[Edu-sig] CP4E in a third world country

[Miguel Turner]

Hello to all,

I'm posting here because I am planning on teaching a programming class 
to kids in a small town in Honduras. I am a Peace Corps volunteer 
currently living in a town of about 2,500 people. I studied CS in 
college and originally joined the Peace Corps when I learned that they 
have been seeking volunteers with technical backgrounds for some years 
now in order to develop the use of technology in third world countries. 
Needless to say, I am facing a number of challenges and I thought it 
would be helpful to seek out some advice, and maybe see if there was 
anyone who has been or is in a similar situation.

I've been a huge fan of Python since I taught it to myself over 3 years 
ago, and I've used it often, since. I enjoy working in C and Assembly, 
but Python was like a breath of fresh air. So, I'm already sold on the 
idea of Python as a first language and basically everything about CP4E. 
I recently read John Miller's excellent dissertation on computer 
literacy, which is what motivated me to post here.

The colegio (middle/high school) in my town has maybe 150 students, and 
8 working, donated computers. There is currently a computer teacher who 
gives very basic lessons in Windows and Microsoft Office to the 20 or so 
high schoolers. The town has 1 public internet connection at an internet 
cafe with 3 computers and a satellite dish. Very few families have 
personal computers and far fewer can afford to connect to the internet 
via mobile phone, which is the cheapest option available. In short, 
there is very little exposure to computers here. It is not unusual to 
find kids who struggle with using a mouse. But there are also some kids 
who like to spend their time at the internet cafe chatting and 
downloading music to their cellphones (plenty of those here).

The lack of computers and internet is the first challenge, though not 
one I can do much about. Another is language. I speak Spanish well 
enough, though I do anticipate difficulties when trying to explain 
programming concepts in ways that make sense in this culture. There is 
also the fact that most documentation, code, and the language itself, 
are all in English. I'm aware of some books that have been translated, 
but I'm mainly concerned with how frustrating it will be for the 
students to debug their programs when all of the error messages are in 
English.

Another major challenge is the educational system, and indeed, the 
educational culture here. It's a bit complicated, so I will just say 
that only about 8% of kids make it through high school and most of those 
will graduate without ever seeing algebra. The worst of it is that it's 
hard to find people who actually want to learn, or even think. When I 
showed the computer teacher here Guido van Robot she said, "doesn't all 
that thinking make your head hurt?" This is reflected in the lack of 
self-confidence a lot of the kids have that they're smart enough to 
learn difficult things. It's very frustrating, but it makes me think 
that a programming course would be all the more worthwhile, assuming I 
can get past enough of that sort of thinking to get started.

Practicality is also very important here. Given that, and the generally 
low level of education, I am interested in integrating other subjects 
into the class, such as algebra, reading material, and whatever I can 
include that might be more directly related to local life. I don't 
intend programming to be an end, so much as the means to an end.

I have considered, in some depth, using another method for teaching 
programming, such as Alice or Guido van Robot. Perhaps in another post I 
can give my reasons for deciding against those and going with Python. 
I've looked at the OLPC project too, but, unfortunately, it doesn't look 
like that will be making it to Honduras for a while.

My biggest concern, it must be said, is that I have no real teaching 
experience - I'm a programmer. I'm sure I can muddle through until I can 
get the hang of it, but given all the other challenges I have to face, 
I'm not sure the kids (or the teachers) will have the patience to stick 
with me until I do. So, I'd appreciate recommendations for good teaching 
resources, as well.

I could say much more, but I only wanted to introduce myself. Hopefully 
someone can give me some idea how far up the creek I am, though I'd be 
happy to hear comments on anything that I've brought up. I'm open to 
criticism as well, if anyone has any compelling reasons for why this 
might not be a good idea. I know most, or all, of these kids will never 
become programmers, but that's not the point, is it?

Thanks for reading,
Miguel Turner