Teaching Computing… Without A Computer

A teacher in Ghana helps students prepare for a computer studies exam – despite the school having no computers. Richard Appiah Akoto demonstrates the features using a blackboard.

Ghanaian students in the year they turn 15 must pass an exam to move on to the next level of education (high school) and the exam includes written questions on information and communication technology. As the school where Akoto teaches has no computers, he uses chalk drawings to help prepare them, spending around 30 minutes before a class starts to prepare the picture.

After posting a photo of his demonstration of Microsoft Word, Akoto attracted worldwide attention where a Ghanaian comedian saw and shared the picture.

Akoto does have a laptop but says he can’t rely on that for teaching ICT. That’s partly because the battery is unreliable, but also because the Ghanian syllabus and potential exam equestions explicitly refer to a desktop computer with separate monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Microsoft responded to Akoto’s moment in the spotlight by offering to donate a device for the classroom. Akoto took the offer graciously, but noted he’d really need 50 computers to be able to teach the subject adequately. He also noted that his technique is not unusual for ICT teaching in rural areas of the country.


Man Recreates DeLorean Time Machine Using Over 290 Hours and 65,000 Lego Bricks! [Pics]

LEGO Enthusiast and master builder Ryan “Brickman” McNaught, along with a team of a few people, have recently recreated the DeLorean DMC-12 from Back to the Future using 65,143 Lego bricks. The model is a little different than the original, but it does feature working lights and smoke dispensers to bring a little authenticity to the iconic car.

The model was designed by myself and Russell Søren-Larsen, then built by Claire Ashworth, Luke Cini, Mitchell Kruik, Clay Mellington and Mark Curnow over 290 hours using 65,143 LEGO® bricks.

Back to the Future DeLorean Model made with permissions from NBC Universal.

[Ryan “Brickman” McNaught | Via Techeblog]

Moon To Get 4G Network

If you can’t get decent 4G coverage in your area, there’s an extreme solution: two companies plan to build a network on the moon next year.

Don’t book your flight yet, though: the network isn’t designed for human use. Instead it will be used for two lunar rovers as they explore the moon.

You may remember the Mars rover Curiosity was able to send data directly to Earth. However this was only possible for a few hours a day thanks to power limitations. It was also limited to a maximum of 32,000 bits per second, a figure in the range of dial-up Internet.

The idea of the lunar rovers is not only to capture and transmit measurement and sensor data, but also high definition video, meaning a direct-to-earth transmission isn’t viable because of power demands.

Instead they’ll communicate over a 4G network built by Nokia and Vodafone to send the data to a lander craft, from which it will be relayed to Earth. The process will be so quick that ground staff will effectively be able to stream live video from the rovers.

Vodafone says the equipment used to create the 4G network will weigh less than a kilogram. The network will use 4G because it’s well-established on Earth, whereas 5G network technology is currently not tested enough to be certain it would work on the moon.