African Technological Advances

Ryan King

Advancements in African Technologies

            Insights into technological advances in Africa, and how they better African lives, were presented at the New Technologies lecture Wednesday at the University of Oklahoma

            Brad Crofford & Priscilla Gomes presented New Technologies and Innovation in Africa at Carson Hall on the University of Oklahoma. They presented multiple examples of technological advancements in recent African history.

Recently, they have set up M-PESA which helps transfer money for farmers and others all digitally, which helps keep records of their finances; Ushahidi which allows people to report violence anonymously online. Also, M-KOPA which sells solar panels that will charge their phones and keep on lights in the house. In addition, there was eLimu which is an education company that will help the students learn through using tablets and online games.

However, it was not all just the great advances Africa was using, but also challenges Africa was facing technology wise. For example, Africa is lagging behind in access to technology and an uneven spread of the internet through out the continent.

Also, they were asking for Africa to buy in and the hospitals around there to buy these technologies so they can have access to the different advancements that can help their lives. That way, they can bring in companies and have hubs in Africa instead of importing the technology.

According to Gomes, “Four out of every 10 scientists are abroad. Because of this they are not considered African scientists.” This creates a need for scientists and hubs of technology to be in Africa so they can be close to the advancements. When asked about why Africa needed local hubs of technology instead of just importing the technology, he responded, “There’s a chance they will be better adapted. As opposed to trying to fit it to Kenyan context for example. For them to have that research lab actually in Kenya (would better) fit them.”

“They are in this stage of catch up,” Crofford said. “They are kind of having to start from behind as far as access to (technology) goes. I would say they are in a position to catch up quicker.”

These technologies have made their way to Africa and proponents are optimistic that they will catapult Africa into a strong standing with the rest of the world.

According to reuters.com fewer than one in three Africans has a mobile phone. This slows down the access to Internet and slows communication from workers to consumers or bigger venders.

Crofford also stated that World Bank shows 50 in 100 Africans now have a cell phone, up from just 10 in 100 just a few years ago.

Meghan Gallagher, senior at the University of Oklahoma, attended the lecture. “ I think that the lectures like this are really important to open a dialogue about things that are happening around the world.” Gallagher went on to say, “I think that these technologies are gonna be really important for bringing Africa out of the poverty trap it seems to be in right now.”

Africa is catching up, but they are not yet where they need to be. As Crofford said before, they are playing catch up. Crofford and Gomes called for hospitals and businesses to “buy in”. They can buy the technologies and keep them in Africa instead of having to import everything. They believe these technologies will help education, and education will spur investment, which will spur their infrastructure;  the result of all of this will be local solutions instead of international help, and international applications instead of just local applications.

Lead in: I think that the lectures…

AUDIO : Ryan King, runtime : 13 seconds

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A Creative Approach to Higher Education picture

David Pogue, speaking at the University of Oklahoma on Thursday about how American education needs to change its teaching methods in order to stay in competition with the top educational nations.

A Creative Approach to Higher Education

David Pogue, Yahoo technology expert, explained that American education excels in creativity, but lacks in concrete understanding, on Thursday at the University of Oklahoma.

 

Pogue visited OU with the intention of speaking and giving his insight to whoever wanted to watch him; however, he left having opened the eyes of many Americans to their youth's education. He talked all about how America excels in creativity and innovation, but lacks in areas of more concrete studies and practices. He showed how weed-out classes push kids away from science in their early years. "This has to change," Pogue emphasized. He even gave examples of how different schools have given a softer landing to freshmen coming into science based majors in college. Some colleges would give no grades for the first semester, or three classes that could be chosen at any time to simply be a pass fail; consequently, these schools were rewarded with a 90% graduation of the original students in that major, compared to the 50% before these changes.

 

Pogue elaborated on the creativity of Americans by saying, “America has always been strong on innovation and creativity, and this makes Americans needed. (People) will take an American scientist over a higher countries’ scientist because of the creativity aspect.” However, if we give these students more of the soft landing into college they need, the more will stay in these Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) majors. “Each test answer is right or wrong. There’s no finessing it,” Pogue said. This can scare kids into dropping their STEM majors before they really even know if they are good at them. “Because,” as Pogue continued to explain, “we are afraid of what we do not understand.”

According to infoplease.com, America is 25^th in Math for student’s intelligence and 20^th in Science (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0923110.html) This puts America well behind the leading countries and leaves them looking up and continuing to fall behind the leading educational countries. America must find a way to compete with these countries and ultimately, become one of them.

Sylvia Wood, a nanny for an OU professor, attended the Pogue presentation. “I think students should be encouraged to struggle through things,” Wood said. She continued to say, “That way, when they do get through it, more of a focus can be put on getting through problems and not giving up.” Also, Wood added, “I do think the open ended questions and finding new solutions is very valuable, because otherwise we are just stuck in what we already know.”

Pogue presented an idea that America has to better its approach to education. “(America) is doing great in the thinking outside the box. I think the problem is that our children are not getting through the schooling system with the harder stuff down. Right now the real push is in the first year of college to give people more of a soft landing. But if you are wanting to be a scientist or mathematician you have to learn the equations and be able to master them. You can’t coast on just the creativity.” Creativity and ingenuity will always bring new inventions and creations, but America has to better its teaching methods to be one of those top nations, as Pogue showed. The best method for a successful education system is a mixture of creativity and a mastery of concrete practice in subjects like math and science.

Windows peering into the Great Reading Room

The picture shows the side windows of the Great Reading Room in the library on the campus of the University of Oklahoma.

Great Reading Room Open

Picture of most of the Great Reading Room at the University of Oklahoma.

Ball is Life Cropped

Picture of how football is superior to studying for class.