Can Laptop Revolutionize Education and Business in the Third World - Research Paper Example

Can a $ 170 laptop revolutionize education and business in the third world? The rapid pace at which technology is developing has changed the very concept of business and education in the developed world. Where education used to be confined to the classrooms, technology has brought it outside-made it just a click away. Likewise, business, over the centuries, has taken a shift from the medieval transactions and bartering to the current day minute-by-minute updates on stocks, million dollar transactions and online markets. Technology has significantly accelerated social and economic development of developed countries; the question arises that given the myriad assortment of problems developing countries are afflicted with, can subsidized technology revolutionize the state of affairs in such countries? One can imagine a classroom of students, each having their own netbook, networking, programming, gaming, learning from online tutorials etc- the possibilities are limitless. But if one takes this interactive classroom environment to a slum school, where children do not even have seats to sit on, where the basic modality of teaching is a blackboard and a chalk, where books are handed down from student to student due to lack of poverty, where the class is overcrowded with students of different ages, can a $170 laptop be of any benefit to them? Similarly, in a country facing acute shortage of resources and where global recession can throw the country in huge economic upheaval and crisis, can a $170 laptop revolutionize business and commerce there? The debate is heated, but one can clearly see that the marked impact of potential technological advancement in third world countries can go a long way in the growth and progress of developing countries. Developed countries had had taken a start from somewhere that led to their prosperity; introduction of $170 laptops to third world countries can be the start that third world countries need to upgrade education and business. Developing countries lack resources and funding to develop the education sector. Due to shortage of resources and lack of opportunities, businesses can not flourish and thrive as well as they do in developed countries. The distribution of $170 laptops in these countries poses a lot of doubts on the success of the plan. It can be argued that the money spent on subsidized laptops can instead be used to fund primary government objectives like the improvement of healthcare service, increasing employment opportunities, stepping up the balance of payments, upgrading infrastructure etc. On the other hand, introduction of $170 laptops can solve many of these problems. A widespread use of laptops will give rise to businesses that repair laptops, provide spare parts etc. and can generate employment amongst the masses. Furthermore, easy access to the internet will promote online businesses and help people carry out businesses with organizations abroad. Laptops for students and teachers can facilitate effective learning and teaching alike and give them access to innumerable learning resources that will equip them with the knowledge to compete in international arenas. A non-profit organization OLPC- One Laptop Per Child- is committed to the creation of educational opportunities for poor children of developing countries. It is an idea of Nicholas Negroponte, who has aimed to provide low power laptops at a low cost to 7 million children all over the world. He was motivated into action after observing the effects of laptops in children in a village in Cambodia. According to Negroponte, a single laptop in the hands of a child illuminated the entire household. Therefore one can appreciate the usefulness of laptops in poor settings. However criticism against OLPC stems from doubts on the affordability of laptops. Many opponents believe that money should be spent on other troubling issues like healthcare. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, said that families earning less than $1 a day would not sit around browsing e-bay. A poverty-stricken child is in desperate need for vaccinations, food, shelter rather than a laptop. Statistics report that a staggering 2.2 million children die each year because they are not immunized; 15 million children are orphaned due to HIV/AIDS, which is similar to the total number of children living in UK (Shah). Keeping all these considerations in mind, one can conclude that OLPC, although a very creative brainchild of Negroponte, has little practicability in poor countries. Elaborating on commercial uses of laptops, e-commerce has the potential to contribute considerably to the GDP of a country. Official statistics forecasted that e-commerce will contribute to almost 10% of the GDP of Japan between 2004 and 2009. If e-commerce could gain popularity in developing countries, it could set off a domino effect. By buying $170 laptops, people can access the internet easily and can start small businesses online, proliferating employment opportunities. However it should be noted that third world countries have a very low literacy rate. In a survey conducted by UN in a third world country, Pakistan, 50% of fifth grade primary school children selected randomly for the survey failed a simple test that assessed their educational basics. The total adult literacy rate in Pakistan is 55%; however majority of these people only know how to sign their name. It is hard to expect them to operate a laptop, let alone conduct business online. Malawi is a small country located in South Africa and has a population of 13 million people. Out of such a small population, 14% have HIV/AIDS and the average life expectancy is 37 years. Most of the economy is dependent on agriculture; fluctuation in rainfall, demand for agricultural products etc can mean starvation (Verclas). Introduction of laptops in a country where the only toys children have to play with are worn-out rubber wheels and wooden blocks not only seems unfeasible but draws attention to other basic pressing issues that need to be urgently addressed. Where many businesses have flopped due to economic crisis, poorly planned policies and corruption have impeded development of education in third world and have mitigated effective channelization of funds. Many of the teachers are secondary school graduates and have little know-how of teaching since most of them do not receive any professional training courses. Where schools lack basic infrastructure like chairs, tables, stationery etc and children wear the same battered old clothes to school everyday, how can a laptop create educational opportunities for these children? It is argued that using a laptop would aid the children in thinking more critically and building sound concepts of sciences and subjects that promote a constructive thought-process and reasoning. This however is very idealistic; the reality is bitter- 38.7% population in Ethiopia is below the poverty line. Because of fiscal constraints, only a small percentage of children are able to attend school. Many slum children do not even have notebooks to write on. Considering the situation, should the developmental strategy be ‘one laptop per child or one slate per child’ (Borsch)? The prospect of laptops in such schooling systems has little, if not nil, impact on the improvement of education. Another downside associated with the introduction of laptops would be that some people would not be able to appreciate the long-term benefits of laptops, rather they would see their monetary worth; laptops would become a source of income for them by selling them in the black market. Third world compromises countries with incomes one-third that of the poorest rich country and, reiterating the main line of argument, a lot of people would not be able to afford even a $170 laptop. With laptops, the incidence of hackers will also increase and money needs to be spent on developing new firewalls. Also, the cost of environmental degradation can not be ignored; third world countries are already being dumped by e-waste. Moreover, studies have shown that solving mathematical questions on laptops leads to more errors and is time consuming than solving them on paper with a pencil (Top Ten Issues…). Other technical issues that surface are due to language barriers; even if green laptops are provided to children, how much use they can be if most of the sites are in a language these children can neither read nor speak. In many Asian, African, and Latin American countries, an approximate 500 million people are living in what the World Bank has termed "absolute poverty" (Dvorak). Most of the population in third world country is employed in primary and cottage industries. A large part of business extends to tourism revenues, small shops and plazas, basic telecommunications and maintenance of vehicles. Since majority of the population in third world countries has an agrarian framework of sustenance, online trading and large scale businesses are only circumscribed to the elite class, which constitutes a very small percentage of the population. In these countries where people are deprived of sanitation, clean drinking water, electricity and brick houses, doing business online and e-commerce still have a long way to go. Proponents of OLPC are of the view that computers can be better teachers. However, softwares can only be helpful pedagogical aids if the users have some know-how of computers, but in schools where children do not even have books and notebooks to study from, laptops can not be instrumental learning resources (Ogden). Nigeria’s education minister said that emphasis should be made on the provision of quality education that is efficient and affordable (Fildes). The prospect of economical boom in third world countries by introducing laptops is bleak. The reason is that developing countries are very backward in terms of technology and have much pressing issues like healthcare, education, sanitation, shelter etc to invest on. In my opinion, introduction of $170 laptops is not a viable solution to modernizing education and business in the third world. Instead, this money could be used to improve healthcare, build infrastructure and enhance education; subsequently primary business will flourish and one can see a shift towards tertiary industries. Only then can consumerism of laptops will increase and be able to contribute to technological advancement and progress of the country. Education can only benefit from technology if literacy rate is high. Thus, laptops can not revolutionize education and business in third world countries. Works Cited Borsch, Steve. "Reality of One Laptop Per Child?" Steve Borsch, 28 Jan. 2008. Web. 27 Apr. 2010 . Dvorak, John C. "One Laptop per Child Doesn't Change the World." John Dvorak, 12 Apr. 2007. Web. 27 Apr. 2010 . Fildes, Jonathan. "Politics 'stifling $100 Laptop." BBC, 27 Nov. 2007. Web. 27 Apr. 2010 . Ogden, Timothy. "Computer Error?" Timothy Ogden, 20 Aug. 2009. Web. 27 Apr. 2010 . Shah, Anup. "Poverty Facts and Stats." Global Issues, 28 Mar. 2010. Web. 29 Apr. 2010 . “Top Ten Issues of One Laptop Per Child”. OLPC News. Christoph Derndorfer. 14 May 2007. Web. 27 Apr. 2010 Verclas, Katrin. "One Laptop Per Child Vs Cellphone & Radio." KatrinVerclas, 30 Jan. 2008. Web. 27 Apr. 2010 Read More