Of ‘free physics books,’ laptops and Third World poverty

Should laptops replace p-books in developing countries? The biggest issue, of course, is something else—the paucity of books of all kinds.

Bill Janssen and I are exploring both the book question and the related one of teaching philosophies. Join the discussion.

Here at the TeleBlog, these topics are actually rather close to home. Do you notice the 28 comments that just one tiny item, Download free physics books, has drawn?

The authenticity issue

Granted, maybe some of the “free physics books” people aren’t students. Possibly instead they are spammers or schemers of a different kind. I’m seeing some odd IP addresses for people in the Third World. One request even came from a Comcast address.

But perhaps some of the book-requesters are indeed students, including new arrivals to Western countries with which the odd addresses are associated. If so, a number of questions arise.

Do you notice, for example, a total lack of interactivity? The students broadcast their requests but don’t hang around for any dialogue—even if it’s about details such as how I can help get paper books to them in the here and now. Won’t p-books work out as well? Why am I not at least getting the courtesy of “No thanks”?

One way—all the way

This lack of dialogue could be because of language issues. Still, I find it fascinating that not one student has responded to my questions either in the comment boxes or by e-mail.

Assuming that the “free physics books” requesters are indeed students, not tools associated with spambots, just what does the farce say about the educational systems and societies in general in developing countries?

Here are my thoughts, maybe on target, maybe not:

1. First hand, we’re witnessing the challenges of getting people to use the Net properly. The issue isn’t just knowledge but attitude. The students are using comment section as a broadcast medium rather than a many-to-many one. They may be reflecting the learning environment to which they’re accustomed.

2. The “free physics books” comments show the need for a structured approach of the kind that OLPC at its best could provide while still being sensitive to special local needs. While moralists may fixate just on the issues of porn or time-wasting, the “how to use the Net” questions are far, far more more extensive than those alone. Both teachers and students will need guidance. Just tossing hardware at them won’t suffice.

3. Might we be getting insights into why so many Third World societies are dysfunctional by Western economic standards–well, to be blunt, poverty-stricken? Branko wonders how enjoyable to teach the “free physics book” crowd. I’ve got another question of possibly greater import. Would you want to hire the FPBers as even low-level employees? Would you trust them on a loading dock? Suppose an emergency developed and, gasp, they needed to think on their own. If nothing else, I’d hope that at least some of the students would have the commonsense to go on to the MobileRead item to which the TeleBlog’s “free physics book” item led.

4. Without doubt the students (assuming they aren’t schemers or bots) seem ready for e-books or at least links to them. Again, couldn’t this be one reason why I don’t get replies when I discuss sending paper books out? Perhaps the FPBers might be more advanced than I’m thinking. Maybe, having accustomed themselves to the hyperlinked riches of the Net, they are indeed looking down on mere paper books.

So which explanations would you buy, which would you reject, and what others might you add? And what does the TeleBlog’s “Free physics book” situation say about developing countries, and how the laptop project might fit in? This isn’t just an issue for techies. Would that V. S. Naipaul or the late Graham Greene were sharing insights!