Can technology help with poverty in poor countries?...
This week's Ted talk was very interesting and thought provoking. Presenter Kentaro Toyama spoke about implementing a program that would provide technology to poverty-stricken countries such as India (which was his example). India has grown economically but unfortunately it still half the country remains poor. The research that he was a part of would provide technology to them to see if they can help with the growth of the social economic development. He further explains the rhetoric of many that by implementing technology will influence the decline of poverty.
In their research they realized that simply having technology in say in education would not be effective. Technology with good teaching and supportive administrators are key to being effective. Simply providing technology without direction would be a waste of precious resources. He concludes that "Technology only magnifies human intent and capacity. It can't substitute them (Toyama, 2010)." This provides the notion that we can provide the most advanced technology but without proper guidance on how to use them then it in a way hinders the progression.
It was a great presentation and really expressed that there is positive intent to the providing of technology but, as evident, positive intent without reinforcement is not efficient and can hinder the possible outcomes. It reminds me of my own mother who previously took English classes. The program was taught through a software on a computer, which at that time my mother and many of her classmates were not literate in. I would often attend class with her to further provide support which turned into me provide aid to others as well. What was puzzling was the lack of teacher supervision. The program was effective for some of the students but unfortunately some did not reap all the possible benefits.
Citation:
Toyama, K. (2010, May 15th). Untitled [Speech audio recording]. TEDxTokyo https://youtu.be/cxutDM2r534
Nice post! I agree with your post and can relate to it because even for me, being a part of the generation that would know and understand technology, I still struggle without supervision quite often. In some ways I feel that a number of the population that is in poverty choose not to learn technology because the possibiliy of knowing and having to do more will exceed their comfort level. in life.
ReplyDeleteVery informative and relatable post, you are right providing technology without direct supervision or instructor's presence doesn't help at all. Seattle housing has a digital literacy program for low income individuals and I just found out about the program, they provide lessons as well as a free laptop teaching on how to use a laptop and programs like that are helpful to have.
ReplyDeleteit does not achieve the intended Great goal just by providing the technology . proper management and literacy are important to avoid failure.
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