http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/24/business/facebook-pitches-online-education-rwanda/
So Facebook announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that it was going to launch an online education initiative to give education to those without access. They are calling it SocialEDU. Students will gain access to universities such as Harvard, MIT, and Berkeley. Nokia is jumping in on this and giving free data for a year those who are participating as well as a free smart phone. They seek to create an educational experience that is "affordable and social"(Chapple, 2014).
Okay, I don't know how I feel about this. I think this move to make education affordable is great. But I think it is a very big leap to impose American Higher Educational standards on Rwandans. And all of these big money corporations leaping on to this idea also makes me feel uneasy. What is their pay off? Also why aren't they launching this project in the US?
good questions. i agree there's something a little uneasy about this. feels very coporate and the cynic in me sees this as a play to get first dibs on the millions who aren't connected yet via the internet. their first experience will be with facebook/airtel/nokia and they would likely continue to have some kind of allegiance to the corporate names.
ReplyDeleteHi, this is Megan! I am a bit uneasy too. I believe education is important for everyone but going for the top gun universities and such a drastic change is worrisome. I think they should test pilot it in a different way; maybe adding more countries or a variety of countries and not only that, but adding in some schools like the public universities. To me, this seems more like a way for people to get more money and NOT for the proper expansion of universal education. I suppose we will have to see how this goes but I hope they open up more grounds and provide the proper resources for countries.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. It is very intuitive for you to question why, and how come for free. Traditionally when Africa is invaded it is for the good of the invader not necessarily the people living there. I will have to research this issue in more depth before I support or condemn their initiatives and motives. I think it will be wonderful to provide education on the level they plan to, but at what cost down the road will this seemingly free investment have on the people, and their culture. Thought provoking… Change is not always good.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little conflicted too about private companies funding education in the US and outside. On the one hand, its great that a company is putting its money to a valuable cause, but on the other hand, it kind of makes education beholden to private investors.
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