Trigger

 

Steven Lewis, a past UN secretary general's special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, made the following observation:

 

"… every time I travel to Africa, I encounter orphan children 

who are desperate to be in school, …”

 

This, together with personal experience, lead to contemplating the fact that a marginalised continent recognize education as their key to a better future, yet in too many cases it is unattainable.

 

Model

 

MIT is in development of the $100 laptop and their slogan has become: one laptop per child (OLPC). This noble endeavour, together with a flourishing of modern technology, has spawned (here) a similar yet simplified venture which we hope will have the similarly powerful impact of disseminating knowledge to those who desire/need it.

 

Concept

 

Schank (1999) suggests that relating and listening to stories is the most important element in learning. Jonassen (2002) argues that stories are perhaps the most generic and applicable forms of learning support for problem solving.

 

Based on these sentiments and those of others, it is our feeling that knowledge can be gained by information conveyed in audio format. Taking the books-on-tape concept into the digital age, it is our belief that current technology will enable the cheap, robust and efficient dissemination of knowledge to people in remote and under-funded regions of the world.