After reading the articles, I looked at the theme- “Solutions
and Enablers to Deliver Basic Human Needs”. It reminds me the Maslow 's demand
theory[1]. I found that health, food
and water are belong to the lowest level of demand-Physiological needs. Housing
(Shelter) and energy may belong to the second level-safety needs. Education is a
self-actualization need. Technology/Information is more like a method/channel
instead of a need. But in this digital age, it became a safety need for
Millennials generation[2].
I used to think that we should fulfill the lower-level
demand first, then we can turn into the higher-level needs. But sometime the
fulfilling hierarchy is not one-direction, layer by layer upward. Instead,
every time you satisfy a level of needs will more or less supplement other
levels of needs. It is more like a multi-direction and cycled system.
The second point I learned from those articles is the
importance of technology and energy in satisfying the education needs. I gain a
strongly feeling of this assumption during my summer volunteer experience as an
online Chinese teacher for kids in Ghana. In July, I volunteered as an online
Chinese teacher to teach students in Ghana Chinese. My students are 5 grade
kids from an international school in Ghana. It is only a 30-minutes weekly
course, but nearly every week I had to wait about 15-30 minutes to secure the
internet connection. Even though, our class always paused due to internet
failures. Pedro told me that they do not have stable electricity suppliers. Now,
after this week’s reading, I plan to recommend the Inye computer tablets[3] to my students. Without
the energy and internet infrastructure support, they couldn’t us the fantastic
Khan Academy platform as well. In other words, if the energy and technology
needs met, children in Ghana would gain a huge benefit by having access to
multiple education resources.
I remember, on the first class, they kept asking me
questions till the end of the class. I saw the eager to learn from their eyes. As
Khan says, “What happens in 50 years? [4]” If we could help the
local kids to equip themselves with willing and skills to “Change the World”,
they may start from their daily events and the community they are living,
leading a change and eventually make a great difference to the country, the
world.
Finally, I am so happy that I read many cases about “technology
+ Education”, such as the Raspberry Pi computers[5], and the Khan Academy. It
is true, we are coming to the age when technology is finally poised to disrupt
how people learn.
[1]
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. (n.d.). Retrieved September 11, 2017, from
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=391607
[2]
According to the reports and data from the Pew Research Millennial generation
are those born after 1980 and the first generation to come of age in the new
millennium. Millennials in Adulthood. (2014, March 06). Retrieved September 11,
2017, from http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/03/07/millennials-in-adulthood/
[3]
Holland, M., Tucker, I., Mark, M., & Kelly, A. (2012, August 25). Africa
innovations: 15 ideas helping to transform a continent. Retrieved September 11,
2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/26/africa-innovations-transform-continent
[4]
Noer, M. (2015, May 15). One Man, One Computer, 10 Million Students: How Khan
Academy Is Reinventing Education. Retrieved September 11, 2017, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelnoer/2012/11/02/one-man-one-computer-10-million-students-how-khan-academy-is-reinventing-education/
[5]
Hickey, S. (2014, March 09). The Raspberry Pi computer – how a bright British
idea took flight. Retrieved September 11, 2017, from
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/09/raspberry-pi-computer-eben-upton-cambridge
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