How to Profit off the Poor… and Keep Your Soul
Fantastic article by Sarah Lacy in TechCrunch
The article is an extention/update on the very old news related to NIIT, where the MD of the company started a project "Hole in the Wall". In this project, he left a computer in an area where illiterate kids from the nearby slum used to play. To his astonishment, not only did a bunch of kids were able to use the computer, but they were able to open up the internet browser and visit games on websites. This experiment showed that kids (even ones who lack basic education) can learn technology very quickly.
Quote:
|
A pilot project with the World Bank followed, and 22 of these “Hole in the Wall” kiosks were set up around the country from 2001 to 2005. The organization studied the results closely. The most obvious take-away was that kids left on their own will learn computers. The project also helped develop team-building and social skills—with 200 kids sometimes huddled around one screen. Whether the computers lead to more general academic improvement was less clear, but in many cases it was up measurably
|