[squeakland] World menu

[K. K. Subramaniam]

On Sunday 09 Sep 2012 2:37:23 AM mokurai at earthtreasury.org wrote:
> We need to provide for schoolchildren who have no access to human guides.
> In fact, we need to provide for children who have no access to schools.
> OLPC is conducting an experiment with XOs in villages without schools,
> without even a single literate adult. The children are learning a lot of
> computer skills, and are learning the alphabet. The next step should be
> Same-Language-Subtitling (as in India) with text-to-speech in local
> languages.
I understand your position. Learning requires two way communication, so canned 
radio shows or video clips don't help much. A text-to-speech program does not 
listen and correct the learner's mistakes. Tech can assist mothers/teachers in 
teaching their wards but cannot substitute for them.

I didn't find Etoys suitable pre-literate or illiterate middle-schoolers. 
Though, the presence of a computer and peers working on them may motivate them 
to learn the letters.

For your requirement, take a look at :

   https://www.youtube.com/user/SikshanaFoundation23/videos

We tried to pair students with a literate peer. The books are selected by the 
reader. Each reading session lasts for about an hour and the peer is a passive 
listener who will assist only when the reader gets stuck for more than a 
couple of seconds or explicitly requests for help. The joy of helping also 
serves to boost peer's motivation to learn further.

Regards .. Subbu