Comment by Frank Tulus on October 29, 2008 at 12:31am

Hi Nabil and friends in this group,

telecentre.org is currently involved in a research study to assess the impact of public access to ICT through venues such as telecentres and public libraries. One of the sub-studies being considered is to look at how non-instrumental use of ICT in telecentres (e.g. playing games, using facebook, etc.) can possibly lead to the acquisition of other skills (e.g. IT skills, cognitive skill, negotiation skill, etc). Given your knowledge in the region, I am wondering if we can find a country in the MENA region which:
- Has accurate national data on telecentre/public library use
- Has frequent occurrence of non-instrumental use of applications within the telecentres/public libraries
- Has low penetration or relatively high cost of private access to ICT (e.g. using PC & Internet at an individual home)

Any information on this would be appreciated as we would like to include at least one country in the MENA region for this study.

Thank you and warm regards to all members in this group.

Comment by DR. SYED MD. ZAINUL ABEDIN on October 29, 2008 at 9:19am

Thanks for inviting to join TC-MENA group.I feel such regional group will be very fruitful for addressing regional issues.
I wish every success of this group.
Regards,
Zainul

Comment by Sulah Ndaula on October 29, 2008 at 3:13pm

Hey Frank,

Great seeing you here...

Recently a 25 country study on the public access to information; for both libraries and telecentres, was completed by the Centre for Information and society at the University of Washington in collaboration with country researchers. As part of that team I recommend Algeria and Egypt who formed the MENA participants for the research. Christopher Coward or Ricardo who could be useful in providing you with the country reports, which in any case can act us a benchmark for further and deeper research in the areas of interest. Atleast I remember your area of interest was part of the salient study areas.

BTW: Is it n't logical to start a discussion group on :Public access research: It could help link up researchers and research ideas. If you would like me to structure the objectives of the group, let me know. But I believe it's relevance is timely esp. for the works you lead...:)

Comment by Nabil Eid on October 29, 2008 at 5:54pm

Translate to Arabic language
What Frank Tulus said about research study to assess the impact of public access to ICT through venues such as telecentres and public libraries.

يشارك تيليسنتر دوت أورغ حاليا في دراسة بحثية لتقييم أثر وصول الناس إلى تكنولوجيا المعلومات والاتصالات من خلال أماكن متعددة مثل مراكز التليسنتر والمكتبات العامة.
وأحد تلك الدراسات الفرعية تشمل إلقاء نظرة فاحصة على كيفية استخدام تكنولوجيا المعلومات والاتصالات في مراكز الاتصال (مثل الألعاب ، الانترنت ،استخدام فيسبوك ، وما إلى ذلك) ويعتقد فرانك أن تؤدي مثل هذه التطبيقات إلى اكتساب مهارات أخرى (مثل مهارات تكنولوجيا المعلومات ، المهارات المعرفية ، ومهارات التواصل وغيرها).

ويتساءل فرانك عما اذا كان هناك بلد في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا
يعتمد وجود بيانات وطنية دقيقة لمراكز التيليسنتر والمكتبات العامة والتي تستخدم من وقت لآخر مثل هذه التطبيقات ، ويتساءل حول انخفاض أو قلة التعامل مع هذه التطبيقات يرجع عموماً إلى الكلفة النسبية في الحصول على أدوات استخدام التكنولوجيا مثل أجهزة الكمبيوتر واستخدام الانترنت في المنزل وغيرها.

أي معلومات عن هذا الموضوع سيكون موضع تقدير كما نود أن نشمل بلد واحد على الأقل في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا لهذه الدراسة.

شكرا لكم وتحياتي لجميع الأعضاء في هذه المجموعة.

Comment by Partha Sarker on October 31, 2008 at 4:25am

Nabil, if you visit our Members link you'd find many users from Middle East or Arab region. I think you can invite them all here. I invited few. I think Karim should also be here. Best wishes,

Partha

Comment by Nabil Eid on November 2, 2008 at 4:31pm

Hi frank,
Kindly, read about FIRDOS Mobile Library for Rural Development in Syria
FIRDOS Mobile Library
The underling goal of the project is to promote the culture of reading and make books more accessible to remote communities.
Despite the wide spread of electronic publishing, books have maintained their status as the most popular tool to get knowledge par excellence. Bearing this in mind, FIRDOS has identified promoting the culture of reading and creating the means to do so as one of its integrated development programme.
It is envisaged that by making knowledge available in such manner, the over all conditions of these communities will be improved. Reading can stimulate positive and logical thinking, shape our understanding of the world and our surroundings and enhance good habits.
The Mobile Library is one of FIRDOS' various approaches to promote social development, the visible signs of which shouldn’t take long to be seen.
The project aims to reach and provide books to people particularly in the underprivileged areas in rural communities through the development of a wide network of mobile libraries and the provision of reading materials as well as cultural and artistic activities.
It aims at Providing books at little or no price to people in rural village communities, raising the cultural and educational level, promoting the culture of reading, and establishing a strong belief in the importance of reading books by families, women and children, and in the role of books in acquiring and increasing knowledge. It also aims at improving the quality of life and standard of living of rural communities through
enhancing learning.
It is envisaged that the project will serve people from all ages with special emphasis on young generation. The library will include books for parents regarding children’s health, family planning, women’s health and other related topics.
The Mobile Library will promote the concept of reading and its educational role and encourage students to read outside the framework of the school curricula and get them into research and investigation. It will also encourage publishing houses to pay particular attention to producing high quality and low priced books. The role of school libraries will therefore be activated and the educational role of school will be enhanced by making it surpass the traditional teaching role.

Comment by akram mohammed ahmed on November 20, 2008 at 3:21pm

Sudan participated in TC MENA W

Comment by akram mohammed ahmed on November 20, 2008 at 3:22pm

Sudan Participated in TC MENA work shop in cairo, by 12 patricipant

Comment by akram mohammed ahmed on November 21, 2008 at 7:08pm

yaster day 20 Noveber is the last day of agood work shop TC MENA in Cairo

Comment by wael alnoby on November 22, 2008 at 4:08am

نحن نامل بمشاركة فعالة من الاصدقاء من التواصل

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