Monthly Archives: September 2009

Google App Engine

Posted on by
Reply

Google App EngineToday I experimented with the creation of an application in Python to run on the new Google App Engine (GAE) infrastructure. Things couldn’t have been easier. I whipped up a .yaml file, created a couple of Python classes, a simple CSS stylesheet and HTML form (to give the application a face) then ran a single command line command (“appcfg.py update myapp”) and a few seconds later, there it was! An online, robust, scalable web application operating on the Google infrastructure. I use Eclipse IDE because of its extensibility and because there exists a plugin to develop GAE applications in either Java or Python. I am a fan of python because of its efficient data types like lists and dictionaries. I was however curious as to why I need to locate all resources in a sub-folder called “src” under the application – why couldn’t the source files be located in the root directory of my local file system folder for the application? Anyway, something to test out another time. I am going to dig a little deeper into the data structures available to a GAE application tomorrow – I’ll let you know how it goes :-)

ICT in Education Strategy

Posted on by

 

A Port Moresby Telecentre

A Telecentre in Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea is developing an ICT in education strategy to guide resource allocation and prioritisation in the sector. Squarely focused on international trends, the strategy aims to use ICT to leverage particular national comparative advantages, emphasize energy efficiency and new technologies such as thin-client architecture, virtualisation and flash-based computing. The strategy also elevates the XO-PC to a more permanent position in the school system. A number of consultations have taken place to formulate the strategy and a draft is expected by December 2009. The ICT strategy will offer a summary of international trends in ICT and particularly a summary of how education systems are taking advantage of ICT. The strategy paper will provide a situational analysis and finally will present a tactic for better adoption and utilisation of ICTs in the education sector.