I know I said I wasn’t going to blog for a while, but this has just come my way – it’s a fake letter doing the rounds in Spain that makes reference to poorly-planned government initatives to get technology into the classroom. Haven’t got time to translate this before the ‘company Christmas Dinner’ this evening, so you may have to use Google (which really doesn’t do it justice at all, but hey)… [ update: a quick and ditry translation is now available further down the post... ]
“Hola,
Me llamo Elena y soy alumna de 6º de primaria y la mejor.
La semana pasada nos trajeron un montón de ordenadores, para todos menos para el profesor. Nos pusimos muy contentos porque pensamos que también nos pondrían calefacción (nos morimos de frío) y aire acondicionado (nos morimos de calor) y que traerían una pizarra nueva sin reflejos, sillas y mesas nuevas adecuadas a nuestra estatura, estanterías y una taquilla para nuestras cosas. Pero no, sólo trajeron ordenadores.
Y sin lupa porque son muy pequeños, pero eso da igual.
El primer día no hicimos nada con ellos porque tiene un sistema que nuestro maestro no conoce. En realidad no sabe nada de informática. Dijo que ya miraría algo en casa, pero María, otra empollona, le contestó que ella podía enseñarle, pues en su casa tiene un ordenador y sabe manejarlo. Todos nos reímos, pero el maestro, no.
El maestro también dijo que eran para nosotros y que nos los podíamos llevar a casa. Yo cogí el mío y lo guardé en la mochila, pero a mi amiga Mati se le cayó y se le rompió todo – el maestro le hizo una foto. A Luis se lo robaron unos gamberros mientras volvía a casa y a Santi se lo rompió Mateo, el niño que nos pega a todos.
En clase los que más usan el ordenador son Toni y Andrés. Son dos niños un poco retrasados y que antes sólo molestaban. Ahora con el portátil les ponen una película de dibujos y están más callados. Ayer nos explicaron cómo sacar información de internet y nos mandaron deberes para buscar en casa. Mi papá, que ahora no trabaja, dice que no tenemos dinero para internet, por eso no he podido hacer los deberes esta semana y ya me han regañado en el cole.
Por eso, además de los libros y cuadernos, también cargo con el ordenador. Ahora ya no uso mochila sino el troler de mamá de cuando podíamos ir de finde o de viaje.
A mi hermano mayor en el insti también le van a dar uno y él está muy contento pues dice que podrá colgar fotos y chatear con las chicas. También me ha dicho que, a partir de ahora, no tendrá que fijarse en las faltas de ortografía pues el ordenador las corrige automáticamente. Es maravilloso, también, porque antes las clases eran pesadas y largas y ahora duran 10 minutos o menos. A muchos compañeros no les funciona; a otros les tarda tanto en poner en marcha que para cuando lo consigue suena el timbre de salida. Y sin olvidar que los electricistas nos dejaron tres días en el patio poniendo enchufes porque la batería no dura nada.
Como las cosas que trae el maestro no se pueden abrir, dice que pondrá las notas según le demos más o menos la lata y según el tiempo que tardemos en abrir el invento. Se acabó estudiar, la calculadora y las reglas. Y sacar punta, tener buena letra y tener un cuaderno de diez. Es fantástico. Pobrecillos los que aún están en 4º porque los veo muy estresados.
Yo me paso la mañana con el Google Earth. Ya me lo sé de memoria y no tengo otra cosa que hacer. En matemáticas, es lo mejor: sólo tienes que elegir entre tres respuestas y además te dan otras tres oportunidades. Y si en lengua no te sale algo, lo buscas en internet y ya está. Finalmente todos sacaremos sobresaliente porque leer ya sabemos pero vamos a aprender a comprender.
El maestro dice que es una competencia muy importante.
Es genial.
Elena”
And here’s a quick translation into English…
“Hi,
My name’s Elena and I’m in Primary 6 – and I’m the best!
Last week they brought us a load of computers, one for everyone (except our teacher). We were all so happy because we thought they’d also install some central heating (we’re dying of the cold over here) and air conditioning (we’re dying from the heat too), and a new non-reflective board, seats and desks the right size for us, shelves and a locker for our stuff. But no, they just brought computers.
And no magnifying glasses – those screens are small, but hey!
The first day we didn’t do anything with them because our teacher doesn’t know the operating system. Actually, he doesn’t know anything about computers. He said he’d do some research at home, but Maria (another swot) said she could teach him because they’ve got a computer at home and she knows how to use it. We all laughed… but he didn’t.
Our teacher told us they were ours, and we could take them home. I put mine away in my backpack, but my friend Mati dropped hers and it broke. The teacher took a photo of it. Luis had his stolen by some bad boys on his way home, and Santi’s got broken by Mateo (he’s the kid that’s always hitting us).
Toni and Andrés are the kids who use them the most. They’re a bit slow, and they always used to disrupt the class. Now the teacher puts a cartoon on their computers for them and they’re much quiter. Yesterday they showed us how to get information from the Internet and gave us some homework. My dad (he’s out of work right now) said we can’t afford Internet, so I haven’t been able to do the homework this week and I got in trouble at school.
So, apart from textbooks and exercise books I now have to carry the computer to school. I’ve stopped using a backpack and changed to mum’s wheelie bag we used to use when we could afford to go away for the weekend or on holiday.
In my big brother’s school they’re also getting computers and he’s really happy because he says now he’ll be able to upload photos and chat to girls. He also said he won’t have to bother with spelling anymore because the computer corrects it all automatically. It’s fantastic – classes used to be so long and boring and now they’re about ten minutes long, or less. Loads of my classmates have broken computers, for others they take so long to boot that the class is over when they do. Plus the fact that the electricians ended up leaving us for three days in the playground while they installed a load of sockets – the computer batteries don’t last long at all.
Since we can’t open the stuff our teacher brings in, he said he’d evaluate us according to how much we act up in class and how long it takes us to turn our computers on. No more studying, calculators or rulers. No more pencil sharpening, neat handwriting and sketch books. It’s fantastic! I pity the poor kids in fourth grade – they look so stressed.
I spend all morning playing with Google Earth. I know it off by heart, but there’s nothing else to do. Maths is the best: you just have to choose from three answers AND they give you three goes at it. And if you can’t do something in language class you just look it up on the Net. We’ll all get excellent grades because we can already read, but we’re going to learn to understand.
The teacher says it’s a very important skill.
It’s brilliant,
Elena”
“soy alumna de 6º de primaria y la mejor” “Y si en lengua no te sale algo, lo buscas en internet y ya está. ”
Very funny! bit long though for a primary school girl.
Bon appétit tonight !
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¡Ay, Gabin!
como que tu no puedes resistir la tentación de reponer cosas en tu blog de nuevo. Eres simplamente un adicto al mundo del blogesfera…
Pero yo admiro mucho a la persona que escribio esta carta. Me dio risa porque en ella hay muchos erores que podemos ver en el mudo de IT.
Porque nunca es el ‘que’, es el ‘como’!!!!
Jeremy
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An obvious fake: Not enough swearing.
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Mi aerodeslizador está lleno de anguilas.
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Hola Gabin,
de LA bogosfera, obviamente! Es que me equivocé
Jeremy
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Ah que placer intenso escribir en la lengua de Don Quijote en un blogo de secunda vida! reincarnación, no?
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¡Que buena! “Sólo trajeron ordenadores”-ji ji ji- pobres alumnos de la edad tecnológica….
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At the very least this gave my polyglot chums a good excuse to dust down their Spanish (particularly Jeremy, who will be using his properly come Christmas Day, BA permitting). Top prize goes to Sue for the Spanish translation of the Monty Python line “my hovercraft is full of eels”.
Sadly, although a spoof, I suspect this will be the truth for quite a few Spanish schoolkids come next October..
Gavin
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Cheers for the prize, Gavin!
Will treasure it and tweet about it, endlessly
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Sue,
Oh I shall look forward to that, as well you know…
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Actually had a hard time deciphering whether it was a spoof. Looked like one by the tone (and length!) but then again, living in Argentina…state schools have actually (said to have)received computers even though the buildings had no electricity (or heating -air conditioning?!)…it’s said that a few schools and hospitals(back in the day, not now) were opened for the official opening ceremony (inauguración) only to be dismantled the next day and then “reinaugurados” somewhere else. Sad, but even sadder that one may get so used to rumours like those that then what’s obviously a spoof to others makes me think twice before realising it is.
Don’t mean to spoil the fun (because I did enjoy your witty repartee!) but felt I had to express the instant mental association I had.
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Beatriz,
Thanks for your comment. This is certainly a spoof, but as I said, I suspect this will be the truth for many schools around the world as education authorities rush to embrace tecnhology without actually training anyone to use it. Argentina certainly isn’t alone in these problems.
Gavin
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The letter is great and sadly is the truth in Peru where a government scheme, “A laptop per child”, is giving kids from poorer and more rural areas laptops. All the problems mentioned in the letter have been reported here. It’s a controversial scheme in a country where about 20% of children suffer from malnutrition but it’s not really that much money overall and if it gives kids, who would normally never have the chance to use a computer, some familiarity with technology then I have to support the move.
A lack of access to and inability to use technology is going to be one of the key social barriers that keep the poor, poor in this very unequal society.
Sorry for the rant just before Xmas but I feel very strongly about this issue and am constantly defending these sorts of schemes.
Now to a much more serious issue – what happened to my last mince pie?
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Gavin,
Thanks for understanding.
Beatriz
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Catherine,
It’s tricky, isn’t it? Do we assume that countries don’t care about certain things like comfort, heating, food for people and aren’t going to provide them anyway – and then further assume that technology will (in some cases) give people a good chance in modern society – and that therefore ‘one laptop per child’ projects are alright because they will lift some people out of poverty…
Or do we protest that in countries where basic human comfort is not guaranteed. buying computers should be fairly low down the list?
I’m in two minds – I read about projects with technology happening in parts of Africa which have the full support of charities and aid agencies (on the grounds that they prepare people for the future) but at the same time one has to wonder how these things are prioritised.
As you’ll no doubt know if you’ve read the rest of this blog, I’m very much in favour of preparing young people for the modern world and for knowledge-based economies…. but I do feel they should be warm and comfortable, have clothes to wear and food to eat before they’re given a laptop to learn with…
Best,
Gavin
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I hadn’t seen this. I think the phrase is “funny ’cause it’s true.”
My girlfriend’s uncle is a pretty hardcore PP supporter ( he watches Intereconomia and listen to la COPE, to give you an idea), and his occassional anti-Zapatero rants can get pretty damn annoying, but when he sounds off about what the PSOE has done to education in Spain, he makes a lot of sense. The “I know, let’s just buy everybody a computer!” idea seems to me like another example of the “improvisation” that the Government’s been accused of time and again, in economic policy and everything else. And he’s a geography teacher at a public high-school in a semi-marginal neighborhood of Terrassa, so he knows whereof he speaks, I believe.
All in favor of teaching tech and empowering students but as you’ve said, it’s all about priorities–I agree that kids should be warm and comfortable before they’r give a laptop, but they should probably learn to write properly (at least a little bit, no?) before they learn to use Microsoft Word.
In any case, felices fiestas, bon nadal, zoroniak, etc., etc.!
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Nicky,
Bon nadal back at you… Yes, it is certainly a question of priorities. You’ll hear no argument from me there!
Gavin
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I’m pretty new to technology and I don’t know quite where I stand on netiquette. Is it all right if I write a comment that’s about as long as the original blog and use it to disagree with you? What about if I take a funny piece and turn it into a rant/personal crusade?
What the hell, I’ll write anyway and I’m sure you’ll let me know if I’m in the wrong.
I agree that it should be more important for a child to have a full stomach than to have a laptop and I don’t think anyone would disagree with that.
However, how can you ensure that all children are fed and clothed?
Peru (and especially where I live in Ayacucho, one of the most beautiful but also one of the poorest departments, in the Andes) is not in a position to give aid directly to every family in poverty, unlike the welfare state systems in Europe. The whole tax collection for a year in Peru would only lift 30% of families out of poverty if given as direct benefit and that would leave no money left over for investment in health, education, transport, etc, etc.
The only way to ensure that each family is able to feed itself is to make sure that at least one person from each family has a job that pays a living wage.
For that to happen, the government must invest in education as people who are illiterate won’t be able to get any jobs that don’t involve day labouring or washing other peoples’ clothes.
I did laugh when Nicky said that students should learn to write before they learn to use technology as currently my students (at the National University preparing to be secondary school teachers themselves) can neither write nor use a computer. They make basic spelling mistakes (exelente, barones, etc), they don’t know how to punctuate, and I don’t mean the difference between colons and semi-colons, I’m talking full stops, capitals for names and at the beginning of sentences and question marks.
In Ayacucho very poor children don’t go to university, semi-poor people can go to university but are restricted to careers like teaching where the initial investment in equipment is low, ie. to study engineering students have to buy calculators and special drawing equipment. Prospective teachers only need a notebook and a pen.
This means teachers in training almost all come from poorer families and have received a very poor quality education at state schools. Currently there is one teaching job for every 14 graduates so most of the students will have to look for work in other fields.
I recently started to complement my teaching with a free virtual campus and had to take my students to an internet cafe and teach them everything from scratch as most had never used a computer before – from turning it on, to opening an email account, to opening the emails they received. These students are not stupid but they are complete beginners in technology and are scared of it.
If we talk about a 5 year old from a poorish background; what chance does he have of getting a job that pays enough to feed his children if when he enters the workforce in 10 or 15 years time, he can’t use a computer?
In some pilot studies in rural areas, children who are native Quechua speakers but illiterate in both Quechua and Spanish were given laptops with programs teaching basic literacy and numeracy skills. They scored better on tests of these basic skills compared to children from similar backgrounds who’d received traditionl schooling. They also showed greater levels of self confidence and optimism for the future.
Which is better? A laptop that motivates and enables students to learn and gives them a sense of hope in the future or a teacher who teaches from Monday-Thursday in the mornings and doesn’t know how to read or write very well himself?
Which is better? Giving this child’s family a little money now so that he is a little less malnourished (that is if his father doesn’t drink the money away – Ayacucho is also number one in alcoholism and family violence in Peru) but just as excluded from society or investing in something that will allow him to support himself and his family when he goes on to become a father?
Give a man a fish…
Sorry if the tone is rather un-festive but Ayacucho is in mourning. On Wednesday night heavy rain caused a mud-slide through the centre of the city killing ten people and injuring others. Ayacucho is small enough that events like these affect the whole city. One of my students is in hospital recovering and my sister-in-law’s house was badly damaged.
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Catherine,
Thanks so much for the long and considered comment – and my condolences to everyone involved in the terrible event on Wednesday. Coming from a small town myself, I know how these things can affect the whole community.
The thing is, I am in favour of teaching people to use computers, and – like you – I think it’s of great importance for many people in many countries these days. Elsewhere I’ve written in very positive tones about some of these projects, from the Plan Ceibal through current projects in Rwanda and in India (more of what I wrote about here: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/being-resourceful ).
As you note – and I’m in agreement with you – these projects are important for countries and for people. On the project in Rawanda, I was struck by this quotation:
‘In the rural areas, where poverty is still the country?s greatest challenge, the aim is simultaneously to teach computer literacy and improve living standards. It?s a leap that many people working for charities and NGOs characterise as taking Rwanda ‘from the 18th to the 21st century in one bound’.’
I’ve also been involved in training in many countries which would be considered ‘resource poor’, from India, through Sri Lanka and in some parts of Latin America.
The piece you read is a humorous comment on the education system in Spain, where people generally have enough to eath and drink and place to sleep – but where ill-though-out education policies are straining the system and not working terribly well. As such it was a sign of the times in Spain, but also a sign of the times in many countries who think that pushing computers on people is going to solve all the problems.
But of course it won’t, because without a full stomach and a decent night’s sleep, people are hardly likely to be able to concentrate on a computer screen. And without basic literacy and numeracy, they’re hardly lilely to get much out of one, either.
So yes, I do see the point of ‘upskilling’ in countries, of preparing people for the knowledge economy, but I also think that this will have no long-lasting positive effect if people are living in the kinds of conditions you describe. Either that, or everyone will end up being paid a pittance for outsourced computer work from ‘developed’ countries and nobody will be any better off.
So, once again we need to talk of balance. When countries spend a fortune on Interactive Whiteboards, yet cannot guarantee electricity to power them we need to ask questions and call people to account.
We need to work with countries and with governments to work out where the best expenditure lies (and I doubt it’s in IWBs or even netbooks for everyone), and it has to be about balance.
I really appreciate the facts from Peru – it’s your personal story and I respect that fully. I don’t think we’re disagreeing here, we’re just talking about this balance: balancing the human needs of people with their need to find a place in the world, a place that will alow them to live with dignity and provide for their family.
The original humorous post about future changes in the Spanish system speaks one truth – and that is that governments or education ministeries are rarely in a position to nmake useful plans which are to be implemented lower down the ranks, nor does centralised decision-making cover the needs of every region in any country. The sooner we learn to react to people and their situations, rather than a perceived ‘national’ need, the better off most people will be.
Computers are not the answer, or at least not the whole answer, either in Spain or Peru. I’m all for ‘teach a man to fish…’ but if that man can’t get out to fish, then it’s not a helpful skill.
And yes, I agree that computers can help with the skills you mention (check out Sugata Mitra’s work in the article I’ve referenced above), can increase motivation and can lead to good results, but so can good quality traditional teaching along the lines of the dogme movement. For me it’s about good teachers, regardless of the tools they use.
This is an interesting discussion, and one very close to my heart in the work I do every year in many different countries, and I’d be happy to continue it if you have more to add.
Best,
Gavin
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A very interesting discussion indeed. My condolences to Catherine as well and I also agree with you that in some cases in order to help people escape from poverty they have to invest in education.
But I also agree with Gavin that in some countries, mine for example, Greece, where there isn’t abject poverty “ill-though-out education policies are straining the system and not working terribly well”. Quite the contrary. This year we saw in Greece the introduction of personal netbooks for year seven students. I can’t say it is a disaster but it resembles very much the situation described in the letter above. Being a bit involved in teacher training, I have heard all kinds of reactions by teachers from excitement and enthusiasm to total indifference and resistance to learn. In my opinion because it wasn’t well planned it is going to take much longer to see the desired outcomes.
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I’ll just reply briefly as I basically do agree with you.
Yes, technologies such as IWBs or data shows are a waste of money initially and then a waste of more money to pay for the electricity, when there is any.
I also take your point that malnourished children can’t learn that much. In certain provinces parents didn’t use to send their children to school as it just involved costs (transport, time, books, pencils) for no tangible return. Now, however, there is a free “desayno escolar” that each child receives and so attendance is pretty good and children are at least guaranteed one reasonably nutritious meal a day.
I also agree that “good quality traditional teaching” is unbeatable but here the teaching is awful. I don’t mean to blame the teachers as most of the ones I’ve worked with have been committed, enthusiastic and determined to do the best they can for their students. But, sadly, they haven’t received a good quality education and so don’t know how to read or add up very well themselves and they don’t generally have access to training courses or web pages that could help them improve.
English teaching is especially bad as most teachers don’t have much English and often teachers aren’t English teachers at all (maybe they’re trained to teach maths or history) but just happen to have some hours free in their time table so the school director assigns them to English.
I think technology could also help by allowing teachers to improve their levels of numeracy, literacy or whatever and also feel a bit less isolated as it certainly can feel when you’re the only teacher in a remote hamlet school housing all the village kids from aged 5 – 16.
I’m not claiming that computers alone can solve the very complicated issue of poverty, inequality and exclusion but if it’s a tool that can help to even the playing field then I’m all in favour.
While it would be sad if people became cheap labour, Peru actually has a reasonable minimum wage that small, local employers ignore but that might be enforced if it were an international company involved. I also know some people who would argue that poorly paid, outsourced work would still be preferible to subsistence farming where a bad year can mean ruin for the family resulting in starvation, illness, family break up as members move to different areas to find work, or children being “sold” as labour or worse.
Oh dear. I failed quite badly on the briefly but never mind. Just to finish I’ll agree that ideally people’s basic needs will be met first but I just can’t see how Peru will ever be able to feed and clothe its population unless children are educated now to a level that actually makes them employable.
Luckily in Ayacucho the climate is perfect so heating isn’t an issue but obviously in certain parts of Peru it is a critical problem.
I do understand that the letter was written about the situation in Spain and has a different meaning there – I just felt the need to reply as it touched a nerve for me in how it related to my perspective in Ayacucho.
PS: Ayacucho means “Corner of the Dead”. No-one seems to know whether the name refers to the invasion by the Quechuas their bloody battles with the pre-Incan Wari tribe or whether it refers to the harsh realities of life at altitude. Either way it’s quite appropriate at times.
Thanks for the link to the article on the British Council website – I’ve passed it on to everyone I know who is interested in the application of technology to education
Have a great holiday and I look forward to reading your posts next year. I’m really glad you are willing to put time and effort into writing them. When I first came to Ayacucho I didn’t have internet access and I really missed feeling a part of a teaching community interested in sharing, discussing and debating all things ELT. Now I feel part of a profession again and it’s fabulous.
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