a device in our pocket or our bag that
can calculate the 10,000th prime number
or PI to the hundred millionth digit
that tiny device less than three
centimeters thick can achieve or was
unthinkable sixty years ago in fact a
mere 40 years ago this is what we were
isn’t it great that today all we need to
do is press one button or type one line
and we immediately find ourselves with
the answer as precise as it can be forty
years ago we shifted from mostly analog
to almost absolutely digital upon the
introduction of the scientific
calculator in 30 years
the price per gigabyte of digital
storage decreased from $200,000 to mere
cents the point is that technology has
been improving at an exponential rate
developed Society has managed to adapt
and implement these new technologies in
their everyday and educational
environment however globally developed
nations have failed to provide their
underdeveloped counterparts with the
means to achieve their own sustainable
technological programs the World Bank
recently found that in Niger and Liberia
the amount of schools with Internet
connectivity was as low as 5% they also
found that in Madagascar the ratio
between students to computers was as
high as 500 students for every one
computer it’s frankly surprising that
little has been done to remedy this
issue and it’s astonishing that has not
been deemed worthy enough of an issue to
solve which we would be able to do with
relative ease after all it is our duty
as
globally developed nations to ensure
that our underdeveloped counterparts
have the same access to technology that
we seem to be so accustomed to otherwise
instead of moving forward these schools
and societies that lack computers and
lack technology they stagnate in their
innovation and socio-cultural
development this occurs for various
reasons that have to do with the three
aspects of technology that make it
hugely beneficial in the educational
environment these are its potential for
innovation its promotion of
socio-cultural development and its
maintainability
now I’d like to begin discussing its
potential for innovation by relating it
to perhaps a more known example
presently 30,000 children die every day
from preventable diseases it’s safe to
say that we have lost many children that
could have potentially made a huge
impact on this world that being said I’d
like to compare this to the fields of
computer science and computer
engineering much like how great
potential and great lives are being lost
due to the lack of preventative medicine
technological jobs technological careers
and technological advancements are also
being lost I remind you of the African
schools that lack technology the schools
in Madagascar the schools in Niger the
schools in Liberia those are the
students that have very little if any
chance to enter the IT fields how many
thousands of potentially groundbreaking
computer scientists have we lost only
due to the fact that they don’t have
access to computers they don’t have
access to the motivation the opportunity
of technology in the educational
environment brings the next Bill Gates
could have been born in Africa and we’d
have no idea this actually extends past
the fields of computer science and
computer engineering into general
socio-cultural development
presently the internet gives children
actually anyone a platform through which
he or she can publish their work whether
it be a tie student study on market
behavior or Jamaican girls artwork the
internet allows for limitless
possibilities to spread and share and
publish one’s work that hypothetical tie
student can now be a world famous
economist that hypothetical Jamaican
girl can now be a world-famous artist
all through the power of the Internet in
addition the Internet allows children to
pursue their true passions it creates a
better society a society that can tap
into the potential that lies dormant
within students who simply don’t have
the means to utilize her talents and
abilities to the fullest the internet
creates a society in which everyone in
every corner of this world can share
their knowledge and share their
abilities and share their ideas thereby
launching us into a virtuous cycle of
furthermore the Internet
gives us access to would-be previously
inaccessible information Wikipedia with
its forty point eight million pages
becomes success Khan Academy becomes
accessible Google the all powerful
search engine becomes accessible a child
in the most rural part of Africa can
experience a virtual tour through
friends children and adults alike can
educate themselves in literally any
field they desire this brings with it
many great benefits it could lead to an
increasingly globalized society it could
lead it to a decrease in cinah phobia it
could lead to a global increase in
intelligence and these benefits they’re
only accentuated by the provision of
Technology in the educational
environment as these are the key
developmental years of a child’s life
the years that can determine
now these are only the greatest general
benefits in Kenya for example mobile
phones are being used to bring education
directly into the household in Chile
specialized programs are being used to
establish and promote teacher to teacher
collaboration which leads me into my
next point of main attainability
si I know we can help this I know we can
help this issue I know we can solve this
issue I know this from firsthand
experience I managed a year-round
project in which myself and a group
collects repair and then donate
technological equipment to schools and
organizations in need my experience in
this project has taught me that
computers are surprisingly sustainable
they’re surprisingly easy to maintain
this is due to their low power cost and
their efficient efficient construction
to explain computers desktops in
particular are built in such a way that
they are modular this means that
essentially if one part breaks only that
part needs to be fixed or repaired or
replaced and then this whole system is
back up running again furthermore to run
an iMac for two and a half hours every
day for an entire year it would only
cost ten to fifteen dollars and this is
according to Apple’s own statistics on
power consumption this just demonstrates
how for so little effort we can achieve
so much and this is why through this
talk I hope to inspire you I hope to
inspire you to acknowledge and aid the
persistent issue that is the
unavailability of technology after all
this is among the easier issues to help
all you need to do is donate your unused
old or even broken technological
equipment
to organizations such as computer aid
international based off of Britain or
eyes bees own HS Tech by doing this we
set the first stepping stone to a
society with Internet and its benefits
we create societies that are perhaps
more globalized more innovative perhaps
more culturally developed however with
that being said we must also acknowledge
that as our world progressively moves
forward technologically the separation
between the haves and the have-nots also
magnifies therefore it’s important it’s
absolutely crucial that we give the
chance to these underdeveloped nations
to achieve their own sustainable
technological programs independent from
the developed nations before they are
too far behind to help one computer one
computer could change a child’s life so
let’s start changing lives thank you [Applause]