TAD Consortium May 2000 Information Update 3

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CONTENTS  

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NEWS/TRENDS
--- As Internet Grows, Censorship Follows
--- Draft French bill on making source code available
--- Where Have All The Paperless Promises Gone?
--- United Kingdom To Create Online University
--- India among top 10 dotcom countries

ONLINE RESOURCES
--- 'An A-Z of African Studies on the Internet'
--- A paper about learning styles of undergraduate students using interactive multimedia.
--- The Birth of the Internet: An Architectural Conception for Solving the Multiple Network Problem
--- World War II Maps
--- Scholarly bibliography on computers and writing
--- A site on multicultural education and the Internet
--- The Information Technology Commission of Government of Pakistan draft IT Policy

ARTICLES
--- The Architecture of Electricity
--- Ethiopia: Educational Radio and Television

TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS
--- Wireless Internet To Debut in China
--- New Notebook PC For Blind Users

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NEWS/TRENDS

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Taken from Nua Internet Surveys: May 2nd, 2000

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Freedom House: As Internet Grows, Censorship Follows

Government censorship of Internet sites is increasing, according to a new report from the human rights group Freedom House.

The report, "Censor Dot Gov: The Internet and Press Freedom 2000", says that as the World Wide Web develops at an exponential rate, governments in many countries, both developed and developing, are increasingly tempted to censor online information.

Only 69 of the countries studied have a completely free media, while 51 have a partly free media and 66 countries suffer heavy government censorship.

Censorship methods include implementing licensing and regulation laws, applying existing print and broadcast restrictions to the Internet, filtering content and direct censoring after dissemination.

In Asia and the Middle East, governments frequently cite protection of morality and local values as reasons for censorship.

Countries where Internet access is mostly or totally controlled by the authorities include Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

The report also points out that even the US government unsuccessfully tried to control access to certain Internet sites with the Communications Decency Act in 1996. http://www.freedomhouse.org/news/pr041700.html

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Taken from SVM, a French computer magazine

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Three French socialist deputies presented a private bill making compulsory in the publicly owned establishments the use of software whose source code is freely available.

[Translation is provided by AltaVista]

A few months after the publication by three senators of a private bill favorable to the massive diffusion of Linux and free software in the administration (see edition of January 7, 2000), another text makes its appearance with the Assembly. The three socialist deputies Jean-Yves Déaut, Christian Paul and Pierre Cohen indeed deposited a private bill of which the ambition is to impose on the French administration the operating systems and the applications whose source code is open. This provision would relate to the services of the State, the local communities and the publicly-owned establishments.

The majority of the open software being free or almost, Linux at the head, one of the arguments to defend this law would lie in the million francs of economies related to the licences of the software. But it is not really its matter. The priority is elsewhere: the concern is about security. The Deputies want to prevent that holes of safety measures or secret trap doors deliver to foreign powers the information or the data exchanged by the services of the State. Stéphane Fermigier, president of the French-speaking Association of the users of Linux and the free software (AFUL), regrets however that the deputies choose a limited opening of the code. According to him, the code would not be given to the public but only to the qualified services of the administration or the army. One of the innovations related to the text of the deputies is the right given to all " to develop, publish and use freely compatible software (with a proprietary software), including when a patent or a mark of trade was deposited on a standard of communication ". In other words, the Unisys group could not require any more any royalties for the use of the graphic format GIF, of which it holds several patents (see edition of September 14, 1999). According to deputies', the opening of the formats of files would give the insurance to be able to exchange its data without fear of a future incompatibility. To have the source code of a format, it is to be able to exploit it again even after several decades, even if the editor of the application disappears or gives up a format.

Bill

Article First: During the electronic data interchanges, the services of the State, the local communities and publicly-owned establishments have obligation to resort to opened standards of communication, consisted of rules and public processes of exchange of numerical information.

Article 2: the services and the publicly owned establishments of the State and the territorial public bodies are held to use software from which the source codes are accessible.

Article 3: Any person or entity has the right to develop, publish and use an original software compatible with the standards of communication of another software.

Article 4: It is created a publicly owned establishment of the State, is named Agence of Information Technologies and Communication. This establishment is placed under the supervision of the Ministry in charge of Industry. The ATIC has the role of informing and of advising the services of the State, the communities and the publicly owned establishments in the design and the technical pegging as regards communication and information technology. It identifies the needs for the public services equipment software, takes care of the harmonization of the standards of communication and proposes common technical references. It carries out the inventory by branches of industry of the open standards and the software available. According to this inventory, it supports the development of open standards and software published with their source code and supports their use in the public domain in order to mitigate the deficiencies of the market. It supports networking with the information systems of the other Member States of the European Union and takes part in work of international co-operation in the field of communication and information technologies. The ATIC has a correspondent in each prefecture. The procedures of the Agency of the information technology will be established by decree.

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Taken from The Ifra Trend Report: No. 40 (3 May 2000)

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WHERE HAVE ALL THE PAPERLESS PROMISES GONE?

Remember when the computer revolution brought with it the promise of the paperless office? Seems like the paperless promise is one whose time may never come. While Earth Day 2000 arrived on Saturday, April 29, the presses rolled on. "I don't have any hard data, but I know in my bones that this revolution that was designed to be paperless is causing more trees to be cut down," says Ted Smith of the Silicon Valley (U.S.) Toxics Coalition. Besides the loss of trees, paper production itself is highly toxic to the environment. So what happened? Maybe having a hard copy makes us feel secure. Maybe we don't completely trust our computers. Maybe reading Stephen King's latest bestseller online just isn't the same as reading it in a hammock on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Whatever the reason, the paper chase is likely to continue. In fact, the high-tech industry has identified printing as one of its most promising new market opportunities, and printing giant Hewlett-Packard is busy developing technology that will let you print documents from your cell phone or pager. Why? In the simple words of a company spokesperson, "People love paper." (PC World 21 April 2000)

http://www.pcworld.com:80/shared/printable_articles/0,1440,16403,00.html

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Taken from NETWORKING 4:9 
http://theNode.org/networking/

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UNITED KINGDOM TO CREATE ONLINE UNIVERSITY

The United Kingdom is setting the wheels in motion for the creation of an online university to compete with virtual institutions in the United States. The British Higher Education Funding Council <http://www.hefce.ac.uk/> has commissioned a business plan for the proposed "e-university," which will have no physical campus and no research mission. The institution will offer Bachelor's degrees and a new two-year degree that is under development in the UK. Universities in the United Kingdom and abroad will be invited to bid on the creation of the university, with the venerable Open University <http://www.open.ac.uk> expected to lead the bidding.

The initiative is a clear response to the perceived pressures upon institutions to be entrepreneurial, to adapt to a changing technological and economic climate, and to compete on an international scale. Education Secretary David Blunkett is quoted in a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education: "The 'do nothing' universities will not survive -- and it will not be the job of the government to bail them out." But while the success of some American efforts is cause for competition, the failure of others should be cause for pause.

For more information, see 
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/News/hefce/2000/euniv.htm

and the Chronicle story at
http://chronicle.com/free/2000/05/2000050201u.htm

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India among top 10 dotcom countries

NEW DELHI: India and China are among the top 10 countries with the maximum number of dotcom companies registered this year with Network Solutions, the global leader in domain registrations. According to Network Solutions' dotcom index for the year up to February end released on Tuesday, India is placed 10th and China 7th on the list. 

India was 11th in 1998 and fell to 12th position in 1999, but is back among the top 10 nations registering maximum dotcoms, according to the statistics. Meanwhile, China, which was in 8th position 1998, but fell to 14th, bounced back to 7th position this year. 

The top 10 non-US countries with maximum number of dotcom registrations this year are the UK, Korea, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, China, Spain, Italy and India. 

Mumbai features among the top 10 cities for dotcom registration at the 10th spot. The other nine cities are Seoul, London, Toronto, Istanbul, Paris, Singapore, Beijing, Madrid and Vancouver.

Mumbai was positioned 23rd followed by Delhi in 1999. 

http://www.timesofindia.com/today/03info3.htm

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ONLINE RESOURCES

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Over the last month I have added some hundreds of new links to my humble guide 'An A-Z of African Studies on the Internet' http://docker.library.uwa.edu.au/~plimb/az.html

This guide, at its inception in 1995, was meant to be a mere quick ready reference, not a comprehensive survey, but some sections (e.g. languages, universities, newspapers) are now more detailed. However, inevitably there are still 1000s of sites not included. Should you notice some omissions then by all means let me know.

best wishes

Dr. Peter Limb
University of Western Australia
Email: <plimb@library.uwa.edu.au>

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A paper about learning styles of undergraduate students using interactive multimedia. http://www.unimas.my/fit/roger/EJISDC/vol2/v2r3.pdf

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Draft for Comment

The Birth of the Internet: An Architectural Conception for Solving the Multiple Network Problem

by  Ronda Hauben
rh120@columbia.edu 
http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/other/birth_internet.txt

Abstract

The Internet makes it possible to transmit a message across the boundaries of dissimilar networks. What is the architectural conception that makes such internetwork communication possible?

TCP/IP is a communications protocol. What are the foundations that it is built upon?   What does it mean to be a communications protocol?

This draft paper explores these questions and connects them to the conceptual foundations of communications engineering and communications science, as developed by Claude Shannon, Norbert Wiener and others.

The ARPANET and then the Internet are developments that contribute a new body of communications experience and knowledge to that which has been developed in the past as part of communications engineering.

This context makes it possible to understand what it means that the computer is a communications device, and a very general one at that. And this context makes it possible to understand the nature of the Internet as a new conception which builds on the experience and research done developing the ARPANET.

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From The Scout Report for Social Sciences, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2000.  
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/

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World War II Maps

http://ac.acusd.edu/History/WW2Index/picindexmapsi.html

Posted by the History department at the University of San Diego, this site makes available over 100 strategic maps from World War II. All the major theaters of conflict are represented here from Asia and the South Pacific to Northern Africa, Europe, and the Battle for the Atlantic. Thumbnail versions of the maps are listed in chronological order beginning with a 1939 map of Gibraltar and ending with cartography from the battle for the Philippines in late 1944. The entries also state the source of each map with the majority coming from the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library, the _Illustrated London News_, the Library of Congress, and the National Archives. Users can click on the thumbnail image to get a full-screen version of the map for further study. [DC]

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With this message, I am proud to announce an extensive scholarly bibliography on computers and writing now available for your use at http://www.hu.mtu.edu/~candc/bib/. This biblography, sponsored by the journal _Computers and Composition_ (a journal for teachers who use computers to teach writing and communication) contains more than two thousand items including:

THERE IS NO CHARGE for use of this online bibliography—we have provided it to colleagues in gratitude for their ongoing support of _Computers and Composition_. Please use it often--we hope it proves valuable to you and to our scholarly projects!

Oh, and if you find items missing from our bibliography don't hesitate to send a full bibliographic citation to us, and we will add it to our list.

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A site on multicultural education and the Internet
http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/multicultural/net/guide.html

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The Information Technology Commission [http://itcomm.gov.pk ; http://itcomm.org.pk] of Government of Pakistan has posted the draft IT Policy at http://itcomm.gov.pk/policy/it1.htm for feedback and comments. Comments may be sent to feedback@itcomm.org.pk

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ARTICLES

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The Architecture of Electricity  http://www.architexturez.com/ae/

Brian Carroll

*** The Medium is Electricity - The Message is Electric ***

Electrification has been voted as the greatest achievement of the 20th Century. (1)

In fact, it is the greatest achievement of all time: from its birth in the electromagnetic big bang, to the composition of the atom, the binding of electrons into molecules, the creation of galaxies, stars, and planets like our Earth, a giant electromagnet with protective charged particle fields and electrified atmosphere, where lightning storms thundered for millions of years above life in the seas, eventually evolving onto land with electrical nerves, nervous system, and brain, an electrical human, Homo Electrus, electrically sensing the environment, adapting to electrical reality as it unfolds, from the electrical *spark* in amber 2500 years ago to the present-day Internet computer network, designing the built environment in the human image, a subliminal cosmology of electrical nature alchemically transmuting electrical tools, such as a drill or CAD software, into new types of buildings, electric.

It is this simple but profound fact that the historians of architecture have yet to address. Electrical power lines are edited out of photographs of buildings. Electricity is couched in vague terms such as `industrial revolution' or `machine age', all the while, acting as the electromagnetic heartbeat, the pulse transforming the everyday built environment. It is in the mundane that the extraordinary is found: in an electrical weld or elevator in a skyscraper made of electrically manufactured steel, in a house with electrical doorbell, light, and television receiving cultural messages from the other side of the nervous globe.

There is a mystery afoot, and it starts with a *spark*, in matter and mind...

It could well be said that this electrical design is too incredible to be credible, but based on our empirical scientific reasoning, and pragmatic technological practice, we have come to realize this mystery is indeed real, if not reality itself. Now, it is up to the architects to become cognizant of this revolutionary evolution of electricity in this world and epoch, so as to design a cultural consciousness of this `new' yet ever-present force of power in built form.

The Electrical Infrastructure is Architecture.

By researching electrification's impact upon the natural, human, and built environments, the architect can become acquainted with this epic story of transformation.

Yet the discipline of architecture is still at a pre-lingual stage of consciousness regarding the new electrical order.  Tradition reigns supreme, as the architectural mind exists in the 18th century, dreaming of forms.

 Just now, at the turn of the millennium, has research been conducted relating architecture with electricity. This existential work focuses on defining and cataloguing a whole new paradigm of architecture based on electrical power, media, and technology.

The most notable buildings of this `new architecture', as Le Corbusier well knew, are the typological telephone buildings, radio and television stations, and computer networks, the temples of our new electrical Acropolis, architectural icons of the global village.

How else can one relate the `cyberspace' of the networked computer to traditional architectural space? The fundamental answer lies within an aesthetic knowledge of the built environment... One must begin to "see"  the electrical power plants, transmission towers, substations, distribution poles, transformers, switches, plugs, wires, and sockets as part of a continuous chain of related events, each helping to create the illusion of `virtual space' inside the computer. It is within the design of these points, lines, and planes that the magic *spark* of electricity becomes architectural.  For example, the common wooden electrical distribution pole found on every continent that carries telephone and power lines are as charged an architectural form as are the classical Orders of Greece and Rome millennia ago.

The only problem is that architectural students, professors, researchers, theorists, professional architects and, importantly, lay people including patrons, have yet to think electricity is in any way related to the discipline of architecture. This cavil attitude will need to change if we are to begin designing an architecture for the 21st century that will meet our economic, social, and political needs.

Electromagnetic Architecture

From Vitruvius to Venturi and Virilio, the message is clear: we need to understand our natural and artificial environment in order to build within them. Today this means we need to finally consciously acknowledge the critical role electrification has had, and continues to have, in our daily lives. For architects this means relating electricity with the story of architecture in both the minutest detail and the grandest master plan.

This new architecture is Electromagnetic: its spatial, temporal, aesthetic, and cultural orders are the foundation of a new formal language of architectural design. It is so fast and luminous that it is timeless, 186,000 miles/sec. It is a paradox of revolutionary evolution and an evolutionary revolution.

Electromagnetic Architecture utilizes electrical power, media, and technology, integrating the electrical infrastructure within the architectural design of buildings, to create a more conscious and realistic world.

This new architectural language spans advocating passive and active solar, to the use of electronic LED displays, to designing buildings on computers using CAD. Its potential lies in integrating `cyberspace' with the actual space of buildings, whereupon these places are designed as one place, an augmented reality enhanced by the use of digital technologies and computer networks (intranets and extranets) as part of the architectural plan of a building's functional programming, computer and architectural.

Ultimately, the issues of `cyberspace' mirror the issues of actual space: property rights, breaches of privacy, and vast inequalities. This is the domain of architecture. And it is high time that the architectural establishment takes their share of responsibility for the outcome of this design challenge.

Let us design a living democratic architecture within these, our electrical tools, buildings, and systems.  Instead of a built environment 2/3rds energy inefficient, let us design and build an architecture that is 2/3rds energy efficient.  Let us progressively develop and apply new electrical technologies, such as fuel cells and nanotechnologies, to address our present and future architectural needs.

In summary, let us once again dream of building great public works of architecture, this time the result of our collective Electrical Civilization and our new electrical humanity.

(1) National Academy of Engineering: http://www.greatachievements.org/

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Taken from TechKnowLogia, May/June 2000 Copyright © 2000 Knowledge Enterprise, Inc.

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Ethiopia: Educational Radio and Television
Thomas D. Tilson, Chief of Party, USAID.BESO Project           
Demissew Bekele, General Manager, Educational Media Agency, Ethiopia

Background

Ethiopia has a rich experience spanning more than three decades in using radio and television to support primary, secondary and non-formal education. The Educational Media Agency (EMA) of the Ministry of Education, which has provided the leadership in this area, traces is origin to the Audio-Visual Center established 1952/53. The Center developed, produced and distributed audio-visual teaching aids, and even had a mobile team that traveled to villages and schools to show films and slides.

In 1965, a year after the introduction of television in the country, television became the first technology for broadcasting educational programs using the facilities of the Ministry of Information. In 1969, EMA started broadcasting from its own studio, an indication of its technical and production attainment. At that time, as a result of increased enrollment in schools, the multiple shift system was introduced, and EMA had to repeat the broadcast of lessons for each shift. Later in 1971, educational radio broadcasting was initiated after a humble experiment using audiocassette programs in a prison in Addis Ababa.

In 1967, the Audio-Visual Center was reorganized as the Educational Mass Media Center with its own TV studio that produced programs in eight subjects for senior secondary schools and in five subjects for junior secondary schools. TV programs were developed for primary schools as well. But the secondary school programs were interrupted in 1976 and the primary school programs stopped in 1980. TV programs returned for junior secondary schools in 1988.

Perhaps most importantly, EMA's radio and television programs are an accepted part of the school curriculum throughout the country.

Over the years EMA expanded greatly. It currently manages an extensive broadcasting infrastructure dedicated to supporting education. EMA has large facilities, employs approximately 160 persons, operates eleven transmitters, each with two channels, throughout the country, and runs 12 recording studios at the center and the regions, with more planned construction in the coming years.

Radios, including 500 solar-powered sets, have been distributed to almost all schools nationally, and 800 color televisions have been sent to almost all secondary schools. The radio and television programs enrich education in the following manner:

--- supplement and enrich the regular curriculum;

--- support the distance education secondary level program for out-of- school youth and adults;

--- provide programs to a general audience on a variety of development issues; and

--- develop new non-formal programs to upgrade the qualification and skills of primary school teachers.

Educational Context

Ethiopia is a large but poor country in the Horn of Africa. It has a long and rich history. The predominant religion is Orthodox Christian going back to approximately 400 AD. There is also a large Muslim population, and the two major religions coexist peacefully. Formal education began in the early part of this century, but didn't begin to expand in a substantial way until the 1950s. In spite of the importance given to education in Ethiopia, gross enrollment rates have never been high. Even now, after several years of strong increases in school enrollment, gross enrollment rate at the primary grades (grades 1-8) is only about 40%, well below the Sub-Saharan average. The country is now halfway through a five-year plan to expand access to and improve the quality and equity of education.

Educational media has been particularly important in Ethiopia for several reasons. First, the country is large and mountainous and travel is difficult. Educational broadcasting helps to ensure the delivery of quality programs throughout the nation. Second, it has helped to support classes with underqualified teachers. This has been particularly true in the sciences in secondary schools. Third, it expands the experiences of the children. For example, in the sciences, the programs can demonstrate many experiments that would not be possible to do in regular classrooms or even in labs. Fourth, the programs provide general enrichment in a variety of ways.

The programs are produced after identifying important academic skills designated in the syllabus of each course. Then informative and imaginative programs are created, that suit each medium. By using both instructional and enrichment approaches, EMA widens the learners' horizon by applying the academic skills in a variety of ways and, thus, strengthens the teaching and learning process.

EMA's Program Support to Education

Between EMA and the regions, radio and television is used to support formal education in the following ways.  The programs:

--- Improve the quality of primary education by producing at the regional level radio programs in local languages for all primary school   grades in most subjects

--- Strengthen the teaching of English through the development of an improved approach known as interactive radio instruction (IRI) (see article "Are You Talking to Me? Interactive Radio Instruction"in November/December Issue of TechKnowLogia)

--- Improve the quality of secondary education and reduce regional disparities by producing radio and television programs in many secondary school subjects

--- Increase access to secondary education by providing a distance education secondary equivalency program for out-of-school youth and adults

--- Improve the qualifications of teachers by creating new distance education programs for upgrading underqualified primary school teachers

Primary level

In general, there is a 15-minute radio program per week for each major subject area at each grade level. EMA produces programs in English and Amharic; the regions produce programs in the natural sciences, social sciences, and local languages. One of the major consequences for education based on the new federal governance structure is that primary education is given in the mother tongue. Although there are approximately 80 languages in Ethiopia, currently about 15-20 of the languages are being used as the medium of instruction. Although most regions have only one or, perhaps two, languages of instruction, some regions have several languages. Therefore, the radio programs in each subject must be produced in each of the languages for each grade. This greatly complicates the production process as well as placing extensive demands on the transmitting capacity within the country. In secondary schools, the medium of instruction is English, so programs have only to be developed in one language. EMA has embarked on a new initiative that has the potential for improving the quality of its programming and, eventually, the programming in the regions as well. EMA is developing daily 15-minute English radio programs for grade 1 based on the IRI model. IRI programs for the higher primary grades are expected to be produced in subsequent years. IRI is noted for its systematic curriculum design and, particularly, for the way in which the children in the classroom become active participants in the learning process. Although IRI uses standard one-way radio broadcasting, the scripts are written in a way that actively engage the children in the lessons. Thus, anyone observing an IRI class can understand why the name "Interactive Radio Instruction" became associated with this type of broadcast. IRI is not a major departure for EMA, but builds upon and improves its systems for writing and producing other programs. (IRI programs in other countries including English, mathematics, science and health have been extensively evaluated and consistently show a strong impact on learning.)

Secondary level

EMA is producing both television and radio lessons. It is producing television programs for Grade 9 in Chemistry, Physics, Biology, English and Mathematics. In addition, it is developing Grade 9 radio lessons in Amharic, English, Biology, Chemistry, History and Geography. Over the next three years, it will expand these programs through Grade 12.

EMA has conducted for many years a distance education secondary-level program for out-of-school youths and adults. Currently 8,500 students are enrolled of whom 7,000 are active this year. The program is basically a correspondence course with students taking 5-6 courses at a time. There are, however, 20-minute weekly radio programs in English, Amharic, and Biology. Although this program is now under the control of EMA, the administration of this program will fall to the regions.  EMA will remain responsible for the instructional materials and broadcasts.

Teacher education

EMA is coordinating a new initiative for upgrading underqualified primary school teachers using distance education. Approximately 70% or 17,000 teachers in the upper primary grades (Grades 5-8) do not hold a teaching diploma and, thus, are unqualified. Staff of the seven teacher training colleges, two colleges and a university is writing the distance learning materials. EMA has provided training to all course writers in developing distance education print materials. EMA will also coordinate the implementation process on a national basis, although the colleges will be responsible for implementing the program in the regions in collaboration with the Regional Education Bureaus. EMA will also produce over 100 radio programs to support this new initiative - especially for language courses.

Non-formal education

Under the new decentralized structure, non-formal education is the responsibility of the regions. Nevertheless, EMA will continue to produce prototype non-formal education programs in areas such as gender, AIDS, the environment, harmful cultural practices, and other development issues. These lessons will serve as a model and starting point for the regions. These prototype programs are targeted to specific communities and audiences, usually involving study centers.

EMA continues to develop some programs for a general adult audience. These informal programs relate to problems found in many communities such as early marriage of girls. The topics are determined after consultation with the regions.

Remaining challenges

In spite of the enormous experience in Ethiopia in using educational broadcasting and its full acceptance by educators at all levels of the school system, there remain challenges. With the decentralization and democratization of the education system, the number of programs has greatly increased and it has become difficult to distribute materials, radios and television sets. Sometime the radios and television sets are mishandled, kept in a storeroom, or left idle due to a shortage of batteries. Also, despite the fact that schools are advised to adjust their timetable to accommodate the broadcasting schedule, sometimes this schedule does not match with the teachers' schedule. In addition, with the introduction of multiple languages of instruction, there are increasing demands for broadcasting time that may be difficult to meet.

Increasing Access and Quality

EMA has increased its radio and television broadcast coverage through agreements with organizations like Worldspace and the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation.

Digital radio

This year EMA is taking an innovative step to help meet the increasing demands for transmitting time as well as to provide high-quality audio sound in the schools. It has teamed up with WorldSpace, which has recently launched the AfriSat satellite that broadcasts digital programs from space. AfriSat covers the African continent using three transmitting beams, each of which has the capability of carrying 60 audio channels simultaneously. Although principally a commercial venture, WorldSpace Corporation through its Foundation has dedicated part of its broadcasting capacity for the nonprofit sector in areas such as education, health, the environment, and women's issues. As one initiative to help test the capacity of this technology to support education, WorldSpace is providing one broadcasting channel exclusively for use in Ethiopia. In addition, it has donated 50 digital receivers for a pilot program. EMA has already identified approximately 400 programs to be broadcast from AfriSat. These programs include harmful traditional practices, folk media, science subjects, gender issues, primary school teacher training programs, and English.

There are several advantages to this new technology:

--- The programs can reach the most remote areas. The transmission signal is not bothered by mountains or other terrain as experienced with conventional radio.

--- It provides a crystal clear audio signal, which is particularly important in instructional programs, especially for languages.

--- The satellite not only has the capacity to broadcast audio programs, but since it uses digital technology, it can also transmit multimedia information as well. Thus, the satellite can download text, video, audio, and graphics to a radio, which in turn, can pass the file to an attached computer.

EMA will distribute the 50 digital receivers to schools for the pilot activity to begin next October. In addition, EMA has initiated discussions with WorldSpace to utilize the capacity for downloading multimedia information to support the new distance education program for primary school teachers. EMA is particularly interested in the capabilities of transmitting data directly to resource centers throughout the country via the satellite. This would provide an exceptional opportunity to send extensive multimedia information, even including copies of multiple Web sites and links, to resource centers where teachers will meet periodically as part of their upgrading program.

Television to secondary schools

EMA has widened its television coverage by using the TVROs (Television Receive Only) of the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation. Traditionally, EMA has been broadcasting its educational television programs using the transmitters of the Ethiopian Television to schools in 208 towns. However, this year EMA has entered an agreement with the Corporation to use their TVROs in 21 towns where the broadcast of Ethiopian Television cannot be received. Thus, EMA television programs can now reach 229 towns.

Summary

Ethiopia is fortunate to have a well-established and integrated system for using radio and television to support education based on over 30 years of experience. EMA and its affiliates in the regions provide extensive programming for primary and secondary schools, plus support to non-formal education and teacher training. EMA's role in Ethiopia is evolving as a result of the decentralized governance structure established in 1991. Its role has expanded from being the sole provider of educational programs to also providing extensive training and support to the new regional broadcasting initiatives. EMA is also expanding its role significantly in distance education and is looking for new ways in which technology can help support its objectives. Its new initiative with IRI and WorldSpace may lay the groundwork for exciting new opportunities in the future.

For feedback on this article, please write to:
TechKnowLogia@KnowledgeEnterprise.org

TechKnowLogia, May/June 2000 Copyright © 2000 Knowledge Enterprise, Inc.

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TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS

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Taken from Nua Internet Surveys: May 2nd, 2000

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San Jose Mercury News: Wireless Internet To Debut in China

With 50 million cell phones and an online population which doubles every six months, China is poised for a wireless Internet explosion. 

In the run up to the nationwide launch of wireless Internet services, May 17th, a plethora of companies are vying for first-mover advantage.

Already many Chinese pay for syndicated content on their mobile phones and it's expected that up to 6 million will buy Internet services using their phones.

While the majority of Internet users in China are students with very low incomes, the typical mobile phone user is wealthy and used to paying for services through their telephone accounts. The customer base of China Mobile, the biggest state-owned carrier, is growing by 60 percent per year.

Ecommerce has been slow to take off largely due to low credit card ownership levels however, plans to charge online purchases to individual telecom bills could change that. Industry analysts believe that Internet via mobile phone will fuel the take-off for ecommerce in China.

BDA China Ltd, an Internet Consultancy based in Beijing, predict that by 2002 the market could be worth USD400 million.

In January the China Internet Network Association announced that the number of Internet users in the country totalled 8.9 million up from 4 million the previous year.

<http://www.mercurycenter.com/business/top/047998.htm>

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Taken from NETWORKING 4:9
http://theNode.org/networking/

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NEW NOTEBOOK PC FOR BLIND USERS

PulseData International http://pulsedata.co.nz, a New Zealand designer and manufacturer of technology for blind and visually impaired consumers, has released the BrailleNote http://www.braillenote.com, the first notebook computer designed specifically for the blind.

Manufacturers (including PulseData) have been making talking notetakers and personal organizers with Braille functionality for years, but the BrailleNote is the first device to run on a mainstream operating system (Windows CE) and that is compatible with standard PCs and peripherals. Launched on 2 April 2000, the BrailleNote features data entry and display in Braille, a speech synthesizer, and two-way Braille-MS Word translation. The computer is e-mail ready and has an internal modem, parallel, serial and infrared ports and a PCMCIA slot for connection to external devices.

The BrailleNote can also make a standard PC accessible: users can plug into the serial port of a PC running screen reading software and BrailleNote will export the screen text to Braille or speech.

For more details, visit the BrailleNote site at
http://www.braillenote.com

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Telematics for African Development Consortium
P.O. Box 31822
Braamfontein
2017
Johannesburg
South Africa
Tel: +27 +11 403-2813
Fax: +27 +11 403-2814
neilshel@icon.co.za
www.saide.org.za

* To view an archive of previous updates visit:
www.saide.org.za/tad/archive.htm

* For resources on distance education and technology use in Southern Africa visit:
www.saide.org.za/worldbank/Default.htm

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