Bridging the Gap - example of initiatives

Research initiatives to fund the digital divide

Intro:
Choose one of the projects described previously
What is its purpose?
How does it relate to the digital divide?
Who are its main target clients?
What are its strengths and weaknesses?
What improvements could be made?

Answer:
I have chosen the "Learn Direct" Campaign
The main purpose of "Learn Direct" is to teach adults how to use I.C.T, in schools, libraries and colleges.

Learn Direct is trying to bridge the digital divide by teaching adults how to use basic I.C.T. such as word documents and spreadsheets. You can also do qualifications which bridge the digital divide again.

Learn Direct's main targets are mostly adults, mainly mums who are out of work who need a certificate in I.C.T. Also, retired people may be interested in doing the course if they have spare time on thier hands.

The strengths of Learn Direct is the fact that the hours are fairly flexible meaning you can do the course at any time and for how long you want to do it for. Also, you can work it around to suit your hours, for example, a mum could do the course while her children were at school, and end the session in time to pick them up from school again. The weaknesses to Learn Direct is the fact that it is mainly self taught online. This means that if people are completly incapable of using computers they may struggle with the courses. Also, the course is only online meaning if you don't have access to a computer at home, you can do the course at home.

An improvement to the course may be to do an exam at the end. This tests your knowledge of the course fully rather than just getting a certificate that you have completed the course. They could also may courses more teacher based meaning participants will get more from the course rather than whats just on the screen.

Research your local community I.C.T. Access

Intro: Research the provision of I.C.T. in the community of your home town.

Answer: The dis-advantaged groups who will benefit the most from having access to digital technologies are the homeless and un-employed. These two examples are usually caused by a lack of money thus resulting in the fact that they may not be able to afford any digital technologies at all. In stubbington, the vast majority of people who have access to the internet are between ages 12-50. Also, people with jobs are more likely to have access to digital technologies. However, people who can afford them yet choose not but them are the elderly because they arn't educated in how to use many digital technologies. Stubbington Library provides internet access and computers so people can use the digital technologies, even if they can't afford them. Because libraries are free, un-employed and homeless can also gain access to them.

Investigate I.C.T. at your Library

Intro: What does your local library have to offer in terms of internet access?

Why and How is the I.C.T. used?

How convenient is it?
What, if any, has there been an impact on library life?

Answer: Stubbington library has 8 public computers with free internet access.
I.C.T. is used to give an opertunity for people to come in and do work or have access to the internet free of charge, if you have a library card. They I.C.T. is free when the library is open for anyone to use. It is fairly convenient as it is situated not far from the main stubbington village meaning people can shop, then come and use I.C.T. in the library. I.C.T. may have resulted in more people coming into the library because of the different feature that I.C.T. can result in.

Case Study - Wifi in the UK

Find out about WLANs

Intro: Where are these projects mainly located? Why have they been created? What groups do they serve and in what way? Have they, and/or will they have any impact on the digital divide?

Answer: WLAN projects are mainly located in cities around the world. Most of which are situated in the U.K. Most of the people in these towns and cities wish to have free internet access but some are also willing to pay or, there isn't enough good quality internet access for the locals to use.

WLAN projects have been set up and created because there is a lack of good quality internet access in the specific area.

WLAN projects mainly serve the local communities of towns or cities, however they also serve anyone visiting the area because they would be intilited to use the WLAN.

This project tackles the digital divide as it provides an opertunity to for people to connect to the internet.

URL: http://www.wlan.org.uk/

Causes of the Divide

Case Study - I.C.T. and Pensioners in rural England

Intro:
Do you feel that digital technologies have may a genuine impact on the couples lives?
Would their lives be poorer if they did not have access to I.C.T. at home?
The couple were able to afford thier own computer. Would access in the community center three miles away be useful?

Answer:
Yes i do feel that digital technologies have made an impact on the couples lives because they use a wide range of I.C.T. to contact and communicate with family by mobile phone. They have also learnt to communicate by E-mail with reletives in different parts of the world (Australia and Pakistan). They also now order food online rather than go to the shops which is easier and less hassle in that sense. Also, they have made good use from the word processing to keep hold of documents which may be important.

Although digital technologies have made an impact on the couple's lives, I feel thier lives would not be poorer because non of the digital technologies have made a direct impact on their livelihoods thus not improving the standard of living.

Access in the local community center would be useful to people who lived in the village without internet access, but for people who can afford their own computer, this facility won't be too useful unless thier computer broke down. For example, in the Local village, the library has internet access which i have seen people use, however, i have only used the facility in there when my computer broke down.

Dimensions of the Divide

What is the impact of internet access for the homeless?

Intro:
Write down 5 ways in which access of internet could change the life of a homeless person for the better.
Write down the impact of not having internet has on that person
Write down 5 things that are more important to a person than the internet.

Answer:
5 ways which internet access could change the life of a homeless person are the fact that they could look up and read and educate themselves of world issues which they may not be aware of. They could also look up homes which homeless people can stay in. They could also look up people in thier family so they could stay with them. They then could contact this family if they created an e-mail account. They then could browse for jobs.

The impact of not having internet on that person if the fact that they may not be as aware to the current issues in society because news streams are mainly on the internet. Also, there communication will be lacked because it is hard to communicate effeciently with someone else in country without; telephone, e-mail or letter.

5 things that are more important to a person than the internet are; having something to eat, having something to drink, having a roof over your head, having a family and having a social life.

Who studies computing subjects?

Intro:
What is the situation where you are studying? How many girls and how many boys study computing subjects post-16? If there is a significant difference between the two then investigate why this is the case. What impact do you think it has on girls and on society as a whole.

Answer:
In our I.C.T. class, there are 2 girls and X boys. This therefore shows a significant difference between the amount of girls and the amount of boys studying Applied I.C.T.

This may be the case because on the whole, boys may be more into I.C.T. than girls. In the world of work, there are generally more Men than Women who are I.C.T. teacher or technicians.

As an impact on society, I believe that this doesn't nessasarily directly impact they way in which people view I.C.T. As a streotype, people may believe that men are more likely to do I.C.T. as an A-Level or as a job than women.

Tackling the Divide : Political Initiatives

Intro: State the aim of the summit.
List 3 positive points that have come out of the summit.
List 3 negative points that have come out of the summit.
Write a short conclusion stating whether you feel it was successfull or not.

Answer: The main aim of the summit was to discuss ways to achieve the goal of having at leasy 50% of worlds population having access to electronic media by the year 2015.

A positive point that came from the meetin was the fact that alot of countries turned up to the meeting which therefore raises more awareness. They also stated a number of priciples that needed to be met if they had any chance at all of achieving this goal. Also, different countries found out the importance of the internet in economic senses.

Negatives to this meeting was the fact that some people didn't take to the idea to well because they believed that words won't change this situation, only money will which can buy resources to actually make an impact.

To conclude, I feel the summit was some-what successfull in the sense that it raised awareness of the importance of the internet. They all set a very hard goal to meet which could give these nations motivation to do something. However, it is true that words will not change things, only money and resources because you can change anything without these things.

Tackling the Divide on the Ground

Case Study - Daknet in India and Cambodia

Intro:

Discussion - The Success of Wireless Technology

Intro: Why is wireless technology sucessfull solution to the digital divide? Which of the that causes the divide does it overcome? Does the growth in avaliable wireless technology have a clear social, economic, educational and cultural benefits for the society involved?

Answer: Wireless technology is a sucessfull solution to the digital divde because it provides an easy way of providing internet access in remote areas. This is because a car, bus or even an ox cart in remote places can be drove around so the local area can recieve wireless internet. This allows even the more remote places in places such as India and Cambodia, internet access thus reducing the digital divide.

The causes of the divide that wireless technology overcomes is the fact that no infrastructure is needed to set up and use this wireless technology because it is more portable. There is no main building that has to be built, and there no wires needed making wireless technology more easier to use.

The growth in social aspects by using wireless technology is the fact that people could set up online messaging accounts meaning they can communicate easier. Also, they could sign up to a social networking website to communicate easier again. The economic growth from wireless technology is the fact that buisnesses can use the wireless technology to enhance transactions over the internet, or use the internet for research and work. An educational benefit is the fact that the internet is full of educational websites meaning people could access these and be educated online more easier than before. A cultural benefit of this system is the fact that whole communities are using the internet together making the use of the wireless technology more cultural than just the more well off members of society having access.

Case Study - Laos

Tasks: What is the extent of the digital divide in Laos? What problems have causes the divide? What is the impact of the divide on Laos? What solutions have been provided so far? What do you think the educational, social, economic and cultural impacts of these solutions are?

Answer: The digital divide in Laos if fairly large due to many different factors. The fact that there are only 15.000 computers in Laos could add to the divide because the less amount of internet access, the bigger growth in the digital divide. Also, only 1% has a fixed telephone line, yet only 4% of the population have it in households. This is because of the ammounting cost of installing a telephone line ($40). Also, electricity is only avaliable in a few urban areas.

There are many problems which have caused the divide; mountainous geography, monsoon rains, lack of coordination amoung government agencies, lack of IT standards to allow integration between systems, lack of IT at policy and skill levels, poor power and telecommunications infrastructure, poor ISP service, high costs of IT and the lack of Laotian language support.

The impact of the divide on Laos is resulting in there being less than 15,000 computers in Laos because the average cost of a computer is too high for an average Laotian resulting in a bridge in the digital divide.

Soloutions that have been provided so far are as follows; "Cantennae" is a mobile antennae which is made from a can, factory manufactured versions of this are aviable in the U.K. They have also been very successfull as phone based stations. "Pedal Powered wireless computers in Phon Kham. Phon Kham is one of the most poorest areas of Laos. There is no electricity or telephone system, but they have internet access from pedal power. A generator which is powered by a bike charges the battery for a 12 watt computer. It will also work in the monsoon season and the dry season. "The Jhai Foundation PC and communication and internet learning centers". This company has funded a number of community ICT projects. This has resulted in self sustained hubs for community learning. They also teach adults aswell as children.

The educational impacts of the solution 1 is the fact that this kind of technology can be used in schools because it is easy to make and set up. The education impact of solution 2 is the fact that this remote village will be able to be more educated because of the pedal power internet access, so even this remote village can view educational websites. The educational impact of solution 3 is the fact that the internet learning center has become a main hub meaning an anhanced chance for learning. The social impacts of the solutions is the fact that more people can use the different types on internet access, for example the people in Phon Kham can easily access the internet due to this new technology. The cultural impacts of the solutions is the fact that ther culture they are in now with no internet access will be changed. This may not nessasserily be for the better because the internet will be new to them and they may not have the skills to use the internet properly and effectivly. The economic impacts of the solutions is the fact that the countries GNP may increase due to more and easier internet access thus making transactions between countries easier.

Email in the Solomons

Intro: Study the news report on the creation of an internet link for the Solomon islands on the BBC website alongside the world bank data on the islands. Try to identify the extent of the digital divide, the problems that caused the divide, the impact of the divide and the solutions provided so far. Propose at least one furthur initative that would be useful to the islanders in reducing the digital divide.

Answer: The extent of the divide on the solomons is that they are fairly advanced as they have developed a number of different ways of communicating between a number of different islands. The main problems which caused the divide was the fact that tribes who were fighting couldn't communicate with each other by any other means accept word of mouth. However, the solomons came up with a radio-like idea, in which a small laptop with a radio and car battery, powered by the sun via solar panels, which was connected up to communicate between the different islands in the solomons. Another initative that would be useful to the islanders in reducing the divide is to envolve a second hand pc company such as www.donateapc.org.uk where people donate old computers, which are still working, to charities which then distribute the computers to remote areas for use.

How great is the divide and is this changing?

Investigate Changes in Access

Intro: The ITU has created an index to measure and monitor access to digital technologies over time. Pick two countries from its list of countries and create a short presentation on how these countries access to digital technologies has changed over time.

Answer: Presentation created seperatly

Economic and Social Impacts of the Divide

Discussion - Reducing the Divide

Intro:
What advantages are there for the developed world in bridging the global digital divide?
What advantages are there for the poorest nations?
Was President Clinton correct in saying that matching internet access levels with telephone levels will do as much as anything to reduce income equality?
Do charities such as Computer Aid do more good than harm?

Answer:
Advantages for the developed world in bridging the global digital divide is the fact that more people in the world will be more skilled in I.C.T. meaning easier ways of communication. Also, people who immigrate from poorer countries to countries in the developed world will be skilled in I.C.T meaning no extra costs for training. Also, it means that developed countries can set up buisnesses in poorer countries because they are more skilled.

Advantages for the poorest nations is the fact that they have a chance of improving their quality of living because they are more skilled in I.C.T. Also it will be easier to communicate ,through e-mail for example, with other countries. Also, it means that poorer countries will be able to keep up with the economic demands that they are facing which are I.C.T. based.

Matching internet access with telephone levels could reduce income equality because

Personally, i feel computer aid does do more harm than good because if they are suppling the best computers to poorer countries, though this will be good, it will take more time and money to train the people how to use the computers. What they should do is provide technology that is fairly modern, and is either easy to use or people know how to use it.