CSCI 8970 – Colloquium Series – Fall 2010 – Eight Event

Robots and the Human

Monday, November 1, 2010

While Robotics is not as advanced in the United States as it is in Japan, the University of Minnesota had the privilege of hosting Oussama Khatib, a professor and researcher at Stanford University whose job specializes in increasing the sensitivity of robots to increase their reactions to and safety in relation to the environment. Robots are complicated in both their hardware and software development. Dr. Khatib began his presentation by showing a video of a machine trying to feed a person over and over again and how without proper engineering the robot hindered rather than helped the human.  Currently robots such as the Puma 560 have a payload 22N or 1.16 which is much higher than the human average payload of 62n or 0.04. Dr. Khatib is currently working on robots that have a safety payload even better than a human at 60n (DM2) and 33n for the S2p robot.

To achieve this, Dr. Khatib believes it is important to improve a robot’s perception. Robots are increasingly being aware of where things are in the environment but they still cannot interact with the environment. Can we really go beyond walking and deal with the interactivity with the environment? To do so, we need for whole body control. This is the challenge faced by Dr. Khatib’s team. Part of the challenge relates to sensing and perception of the real-time, unstructured world, and planning, control, and skills by giving many degrees of freedom to the robot.

To improve the robots interaction with the environment, Dr. Khatib has focused on developing a human-friendly robot design. Usually it is debated that the robot can either be safe or perform adequately, yet why not improve both? Dr. Khatib attempted this by developing the DM2 Distributed Macro-Mini Actuation, a robot with two actuators. The later developed the S2P or Stanford Human-Safe Robot. Trying to build an arm with the constraints that face a human, they were able to achieve high control and dynamic. Their robot has an arm of 1.2 kilograms, instead of the 40 kilograms of the PUMA which cannot be touched. Now the robot has shoulders, they also added muscles, but muscles are weak, without the aid of a motor for strength. They are also developing a skin to reduce collision damage as well as including proximity sensors.

To illustrate mobile manipulation and human guided Motion, human robot interaction, Dr. Khatib showed a video of two humans interacting. Romeo and Juliet (1993) – had a video of the robot ironing a shirt. He stressed the need for the robot to be compliant and move with the human. In 1997, Honda released the P2 and Dr. Khatib was challenged with building the capabilities given to Romeo and Juliet into Asimo. It was exciting but a very difficult problem. In the end, the achieved, humanoid robot control. When you touched the environment you bring a lot of new constraints. They worked on creating a robot that can develop the skills. Yet, developing inverse schematics is incredible difficult for robots. They tried to solve this problem through goal directed control exhibited by humans. In order to create the behaviors for the robot – they go to the human and model him. Acquired models of the muscles and see the criteria humans used.  As humans learn a skill, a task, humans find ways to make more efficient the use of our muscles. Humans discover the physio-mechanical advantage. Humans adjust the body so that all muscles do not saturate.

The solution for him laid in E = cm^2. Like humans who lifting their arm only 42 degrees when drinking a cup of coffee because that is the minimum energy needed, they used this ideas to create a program that he changes the place a ball is and the robot follows – doing all the movements gently. The program copied the motion characteristics, not the trajectory. They applied this fluid motion to Asimo. Also, by building this mapping tool they develop a useful tool also for humans. Humans when using their bodies for an activity over time find the largest acceleration lines. That’s why we do not throw objects in a straight line. Attempting to create a human motion atlas they went to South Africa and use a motion capture and motion reconstruction software on two dancers (one male and one female). The use of this program can help improve training.

Some constraints they have worked to solve include joint limits or self-collision, the need for internal and external constraints and the need to find distance between objects really quickly in real time. To illustrate some of these problems, Dr. Khatib displayed a Chai 3D simulation of skin and a hand. From haptics they can tell the robot to perform. The robot, through the software has been able to learn skills. They are currently working in improving the robots reactions to incoming objects, for the robot to be able to feel an obstacle coming and reacting to the object by moving away.

In terms of integration of locomotion, usually contact made the robots lose their balance. Humans need to find balance all the time other way they fall. With this information at hand, they were developing a model for each part and then tried to integrate it. Now they are using a framework were all the body is taken into account at the same time. The problem is that most robots do not have a tore control system Asimo was not tore control which increased the difficulty – robots are moving to tore control. Dr. Khatib showed a diagram of the robot’s architecture and spoke about the importance for robots to have a plan so that they do not have to make a whole analysis every time. Robot needs a plan that it can adapt. In the end of the presentation, Dr. Khatib showed videos of if group teaching Asimo how to grab things and walk. The presentation was incredibly exciting. The room was full and one can only wonder where robotics will take us next. Hopefully the United States will increase its research and study of the field.

Bolman and Deal: Chapter 6 Notes – Human Resources

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2003). Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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–        Following a scientific approach to industry, men were originally seen as pieces in a Taylorean sense,  yet when businesses try to cut down labor expenses and be “lean and mean”, they at times created a short term gain, but over the long run the workers would be discouraged, demoralized, and depressed

–        GE despite paying workers well was recently faced with a strike. The redundancy and repetitiveness of the work led the workers to strike against the management.

–        In an example, even when a tough foreman was introduce to replace a worker friendly foreman, after a while, he was forced to give some slack to the workers as they began to sabotage the industry.

–        Some businesses such as Southwest have benefited from recruiting a good hard working labor force, but it has not been emulated by other airlines.

–        The chapter gave examples, including a Chaplin film in which workers were portrayed as dumb and childish. The movie includes a machine which attempts to feed him (without success) while he continues to work in the assembly line.

–        X Y theory contends that what workers are perceived, the more likely that they will become that as a consequence of the perception.

–        Some factory workers tried to diminish their boredom by hiding (doubling up), through sabotage, and soldering. Some lost control, went mad, and resigned. Many of them would simply resign themselves to the dullness of their labor. Feeling as if they had no freedom and having to “ask for permission to pee” was and is denigrating to the human spirit. They demoralization had intergenerational consequences.

–        As the children of factory workers lost the hard work ethic of their parents, the factories began to move to rural areas to recruit farmers who still exhibited a hard work ethic. Yet, while this could also provide for a short term success, over time this approach is likely unsustainable.

–        One of the most successful human resources theories, Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy or needs deals with human motivation by ranking them according to human necessity. Despite Maslow’s hierarchy of needs having limited support through empirical research, some enterprises such as FEDEX have been very successful as the result of following Maslow’s theory guiding principles.

–        The need for workers to be seen as more than cogs has led some new industries to grow, yet the debate over what is most successful, the intelligent worker strategy or the lean and mean business strategy continues – today in Texas two different pipe businesses employ opposite approaches. The one with a humanitarian policy received 10,000 applications for 100 jobs, yet the other one has had 10 times more safety violations and 9 deaths over less than 10 years. However, it is not known which is financially most successful as the businesses remain private.

–        Bolman and Deal remind us through the use of examples that this debate continues and is ever present. While the United States continues to reduce its blue collar labor force, industrial production has primarily continued, with all its dullness and repetitiveness to expand oversees in countries such as China.

CLASSICS OF ORGANIZATION THEORY

November 8, 2010

#9 – The Economy of Incentives – Chester I. Barnard (Pg. 93-102)

What is an incentive? Which incentives are most useful and when? Those are some of the questions that Barnard work addresses. In his work, he divided incentives into personal inducements or incentives that could be given to an individual and general incentives or incentives which required a greater more general change. While money is influential and is one of the changes that can be used as an incentive, many individuals do not work for material gain. Prestige, power, pride, desirable physical conditions can motivate an individual to work or to cooperate. An individual can cooperative by being coerced, rationalizing the opportunity or having the motives inculcated (Barnard, 2005).

Reading Notes

– “Regardless of his history or his obligations he must be induced to cooperate, or there can be no cooperation.” – pg 93

– “Given a man of a certain state of mind, of certain attitudes, or governed by certain motives, he can be induced to contribute to an organization by a given combination of these objective incentives, positive or negative.” – pg 94

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I – THE METHODS OF INCENTIVES

– Personal Inducements -> can be given to a person

– General Incentives -> cannot be given to a person (pg 94)

– Personal Inducements

> material inducements: (Money — society increasingly materialistic “ought to want material things” – pg 95) – Many do not work harder for material gains

> personal nonmaterial inducements: (prestige, personal power – sometimes more important than money)

> desirable physical conditions: (can induce cooperation)

> ideal benefactions: (“most powerful and most neglected” – “pride of workmanship, altruistic service.” – pg 96)

– General Incentives

> association attractiveness: (“social compatibility”, “Men often will not work at all, and will rarely work well, under other incentives if the social situation from their point of view is unsatisfactory.” – pg 96)

> adaptation of conditions to habitual methods and attitudes: (“What is not so obvious is that men will frequently not attempt to cooperate if they recognize that such methods or conditions are to be accepted.” – pg 97)

> Opportunity of enlarged participation: (“thus, other things being equal, many men prefer associations with large organizations, organizations which they regard as useful, or organizations they regard as effective, as against those they consider small, useless, ineffective.” – pg 97)

> the condition of communion: (“it is the feeling of personal comfort in social relations that is sometimes called solidarity, social integration, the gregarious instinct, or social security” – pg 97)

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II – THE METHOD OF PERSUATION

A – the creation of coercive conditions – (“I supposed it is generally accepted that no superior permanent or very complex system of cooperation can be supported to a great extent merely by coercion – pg 97”)

B – the rationalization of opportunity – (“in attempting to convince individuals or groups that they “ought,” “it is to their interest,” to perform services or conform to requirements of specific organizations”)

>>> a – industrial organizations – (“if the method of persuasion is rationalization, either in the form of general propaganda or that of specific argument to individual again the overhead costs is usually not negligible” – pg 100)

>>> b – political organizations – (“vital idealism upon which political organizations is based” – pg 100)

>>> c – religious organizations – (“communion of kindred spirits” – pg 100)

C – the inculcation of motives

# 11 – The Proverbs of Administration – Herbert A. Simon – (Pg. 112-124)

In his work, Herbert Simon was interested in the contradictory premises of administration theory. He stated three premises that he compared with contradictory proverbs. As there are proverbs that go in direct contradiction with others by they can be used by orators at a particular instance to defend their view points, he was concerned with contradictions within the common accepted views of administration theory. He argued that specialization, unity of command, and span of control were all useful but contradicted each other and by understanding the contradictions their implementation could be more successful. He then analyzed the contradictions between purpose, process, clientele and place and argued for purpose to be seen as the macro in comparison to a process, and that place and clientele further narrowed the organizational objectives. Apart from these contradictions, he addressed the limitations of the individual and the relationship between the administration man and the economic man. For a greater rate of success an organization should evaluate its proverbs according to their efficiency (Simon, 2005).

Reading Notes

– There are proverbs to justify most actions – go either way

– Criticism of that duality of administrative theory

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SOME ACCEPTED ADMINISTRATIVE PRINCIPLES

– Specialization

> “merely means that different persons are doing different things.” – pg 113

– Unity of Command

> “the real fault that must be found with this principle is that it is incompatible with the principle of specialization.” – pg 114

> “the principle of unity of command is perhaps more defensible if narrowed down to the following: In case two authoritative commands conflict, there should be a single determinate person who the subordinate is expected to obey; and the sanctions of authority should be applied against the subordinate only to enforce his obedience to that one person.” – pg 114)

– Span of Control

> “in direct contradiction with the principle of unity of command and the principle of specialization.” – pg 115

> “the dilemma is this: in a large organization with complex interrelations between members, a restricted span of control inevitably produces excessive red tape, for each contact between organizations members must be carried upward until a common superior is found.” – pg 116

– Organization by Purpose, Process, Clientele, Place.

> “some of these advantages can be regained by organizing on the basis of process within the major departments.” – pg 116

> Purpose – “the objective or end for which an activity is carried on” – pg 117

> “what is considered a single function depends entirely on language and techniques.” – pg 117

> “There is, then, no essential difference between a “purpose” and a “process,” but only a distinction of degree.” ((purpose – macro, process – micro)) – pg 118

> “clientele and place” – part of purpose

– The Impasse of Administrative Theory

> “on the one hand, centralization of decision-making functions is desirable; on the other hand, there are definite advantages in decentralization.” – pg 119

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AN APPROACH TO ADMINISTRATIVE THEORY

– The Description of Administrative Situations

> “administrative description suffers currently from superficiality, oversimplification, lack of realism.” – pg 120

– The Diagnosis of Administrative Situations

> “the “administrative man” takes his place alongside the classical “economic man” ” – pg 212

> triangle of limits of man – physical, knowledge, values.

– Assigning Weights to the Criteria

> “a first step, then, in the overhauling of the proverbs of administration is to develop a vocabulary, along the lines just suggested, for the description of administrative organizations. A second step, which has also been outlined, is to study the limits of rationality in order to develop a complete and comprehensive enumeration of the criteria that must be weighed in evaluating an administrative organization.” – pg 123

> importance of knowing the contradictions between the “proverbs”

> use the principle of efficiency to rank or organize proverbs.

> “how “exact” the principles of administration can be made is one that only experience can answer.” – pg 124

#13 – A Behavioral Theory of Organizational Objectives – Richard Cyert and James March (pg 135-144)

How is an organization’s behavior different from human behavior? How are human coalitions formed and how are they maintained? Organizations regularly have individuals who want to go in opposite directions, what can be done about this? Cyert and March visualize the organization as composed of coalitions and the relationships between external and internal coalitions. Coalitions also have sub-coalitions and they all operate through side payments and side payment bargaining. While some side payments are financial, the greatest number of them are policy commitments.  To deal with conflicting objectives, the organization must prioritize and construct a sequence of objectives. Through the management of both inactive and active demands, a more predictive theory can be developed. The use of a modified version of game theory can be applied to choose among potentially viable coalitions (Cyert & March, 2005)

Reading Notes:

– “central nervous system of most organizations appears to be somewhat different from that of the individual system.” – pg 135

– “develop an explicitly empirical theory rather than a normative one.” – pg 135

– “with the advent of the computer and use of simulation, we have a methodology that will permit us to expand considerably the emphasis on actual process without losing the predictive precision essential to testing (Cyert and March, 1959)” – pg 136

((In regards to Moore’s Law, technology has developed at a rapid exponential rate that these theories today could be increasingly more accurate. As such, were can we learn how the best organizations function today. Where can we learn a practical model of this same class. A part two to this class??))

THE ORGANIZATION AS A COALITION

– there are coalitions and sub coalitions

FORMATION OF COALITION OBJECTIVES THROUGH BARGAINING

– Problem of handing side payments – “money, personal treatment, authority, organization policy.. etc” – pg 137

– “all conflict is settled by the side-payment bargaining” – pg 137

– “organizational boundaries between “external” and “internal” members of the coalition” – pg 138

– Side payments – “a significant number of these payments are in the form of policy commitments” – pg 138

> “in fact, and organization that does not use such devices (policy commitments) can exist in only a rather special environment.” – pg 138

– “If I demand of the organization that John Jones be shot and you demand that he be sainted, it will be difficult for us both to stay in the organization.” – pg 139 ((unless making him a martyr makes him a saint!!))

STABILIZATION AND ELABORATION OF OBJECTIVES

– “In most organizations most of the time, however, the elaboration of objectives occurs within much tighter constraints… Whether precedents are formalized in the shape of an official standard-operating procedure or are less formally stored, they remove from conscious consideration many agreements, decisions, and commitments that might well be subject to renegotiation in an organization without a memory (Cyert and March, 1960). – pg 140

– Also, as a consequence –> “the “accidents of organizational genealogy tend to be perpetuated.” – pg 140

CHANGES IN OBJECTIVES THROUGH EXPERIENCE

– Organizational Slack – use of excess resources (fluctuations of profit – need for slack)

– “The notion of attention-focus suggests one reason why organizations are successful in surviving with a large set of unrationalized goals. They rarely see the conflicting objectives simultaneously” – pg 142

– John Jones can be both shot and sainted – just not simultaneously

– need for “sequential attention to goals” <– also has problems (pg 142)

CONSTRUCTING A PREDICTIVE THEORY

– need for coalition members – set of active and inactive demands for each – each has a set of problems (active / inactive)

– Five basic mechanisms

1 – changing the quantitative value of demands over time

2 – transfer of demands between – active set, inactive set, not-considered set

3 – Similar attention-focus mechanism for problems

4 – demand-evaluation procedures that is consistent with the limited capacities of human beings

5 – mechanism for choosing among the potentially viable coalitions – (similar to game theory) – pg 143

– “Require greater empirical clarification of the phenomena involved.” – pg 143

#14 – The Giving of Orders, Mary Parker Follet – (Pg. 152 – 157)

In the Giving of Orders, Mary Follet emphasized the need talking into account the context of particular situations when jointly deciding on what actions to take or what orders to follow. Rather than simply promoting a top down managerial approach were the subordinate listens or pretends to listen to the orders, the management must explain the subordinates why a change is needed. While, managers may be promoting policies which will benefit the organization and its workers, orders will meet resistance when they attempt to modify long held attitudes and behaviors. For orders to be more successful it is important to depersonalize them, at times include the subordinates in the decision making, and modify the orders as the situation changes. If a problem originates, the management would benefit from including its subordinates in fixing the problem. If a subordinate mistake led to the development of the problem, then the management must communicate with him or her in a way in which the worker will learn from the mistake and understand clearly why the problem originated. By promoting subordinates to have a bested interest in the success of the organization, they will be more open to suggestions and welcoming of managerial orders (Follet, 2005).

Detailed Notes

• Issuing orders – many difficulties (152)
• “To demand an unquestioning obedience to orders not approved, not perhaps even understood, is bad business policy” (152)
• “For all our past life, our early training, our later experience, all our emotions, beliefs, prejudices, every desire that we have, have formed certain habits of mind that the psychologists call habit-patterns, action-patterns, motor-sets. Therefore it will do little good merely to get intellectual agreement; unless you change the habit-patterns of people, you have not really changed your people…” (152)
• To change habit-patterns you need to do 3 things:
  • Build up certain attitudes
  • Provide for the release of those attitudes
  • Augment the released response as it is being carried out
  • Orders cannot take the place of training (152)
    • Ppl do not go contrary to life-long habits just because you order them to.
    • Place where orders given, circumstances in which they are given affects the response to a great extent (153)
      • “the strength of favourable response to an order is in inverse ratio to the distance the order travels.” (153)
      • Giving/receiving orders ought to be matter of integration through circular behavior
      • Business admin – how to deal with dissociated paths in individuals/groups?
        • Order should seek to unite, to integrate dissociated paths (153)
        • Try and prevent internal conflict of individuals/groups
        • Manner in which orders are given = very important in avoiding/causing industrial trouble.
        • Solution: “My solution is to depersonalize the giving of orders, to unite all concerned in a study  of the situation, to discover the law of the situation and obey that” (154)
          • “One person should not give orders to another person, but both should agree to take their orders from the situation.” (154)
          • Need to exercise authority, but “authority of the situation” (154)
          • Depersonalizing or re-personalizing?? (154)
            • “We, persons, have relations with each other, but we should find them in and through the whole situation. We cannot have any sound relations with each other as long as we take them out of that setting which gives them meaning and value.” (155)
            • Importance of joint study of the problem (155)
              • “Such joint study can be made best by the employee and his immediate superior or employee and special expert on that question.” (155)
              • Need to try and create the attitude required for cooperative study and decision
              • Changing the language of business – need new word for ‘order’ (155)
                • People do not like to be ordered even to take a holiday (155)
                • Ppl wish to govern their own lives
                • Authority and Consent:
                  • Both ppl under a situation making decisions with one another (156)
                  • “How can you expect people merely to obey orders and at the same time to take that degree of responsibility which they should take?” (156)
                    • Blindly following orders leads workers to rid themselves of responsibility
                    • An order is a symbol (156)
                      • “I may say to an employee ‘Do so and so,’ but I should say it only because we have both agreed, openly or tacitly, that that which I am ordering done is the best thing to be done.”
                      • “our obligation is to a unifying, to a process” (156)
                      • The order must be integral to the situation and recognized as such (156)
                      • Evolving situations:
                        • “if the situation is never stationary then the order should never be stationary” (156)
                        • How do orders keep up with constantly changing situations? By coming from and being based on the situation.
                        • Need to recognize that “the situation does not change without changing us.”  (157)
                        • Supervision is necessary. Supervision is resented – How do we reconcile this? (157)
                        • “Don’t blame for the sake of blaming, make what you have to say accomplish something; say it in that form, at that time, under those circumstances, which will make it a real education to your subordinate.” (157)
                        • In the case of a mistaken order being given then the one who made it should be the one to rectify it: “It is better for all of us not only to acknowledge our mistakes, but to do something about them” (157)

#16 – A Theory of Human Motivation – Abraham H. Maslow – Pg. 167-178

Abraham Maslow theory of human motivation attempted to rank human in an order of relative importance. While he mentions that this order doesn’t mean that the lower variable must be completely satisfied before the individual is worried about his subsequent need, that there is a hierarchical order to human needs and motivations and that most of have deficiencies, many of us are sick, and we are meeting certain needs to only a certain percentage. Some needs such as the last one in the pyramid, self-actualization, is relative to each person and could mean it a variety of things. To him, this particular category would benefit from greater study and research. His rank from lowest to highest is: physiological needs (foods), safety needs, love needs, esteem needs, the need for self actualization. While Maslow’s work has been extensively research and debated it continues to be seen as a way in which to remember that the needs of individuals are diverse and in our desire to survive, in certain scenarios we may act in a completely different manner (such as in starvation) than we would if our physiological needs were being met (Maslow, 2005).

Reading Notes

INTRODUCTION

– “typically an act has more than one motivation” – pg 167

– “the appearance of one need usually rests on the prior satisfaction of another, more pre-potent need” – pg 167

– “motivation theory is not synonymous with behavior theory. The motivations are only one class of determinants of behavior.” – pg 167

THE BASIC NEEDS

– The Physiological Needs: “most prepotent of all needs.” – pg 168

> “for the man who is extremely and dangerously hungry, no other interests exist but food.” – pg 168

((don’t eat for two days and see how you mood changes))

> “at once other (and “higher”) needs emerge” – pg 169

– The Safety Needs: “one reason for the clearer appearance of the threat or danger reaction in infants, is that they do not inhibit this reaction at all, whereas adults in our society have been taught to inhibit it at all costs. Thus even when adults do feel their safety threatened we may not be able to see this on the surface.” – pg 169

> (the child) “he seems to want a predictable, orderly world. For instance, injustice, unfairness, or inconsistency in the parts seems to make a child feel anxious and unsafe.” – pg 170

> “young children seem to thrive better under a system which has at least a skeletal outline of rigidity, in which there is a schedule of a kind, some sort of routine, something that can be counted upon, not only for the present but also far into the future.” – pg 170

> “compulsive obsessives try frantically to order and stabilize the world so that no unmanageable, unexpected or unfamiliar dangers will ever appear.” – pg 171

– The Love Needs: “he will hunger for affectionate relations with people in general, namely, for a place in his group, and he will strive with great intensity to achieve this goal.” – pg 171

> “one thing that must be stressed at this point is that love is not synonymous with Sex. Sex may be studied as a purely physiological need.” – pg 171

– The Esteem Needs:

> “for desire of strength, for achievement…” – pg 171

> “for desire for reputation or prestige” – pg 171

– The Need for Self-Actualization: “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately happy.” – pg 171

> “remains a challenging problem for research” – pg 172

– The Preconditions for the Basic Need Satisfactions

> Freedoms: speak, think, express one’s self, seek answers, defend one’s self, justice, fairness, honesty, orderliness…

FURTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BASIC NEEDS

– The Degree of Fixity of the Hierarchy of Basic Needs

> Hierarchy.. not nearly as rigid as we may have implied.” – pg 172

> some may hold self esteem as more important than love, others may need to be creative despite not meeting basic needs.. etc..

> (Frustration Tolerance) “strong people… can swim against the stream of public opinion and who can stand up for the truth at great personal cost.” – pg 173

– Degrees of Relative Satisfaction

> “this statement might give the false impression that a need must be satisfied 100 percent before the next need emerges. In actual fact, most members of our society who are normal, are partially satisfied in all their basic needs and partially unsatisfied in all their basic needs at the same time.” – pg 174

– Unconscious Character of Needs

> “on the average person, they are more often unconscious rather than conscious…” – pg 174

– Cultural Specificity and Generality of Needs

> satisfaction relative to context (cultures)

– Multiple Motivations of Behavior

>  Eating, sex, and other things may satisfy more than one need

> “I may point out that it would be possible (theoretically if not practically) to analyze a single act of an individual and see in it the expression of his physiological needs, his safety needs, his love needs, his esteem needs and self-actualization.” – pg 174

– Multiple Determinants of Behavior

> a stupid man behaves stupidly, not because he wants to, or tries to, or is motivated to, but simply because he is what he is.

– Goals as Centering Principle in Motivation Theory

> focused on the goals of human behavior

– Animal and Human Centering

> no reason why to study humans by studying animals – we are not the same

– Motivation and Theory of Psychopathogenesis

> “a desire for an ice cream cone might actually be an indirect expression of a desire for love.” – pg 175

– The Role of Gratified Needs

> “it is such considerations as these that suggest the bold postulation that a man who is thwarted in any of his basic needs may fairly be envisaged simply as a sick man.” – pg 176

SUMMARY

– “thus man is a perpetually wanting animal. Ordinarily the satisfaction of these wants is not altogether mutually exclusive, but only tends to be.” – pg 176

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Works Cited

Barnard, C. I. (2005). The Economy of Incentives. In J. Sharfritz, S. Ott, & Y. Suk Jang, Classics of Organization Theory (pp. 93-102). Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth.

Simon, H. A. (2005). The Proverbs of Administration. In J. Sharfritz, S. Ott, & Y. Suk Jang, Classics of Organization Theory (pp. 112-124). Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth.

Cyert, R. M., & March, J. G. (2005). A Behavioral Theory of Organizational Objectives. In J. Sharfritz, S. Ott, & Y. Suk Jang, Classics of Organization Theory (pp. 135-144). Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth.

Follet, M. P. (2005). The Giving of Orders. In J. Sharfritz, S. Ott, & Y. Suk Jang, Classics of Organization Theory (pp. 152-157). Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth.

Maslow, A. H. (2005). A Theory of Human Motivation. In J. Sharfritz, S. Ott, & Y. Suk Jang, Classics of Organization Theory (pp. 167-178). Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth.

Hiring Superman

November 7, 2010

Regarding whether or not to hire Michelle Rhee, I would probably not hire her. While I agree with the need to reform the current tenure system and promote a form of student achievement reward system, her attitude is very confrontational and promotes animosity. Yes, she is not concerned about “being liked”, but labeling teachers as the primary source of student performance problems is overly simplifying a larger problem. Surely, some individuals need to be laid off, yet including rather than excluding the teacher’s union in those decisions would be helpful. She seems like a bulldozer rather than a compromising or charismatic figure.

While Chapman et al (2000) concluded that only minor changes resulted from China’s pre-service teacher training program, it is difficult from those results to conclude that pre-service teacher training would also have marginal results elsewhere. Chapman’s (2000) article mentioned that a previous study had concluded that pre-service teacher training “was positively related to student learning in only 12 of the 26 studies that included amount of teacher schooling as a variable.” (p 302). As such, previous results do show that training can improve the quality of education. Both pre-service and in-service will increase the likelihood that the teacher will obtain the tools that will allow him to be an effective teacher. Providing teachers with more planning time during their first year as well as partnering a new teacher with a successful teacher mentor will help him / her develop some valuable classrooms management and teaching skills.

CSCI 8970 – Colloquium Series – Fall 2010 – Ninth Event

Exploring the Structure of On-Line Social Networks: The Role of Positive and Negative Interactions

Cray Distinguished Speaker Series

Monday, November 1, 2010

Is there a relationship between friends and our relationships with others? What can be extracted from social networks and the newly accessible data they have accumulated regarding people’s interaction? Jon Kleinberg, a well known scholar in computer science is trying to answer this question by looking at variables such as reputation, recommendation and ranking. Things were previously invisible are now leaving traces. Captivated by Stanley Milgram’s six degrees of separation study were letters were at randomly dispersed in Indiana to see how many of them reached Boston (1/3^rd actually made it). Where he came up with an estimated distance or optimal exponent of 2.Now with data from online social networks  such as Facebook and LiveJournal research resulted in 1/rank (v,w)^1.05 or  1/rank (v,w)^0.95 and a distance of d –> rank – d^2. The data, using two different data sets provided similar results.

After concluding this study, Kleinberg has since decided to revisit the great challenges of 21st century sociology. “Why is it that you are similar to your friends? Because they influence you, or because you seek out people who are already similar?” Having a large number of previous answers, Kleinberg looked at social network data to find an answer. Current data sets tend to be more supportive of positive rather than negative link research. Most links made in places such as Facebook have positive connotations, yet some websites provide insight into negative relations such as Epinions (Trust / distrust) and Slashdot (Friend/Foe).

Yet, more generally, users express positive and negative attitudes implicitly, through various kinds of actions, including voting for admin promotion on Wikipedia {Burke-Kraut 2008], and possibilities for researching multi-player on-line games [Szell et al. 2010]. In conducting their research, Kleinberg and his team focused on two competing theoretical frameworks: theory of balance and theory of status. According to Balance Theory [Heider 1946, Cartwright-Harary 1956] there are 16 different relationship triangles, yet the ones that make sense are the ones that mention friends an odd number of times such as: the friend of my enemy is my enemy, the friend of my friend is my friend. Things like the friend of my friend is my enemy – tend to resolve themselves, one of them pulls his way against the other.

According to Status Theory, traditional methods of adapting balance theory: disregard directions; apply undirected formulation [Wasserman-Faust 1994]. Three friends, do not simply all look at each other as equals. C could recommend B, B could recommend A, but A politely may not recommend C.

In their results there were both aspects of Balance and Status theory available in the data. Unfortunately, grouping all positive links under the term friend limits a more specific study. He gave an example of soccer players to more clearly explain status theory. Having three players responds. While X gives good ranking to A and B (which are above average players), and A and B give out a lot of evaluations, and both are considered good players, one is positive toward the other, while the other one is negative towards the other. These results proved consistent with 27 out of 32 possibilities having the directionality correct.Mutual link are rare (5%), but one dimensional ranking links (status based) are more common

Wikipedia – Admin promotion analysis

• You do have number of articles edited, awards (Barnstars), etc.. (CV of work)
• 100,000 votes for promotion
• Probability of a positive vote analysis – (a conjectured plot)
• Voters are particularly harsh on the individuals that have the same level of achievement that they do.
• Competition with these person.
• You can also see the commonalities between them more easily.
  • They are also doing this cross culturally  – German (a bit different), French (similar)

Learning Links Signs from Network Context

• Based on triad types – status and balance theory are just two general theories
• Via logistic regression, they can learn a theory of link signs.
• Accuracy 80-93% when placing a model from one area of Wikipedia into another.

Conclusion

Analysis of signed networks provides insights into how social computing application are being used

Status and balance

Rich connections between learn models and classical theories

Use of edge signs depends on embeddedness, and reciprocation

Approximate versions of the model

Different sign patterns produce different amounts of status and balance: an “energy landscape” [Marvel-Strogatz-Kleinberg 2009]

Many further directions and open questions

Alfonso Sintjago – EDPA 5144 – Dr. Arthur Harkins – DramaTech

10/31/2010

INTERNATIONAL DRAMATECH INNOVATION SIMULATION #1

Please choose a country to which you are consulting within the near future (Dominican Republic). Your proposal is to introduce simulation learning games into representative samples of the school-age population (or other populations/cohorts) (Give every child a mobile device with augmented reality capabilities, learning games, and set up a repair shop, the device will be only usable through a particular phone network and through a particular security system which will reduce theft of the equipment). Clarify why simulations (or games or simulation gaming) have been chosen by you, the consultant, as viable tools for improving learning in the host country.

TIME FRAME: WITHIN THE NEXT 2-5 YEARS (5 years into the future)

THE INDIGENOUS PLAYERS ARE: Every child under 10 years old in the Dominican Republic from the start date of the program (Oct 30, 2015).

THE EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT PLAYERS ARE: World Bank, UNICEF, Minister of Information / Communications (DR), Minister of Education.

THE STAKEHOLDERS ARE: Community organizations (boards) for the three poor neighborhoods selected as a pilot area, Verizon Wireless, Microsoft, MIT XO Laptop (Negroponte).

**YOU PROPOSE TO INITIATE THE FOLLOWING EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT INNOVATION GOAL ACTIONS:

Joining together the objectives of the Melinda Gates Foundation and Microsoft economic goals, and with Verizon wireless as a partner, a new initiative has been developed which aims to distribute 1 phone per child. With recent improvements in technology, the 1 phone per child is three times as powerful as the original XO laptops, it is also cheaper to produce than the XO laptop. Each system will only cost $35 to produce.

The plan will at first introduce the device at three highly populated poor neighborhoods in Santo Domingo. There will be 100,000 of these phones introduced. Within 2 years it plans to provide the devices to the rest of the children (Under 10 years old) in the country. They can be used for all of the activities that previous XO laptop permitted as well as include digital books in every subject and a much more extensive software library. Since the introduction of the XO laptop, hundreds of games have been developed mostly as freeware and donationware. These programs will allow children to interact with the environment like never before. The XO phones will be able to communicate with each other through a Mesh network free of charge. Phone calls to other locations will not be free and cannot be made without a prepaid card.

A large quantity of the software available will be programming tools (more advanced and diverse than the previous XO laptops) and gaming or simulation software to learn this and other professions. By using augmented reality software various simulations will engage the children in various professions including becoming a professional photographer, a digital blog writer, a newspaper columnist, learn about waste, tourism, a historian, an archeologist. These games will use community resources to build a data base allowing students to interact in a new way with the environment and ask their parents for help building a digital wiki history of the country. The phones’ battery will charge through solar panels.

KEY INDIGENOUS PLAYER #1 RESPONDS: This is not going to work. The device look great, but they are going to stolen from us by the bigger children. They could use them for drug deals and to talk to their friends. I know my brother would take mine! My uncle does not have a phone. He will certainly take my cousin’s.

KEY INDIGENOUS PLAYER #2 RESPONDS: Wow, this is sooo cool. No one is going to take mine away. I’ll bite them. Plus my mom, my brothers, and everyone else in the family has their own phone. Plus the device cannot be used as a phone unless one pays to activate the service. Maybe they should get rid of that service all together. While it would be nice for it to be a phone, it is already very portable and exciting. I would not be surprised if parents or other people took them. Perhaps limiting their capabilities is the best way to go.

TO INDIGENOUS PLAYER #1 YOU SAY: Yes, both of you are right. Theft is a major concern. The theft of the XO laptop was limited by its look, its parts and its limitation. It was not a gadget but it was also not a regular laptop. Through its operating system the type of activities that it could be used for was limited and they were mainly educational tools. We added augmented reality functions and we could provide a local phone service for free through the device (at least to communicate with other XO mobiles) that we felt maybe we could have a pilot project were the devices are more powerful and see if they have a positive impact in their use and contribute in a greater way to the Dominican economy. Yet, it may indeed prove to be a major handicap. We have installed a program by which if the phone is reported stolen or phones are found to be used in criminal activities, for their phone-like communication system to be deactivated.

TO INDIGENOUS PLAYER #2 YOU SAY: I am glad your parents support your use of technology. Hopefully this is the reaction we will receive from most parents. Again, we are aware of the theft problems the device may cause and we may limit its functions as a consequence.

MARC PRENSKY WALKS ONSTAGE, LOOKS AT YOU AND THE INDIGENOUS PLAYERS, AND SAYS: Wow, now this is a learning device. Being able to work as a photographer, a historian..  that is so cool and practical. I am sure you will also develop some exciting games with the device. To encourage you, we will hold various biannual awards for certain “professions”. For some “professions” the time will be even shorter. Every day, every week, every month and every year, we will post results as the best picture taken with the phones. Go out there and explore your country!

THE INDIGENOUS PLAYERS RESPOND BY SAYING: Alright! I am looking forward to it. My friends always tell me I have a good eye. I am going to win those contests and obtain the picture of the year. Who knows, maybe we will get to travel and show our collective slideshow to groups of people around the world!

YOU RESPOND TO PRENSKY BY SAYING: Thank you Prensky! We will also include a program to allow students to communicate with children in Nepal, in Switzerland and in Rwanda. Those are other destinations we have in mind for our project. We also hope to expand to every welcoming country in the world during the next few years. By having the world eye everyday living simulator, children across the globe will be able to share with others what do they do on an average day and how they live their lives. It will be like your third world farmer game but based on real life data. Also, we included the games you donated to the device. Thanks!

NOW YOU TURN TO THE STAKEHOLDERS AND TELL THEM THE MAJOR INNOVATION GOAL IMPLICATIONS OF WHAT HAS JUST HAPPENED:

There will always be difficulties and crime is one of the most destructive. Hopefully, we will be able to reduce crime by creating a product which is easy to recognize and which is of limited use for possible thieves. By monitoring the number of devices we hand out and knowing who has them, and having an incorporated GPS locator, we can report the locations of stolen units to the police and recover them. If theft continues we may be force to disable its phone capabilities. Let’s hope that is not the case. Our major innovation goal is simple, we want every child to have the possibility to have a high tech learning device in the hopes of reducing the digital divide, increasing digital literacy and allow students to be engaged in learning activities and cooperative activities through an augmented reality device. Thank you Microsoft, the World Bank, Verizon Wireless, XO group, and the community boards formed by the parents of our pilot location for your support and continued collaboration in making sure this is not only a possibility but a reality.

A REVIEWER WHO WATCHED THE INNOVATION DRAMA UNFOLD COMMENTS: The Dominican Republic will sure get a head start through this initiative. Not only will the country receive the devices but a factory for them will also be built in the island. Through the use of these devices and other initiatives being sponsored by the Ministry of Education, it is not farfetched to say the Dominican Republic may become the Caribbean’s Silicon Valley.

THE FISCAL SPONSOR OF THIS INNOVATION DRAMA SKYPES YOU AND SAYS: we will support the pilot project, but depending on crime reports we may or may not support the rest of the initiative and we may require that the devices be modified.

YOU RESPOND: Thank you for your support. We understand your concerns.

Is a shorter attention span increasing our creativity?
What style of leadership is more likely to be emulated?

10/21/2010

Lebron James, Mahatma Gandhi, Warren Buffet, Mark Zuckenberg, Andrew Carnegie, etc? Do people want to emulate you more when they see you as financially successful or is a person who is altruistic more likely to be emulated? Recently a visitor from Uganda spoke to one of my classes. Beatrice had risen from being one of eighteen children in a family, from being a woman who could not own property to someone who has a school and is a leader in the community and is a strong promoter of women’s education and women’s rights. During her lecture I continued to wonder how success and being a community leader had transformed her lifestyle and how were her living standards in comparison to her local community? Does she now live in a larger house? Does she own a nice car? Or does she live a frugal lifestyle? Then, the following question was, how did her lifestyle affect impact her community and how did they want to emulate her? Did they now want to go to college, own a businesses, and what lifestyle she thought was more likely to motivate her peers to study and improve their living standards by focusing on their education and the education of their daughters? While I did not ask the question in class, I asked it later at a group meeting. The group found the question interesting and one of my colleagues mentioned that despite having long talks with people in Kenya about how they could themselves improve their standard of living, the local people did not associate his father’s success with working hard but rather with marrying a fair skin woman and moving to the United States. They believe that by moving to America they could also achieve this level of success.

Initial Interest in Researching iPads

10/19/2010

Dear Dr. Ernst

As incoming PhD students, we were encouraged by the news that CEHD will begin a pilot program and provide iPads for 450 incoming students. We believe mobile learning and augmented reality devices will increasingly play a role in the education of tomorrow. CEHD innovative and forward thinking initiatives will not only increase the incoming student body satisfaction, but it will also allow them to remain up to date with one of the most current technological advancements. While the iPad itself may not be the tool of the future, augmented reality mobile devices will only increase their processing speed and power over the next few years. In addition, the interrelationship between technology and the environment will increasingly become ubiquitous and invisible.

As PhD students and researchers we are particularly interested in the implementation details of this initiative and the particular goals of the study. We were also keen to find out about ways in which we could possibly contribute to this study. As technology increasingly impacts education and promotes changes to the way in which we educate students from K-12 to Higher Education, we believe it is important for us to remain aware of the most recent developments and familiarize ourselves with the most recent technologies. As such, we were interested in knowing if it was possible, as PhD students, to be active participants in a comparative study. Within our group of incoming OLPD PhD students, we are not aware of any student who currently uses an iPad; some of us do not even regularly use computers. As such, are we, only a few years older than the incoming CEHD students already part of a different technological generation? Do we interact with technology differently than younger university students or K-12 students? If so, in which ways are we different?

We are also very interested in the impact new technologies have and will have for our careers. Are iPads (or Tablet PCs) a fad or are they here to stay? During the next few years, will PhD students increasingly use portable technology with augmented reality capabilities in academic research? Newspapers, television shows, and even some non-traditional peer-review journals are increasingly integrating diverse forms of media into their production. Should we ourselves include these types of media into our research? Should we not, as researchers, remain at the cutting edge of innovation?

ITunes U, YouTube EDU, and other forms of online learning (such as TED talks, online journals, online groups, and OpenCourseWare) can greatly enhance an individual’s general education. Technology also enhances our ability to communicate and conduct research internationally. We are moving towards a future where research projects may not sleep. When an individual half way across the world is resting or mired in intellectual gridlock, someone else in a different part of the world can pick up the collaborative document, expand it or enhance it in ways that one had yet to think of. As such, technology, if properly utilized, can greatly increase our productivity. Yet what does the growing use of online education and learning technologies, including tablet PCs and augmented reality devices truly mean for the doctoral student?

As incoming doctoral students, we are a very small and research oriented group of individuals. Therefore, by participating in this study, we would not only allow for a comparative study, but a number of us could become directly involved in this project. Regular meetings could be held for students who are interested in exploring ways in which iPads could be integrated into the curriculum. Various graduate students may be willing to allow their activity to be tracked while they utilize the device. As future leaders in education, as students and as researchers we have a strong interest in ICT, its costs and its national and international implications. This can be an opportunity, where all of us as a cohort can be an active part of a research project while learning to use this modern technology to its full potential.

Thank you for your time,

Incoming OLPD PhD Students – 2010

——–

Dear Dr. Quam,

As incoming PhD students, we were encouraged by the news that CEHD will begin a pilot program and provide iPads for 450 incoming students. We believe mobile learning and augmented reality devices will increasingly play a role in the education of tomorrow. CEHD innovative and forward thinking initiatives will not only increase the incoming student body satisfaction, but it will also allow them to remain up to date with one of the most current technological advancements. While the iPad itself may not be the tool of the future, augmented reality mobile devices will only increase their processing speed and power over the next few years. In addition, the interrelationship between technology and the environment will increasingly become ubiquitous and invisible.

As PhD students and researchers we are particularly interested in the implementation details of this initiative and the particular goals of the study. We were also keen to find out about ways in which we could possibly contribute to this study. As technology increasingly impacts education and promotes changes to the way in which we educate students from K-12 to Higher Education, we believe it is important for us to remain aware of the most recent developments and familiarize ourselves with the most recent technologies. As such, we were interested in knowing if it was possible, as PhD students, to be active participants in a comparative study. Within our group of incoming CIDE PhD students, we are not aware of any student who currently uses an iPad; some of us do not even regularly use computers. As such, are we, only a few years older than the incoming CEHD students already part of a different technological generation? Do we interact with technology differently than younger university students or K-12 students? If so, in which ways are we different?

We are also very interested in the impact new technologies have and will have for our careers. Are iPads (or Tablet PCs) a fad or are they here to stay? During the next few years, will PhD students increasingly use portable technology with augmented reality capabilities in academic research? Newspapers, television shows, and even some non-traditional peer-review journals are increasingly integrating diverse forms of media into their production. Should we ourselves include these types of media into our research? Should we not, as researchers, remain at the cutting edge of innovation?

ITunes U, YouTube EDU, and other forms of online learning (such as TED talks, online journals, online groups, and OpenCourseWare) can greatly enhance an individual’s general education. Technology also enhances our ability to communicate and conduct research internationally. We are moving towards a future where research projects may not sleep. When an individual half way across the world is resting or mired in intellectual gridlock, someone else in a different part of the world can pick up the collaborative document, expand it or enhance it in ways that one had yet to think of. As such, technology, if properly utilized, can greatly increase our productivity. Yet what does the growing use of online education and learning technologies, including tablet PCs and augmented reality devices truly mean for the doctoral student?

As incoming doctoral students, we are a very small and research oriented group of individuals. Therefore, by participating in this study, we would not only allow for a comparative study, but a number of us could become directly involved in this project. Regular meetings could be held for students who are interested in exploring ways in which iPads could be integrated into the curriculum. Various graduate students may be willing to allow their activity to be tracked while they utilize the device. As future leaders in education, as students and as researchers we have a strong interest in ICT, its costs and its national and international implications. This can be an opportunity, where all of us as a cohort can be an active part of a research project while learning to use this modern technology to its full potential.

Thank you for your time,

Incoming CIDE PhD Students – 2010

Applying for a Small Grant – Global Spotlight

10/19/2010

Dear Carol,

As International (from Venezuela and Guatemala respectively) students of the OLPD department we find it difficult to engage with the work done by scholars in Latin America. We are interested in bridging this gap and increasing the  dialogue between the University of Minnesota and the global south. The Global Spotlight focus for the upcoming two years on Latin America and Urbanization, as well as our appreciation of the various events the OIP office hosted during the  previous Global Spotlight initiative, has inspired and motivated us to contact prominent Latin American scholars to hopefully engage with them as part of the event speaker series within OIP. Furthermore, we intend to engage with these scholars by inviting students to respond to the talks in two ways. First by providing them with the chance to discuss with scholars they would not have the opportunity to meet. Also, by inviting them to respond to these talks in various formats (video, art, photography, media, papers, etc.) in order to be a part of a special issue of the Interdisciplinary Perspectives on International Development (IPID) journal. One of IPID’s primary goals is to provide advanced students with a journal in which they can increase their publishing expertise.  By paring the OIP initiative with the IPID journal, we believe we will create an  interdisciplinary space where students, faculty and staff can collaborate and expand their knowledge.

Below you will find a preliminary sketch of the mini-series we intend to put together, but we would love the opportunity to meet with you in order to discuss further possibilities.

Thank you for your time,

 Chantal Figueroa and Alfonso Sintjago

612-501-2142 / 352-359-4026

figu0027@umn.edu / sintj0002@umn.edu

Co-Sponsorship of Events

The Office of International Programs will provide funding and co-sponsorship of certain events related to theGlobalSpotlightareaandthemeoffocus.

Funding requests from University-affiliated groups will be considered. We will accept requests from $500 to $5,000, but we anticipate that the average award will be approximately $2,000.

Priority will be given to:

1. university- and community-wide events or programs;
2. university events involving at least two units or an international partner; and
3. events that primarily involve student participation.

Events that have a major impact on the University as a whole and the greater community will be given priority. Funding from OIP should be seen as seed money to be combined with other sources of internal or external funding. Applications can be submitted at any time, but must be received at least one month in advance of the event.

If you have questions, please contact Carol Klee at 612-625-9521 or klee@umn.edu.

(this is only a draft!!!! )

Application for Co-Sponsorship of Global Spotlight Event

Title of event: Latin American Development – An Interdisciplinary Perspective

Main sponsor of event: CIDE, Latin American Studies

Date(s) of event: Spring 2011 and Fall 2011

Location of event: Across Campus

Type of event (conference, workshop, film, etc.): Series of Speakers that will conclude in the edition of a Latin American special issue of IPID journal.

Intended audience (faculty, students, community, etc.):

Graduate and Undergraduate Students, Faculty, Staff, and Community Members.

Will you have speaker(s) at the event? Yes No

If yes, please list the speaker(s) and their institutional affiliation:

Briefly describe the event or activity: Speakers have held major roles within their communities. They focused on changing living conditions and improving living standards through a number of fields.

Briefly describe the impact of this event on the University of Minnesota as a whole and on the greater community:

To provide members of the local community and university affiliates with diverse views and perspectives of changes and initiatives taking place throughout Latin America. A general question to which the speakers will help answer includes what is the role of scholars of the Global South within development practices/challenges? How do Latin American scholars engage in their community and participate within the international academia? How will Latin American countries meet the challenges of the 21st century global economy?  What are the main challenges facing Latin America countries and in what innovative ways are individuals and organizations bringing about a systemic change and improving living conditions throughout Latin America? The speakers will address general Latin American development questions in relation to their research and areas of expertise.

To reach a greater audience the series will be recorded and broadcasted through the UMN ITunes Channel and YouTube EDU initiatives. A follow up to the speaker series will include journal articles written for IPID, Interdisciplinary Perspectives on International Development. Some of the speakers will be contacted via Skype, while other speakers will visit the University. We hope that this initiative will foster a continuous exchange where experts from Latin America regularly visit the University of Minnesota to share with us their research and experiences.

List all collaborating faculty, departments, or organizations: (We need to contact them)

Comparative and International Development Education (CIDE)

Organizational Leadership Policy and Development (OLPD)

Institute for Global Studies (IGS)

Interdisciplinary Center for Global Change (ICGC)

Office of International Programs (OIP)

College of Education and Human Development (CEHD)

Department of Chicano Studies – Casa Sol

Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies (GWSS)

Hispanic Student Associations

Budget Information

Total budget amount: 20,000

Amount requested from Global Spotlight funding: 5,000-2,000 (per visitor)

Detailed budget (enter below or email a file to klee@umn.edu):

Transportation- TBA

Room Reservation- TBA

Room and Board- TBA

Other sources of support (indicate whether pending or approved): TBA

If you are funded, you will receive the money through an internal transfer. Please supply contact information for your accountant: TBA

Accountant name: TBA

Accountant email: TBA

Contact Information

Name:  Chantal Figueroa and Alfonso Sintjago

Phone number: 612-501-2142 / 352-359-4026

Bridging the Digital Divide – Educacion Gratuita en Linea (EGL)

Midterm – Johnstone – October 19, 2010

In recent years, the Dominican Republic (D.R.) has attempted to modernize its education system through a series of overhauling initiatives, among them the Plan Decenal or Ten Years Plan, which lasted from 1992-2002. Through this plan, the country promoted the modernization of the educational structure, the introduction of new technologies, the promotion of literacy, the strengthening of vocational education, an increased investment in education, and increased community involvement (OECD, p. 104). Implicit in these reforms was the belief that integration into the world economy will benefit the D.R. and contribute to its development.

The Plan Decenal (1992-2002) reforms yielded various positive results, for example, the number of children between 6 and 17 years old attending school increased from 71.3% in 1991 to 86.4% in 2002 (OECD, 2008). In addition, D.R. has made significant inroads in meeting the UNESCO’s “Education For All” goals by increasing access to primary education as well as promoting an increase in the literacy rate from 70% in 1990, 78.5% in 2000, and 81.6% in 2008 (World Bank, 2010). However, the quality of public education continues to be limited in comparison to other countries in the region, and several indicators remain below expectations.

By 2006, the average secondary enrollment rate for Latin America and the Caribbean was 87.2%, while in the D.R. enrollment was only at 58.7%. The literacy rate remains below the world average of 88.2% and total public education spending (% GDP) is low, at a level of 2.2% during 2007, compared to a world average of 4.6% in 2006 (World Bank, 2010). In addition, according to a 2001 study by the Regional Education Project for Latin America and the Caribbean (PREALC), urban children in the D.R. performed the worst in an assessment of education of all of Latin America, and rural children performed only better than children in Bolivia and Peru, where Spanish is to many children a second language (Murray, 2005).

The D.R. is attempting to bridge the gap between public, low tuition private, and high tuition private schools and increase the overall quality of the education system through the use of ICT. By focusing on both English and ICT skills, EGL hopes to both diminish the digital divide, and increase the job opportunities for graduates in the software engineering or tourism industries.

Explanation of Intervention

Since 2004, INDOTEL, the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications, has promoted a growing use of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) across the D.R., as well as invested in increasing broadband access and establishing community computer labs across the country (INDOTEL, 2010). Encouraged by the government’s interest in modernizing the education system, EGL believes that its initiative will be well received by the general population.

If successful, EGL hopes to attract private investors and establish a growing sustainable development project. With one million dollars, EGL will provide six different K-12 schools across the country with computer labs and laptops for every child. It will also establish “Hole-in-the-Wall” computer kiosks at various places across the country, promote competitions between students across different schools where computers will be awarded to high performing students, and establish an online educational system which, through a partnership with Google and Facebook. This cooperation will provide educational software for students, the ability to create teacher regulated social networks, an email account, and other educational materials. EGL will also invest on a number of mobile learning applications. A description of the operating costs and how the budget will be allocated is included on Table 1 at the end of the document.

The project focuses on six K-12 schools: four public schools and two low income private schools. These schools have around 450 students or 35 students per class. One of the public schools and the low income private school are both located in Santo Domingo. The funds allocated for the ICT installation will go toward furnishing computer labs in each school. Teacher technology training in general computer literacy and the Livemocha online language learning program will accompany the installation.  “Hole-in-the-wall” computer kiosks will be placed in highly transited areas such as playgrounds and markets. Each kiosk will feature two physically protected, easy to use, Internet-connected computers with weather proof hardware that anyone can approach and learn to use. The high performing student competition will award the best language and math students of each gender in 10 schools (limited to public and low tuition private schools) with a laptop computer to enhance their language or math learning capabilities and overall education.  With a cell phone use rate of 0.91 cellular phones per person in the D.R., by providing freely accessible language applications through cell phones, EGL hopes to increase access to educational material to the least developed areas of the country (INDOTEL, 2010). The online software and programs will focus on English, Math, and Computer literacy skills.

Support for Selection

While the impact of ICT in learning outcomes continues to be debated, their impact on society has been widespread and has increased rapidly over the years (Trucano, 2008). Children today grow up in an environment where televisions and cellular phones are common household items, in addition, while not everyone has access to a computer or the Internet, most people are aware of the ability to connect with people instantaneously across the world. In the D.R., Internet use has rapidly expanded from 183.687 Internet accounts on 2006 to 508.603 Internet accounts by June 2010 (INDOTEL, 2010). Based on the average users per Internet connection, INDOTEL believes that 33% or 3,214,371 Dominicans had access to the Internet by June 2010.

To fully benefit from the growing use of Internet in the D.R., EGL will promote the implementation of a curriculum that emphasizes computer literacy, (Spanish/English) language skills, programming, and innovation. EGL hopes to encourage Dominicans to develop their own software through freely available programming software such as Python.

EGL will promote the use of Livemocha (www.livemocha.com) for language learning activities (emphasizing English lessons). Livemocha is an online language learning tool that offers both free and paid courses in 35 languages with over 6 million members from over 200 countries worldwide. (Livemocha, 2010) The learning occurs through activities similar to those in Rosetta Stone emphasizing reading, listening and writing and eventually speaking.  The students also serve as teachers in the language learning community as the course requires you to review and submit corrections to another member learning your native language.

Fluency in English would greatly enhance the economic prospects for its population, including future employees in the tourism industry, which currently represents the largest sector of the Dominican economy. The service industry, including tourism, currently accounts for over 66% the D.R.’s GDP (World Bank, 2010). The largest group of tourists who visited the D.R. in 2009 spoke English. United States and Canadian citizens accounted for 45% of all tourists visiting the D.R. according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) (CTO, 2010). Seven hundred thousand yearly tourists from the U.S bring 3,400 billion dollars to the Dominican economy. Based on the quantity of tourists coming from Canada and the U.S., not to mention that many English speaking European tourists, bilingual skills are a very valuable commodity.

Yet, as important as promoting fluency in English, it is also important for the D.R. to increase pride towards its cultural heritage and its language. Spanish is the second most spoken language  in the world, yet Latin American countries are not known for software development or technological innovations, and most software on the Internet is translated into Spanish rather than developed in a Spanish speaking country.

EGL will attempt to reduce this trend, by promoting the development and increasing the use of computer software in Spanish, an objective shared by the government of the D.R. (López Valerio, 2010) In order to accomplish this goal, the education system needs to increase programs in computer literacy and technological advancements in schools.

To increase the appeal and general support for the program, EGL will not only invest in marketing, but also on highly visible and successful “hole-in-the-wall” computers. Sugata Mitra in India and other initiatives across the world have proven the effectiveness of “hole-in-the-wall” technology in helping disadvantaged students to learn informally. These kiosks help to improve regular literacy and technological literacy (Madhusudan, 2002). By placing these kiosks in high traffic areas in Santo Domingo, the program will increase its visibility and also reach a population of children that might not otherwise learn to navigate modern technology.

EGL will also promote the use of learning software through mobile technology. One of the greatest technological successes of the D.R. in recent years has been the growth of the cellular phone industry to a rate of 0.91 cellular phones per person. Yet this rate is misleading since people in Santo Domingo (an urban area) have an average of 202 cellular phones per 100 people and in the province of Bahurocu (a rural area) there are only 12.8 cellular phones per 100 people, despite the uneven distribution, the use of cellular phones across the country has quickly expanded from 4.6 million on 2006 to 8.9 million by June 2010 (Vargas, 2007; INDOTEL, 2010). The growing use of cellular phone in most developing countries in not unique, and it has been a major focus of Information Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) efforts.

To promote the use of ICT in both private and public schools, and in focusing the program’s efforts to reduce the quality gap between public and private schools, EGL will install ICT labs at six different schools, including providing a laptop for every child. Four public schools and two low tuition private schools will receive these technologies. Michael Coulson wrote in a study (in which the D.R. was included) on the quality of private versus public education worldwide that “private schools clearly out-perform state-run schools… across a host of outcomes” such as achievement, efficiency, and parental satisfaction (Coulson, 2009). EGL hopes to aid in closing the gap between private and public schools in areas such as achievement (especially in language and math), increase learning efficiency, and parental satisfaction, among others clearly delineated objectives through the adequate use of ICT at these schools. As with the other programs promoted by EGL, we are aware of the detrimental effects technology can bring to learning if not properly used, monitored, and evaluated (Trucano, 2008). EGL will use the best known practices available to reduce the detrimental effects brought by the introduction of new technologies and ICTs into classrooms.

Conclusion

Through marketing and the development of partnerships, EGL hopes to continue growing and expanding its programs to where every child and young adult in the D.R. has access to educational materials through information and communication technologies.  ICT and English language skills will improve the financial outlook of young Dominicans as they will not only be able to provide a greater contribution to the tourism and service industry of the country, but generate innovations through ICTs that will allow the country to diversify its economic production and increase its GNP through Dominican style development.

EGL is an avid supporter and promoter of the EFA and MDG objectives. We hope that in the near future every Dominican either through formal or non-formal education will have access to educational materials, will be able to pursue their dreams, and have an equal opportunity to develop their talents. We thank our partners for investing in this initiative. Without your help, we will be unable to provide assistance to the D.R.

Table 1: EGL (2010-2015) – Operating Costs

References
CEPAL. (2010). CEPALSTAT | Base de Datos y Publicaciones Estadisticas. Vitacura: CEPAL. Retrieved from http://www.eclac.org/estadisticas/
CIA. (2010). The World Factbook. Washington D.C.: CIA. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/dr.html
Coulson, Michael J. (2009) Comparing Public, Private, and Market Schools: The Internation Evidence. Journal of School Choice 3:31-54. doi: 10.1080/15582150902805016
CTO. (2010) Caribbean Tourism Organization Latest Statistics 2009.  Barbados: CTO. Retrieved from http://www.onecaribbean.org/statistics/2009stats/default.aspx
Gajardo, M. (2008) Education for All Global Monitoring Report: Dominican Republic –
Country Case Study. New York: UNESCO.
INDOTEL. (2010)  Gráficos Indicadores Estadísticos De Telefonía E Internet Al 30 De Junio De 2010. Santo Domingo: INDOTEL. Retrieved fromhttp://www.indotel.gob.do/centro-de-documentacion/
Lopez Valerio, Mario. (2010) República Dominicana: Productor de Tecnologías, no
consumidor Resources for Open Community Knowledge. Retrieved from http://www.rock.com.do/noticias/150-republica-dominicana-productor-de-tecnologias-no-consumidor.html
Madhusudan, C.N. (2002) India’s “Hole-in-the-Wall” Key to Bridging the Digital Divide? TechKnowLogia volume 4 issue 3. Retrieved from http://www.techknowlogia.org/TKL_active_pages2/TableOfContents/main.asp?IssueNumber=17
Mota, Fausto. (2008)  Plan Decenal de Educacion 2008-2018. Santo Domingo: Secretaria de Estado de Educacion
Murray, Gerald F. (2005) El Colegio y la Escuela: Antropología de la Educación en la República Dominicana. Santo Domingo: FondoMicro
OECD. (2008) Reviews of National Policies for Education – Dominican Republic. Paris: OECD.
Trucano, Michael. (2005) Knowledge Maps: ICT in Education. Washington, DC: infoDev / World Bank. Retrieved from http://www.infodev.org/en/Publication.8.html
Vargas (2007) trabajando en los simientos para la construccion de la sociedad de informacion en la Republica Dominicana: avances en materia de acceso y conectividad. Santo Domingo: INDOTEL. Retrieved from http://www.indotel.gob.do/centro-de-documentacion/
Vargas (2008) Discurso del Dr. José Rafael Vargas, presidente del Indotel, en la reunión de inicio de gestión del período 2008-2012. Santo Domingo: INDOTEL. Retrieved from http://www.indotel.gob.do/centro-de-documentacion/
World Bank. (2010) World dataBank: Dominican Republic. Washington, DC: World Bank. Retrieved from http://data.worldbank.org/country/dominican-republic

———–

LONGER VERSION

5104 – Midterm – Educational Program in the Dominican Republic

Bridging the Digital Divide – Educacion Gratuita en Linea (EGL)

Policy Implementation Blue Print

Objectives: To reduce the digital divide and increase English competency across all levels of Dominican education system through the implementation of a multi-tiered development program. EGL, a Dominican non-profit founded in October 2010, focuses on the promotion of “leapfrog” initiatives within the Dominican education system with the intent of increasing the diversity, long term viability, and sustainability of the Dominican Economy by providing citizens with practical and critical thinking skills that will enable them to succeed in the global economy of the 21st century.

Introduction / Setting

In recent years, the Dominican Republic has attempted to modernize its education system through a series of overhauling initiatives, among them the “Plan Decenal” or Ten Years Plan, which lasted from 1992-2002. Through this plan, the country promoted the modernization of the educational structure, the introduction of new technologies, the promotion of literacy, the strengthening of vocational education, an increased investment in education, and increased community involvement (OECD, p. 104). Implicit in these reforms was the belief that integration into the world economy will benefit the Dominican Republic and contribute to its development.

The Plan Decenal (1992-2002) was seen as a possible solution to most of the country’s educational problems and as the greatest educational reform since 1953. The Plan Decenal (1992-2002) reforms yielded various positive results, for example, the number of children between 6 and 17 years old attending school increased from 71.3% in 1991 to 86.4% in 2002 (OECD, 2008). In addition, Dominican Republic has made significant inroads in meeting the UNESCO’s “Education For All” goals by increasing access to primary education as well as promoting a steady increase in the literacy rate from 60.8% in 1980 to 70% in 1990, 78.5% in 2000, and 81.6% in 2008 (World Bank, 2010). However, despite these improvements, the quality of public education continues to be of limited in comparison to other countries in the region, and several indicators remain below expectations.

By 2006, the average enrollment rate for Latin America and the Caribbean at secondary school was 87.2%, while in the Dominican Republic enrollment was only at 58.7%. The literacy rate remains below the world average of 88.2% and total public spending on education (% of Gross Domestic Product – GDP) is low, at a level of 2.2% during 2007, compared to a world average of 4.6% in 2006 (World Bank, 2010). In addition, according to a 2001 study by the Regional Education Project for Latin America and the Caribbean (PREALC), urban children in the Dominican Republic performed the worst in an assessment of education of all of Latin America, and rural children performed only better than children in Bolivia and Peru, where Spanish is to many children a second language (Murray, 2005). Other problems in the Dominican education system include a gap in the quality of education between major cities and rural areas, where the government has had difficulties in finding teachers and developing an adequate infrastructure (Mota, 2008)

The Dominican Republic is attempting to bridge the gap between public schools, low tuition private colegios, and high tuition colegios and increase the overall quality of the education system through the use of ICT. By focusing on both English and ICT skills, EGL hopes to both diminish the digital divide, and increase the job opportunities for graduates in the software engineering or tourism industries.

Explanation of Intervention

In order to meet the challenges that continue to plague their education system, the Dominican Republic intends to increase its investment in the public education sector during the Second Plan Decenal (2008-2018) to 4.1% of the GNP by 2014 and to 6.82% of the GNP by 2018 (Mota, 2008). Since 2004, INDOTEL, the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications, has promoted a growing use of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) across the island, as well as invested in increasing broadband access and establishing community computer labs in all the municipalities across the country (INDOTEL, 2010). Encouraged by the government’s interest in modernizing the education system, EGL believes that its initiative will be well received by the general Dominican population.

If successful, EGL hopes to attract private investors and establish a growing sustainable development project. With original funds of 1 million dollars, EGL will provide six different K-12 schools across the country with computer labs and laptops for every child. It will also establish “Hole-in-the-Wall” computer kiosks at various places across the country, promote competitions between students across different schools where computers will be awarded to high performing students, and establish an online educational system which, through a partnership with Google and Facebook. This cooperation will provide educational software for students, the ability to create teacher regulated social networks, an email account, and other educational materials. EGL will also invest on a number of mobile learning applications. A description of the operating costs and how the budget will be allocated is included below.

EGL (2010-2015) – Operating Costs

The project focuses on six K-12 schools: four public schools and two low income private schools. These schools have around 450 students or 35 students per class. One of the public schools and the low income private school are both located in Santo Domingo. The funds allocated for the ICT installation will go toward furnishing one or two computer labs in each school that teachers can use to supplement their curriculum. Teacher technology training on general computer literacy and the Livemocha online language learning program will accompany the installation.

“Hole-in-the-wall” computer kiosks will be placed in highly transited areas such as playgrounds and markets. Each kiosk will feature two physically protected, easy to use, Internet-connected computers with weather proof hardware that anyone can approach and learn to use.

The High Performing student competition will award the best language and math students of each gender in 10 schools (limited to public and low tuition private schools) with a laptop computer to enhance their language or math learning capabilities and overall education.

By partnering with both Facebook and Google, EGL will benefit from continued free software updates which will allow the program to remain modern and attractive to its users. EGL will provide for the translations, appropriate content which emphasizes local applicability and context. These programs will be accessible to any student in the country and hope to establish a learning social network and online educational community. This will also permit communication between schools, teachers, and students.

EGL will invest significant resources on appropriate marketing as it will attempt to increase the reach of its program, the national support for its initiatives, and develop ties with private businesses in an attempt to be economically self-sufficient. It will also rely heavily on local volunteers. With a cell phone use rate of 0.91 cellular phones per person in the Dominican Republic, by providing freely accessible language applications through cell phones, EGL hopes to increase access to educational material to the least developed areas of the country (INDOTEL, 2010). The online software and programs will focus on English learning skills, Math skills, and Computer literacy skills.

Support for Selection

While the impact of ICT in learning outcomes continues to be debated, their impact on society has been widespread and has increased rapidly over the years (Trucano, 2008). Children today grow up in an environment where televisions and cellular phones are common household items, in addition, while not everyone has access to a computer or the Internet, most people are aware of their influence and how they can be used to connect people instantaneously across the world. In the Dominican Republic, Internet use has rapidly expanded in recent years from 183.687 Internet accounts on 2006 to 508.603 Internet accounts by June 2010 (INDOTEL, 2010). Based on the average users per Internet connection, INDOTEL believes that 33% of Dominicans or 3,214,371 Dominicans had access to the Internet by June 2010.

Unfortunately, despite the rapid expansion of Internet use, the majority of the population continues to lack access to this valuable resource. The high cost of establishing the infrastructure, as well as the costs of the hardware and software, limits the extent to which developing countries can effectively reduce the digital divide. ICTs are updated regularly, software is regularly updated and hardware quickly devalues and becomes obsolete. The recurring energy costs of a technology lab as well as the costs to repair the equipment require a continuous investment by education ministries and schools. Through the implementation of a curriculum that emphasizes computer literacy, bilingual language skills (Spanish / English), programming and innovation, EGL hopes to encourage children (and adults) to develop their own software. Among the tools that will be available online for everyone to use will be free programming software such as Python. The online education system website will include tutorials and encourage the formation of social groups united with the objective of practicing their programming skills, troubleshooting, and sharing ideas.

By promoting bilingual education programs and English fluency, individuals will be able to benefit from a large among of educational material already available freely on the Internet, such as OpenCourseWare materials from the MIT and other major institutions via ITunes U, and YouTube EDU. EGL plans to promote the use of these resources as well as promote their continued translation of OpenCourseWare into Spanish through Universia.

Within their program and curriculum, the ICT labs and other EGL initiatives will promote the use of Livemocha (www.livemocha.com). Livemocha is an online language learning tool that offers both free and paid courses in 35 languages with over 6 million members from over 200 countries worldwide. (Livemocha, 2010) The learning occurs through activities similar to those in Rosetta Stone emphasizing reading, listening and writing and eventually speaking.  The students also serve as teachers in the language learning community as the course requires you to review and submit corrections to another member learning your native language (or another language in which you are fluent).

This reciprocal learning community fosters motivation in a real-life like setting which makes this program very effective and approachable to young students. Other advantages of this program are the cost effectiveness, quick and simple set up, and that it is accessible from any computer with Internet hook-up. The only drawback is that to be able to fully participate in the courses, computers with microphones and good speakers are crucial for learning to effectively speak the new language. By promoting the use of Livemocha, EGL program would lower the costs of the computer software needed to run the equipment. Among other free software that would be encouraged will be OpenOffice, Google Docs, Linux (Edubuntu, Fedora), Apache Web Servers, Moodle, as well as a large number of freely available apps through different freeware distributors. EGL will encourage and promote the use of freeware free of spyware or adware and will offer links and descriptions of the most reliable free programs through its website. EGL will also attempt to partners with other major reliable software distributors (like Microsoft) with the hopes of obtaining software at reduce prices for its students.

Language learning programs such as Livemocha will be particularly emphasized in the curriculum as fluency in English would greatly enhance the economic prospects for its population, including future employees in the tourism industry, which currently represents the largest sector of the Dominican economy. The service industry, including tourism, currently accounts for over 66% of its GDP (World Bank, 2010). The largest group of tourists who visited the Dominican Republic on 2009 were English speaking. Grouped together, American and Canadian citizens accounted for 45% of all tourists visiting the island according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) (CTO, 2010). seven hundred thousand yearly tourists from the U.S bring 3,400 billion dollars to the Dominican Economy.  Based on the quantity of tourists coming from Canada and the U.S., not to mention that many European tourists also speak English makes English speaking skills a very valuable commodity. In addition, since its independence, the Dominican Republic has had a strong economic relationship with the United States. This strong relationship continues to this day. The Dominican Republic currently imports 42.79% and exports 54.08% of its goods from the United States. These factors, in addition to being roughly 800 miles from Miami, increase the need for students to be both fluent in English and Spanish.

Yet, as important as promoting fluency in English, it is also importance for the Dominican Republic to increase pride towards its cultural heritage and its language. Spanish is the second most spoken language (as a primary language) in the world, yet Latin American countries are not known for their software development or technological innovations, and most software on the Internet is translated into Spanish rather than being developed in a Spanish speaking country.

EGL will attempt to reduce this trend, by promoting the development and increasing the use of computer software in Spanish, an objective shared by the government of the Dominican Republic (López Valerio, 2010) In order to accomplish this goal, the education system needs to increase their programs in computer literacy and technological advancements in schools.

In a highly globalized world, local cultures can be eroded through the influence of foreign advertisement and media. EGL hopes through its programs and advertisements to promote both the strengthening of local roots and the pride of being Quisqueya, while at the same time being aware of the changes that are taking place in the world and avoid being left behind. To reduce the digital divide, it is important for countries to increase the resources allocated to technological research and development. EGL supports the current efforts of INDOTEL in providing broadband Internet access to every household in the country (Vargas, 2008).

To increase the appeal and general support for the program, EGL will not only invest in marketing, but also on highly visible and successful “hole-in-the-wall” computers. Sugata Mitra in India and other initiatives across the world have proven the effectiveness of hole-in-the-wall technology in helping disadvantaged students to learn informally. These kiosks help to improve regular literacy and technological literacy (Madhusudan, 2002). By placing these kiosks in high traffic areas in Santo Domingo, the program will increase its visibility and also reach a population of children that might not otherwise have the chance to use a computer and learn to navigate modern technology.

EGL will also promote the use of learning software through mobile technology. One of the greatest technological successes of the Dominican Republic in recent years has been the growth of the cellular phone industry to a rate of 0.91 cellular phones per person. While this rate is misleading since people in Santo Domingo have an average of 202 cellular phones per 100 people and in the province of Bahurocu there are only 12.8 cellular phones per 100 people, despite the uneven distribution, the use of cellular phones across the country has quickly expanded from 4.6 million on 2006 to 8.9 million by June 2010 (Vargas, 2007; INDOTEL, 2010). The growing use of cellular phone in developing countries in not unique, and it has been a major focus of Information Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) efforts. As cellular phone technology quickly improves and mobile applications increase their capabilities, mobile learning will increasingly be a tool for informal education.

Among its other objectives, EGL supports the Dominican Government efforts to install ICT centers for students with disabilities. EGL will aid these efforts by promoting the development of ICT applications for students with physical, cognitive, sensory, emotional, developmental impairments. We are fully committed to the idea that every child deserves the opportunity for a quality education.

To promote the use of ICT in both private and public schools, and in focusing the program’s efforts to reduce the quality gap between public and private schools, EGL will install ICT labs at six different schools, including providing a laptop for every child. Four public schools and two low tuition private schools will receive these technologies. Michael Coulson wrote in a study (in which the Dominican Republic was included) on the quality of private versus public education worldwide that “private schools clearly out-perform state-run schools… across a host of outcomes” such as achievement, efficiency, and parental satisfaction (Coulson, 2009). EGL hopes to aid in closing the gap between private and public schools in areas such as achievement (especially in language and math), increase learning efficiency, and parental satisfaction with the schools, among others clearly delineated objectives through the adequate use of ICT at these schools. As with the other programs promoted by EGL, we are aware of the detrimental effects technology can bring to learning if not properly used, monitored, and evaluated (Trucano, 2008). EGL will use the best known practices available to reduce the detrimental effects brought by the introduction of new technologies and ICTs into classrooms.

Conclusion

Through marketing and the development of partnerships, EGL hopes to continue growing and expanding its programs to where every child and young adult in the Dominican Republic has access to educational materials through information and communication technologies.  ICT and English language skills will improve the financial outlook of young Dominicans as they will not only be able to provide a greater contribution to the Tourism and service industry of the country, but generate innovations through ICTs that will allow the country to diversify its economic production and increase its GNP through a Dominican styled development.

EGL is an avid supporter and promoter of the EFA and MDG objectives. We hope that in the near future every Dominican either through formal or non-formal education will have access to educational materials, will be able to pursue their dreams, and have an equal opportunity to develop their talents. We thank our partners for investing in this initiative. Without your help, we would be unable to provide assistance to the Dominican Republic

References
CEPAL. (2010). CEPALSTAT | Base de Datos y Publicaciones Estadisticas. Vitacura: CEPAL. Retrieved from http://www.eclac.org/estadisticas/
CIA. (2010). The World Factbook. Washington D.C.: CIA. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/dr.html
Coulson, Michael J. (2009) Comparing Public, Private, and Market Schools: The Internation Evidence. Journal of School Choice 3:31-54. doi: 10.1080/15582150902805016
CTO. (2010) Caribbean Tourism Organization Latest Statistics 2009.  Barbados: CTO. Retrieved from http://www.onecaribbean.org/statistics/2009stats/default.aspx
Gajardo, M. (2008) Education for All Global Monitoring Report: Dominican Republic –
Country Case Study. New York: UNESCO.
INDOTEL. (2010)  Gráficos Indicadores Estadísticos De Telefonía E Internet Al 30 De Junio De 2010. Santo Domingo: INDOTEL. Retrieved fromhttp://www.indotel.gob.do/centro-de-documentacion/
Lopez Valerio, Mario. (2010) República Dominicana: Productor de Tecnologías, no
consumidor Resources for Open Community Knowledge. Retrieved from http://www.rock.com.do/noticias/150-republica-dominicana-productor-de-tecnologias-no-consumidor.html
Madhusudan, C.N. (2002) India’s “Hole-in-the-Wall” Key to Bridging the Digital Divide? TechKnowLogia volume 4 issue 3. Retrieved from http://www.techknowlogia.org/TKL_active_pages2/TableOfContents/main.asp?IssueNumber=17
Mota, Fausto. (2008)  Plan Decenal de Educacion 2008-2018. Santo Domingo: Secretaria de Estado de Educacion
Murray, Gerald F. (2005) El Colegio y la Escuela: Antropología de la Educación en la República Dominicana. Santo Domingo: FondoMicro
OECD. (2008) Reviews of National Policies for Education – Dominican Republic. Paris: OECD.
Trucano, Michael. (2005) Knowledge Maps: ICT in Education. Washington, DC: infoDev / World Bank. Retrieved from http://www.infodev.org/en/Publication.8.html
Vargas (2007) trabajando en los simientos para la construccion de la sociedad de informacion en la Republica Dominicana: avances en materia de acceso y conectividad. Santo Domingo: INDOTEL. Retrieved from http://www.indotel.gob.do/centro-de-documentacion/
Vargas (2008) Discurso del Dr. José Rafael Vargas, presidente del Indotel, en la reunión de inicio de gestión del período 2008-2012. Santo Domingo: INDOTEL. Retrieved from http://www.indotel.gob.do/centro-de-documentacion/
World Bank. (2010) World dataBank: Dominican Republic. Washington, DC: World Bank. Retrieved from http://data.worldbank.org/country/dominican-republic