BitDepth 740 - July 20
19/07/10 22:09 Filed in: BitDepth - July 2010
A consideration of issues related to the Government's promise to give laptop computers to all successful students in this year's SEA examination.
The future in their laptops
The HP Mini 210-1030NR isn’t the best selling netbook on Amazon, that honour belongs to the ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU27-BK, but it follows close behind and both meet most of the requirements for the Government’s laptop initiative. Also, HP’s PR is way better than Asus’. Photo courtesy HP.
In one of the boldest sweeps of their manifesto, the People’s Partnership announced that: “Every child going on to secondary school from the SEA will be provided with a laptop to begin their secondary school education.”
As party promises go, this one was clear-cut. Sensing low hanging, if somewhat expensive fruit, the party coming into power immediately announced that it would be implementing this project for the coming school year.
The thing with such tempting fruit, though, is that they are a great temptation to competing interests, and, if unpicked, swiftly go overripe or fall prey to predators.
The Government may rest assured that its natural predators, the PNM in Opposition, will be marking each stage of this project as it moves toward implementation and beyond and will be swift to point to any indication of its failure.
It should not be necessary to have party affiliations to wish this project every success. The modernisation of Trinidad and Tobago’s education system and the embrace of computer technology in that process should be endorsed by any right thinking citizen keen to raise the learning potential of our children in school.
That said, plunking down thousands of portable computers into a school system quite clearly unprepared for them is unlikely to achieve the desired result immediately and even the most hopeful supporters of the project should be willing to acknowledge the possibility, and I note this with the greatest of restraint, of “hiccups.”
At a recent meeting of the Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society, the usually heated, noisy discussions exploded into one shade shy of an uproar when the subject came up for discussion, and the small group carried on tirades on the matter over pizza that could only have been warmed by the heat of the debate.
The laptop initiative has the potential to become the bombshell move that the UNC last dropped when they removed VAT and duty on computers during their last run in governance, a decision that prompted an explosion in the numbers of computers being imported into Trinidad and Tobago.
What happens when laptops land in schools in which only the newest, youngest students have possession of them? Will they prompt a new kind of technology driven hazing?
What will teachers, some of whom are barely holding their own doing chalk and talk in the face of poor support systems, make of a whole new dimension to their teaching experience and the challenges of making use of new technology wielded by a fresh young student body?
What happens when a school system already adept at creating porn on cell phones has access to even moderately powered computers?
The successful children of SEA 2010 will not be the only ones given a laptop. In some cases, this will be the first computer in a household. What will those families do with this new opportunity and how will they leverage it to their advantage?
For Minister of Education Tim Gopeesingh, those problems are still far off as he publicly wrestles with a bureaucracy designed to slow fast moving plans down to manageable speeds.
Reporting on his experience with the Ministry of Education’s Information Technology department, Gopeesingh said that: “There is filibustering, there is incoherence, there is a slapdash approach to it. What do I do?”
I can’t offer any advice on that one, but these are some things that need to be done.
The Education Ministry must create a simple, one page order of conduct for the use of the new laptops in the school system.
Teachers must be coached on how the implementation will be handled on school premises and offered guidance on how these new tools might be integrated into the assignments of the first-year curriculum.
Students should be coached on the value of forming peer groups to share information and earned understanding of these new computing tools.
Local developers should be encouraged to create software and learning websites aligned with education requirements to leverage the value of what are, in the end, just little technology boxes.
This is a critical moment for the new Government, and the way this project is handled will not only be important to them politically, it will also change the lives of thousands of children at a critical point in their learning experience.
The specification sheet for the laptops for children initiative, inclusive of Government approved arbitrary capitalisations.
Minimum Technical Specifications Laptop Type 1 (17,300 Units)
Processor Speed (cache) Dual Core 1.66GHz (512MB L2 Cache) or equivalent
Memory 1 GB, DDR SDRAM
Video Card Integrated
Display Size 8”
Audio Type Integrated
Speaker Type
Integrated Hard Drive Size 160GB
Network Speed (Ethernet Connectivity) 10/100 Mbps
(Integrated) Wireless Network Type 802.11g
Key Board Type English
Input Device Touch Pad
Interface Provided 2 x USB 2.0,Video Output, LAN, Audio
Operating System Type Microsoft Windows 7 (English) 32-Bit (with domain-based networking capability)
Power Supply External AC Adaptor (100-240v)
Battery (Battery Life) 6 Hours
Web Camera
Integrated Mouse
Optical Mouse with Scroll and mouse pad
Laptop Tag (Asset tag) Unique Identifier
ENERGY STAR ® ENERGY STAR Version 5.0 compliance
Pre-installed Software
Student / Classroom Productivity & Educational Software
Security software such as Anti-Virus
Optional Pre-installed Software Encyclopedia
Optional Requirements
Optical Drive DVD +/-RW
Carry Handle
Integrated Wireless Bluetooth
Integrated Security Cable Locks
Accessories Carry Case
Note: Maximum weight of the Type 1 Laptop should not exceed 1.3kg, excluding battery.
Minimum Technical Specifications Laptop Type 2 (3000 Units)
Processor Speed (cache) Dual Core 1.66GHz (2MB L2Cache) or equivalent
Memory 2 GB,
DDR SDRAM
Video Card Integrated
Display Size 8”
Audio Type Integrated Speaker Type
Integrated Hard Drive Size 250GB
Network Speed (Ethernet Connectivity) 10/100 Mbps
Wireless Network Type 802.11g
Key Board Type English
Input Device Touch Pad Interface
Provided 3 x USB 2.0, Video Output, LAN, Audio Operating
System Type Microsoft Windows 7 (English) 32-Bit (with domain-based networking capability)
Power Supply External AC Adaptor (100-240v)
Battery (Battery Life) 6 Hours
Web Camera Integrated
Mouse Optical Mouse with Scroll and mouse pad
Optical Drive Built-in DVD +/-RW
Laptop Tag (Asset tag)Unique Identifier
ENERGY STAR ® ENERGY STAR Version 5.0 compliance
Pre-Installed Software Student / Classroom Productivity & Educational Software Security software such as Anti-Virus Optional Pre-Installed Software Encyclopedia Optional Requirements Carry Handle Integrated Wireless Bluetooth Integrated Security Cable Locks Accessories Carry Case
Note: Maximum weight of the Type 2 Laptop should not exceed 2.5 kg, excluding battery.
The HP Mini 210-1030NR isn’t the best selling netbook on Amazon, that honour belongs to the ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU27-BK, but it follows close behind and both meet most of the requirements for the Government’s laptop initiative. Also, HP’s PR is way better than Asus’. Photo courtesy HP.
In one of the boldest sweeps of their manifesto, the People’s Partnership announced that: “Every child going on to secondary school from the SEA will be provided with a laptop to begin their secondary school education.”
As party promises go, this one was clear-cut. Sensing low hanging, if somewhat expensive fruit, the party coming into power immediately announced that it would be implementing this project for the coming school year.
The thing with such tempting fruit, though, is that they are a great temptation to competing interests, and, if unpicked, swiftly go overripe or fall prey to predators.
The Government may rest assured that its natural predators, the PNM in Opposition, will be marking each stage of this project as it moves toward implementation and beyond and will be swift to point to any indication of its failure.
It should not be necessary to have party affiliations to wish this project every success. The modernisation of Trinidad and Tobago’s education system and the embrace of computer technology in that process should be endorsed by any right thinking citizen keen to raise the learning potential of our children in school.
That said, plunking down thousands of portable computers into a school system quite clearly unprepared for them is unlikely to achieve the desired result immediately and even the most hopeful supporters of the project should be willing to acknowledge the possibility, and I note this with the greatest of restraint, of “hiccups.”
At a recent meeting of the Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society, the usually heated, noisy discussions exploded into one shade shy of an uproar when the subject came up for discussion, and the small group carried on tirades on the matter over pizza that could only have been warmed by the heat of the debate.
The laptop initiative has the potential to become the bombshell move that the UNC last dropped when they removed VAT and duty on computers during their last run in governance, a decision that prompted an explosion in the numbers of computers being imported into Trinidad and Tobago.
What happens when laptops land in schools in which only the newest, youngest students have possession of them? Will they prompt a new kind of technology driven hazing?
What will teachers, some of whom are barely holding their own doing chalk and talk in the face of poor support systems, make of a whole new dimension to their teaching experience and the challenges of making use of new technology wielded by a fresh young student body?
What happens when a school system already adept at creating porn on cell phones has access to even moderately powered computers?
The successful children of SEA 2010 will not be the only ones given a laptop. In some cases, this will be the first computer in a household. What will those families do with this new opportunity and how will they leverage it to their advantage?
For Minister of Education Tim Gopeesingh, those problems are still far off as he publicly wrestles with a bureaucracy designed to slow fast moving plans down to manageable speeds.
Reporting on his experience with the Ministry of Education’s Information Technology department, Gopeesingh said that: “There is filibustering, there is incoherence, there is a slapdash approach to it. What do I do?”
I can’t offer any advice on that one, but these are some things that need to be done.
The Education Ministry must create a simple, one page order of conduct for the use of the new laptops in the school system.
Teachers must be coached on how the implementation will be handled on school premises and offered guidance on how these new tools might be integrated into the assignments of the first-year curriculum.
Students should be coached on the value of forming peer groups to share information and earned understanding of these new computing tools.
Local developers should be encouraged to create software and learning websites aligned with education requirements to leverage the value of what are, in the end, just little technology boxes.
This is a critical moment for the new Government, and the way this project is handled will not only be important to them politically, it will also change the lives of thousands of children at a critical point in their learning experience.
The specification sheet for the laptops for children initiative, inclusive of Government approved arbitrary capitalisations.
Minimum Technical Specifications Laptop Type 1 (17,300 Units)
Processor Speed (cache) Dual Core 1.66GHz (512MB L2 Cache) or equivalent
Memory 1 GB, DDR SDRAM
Video Card Integrated
Display Size 8”
Audio Type Integrated
Speaker Type
Integrated Hard Drive Size 160GB
Network Speed (Ethernet Connectivity) 10/100 Mbps
(Integrated) Wireless Network Type 802.11g
Key Board Type English
Input Device Touch Pad
Interface Provided 2 x USB 2.0,Video Output, LAN, Audio
Operating System Type Microsoft Windows 7 (English) 32-Bit (with domain-based networking capability)
Power Supply External AC Adaptor (100-240v)
Battery (Battery Life) 6 Hours
Web Camera
Integrated Mouse
Optical Mouse with Scroll and mouse pad
Laptop Tag (Asset tag) Unique Identifier
ENERGY STAR ® ENERGY STAR Version 5.0 compliance
Pre-installed Software
Student / Classroom Productivity & Educational Software
Security software such as Anti-Virus
Optional Pre-installed Software Encyclopedia
Optional Requirements
Optical Drive DVD +/-RW
Carry Handle
Integrated Wireless Bluetooth
Integrated Security Cable Locks
Accessories Carry Case
Note: Maximum weight of the Type 1 Laptop should not exceed 1.3kg, excluding battery.
Minimum Technical Specifications Laptop Type 2 (3000 Units)
Processor Speed (cache) Dual Core 1.66GHz (2MB L2Cache) or equivalent
Memory 2 GB,
DDR SDRAM
Video Card Integrated
Display Size 8”
Audio Type Integrated Speaker Type
Integrated Hard Drive Size 250GB
Network Speed (Ethernet Connectivity) 10/100 Mbps
Wireless Network Type 802.11g
Key Board Type English
Input Device Touch Pad Interface
Provided 3 x USB 2.0, Video Output, LAN, Audio Operating
System Type Microsoft Windows 7 (English) 32-Bit (with domain-based networking capability)
Power Supply External AC Adaptor (100-240v)
Battery (Battery Life) 6 Hours
Web Camera Integrated
Mouse Optical Mouse with Scroll and mouse pad
Optical Drive Built-in DVD +/-RW
Laptop Tag (Asset tag)Unique Identifier
ENERGY STAR ® ENERGY STAR Version 5.0 compliance
Pre-Installed Software Student / Classroom Productivity & Educational Software Security software such as Anti-Virus Optional Pre-Installed Software Encyclopedia Optional Requirements Carry Handle Integrated Wireless Bluetooth Integrated Security Cable Locks Accessories Carry Case
Note: Maximum weight of the Type 2 Laptop should not exceed 2.5 kg, excluding battery.
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