't see "Event Discussions" listed there at all.. Ok, so I clicked back on my browser, and then clicked on "Event Discussions". I came to a page.

I got a shock. There were literally hundreds of forums there with mostly 0 message posts. Some had 1, or 2. Fewer still had 3. Now the point is.. What on earth is going on? :)

Hehe, I guess this hasn't been spotted earlier, or maybe one thinks it is cute to have loads of message boards with 0 messages on it ;) Mmm, well the event I plan to attend is now at the bottom of this nice list, (scroll scroll).


hmm anyway, I just wanted to draw your attention to this nice little event I am planning to attend. Nick is also coming, it seems. Woop, who else is coming?! :)

It's in Geneva, in Switzerland. It's this coming July, and it Could be interesting :)

well, here's to peace, love and harmony. (Evian)