Okay, so I've read two articles about digital divides and the issues regarding the bridging of said divides. Here are the summaries!
First one is 'Bridging the Digital Divide' by Teresa Peters of Bridges.org. How does one measure a digital divide? According to Teresa, a digital divide between countries is measured "in terms of the number of telephones, computers and Internet users". Between groups of people in a certain country, however, race, gender, disability, income, age and location are used as measurements. Despite growing use of ICT, the digital divide is growing faster than it can be bridged because there are ICT 'haves' and ICT 'have-nots'. ICT 'haves' are increasing their access and use at a rapid rate, whereas the 'have-nots' are getting left further and further behind, even though they are technically increasing their own access and use.
So what is being done to address this problem?
Governments, individuals, etc have studied the problem and have suggested ways to overcome it, such as specific ground level initiatives and policy reforms. Many also cover wider issues that affect the digital divides, such as e-commerce and information society. Major international initiatives like the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) bring leaders and decision-makers from all over the world together to discuss the key factors and how to deal with them. But most of the time, it is a lot of talk with no action. There are also many 'on-the-ground' operations that are trying to help deprived populations get access to technology. Efforts range from creating centres where poor people can use the telephone and the internet, to programs using innovative technology in small business applications and are driven by organizations that range from the tiny, like SchoolNet, Namibia's effort to put computers in schools; to the gargantuan like HP's $1 billion "E-Inclusion" initiative to promote hardware innovations suitable for developing country environments. However, most of these efforts do not become self-sustaining because local people do not use them as they do not have locally relevant material.
So what exactly is needed? Well, real access, for one. Access to technology would not be enough if the local people do not use it because it is not affordable or they can't understand it. Bridges.org has come up with 12 factors that would determine whether ICT can be effectively used by the people:
1. Physical access
2. Appropriate technology
3. Affordability
4. Capacity
5. Relevant content
6. Integration
7. Socio-cultural factors
8. Trust
9. Legal and regulatory framework
10. Macro-economic environment
11. Political will
12. Local economic environment
Governments also play a fundamental role in creating a technology-friendly enviroment. It is their responsibility to use technology to ensure that their citizens would have long-term economic growth and social prosperity. To cross the digital divide and put ICT to effective use
to improve people’s lives, countries and communities must be "e-ready" in terms of infrastructure, access, training, and a legal and regulatory framework that will foster ICT use. If the digital divide is to be narrowed, these issues must be addressed in a coherent, achievable strategy that is tailored to meet local needs.
Whew that was super long. And now, on to the next one! This is summarised from The Digital Divide: Current and Future Research Directions, by Sanjeev Dewan and Frederick J. Riggins.
The digital divide is being bridged by way of providing internet access for everybody, but there are problems that arise, such as lack of tutorials that would help the population use what has been provided. There are some obstacles in the way, which hinder the bridging process, as what has been discovered in the study utilizing methods from visual studies, Barbatsis et. al (2004). It notes that many minorities find the content, information and services found on the Web irrelevent to their lives. The authors have found that the digital divide may well be more of a design issue than a socio-economic problem as the computer interface consists of icons, menus and command words that are familiar to white, middle-class culture but may seem foreign to others. Plus, visitors to websites like to feel that the web designer is someone like them. If there is a lack of 'near-peer experience', they would feel discouraged from adopting and further using that site, hindering the bridging process.
Besides appropriate interface and design, another way to bridge the digital divide is to provide ways other than the traditional means of access. Zhang and Wolff (2004) have developed an economic cost model to examine the possibility of providing broadband WiFi access to rural and remote areas using a few new technologies like high-grain antennas and multi-hop routing. The results prove that using innovative technologies can result in economic ways to enable people who live in remote places to receive internet services.
And now we've reached the end (at last!!) of the post. It is definitely not easy to bridge the divide, and I'm super glad to have internet!!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Last (6th) post! Blog Questionnaire
Age: 20 (going on 21!)
Tutorial group: ....um. I cant remember.
Lecturer: Mr Afendi (this one i can remember!)
1. Do you enjoy blogging?
Yep!
If yes or no, please explain why.
Because it is fun, and it is a great way to allow people to keep up with the goings on in my life! And its really easy for me to keep up with the goings on in my friends' lives as well - well, those who blog, that is.
2. Based on your experience, what is the benefit of blogging?
In my experience, blogging enables one to put forth one's opinions in a place where anybody can read them. If one is naturally opinionated, this would be a very very big benefit. Also, as I have stated above, it is a great way to keep up and be kept up with!
3. Do you need more assistance to set up your blog?
Nope!
4. Do you have any memorable/favourite topic in your blog?
Nope... I like all my topics, or else I wont have posted them!
5. List 5 advantages of blogging for you
i) I can share things that interest me with my friends/the world, such as tv shows, music, etc via videos, pics, and/or written reviews.
ii) I can share details of my life, and in a more interesting manner than just talking because i can add pictures
iii) It's fun to read other people's blogs
iv) i can join communities, etc, where i can meet people with similar interests and suchlike
v) my blog is my own personal space where I can post my own opinions on things. i like!
6. List 5 disadvantages of blogging
i) there is a risk of getting embroiled in controversy (esp. in m'sia!), so one has to be very, very careful. which, obv, takes the fun out of the 'i can say whatever i like on MY blog!' thing.
ii) unless it is privatised, your blog can be stalked by weirdos.
iii) weirdos can actually save whatever pics you post online, and do weird things with them.
iv) again, if not privatised, people can post random (and hurtful!) comments on your blog.
v) there might actually be pressure to keep updating one's blog, especially if that blog has many followers. blogs are supposed to be fun! sometimes its just as big a pressure as work and assignments.
7. Will you continue blogging after this course?
Yes!
If yes or no, please explain why
Because I have a private blog that is not related to the course, and I'll continue updating it with stuff from my life as well as the random observations i like to inflict on whoever visits.
8. Do you think that blogging improves your writing?
Nope
9. Do you think we should continue with the blogging activity for the next batch of students?
Yep!
10. Will you recommend your friend to blog?
Yep!
11. Can you teach a friend to set up his or her blog?
Yep! But there are step-by-step instructions already....
Tutorial group: ....um. I cant remember.
Lecturer: Mr Afendi (this one i can remember!)
1. Do you enjoy blogging?
Yep!
If yes or no, please explain why.
Because it is fun, and it is a great way to allow people to keep up with the goings on in my life! And its really easy for me to keep up with the goings on in my friends' lives as well - well, those who blog, that is.
2. Based on your experience, what is the benefit of blogging?
In my experience, blogging enables one to put forth one's opinions in a place where anybody can read them. If one is naturally opinionated, this would be a very very big benefit. Also, as I have stated above, it is a great way to keep up and be kept up with!
3. Do you need more assistance to set up your blog?
Nope!
4. Do you have any memorable/favourite topic in your blog?
Nope... I like all my topics, or else I wont have posted them!
5. List 5 advantages of blogging for you
i) I can share things that interest me with my friends/the world, such as tv shows, music, etc via videos, pics, and/or written reviews.
ii) I can share details of my life, and in a more interesting manner than just talking because i can add pictures
iii) It's fun to read other people's blogs
iv) i can join communities, etc, where i can meet people with similar interests and suchlike
v) my blog is my own personal space where I can post my own opinions on things. i like!
6. List 5 disadvantages of blogging
i) there is a risk of getting embroiled in controversy (esp. in m'sia!), so one has to be very, very careful. which, obv, takes the fun out of the 'i can say whatever i like on MY blog!' thing.
ii) unless it is privatised, your blog can be stalked by weirdos.
iii) weirdos can actually save whatever pics you post online, and do weird things with them.
iv) again, if not privatised, people can post random (and hurtful!) comments on your blog.
v) there might actually be pressure to keep updating one's blog, especially if that blog has many followers. blogs are supposed to be fun! sometimes its just as big a pressure as work and assignments.
7. Will you continue blogging after this course?
Yes!
If yes or no, please explain why
Because I have a private blog that is not related to the course, and I'll continue updating it with stuff from my life as well as the random observations i like to inflict on whoever visits.
8. Do you think that blogging improves your writing?
Nope
9. Do you think we should continue with the blogging activity for the next batch of students?
Yep!
10. Will you recommend your friend to blog?
Yep!
11. Can you teach a friend to set up his or her blog?
Yep! But there are step-by-step instructions already....
5th academic post! Concordancing for Language Learning?
When you think of a concordance, what do you think of? I immediately envision boring, dry tomes that need a concordance because the words in the said tomes aren't generally used in day-to-day conversations now, therefore we need the concordance to grasp the context of the words. Examples: the Bible and Shakespearian works.
Before I go into my personal opinion of concordances and its benefits (or lack thereof), let me summarise the article i read in order to fully understand what concordancing is.
First up is Concordancing in Language Learning by John Flowerdew. He states that 'error analysis and correction' is a good way for learners to begin using concordances, as it gives learners specific words to search for, and simultaneously they can also see the (if any) differences between the way they use their language and the way the concordance does. One of the easiest ways to learn language through concordancing is to practice serendipity learning - allowing learners to use the concordancer as and when they wish, for whatever purpose they wish. Easiness aside, there are also benefits that can be reaped from the serendipity method such as:
i) learners are autonomous and responsible for their own learning,
ii) searches are learner-initiated, therefore the results will be tailored to the learner's needs, and
iii) researching a language this way will make learners develop an overall awareness of the language.
Inductive learning uses the application of inductive and deductive reasoning. For example, if a teacher presents material, and explains it using a concordance, then it is a deductive approach. HOwever, if the learner is told to research about the material using a concordance, it is then an inductive approach to learning. Serendipity learning, for instance, is inductive learning. This method of learning makes it possible for students to access the concordance to answer specific questions. Hence, learners become researchers, because they initiate the search question and look for the answers by themselves.
A few writers have suggested a use like the one described, for example Pickard (1993) has described an EAP course called 'Learning from Expert Writers' in which learners are trained to use the concordance independantly as a tool to improve their writing. Ma (1993) has also described a similar situation which encourages learners to use a concordancer and access a corpus to enhance their writing.
Both applications are in sync with a suggestion made by Levy (1990) for the concordancer to be available online so that it is possible to access a dictionary, spellchecker, thesaurus and grammar-checker. According to Levy, learners may use the concordancer in the following ways:
i) checking meaning
ii) checking general syntax
iii) checking usage
iv) exploring special lexis especially ESP vocabulary
v) checking derived forms
vi) checking collocates of words
vii) exploring set pieces; eg: phrases, cliches
And that's pretty much all from Flowerdew's article!
In my personal opinion, concordancers are very useful in language learning because it is very important to know how to use a word in certain contexts and the concordancer helps you - and very clearly too - by listing down a particular word in all the sentences it appears in. This makes it easy to study and learn, one word at a time.
I'm not a teacher, but I can imagine that teaching would also be somewhat easier. Instead of having to think up contexts in which a particular word can be used, one can check it out with the help of a concordancer! And it is also (i think) easier to teach students - instead of having to drill all the rules and possible uses of each word, it is much much easier for students to understand (and therefore, for teachers to teach) when there are examples for them to look at and understand.
There, those are my two cents worth. I hope I sort of make sense!
Before I go into my personal opinion of concordances and its benefits (or lack thereof), let me summarise the article i read in order to fully understand what concordancing is.
First up is Concordancing in Language Learning by John Flowerdew. He states that 'error analysis and correction' is a good way for learners to begin using concordances, as it gives learners specific words to search for, and simultaneously they can also see the (if any) differences between the way they use their language and the way the concordance does. One of the easiest ways to learn language through concordancing is to practice serendipity learning - allowing learners to use the concordancer as and when they wish, for whatever purpose they wish. Easiness aside, there are also benefits that can be reaped from the serendipity method such as:
i) learners are autonomous and responsible for their own learning,
ii) searches are learner-initiated, therefore the results will be tailored to the learner's needs, and
iii) researching a language this way will make learners develop an overall awareness of the language.
Inductive learning uses the application of inductive and deductive reasoning. For example, if a teacher presents material, and explains it using a concordance, then it is a deductive approach. HOwever, if the learner is told to research about the material using a concordance, it is then an inductive approach to learning. Serendipity learning, for instance, is inductive learning. This method of learning makes it possible for students to access the concordance to answer specific questions. Hence, learners become researchers, because they initiate the search question and look for the answers by themselves.
A few writers have suggested a use like the one described, for example Pickard (1993) has described an EAP course called 'Learning from Expert Writers' in which learners are trained to use the concordance independantly as a tool to improve their writing. Ma (1993) has also described a similar situation which encourages learners to use a concordancer and access a corpus to enhance their writing.
Both applications are in sync with a suggestion made by Levy (1990) for the concordancer to be available online so that it is possible to access a dictionary, spellchecker, thesaurus and grammar-checker. According to Levy, learners may use the concordancer in the following ways:
i) checking meaning
ii) checking general syntax
iii) checking usage
iv) exploring special lexis especially ESP vocabulary
v) checking derived forms
vi) checking collocates of words
vii) exploring set pieces; eg: phrases, cliches
And that's pretty much all from Flowerdew's article!
In my personal opinion, concordancers are very useful in language learning because it is very important to know how to use a word in certain contexts and the concordancer helps you - and very clearly too - by listing down a particular word in all the sentences it appears in. This makes it easy to study and learn, one word at a time.
I'm not a teacher, but I can imagine that teaching would also be somewhat easier. Instead of having to think up contexts in which a particular word can be used, one can check it out with the help of a concordancer! And it is also (i think) easier to teach students - instead of having to drill all the rules and possible uses of each word, it is much much easier for students to understand (and therefore, for teachers to teach) when there are examples for them to look at and understand.
There, those are my two cents worth. I hope I sort of make sense!
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