happiness vs success

photo source: https://jspivey.wikispaces.com/file/view/inequality_flyer.png

I came a quote by Bertrand Russell recently that really made me ponder:

"If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have paradise in a few years."

So true, and so sad. One of my old grad school professors had a theory that explained the cause of unhappiness, that was based on a series of surveys he had done. He believed that unhappiness came from inequality; that people felt most unhappy when there was great inequality in their community, particularly when they were lower down in society. Yet, given the chance and the choice, most of these same people chose to be on top thereby perpetuating the issue further.

My prof then ran the survey across a few campuses in Boston. His questions gauged how much people were willing to give up in order to create a sense of equality. Eg: if the company was doing well thanks to the surveyee's effort, would he/she take a salary cut so that everyone else could get a raise thereby closing the gap between the two groups?? He asked the question AFTER explaining his theory of happiness. He found that the Harvard students were the strongest propagators of inequality; MIT students on the other hand preferred equality. Can't say I'm too surprised. I've met and worked with both sides...not too surprisingly, the Harvard people get further ahead in the business world. BUT, in the world of personal relationships and happiness, I wonder if MIT alums rate higher... I actually think so based on the few I know; particularly from the business schools.

just something to think about...

Free online University for Disadvantaged Groups of People

Self-made millionaire, Shai Reshef (left) is starting an online university that offers free tuition for disadvantaged groups of people called University of People.

I've posted before on the goodness of open source education. It seems like you don't have to pay the exhorbitant fees to get an education from world class institutions like MIT, Stanford, and even the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). Many universities are taking to posting their best classes online for everyone's benefit.

So in the midst of this economic crisis, I liked that Shia Reshef started a free university online called the University for People. Here's the beginning of the article:

Shai Reshef, a self-made millionaire, has a lot of experience starting businesses. In 1989, he helped to transform a small Israeli test-prep company, Kidum Group, with only $100,000 in yearly revenue into the largest for-profit educational services company in Israel. Reaching nearly $25 million in revenue, the company was snapped up by the larger test prep giant Kaplan in 2005. Reshef is also credited with starting the first online university in Europe in 2001. The venture, based in the Netherlands, wasn't very successful but was acquired by Sylvan Learning Systems, now Laureate Education.

Reshef has now turned his sights to starting the first tuition-free online university for disadvantages students. The new school has opened its doors, figuratively speaking, and is open for enrollment beginning this week. Reshef, the founder and president of The University of the People (UoP), visited Inc.com's Nicole Marie Richardson in New York City to discuss his new venture and its intriguing tuition-free business model.

Read more here.

Finally a safe technology for demining??

Will Aimee's technology help make demining easier?? (photo courtesy: Davethelimey)

Every year, the critically acclaimed nerd magazine Technology Review (from MIT) profiles the Top 35 Inventors Under 35 (aka TR35) who are making a difference. This year, Aimee Rose has won the "Humanitarian of the Year" award for designing ultra sensitive explosive sniffers that could potentially save hundreds of lives. The device is mostly being looked into for soldiers and by security companies on airlines and transportation hubs, but I wonder what the impact of something like this could be in the world of landmines, where TOO many innocent lives and limbs have been lost...often years after wars have ended. Now that could be amazing.

Demining landmines is a huge hazard for many reasons. The devices are hidden in areas that few people know of and are triggered by changes in pressure. Many different types of technologies and methodologies have been used, with varying levels of success; but it continues to be a dangerous and sizable issue.

More Info on demining: http://www.humanitariandemining.org/

$100 Incubator

An IDDS participant works hard on building the incubator. (photo courtesy: IDDS blog)

If you are a regular reader of NEXT BILLION or any of the other big global development blogs, you might have come across the amazing press generated by MIT whiz, Amy Smith's, worldchanging IDDS (International Development and Design Summit). One of the many things that have come out of the IDDS Summit and her classes is the $100 incubator.

Recently NPR did an interview profiling the incubator and the team behind it. check it out here:
http://www.here-now.org/shows/2008/08/20080812_5.asp

Is a computer a good substitute for a teacher??

Nigerian kids get a taste of the OLPC laptop. Can these types of technologies substitute well for real teachers?? (photo courtesy: CNETnews.com)

Nicholas Negroponte has an amazing vision. During his tenure at MIT's famed Media Lab, his team came up with the $100 laptop (granted it has since doubled in production cost, so it should be called the $200 laptop!), and proceeded to start the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program. His idea was to use computers to engage and help educate the poor kids of the world. He talks about his vision in great detail at a TED conference in 2006. (Regardless of what other people say about the program or him, Negroponte is a visionary and he deserves tremendous credit for trying and testing out an idea that people have long thought about but never gone forth with.)

But the question is...is technology a good substitute for a human teacher??

To answer this, I'd refer to two different write-ups: one a paper (you can also read a summary here) that's come out of the well-respected Jameel Poverty Action Lab (JPAL) at MIT; and a piece on education published in the New York Times (NYT) on August 17, 2008.

The JPAL paper publishes a study on randomized trials in India that compared learning rates between computer-assisted learning and those without. The NYT piece covers computer assisted learning in the United States and UK.

I would highly recommend reading both pieces. In general though, I found that the two highlight two very specific ideas:

• Computer assisted learning works best when learning in class (with a human teacher) is complemented with technology. Technology by itself isn't a substitute for a teacher. Having been through all three combinations (teachers only, computers only, and computer assisted learning) , I couldn't agree more.

• Probably a BIG caveat to any of this is that different students respond differently. This is NOT a one-size-fits-all idea. This is why having a teacher around REALLY matters. Teachers can customize their teaching; computers can't. This is the key. This is why technology is a poor substitute for real human teachers.

Pioneer Profile: Amy Smith

Amy Smith is the real deal. She shot to prominence in 2004, when she won the prestigious MacArthur Genius Award for her work in appropriate technology design.

Smith's greatest contributions, I believe, are in the world of education. An MIT student genius, Amy got her greatest technical challenges and lessons during her four-year Peace Corps assignment in Botswana. She brought her passion back to MIT and has since dedicated her life to educating and involving bright, young students in design for the poorest in the world. That is and will be her greatest legacy. D-Lab, her popular appropriate technology design class has spawned similar programs in other universities; and alums have gone on to spawn social innovation companies and/or become respected thinkers in their own right. What is greatest about her alums is that they have learned to consider the poorest person in the world when making any decision. They consider the impact their everyday decisions or technology designs have on those we least consider. Imagine what a different world this would be if every engineer, scientist, sociologist and politician considered and designed for the least of us all. Below, I've included Amy Smith's TED talk...where she talks about one of the appropriate technologies that have spawned out of D-Lab.



Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_B._Smith
http://mit.edu/mmadinot/www/home.html
http://www.ted.com/index.php/speakers/amy_smith.html
http://web.mit.edu/invent/a-winners/a-smith.html
http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/521/
http://www.iddsummit.org/
http://web.mit.edu/d-lab/#

Good technology comes from good institutions

I spent a lot of time at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) until a few months ago. What makes me most proud about having been involved with that institution is that it is a true laboratory of genius - minds work together, not for the money or the fame, but for the beauty and purpose of technology itself, that it should help others. The university provides the space, the creative minds, facilities, and some funding to get students started up. From there, genius evolves. Its not surprising that some of the world's greatest minds and technologies are born there.

Recently, MIT has taken on a major energy and sustainability drive. The energy drive was first driven by student interest. They organized themselves and brought on board faculty and more students. Then the political climate became such that energy was the hot topic. Soon the university embarked on a major energy initiative. Now the whole University is working together to devise better technologies to address the incoming energy crisis. I have no doubt that they will succeed.

Similarly, when graduate students found that MIT's energy bill was a ridiculous 100 million dollars a week, they decided that something had to be done. They organized a sustainability drive, bringing together a group of undergraduate and graduate student projects that all addressed various sustainability issues across campus. Its now a movement to "green" MIT. Yesterday, NPR did a great piece on it. Check it out here.
http://www.here-now.org/shows/wed.asp

There are many universities that do projects like this, but there need to be more. And there needs to be more invested in projects like these. More universities nationally and internationally need to provide this type of environment for budding minds to flex their intellectual muscle for the good of mankind.