But
Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for
of such is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 19:14, King
James Version (KJV)
Both
Telecom Provider LIME and Telecom
Provider Digicel in the first part
of the Month of April 2013, made gestures that indicate that they may all be going to
Heaven. While they're on they're way to heaven, I wish to be renamed Dr. Indiana Jones,
as this is my original suggestion, actually.
Apple iPads and Apple
iPad Minis were donated by Telecom Provider LIME to the kids at the Praise Tabernacle Christian Academy located off
Molynes Road in St. Kingston as reported in “Praise
Tab using tablets to learn”, published Monday | April 8, 2013, The Jamaica Gleaner. Apparently the Apple iPads and Apple
iPad Mini are not free, as the Parents have to pay for them on a Payment
Plan.
Telecom
Provider LIME, really?
Not
to be outdone, the following day (or is really the same day??), Telecom Provider
Digicel donated fifty six (56) Huawei Media Pads 7 Lite, valued at some JA$1.1
million dollars to seven (7) East Kingston Schools as reported in the article “Seven Primary Schools in East Kingston Get Tablet
Computers”, published Tuesday, 09 April 2013 11:37, Written by JIS, The Jamaica Information Service.
The
local newspapers The Jamaica Gleaner
and The Jamaica Observer also
provided coverage and more details “Digicel
donates tablets to Kingston, Port Royal schools”, published Tuesday April
9, 2013, The Jamaica Gleaner and “Digicel donates tablets to 7 city schools”,
published Wednesday, April 10, 2013, The
Jamaica Observer.
Their
donation appeared to be more higher profile than the silent and somewhat very
expensive gesture by Telecom Provider LIME,
as it had GOJ (Government of Jamaica) blessing with the presence of Minister of
Education Ronald Thwaites and State Minister for Science, Technology, Energy
and Mining, Hon. Julian Robinson.
The
Lucky 7 East Kingston Schools that received Telecom Provider Digicel:
1. Elletson
Road Primary
2. Holy
Rosary Primary
3. Norman
Gardens Primary
4. Rollington
Town Primary
5. Windward
Road Primary and Junior High
6. Rennock
Lodge Primary
7. Port
Royal Primary and Infant Schools
In
spirit, if not in heart, they BOTH agree with the Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites
and State Minister for Science,
Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Julian Robinson as both Tablet donations
are packed with educational software. Heck, I’ll even overlook the fact that
the 9.7” Apple iPad is way too large for Preparatory
and Primary School Students, who’ll probably smash ‘em all up by the end of the
year (lol, parents, get the7” Apple iPad Mini
next time!!).
Ditto too the fact that the Huawei Media Pads 7 Lite has lackluster Battery
life of four and a half (4 ½ hrs) as reported in “Huawei
Media Pad 7 Lite: The next big, little thing”, published Tuesday, December
04, 2012, The Jamaica Observer. They’re
probably very excited as for many; it’s probably their first Computing device…like
ever.
This as it relates to my suggestion on this
blog of having Preparatory and Primary School Students receive Tablets as
stated in my blog
article entitled “UWI
Medical Sciences Students get deal on JL Mobile SmartTab Tablets and cheaper
ebook versions of Textbooks - From Gross Anatomy to Islandwide Push towards
Tablet Adoption”.
After
all, if the GOJ is doing it to save on paper and reduce bureaucracy as
concluded in my blog
article entitled “GOJ
Parliamentarians upgraded to Microsoft Surface Tablets and GovNET Wide Area
Network - Minister Paulwell efforts to reduce paper may accelerate Jamaican
Tablet Adoption”, why not introduce it to Preparatory
and Primary School Students? Telecom Provider LIME and Telecom
Provider Digicel
seem to agree with this logic, and have effectively via this gesture, kick-started
Jamaica into the 21st century with this donation of Tablets towards
their education.
In
the process, were the Ministry of Education to adopt the above and synchronize
it to GovNET, they can change the curriculum of Preparatory and Primary School
in Jamaica to make Computer Programming mandatory language, like Spanish or
French. Thus the following are necessary for a True Science and Technology
Society:
1. Mathematics
2. English
A and B
3. Language:
Spanish or French and Computer Programming
4. History:
World and Caribbean
Programming
is the language which one uses to speak to machines at their level as argued in
my blog
article entitled “The
Evolution of the Raspberry Pi Computer into a Mainstream Wearable Computer -
How to teach Computer Programming using Flying Sword of Dragon Gate”
. It would spur the development of an App Economy in Jamaica as also argued in
my Geezam blog
article entitled “Smartphones and Apps – Freemium
Games are No. 1”, creating entrepreneurs out of young High School leavers
who by then would have upgrade to a better Tablet Computer or Laptop.
This
would make it possible that by High School, many Preparatory and Primary School
Students, armed with Tablets, would already have marketable Jobs skills to
obtain work in CARICOM (Caribbean Community),
Latin America, Canada or the US of A: a language, be it French or
Spanish and Computer Programming.
The
Government of India is already doing
likewise with the State sponsored Aakash Tablet made by DataWind in July 2010
to introduce Computing to its Preparatory and Primary School Students as
reported originally in my Geezam
blog
article entitled “$25 Raspberry Pi
Mini USB PC and the $22 Aakash Tablet – Computer Adoption on a Budget”.
They’ve
since upgraded to the Aakash 2 in November 2012, which is further subsidized to
the price of US$20 as stated in the article “India unveils new version of 'world's
cheapest tablet'”, published November 12, 2012, PhysOrg.
Thus
this gesture is indeed indication that BOTH Telecom Provider LIME and Telecom
Provider Digicel
may be jointly bidding of one of the Two (2) 700MHz Spectrum to build-out an
islandwide 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution)100MBps capable Wireless Broadband
Network. I had concluded this in my blog
article entitled “LIME
outsources Network Maintenance to Ericsson - The Lone Rangers in Telecoms may
have to Tag Team to get a 700Mhz license for 4G LTE”
as the CAPEX makes it prohibitively expensive foe any SINGLE telecom Provider
to go it alone.
So
this is how it starts for certain, as the future I really in the childrens’
hands, not hours. Via this donation Telecom Provider LIME and Telecom
Provider Digicel
have not only guaranteed themselves a place in heaven, which is ruled by
children, but have also restored the faith of Jamaicans in the Telecoms
Community as it relates to their long-term intentions for 4G LTE.
It
should also make the Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites and State Minister for Science, Technology,
Energy and Mining, Hon. Julian Robinson explored the possibility of expanding
this program to the rest of the island, jump starting a love for Languages and
Computer Programming necessary for a Science and Technology Society.
It
can’t be the case that Med Sci Students are the only one to benefit from the
lower cost of books via the use of Tablets as stated in my blog
article entitled “UWI
Medical Sciences Students get deal on JL Mobile SmartTab Tablets and cheaper
ebook versions of Textbooks - From Gross Anatomy to Islandwide Push towards
Tablet Adoption”.
1 comment:
Greetings! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this site? I'm
getting sick and tired of Wordpress because I've had issues with hackers and I'm looking at alternatives for another
platform. I would be awesome if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
Flex developer London
Flash developer London
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