Perceptions meet realities in the field

ITEM Media reveals one of the secrets to computer use in developing countries.

Computers are ubiquitous in developed countries. Most people will tell you they have two or three of different vintages and styles.

In Laos, one of the Asian region's poorest countries, the situation is very different. Outside the provincial capitals, computers are all but unknown and Internet connections via landlines are rare. Even in the provincial capitals, access is painfully slow despite the widely advertised 'broadband' connections.

It was into this situation that ITEM Interactive came to Laos to produce two training videos and CDROMs on health subjects that can be used on soon-to-be installed district hospital and health centre computers. It is not possible to use the Internet to deliver these resources because their data size and complexity is too great, so the videos and accompanying text material will be loaded directly onto individual computers. The CDROMs are practical and comparatively low-tech, and hopefully a viable alternative to Internet delivery. The access speeds to the training content for the users are fast and there are no Internet charges.

Computer training is an added bonus for those who use these resources and is great 'capacity building', the buzz phrase that resonates around NGO corridors. One significant problem is the lack of computer application software, such as the Microsoft offerings, in the Lao language. Few people in Laos speak or read English. This, in part, can be overcome by 'computer-language training', where participants learn just those terms that competent computer users use regularly, such as "Microsoft Word", "Outlook Express", "File", "Edit", "View", etc.

One recent study on computer use in developing countries concluded that before you can go high tech, you need to go medium tech first. We're learning this in the field as our perceptions meet the realities. We're meeting the challenge by using quite old technology - CDROMs - to deliver the training programs that the Internet cannot.
Computers and the Internet can provide a doorway to progress in many developing country situations, no doubt. However, if they are installed without considering all the possible pitfalls such as connection speeds, access costs and computer literacy, the rice fields of this region will be littered with the hardware and software of good intentions.

As the saying goes, we must 'hasten slowly'.

Robert Simms
ITEM Interactive, Sydney

Find out more about ITEM Media:
Education through demonstration: interactive health training

• Added to ADG on: 21 November 2008 , contributed by: Rob Simms - ITEM Media
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