This lecture 2 in SUST master course

1. The Internet and Sudan
SUST Lecture 2

2. What is technology?
• The branch of knowledge that deals with the
creation and use of technical means and their
interrelation with life, society, and the
environment, drawing upon such subjects as
industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and
pure science.
• The total knowledge and skills available to any
human society for industry, art, science, etc
(Taken from dictionary.com)

3. Internet timeline 1
• 1957 USSR launches Sputnik, the first artificial satellite. In response, the
U.S. forms ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) within the DOD
(Department of Defense). The main goal of the project was to establish a
military research network that would be resistant to enemy attack.
• 1960s The Proposal of the Packet Switching Network emerges. Packet
switching is the concept of breaking down data into packets, which are
transmitted across the network. If one of the packets gets lost along the
way, another packet can be sent.
• 1971 Ray Tomlinson invents email program that allows users to send
messages across a network.
• 1976 The Queen of England sends her first email.
• 1982 First definition of “Internet” as a connected set of networks is used
when TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol) is
established.

4. Internet timeline 2
• 1984 Domain Name System (DNS) is introduced allowing users to type
host names (e.g. www.mpl.org) rather than memorizing numerical
Internet Protocol (IP) addresses (e.g. 204.62.131.129).
• 1988 Internet Relay Chat is developed allowing users to chat in real time.
• 1992 Veronica, a gopher-space search tool, is released by University of
Nevada; World Bank goes online; and the expression “Surfing the
Internet” is coined.
• 1993 MOSAIC, the first WWW browser is released (Marc Andressen and
NCSA), the White House goes online (http://www.whitehouse.gov), and
an email account is created for the President of the United States
(president@whitehouse.gov).
• 1994 Yahoo, an Internet Search Tool, is developed by two Ph.D.
candidates from Stanford University and Pizza Hut customers can place
an order online.

5. Internet timeline 3
• 1995 RealAudio technology is released, dial-up systems begin to provide
Internet access for home use (e.g. America Online, CompuServe, and
Prodigy), and Netscape goes Public.
• 1998 The US Postal Service begins to offer users the ability to purchase,
download, and print stamps from the Web.
• 2005 YouTube.com is launched.
• 2006 There are an estimated 92 million Web sites online, with well over
7 billion indexable pages.
• 2007 Search engine giant Google surpasses Microsoft as "the most
valuable global brand," and also is the most visited Web site.
• As of September, 69% of the U.S. population (234 million) use the
Internet. Worldwide, there are 1,244,449,601 users.
[http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline].

6. Important terms 1
Digital immigrants / Digital natives

7. Important terms 2
Digital divide
Scholar Howard Besser contends that the digital divide
is more than just a gap between those who have access
to technology and those who don’t. This issue
encompasses aspects such as:
Information literacy
Appropriateness of content
Access to content
Ability to apply critical thinking to technology or not
Those who speak English or not
Those who create digital content or merely consume it

8. Important terms 3
Digital literacy /Digital safety
• Digital literacy researchers explore a wide variety
of topics, including how people find, use,
summarize, evaluate, create, and communicate
information while using digital technologies.
• Digital safety is learning to protect personal
identity information, creating strong passwords,
and being cautious when downloading programs
and files. This is crucial to the safety and security
of the digital devices students use, as well as the
information those devices store.

9. Facts about Internet in Sudan
• Sudan represents by far the fastest growing fixed
telephony market not only in Africa but
worldwide. Telecommunications investment has
skyrocketed from only US$500,000 in 1994 to
over US$100 million per year. Enormous further
potential exists since the country’s total
teledensity is still one of the lowest in the world
at less than 3%.
http://www.internetworldstats.com/africa.htm#sd

10. Facts 2
Internet Usage and Population Growth
Year Users Population %
2000 30,000 36,841,500 0.1 %
2003 300,000 35,035,677 0.9 %
2009 4,200,000 34,206,710 9.3 %
6,499,275 Internet users on June 30, 2012, 19.0% of the population, per IWS.
34,206,710 population
http://www.internetworldstats.com/africa.htm#sd

11. Examples of International projects 1
Hole in the Wall
• Dr. Sugata Mitra, Chief Scientist at NIIT, is credited with the
discovery of Hole-in-the-Wall. On 26th January 2008, Dr. Mitra's
team carved a "hole in the wall" that separated the NIIT premises
from the adjoining slum in Kalkaji, New Delhi. Through this hole, a
freely accessible computer was put up for use. This computer
proved to be an instant hit among the slum dwellers, especially the
children. With no prior experience, the children learnt to use the
computer on their own. This prompted Dr. Mitra to propose the
following hypothesis:
The acquisition of basic computing skills by any set of children can
be achieved through incidental learning provided the learners are
given access to a suitable computing facility, with entertaining and
motivating content and some minimal (human) guidance.
.

12. Examples of International projects 2
One Laptop Per Child project

13. Examples of International projects 2
One Laptop Per Child project
Ethiopian kids hack OLPCs in 5 months with zero
instruction
Speaks to how we consistently underestimate young
people and how we over emphasize the barriers that
culture may play. In the end, it's about access and
opportunity. ​And perhaps about how education is
ultimately about teaching oneself what is necessary
and relevant rather than standards created
somewhere outside of that.