[Olpc-za] Questionnaire

[Morgan Collett]

> 1. What is your name ?

Morgan Collett

> 2. What city do you live in ?

Cape Town (northern suburbs)

> 3. What role do you play in your day job ?

d) Software developer

> 4. Do you have experience teaching computer science to school children ?
> 5. Do you have experience teaching other subjects to school children
> with the aid of computers ?
> 6. Do you have experiencing teaching school children with or without the
> aid of computers ?
> 7. Do you have experience working in rural or inner-city schools ?
> 8. Do you have experience working in rural or inner-city communities ?
> 9a. Do you have experience working in private or other schools in high
> income areas ?

None to all the above.

> 10. If we were to divide the job of bringing OLPC to South Africa into
> seven broad categories, which one would you see yourself being most
> active in ?

b) Developing software and/or content for the laptop.

> 11. Do you think the first OLPC pilot program should be run in a rural
> school or an inner-city school ?

I think rural is better for the following reasons:
* Better trial of how it works in area with no infrastructure
* Easier buy-in from the whole community (not just the parents)

However it would mean commute times for those involved who don't live there...

> 12. What are your top three reasons for why OLPC won't work (or won't
> work as well as it could) in South Africa ?

* Broadband is very expensive - who will foot the bill for connecting
up remote schools? (I know they don't need large amounts of bandwidth
for OLPC - initially... but still it costs $$$)

* We already have some percentage of the population on line, and those
with OLPCs will want to hook into the same stuff - but probably won't
have flash, java, or the horsepower for the same types of activities
that the rich have access to. (How long until someone out there tries
online gambling? Youtube? Will it work? Should it?)

* We'll need all the available budget - and more - for 2010! Soccer
balls are cheaper than XOs...

> 13. What are the top three benefits you see if South Africa were to
> invest in OLPC ?

* Leadership in SADC/NEPAD in education + technology (or at least not
falling behind...)
* Development of local/regional open source/content ecosystem since it
will attract a lot more content development etc
* More chance of a long term sustainable project than non OLPC tech in
education due to the global community

> 14. What other questions should I have asked in this questionaire ? :-D

Perhaps, don't ask so many questions which require thinking, in the
first introduction... might lower the response rate... :-p

Regards
Morgan