materials for university students

[tegegne tefera]

Hi people.

It has been quite in this group and I am guessing every one has been busy as i was. I was taking a course that is related to my work and I needed to refresh my calculus and algebra. Yes often after leaving school we get little chance to practice some subjects and it often gets rusty. I took down my old books from the shelf and wanted to know what else new out there in terms of education material. That is how I discovered an amazing treasure trove that I wished I had when I took those courses instead of some of the sadist lecturers that i met in uni. 

To be fare not all lecturers were bad but some of them were nightmares. coupled with lack of education material it was a miracle that we managed to acquire any useful knowledge. It is only those who had the strength to exert themselves extra and the luxury of having some one to back them up that managed to go though the higher education systems in Ethiopia and did not become cynical. 

Unfortunately things didn't get better. The education system in Ethiopia became a major killer of potential for Ethiopians down to the elementary level. When one sees thousands of "university graduates" who can not be usefully employed or has the knowledge to create job for themselves and become burden to their aging parents it is not very inspiring for the generation that fallows.

 Now back to the treasure trove and another wild idea of mine. (By now you are thinking doesn't this guy give up. Never!!!).

I found this video lectures (mathematics and I am sure there are other lectures too) by one of the most creative, entertaining and inspiring professors i have seen I believe from university of California. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoHhuummRZaIVX7bD4t2czg

After watching few videos I was wondering how useful this lectures would be to the struggling students all over Ethiopia.

But of course with the abysmal internet connection in Ethiopia it is quite unpractical. But then I asked a question what if.

1. Students and other volunteers in diaspora collect this videos and supporting materials (texts, exercises, solutions, animations...etc) and compile them as video and dvd images complete with playback capability.

2. If need be we can make them a live distro that boots directly on to a cd and start playing the material.

3. Put them up as a torrent files so that any one can download, burn them on a dvd-rom and donate it to a university student with an "አደራ" to copy and share it with other students.

I have already downloaded some useful materials and will be sending them to my nice who will be joining university this year.

Downloading all this materials from YoTube or other sites by one person would amount to abuse of privilege. a single course I downloaded yesterday was more than 27 gigabite. Granted I was downloading at a bit higher resolution (720p) for fear of making the text on the blackboard unreadable. But if we coordinate and divide I believe things will become much more easier.

 For the videos to be easily accessible and useful they have to be Numbered, categorized and documentation has to be provided. And that kind of work needs familiarity with the subject. A network of educated diaspora donating a few minuets of their time per week would transform a generation that would otherwise vegetate.

I know the lecture videos I will be sending today would in small scale change the life of few freshmen students this coming semester.  And that should be a motivation enough to spend few minutes per week looking and downloading those materials. The icing on the cake I am learning too. 

written in a hurry

tegegne

[Fantaw Tesema]

ታዲያስ ተገኝ!
ስራህ ጋር በተያያዘ ለወሰድከው ኮርስ ለወደፊቱ መልካም እድል!

በተረፈ ላነሳኸው የመማሪያ ቪደወ ካወረዱ በኋላ አቃጥሎም ሆነ በሌላ መንገድ ለመላክ ያቀረብከው ሃሳብ ምናልባት አንዳንድ ጥያቄወችን አስነስቶብኛል።
የጠቀስካቸውን ኮርሶች አውርዶ ማቃጠልና መካፈል ህጋዊ ነው ውይም ይፈቀዳል?

ይህ ከሆነ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ተቀባይ ሆኖ ማከፋፈል የሚችል ሰው አለህ? ለዚህስ ምን እቅድ አለህ?
በኔ በኩል ትልቁ ስራ ያለው ማውረዱ ሳይሆን በመልክ በመልኩ አድርጎ ማዘጋጀት ነው። ከዛም ምናልባት የትኛውን ማውረድ እንደሚያስፈልግ መምረጥ መቻል ይመስለኛል። ለዚህስ እቅድ አለህ? በተለይ ማውረድና መካፈል ህጋዊ ከሆነ የሚያስፈልገውን ሁሉ እተባበራለሁ። ችግር የለም። ለጥያቄወቹም በደንብ ማብራሪያ ብትሰጥበት ነገሩን ያቀለዋል። //ፋተ  

Best regards

ለሚሰሩ እጆች፣ ለሚያስቡ አዕምሮወችና ለሚወዱ ልቦች፡፡
Improvement is always possible if you take action.
www.ethiopiawakeup.net

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[Fantaw Tesema]

Any answer or idea here? //FT

[tegegne tefera]

Selma Fantaw

I think it all comes down to individuals and their networks. for exampl on my part I have a small plan.

1. I have a nice who would be going to university this year and I have been in discussion with her. And we made a sort of pact. That is I will provide her with what ever study material that should be helpful to her and burn it on a dvd and a usb flash and send her several copies. And she would be share with her class mates and study groups. It is the concept of the benefit of sharing that may be yet to make in roads in Ethiopian schools and especially collages. People yet to realize the how the act of sharing transforms the life of people around and oneself.

2. many universities and students have face groups. To get in touch with this groups and sending a few copies of DVDs to some of the students with a cleaver message to share it would start a kind of revolution.

I am thinking of including a message that says "this cd includes a program that subliminally enhances brain power. But only if you have good thoughts about your fellow students and especially if you share. But if you are a type that hates to share then this is a warning. The program has the potential to melt your brain and make you a moron." I am open for suggestion.

I am already downloaded some youtube lecture videos an will be sending the first few copies today or tomorrow.

I needed to change formats a couple of times because they can be huge (as mush as 27GB). I have also included copies that can be played on mobile devises. But i realized the videos would be too small to clearly see what is being written but it could still help as a supplementary study material

[Fantaw Tesema]

That is all good.

But you have not answered some of the questions.

1) Is it legal to download and burn?

2) Do you know the students/receiver in Ethiopia gets the DVDs for free without Weyanees tax?   

[tegegne tefera]

Sorry fantaw

1. The videos on coursera are legal to download and has even a "download" button to make it easier to do it. The videos on the you tube is a bit of a gray area. It is not allowed. But I found the fallowing explanation on the legality discussion.

"...Yes. Section 5b of the YouTube terms of use states "You shall not download any Content unless you see a “download” or similar link displayed by YouTube on the Service for that Content."

However, it has been upheld that content that is obtained from a legal source and used for personal, non-commercial use is legal. This was decided in the Betamax case, which had to do with the rights of home recordists taping TV programs for personal use. Such copying qualifies as fair use under U.S. copyright law. The same principles would apply to content taken from the Internet, provided the content is legal to begin with. 

You'll get differing opinions on this. If you listen to the MPAA, the RIAA, and probably the AAA, they'll tell you that it's illegal to copy anything, even if you're a cloistered monk working on an illuminated manuscript. However, this is their opinion, which thus far has been unsupported by the case law. If, however, you know that the content you're downloading is pirated from someone who would object to its use - e.g., a bootleg copy of a film currently being shown in theaters, you could be complicit in the crime, even though it's unlikely you'd ever be prosecuted for it...."

It is good enough an explanation.

You can send few videos and clothes and other private stuff by post or if you are lucky by some one who travels. If it is a lot it may catch the attention of customs authorities and they may impound it. But I have sent such items previously and it is delivered without a problem. 

You usually write the value of the things on the post and if it is few dollars (100 or 200) it would not be viable for commercial purpose and the authorities would not bother to look in to it. I know people who sent second hand mobile telephones. I am sure on scanning such things come up but no one is bothered about it though I would not send.

 Though all in all the legal or costumes risk is manageable (acceptable) in my opinion. I say that because one can never be 100% sure about such things.