The International Digital Divide

Over the past 30 years ICT has revolutionised the way we live here in the UK bringing educational, social, cultural and economic benefits to people with access to the technology available. Unfortunately this is not the case all over the world. Globally, the number of people with access to the Internet via a home PC increased from 563 million people in 2001 to 580 million in 2002. The Digital divide refers to the gap between people with access to ICT, the internet and the latest technology and the people who don’t. Groups often discussed in the context of a digital divide include gender, income, and perhaps most importantly location. All over Africa there are a growing number of people seeking the benefits of this new technology. The population of Africa has grown to well over 922,011,000 in recent years. But with only 3% landline telephones it is very hard to get internet connections to the people living there, in northern Africa 3.3% of people use the internet. In the more developed towns and city’s of southern Africa 7.1% of people use it compared with 57% of UK households. The big difference between UK and African households could be something to do with a difference in the wealth of the countries, in Africa it is more important to help your family to survive where as in the UK this is not such a widespread issue.

What leads to being on the wrong side of the Digital Divide?

Guinea Biseau, Chad, Mali, Burkino Fasso & Niger are all on the wrong side of the digital divide. These countries are more concerned about basic survival rather than ICT, because of the countries poverty they can’t afford to invest money in ICT when keeping people alive is more important. Computers are also expensive and families and businesses in these countries don’t have the resources to buy computers, a computer in West Africa might cost six years salary. Because of the location of these countries they all have poor technological infrastructures; this makes it difficult to improve technology that could potentially change the countries situation. If there is no or little electricity then it’s difficult to use computers. The people in these countries are struggling to survive; they don’t want to or need to use the Internet.

News Report

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7647114.stm

The link above is a news report looking at the digital divide within Brazil. Within the report i found this quote 'Last year's figures showed that 59% of Brazilians have never accessed the Internet or used a computer' this is quite shocking when earlier in the report it says 'There are an estimated 45m PCs in Brazil, making it the world's fifth biggest market for computers'. The difference between these two quotes emphasises just how big the digital divide is.

What's being done to change this?

56,000 public schools are presently being fitted with broadband Internet, with an aim to have all of the urban public schools in the country connected by 2010. The Brazilian government is also trialling a number of laptop projects such as the One laptop per child project which provides a very basic laptop for every child at school.

Online Entertainment

Today the range of entertainment available online is vast, almost everything can be done online. Live television, streaming radio shows, film previews, online gaming and much more can all be seen and played online. Today it expands out of the average PC and onto games consoles, iPhones and even digital television.

Radio stations from around the world can be listened to wherever you are and you no longer need to be in range, the choice and quality of radio stations is amazing. Thousands of stations are instantly available through programmes such as itunes, windows media player, or the BBC website.

The BBC website also enables you to catch up with television programmes you may have missed with its 'iPlayer' feature. The iPlayer is available on a variety of devices such as Apples iPhone, the iPod touch and cable televison. For £3 a month BT Vision will let you access the iPlayer on your television and watch up to 30 hours of past programmes.

The internet has revolutionised games consoles, the Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360 all enable you to play online with people on the other side of the world via the internet. On PC's you can now play games in groups via the internet.

The purpose
Online entertainment is designed to enhance the playing experience for everyone using games consoles and online games. It means you can play against new people who you've never met in other countries all around the world, or with local friends.

Its target audience
The majority of online entertainment is targeted at the younger generation who use games consoles and the internet. Some of it such as the iPlayer on BT Vision is targeted at people who enjoy watching tele.

Homework

VLE's

What is a VLE?
VLE stands for 'Virtual learning environment' it is a piece of software designed to enhance learning and support teaching in classrooms. The basic components of a VLE package include breaking the curriculum into sections that can be assigned and assessed, student tracking, online support for both teacher and student, electronic communication (e-mail, threaded discussions, chat, blogs), and Internet links to outside curriculum resources.

What would be the advantages of having one in school?
It would be a good idea to have a VLE in school because it would provide more control to teachers because staff can monitor how often students have been accessing the VLE using the tracking tool. VLE's provide a consistent learning experience so that the student doesn't have to change to get onto a different course, this consistency is comfortable for learners and especially for teachers who only have to learn one system. The students could easily organise there assignments online and complete online assessments, the lessons can also be planned and managed online making it an easier experience for all involved. VLE's can also be used for video conferencing which would be useful for distance learning in schools where staff for certain subjects was an issue.

What kind of things would you like to see on a VLE in school?
On a VLE in school i would like to see personalised desktops for students and teachers and assessments and work that could be assigned online then instantly marked. Notice boards or blogs would also be a good feature so that work could be discussed.

Downloading goods and services

Downloading

Unfortunately as with most things online there are various disadvantages, those being viruses, Trojans and scams. Also now if you are caught downloading films or music illegaly from programmes such as limewire you can be prosecuted.

Online Learning

Online education websites

* one being the worst, 10 being the best

I used five different online education websites for 10 minutes each then evaluated them in the table above.
Sam learning is the only website I evaluated that requires the user to log in, this is so there hours online can be added up and a total usage time calculated. The school the student is at has to pay a yearly fee for the privilege of its students being able to use it. The other four sites on the other hand didn’t require a username and password or a fee.
I think Bitesize is the website that looks the best; it has a sleek simple and clear look about it. The Science museum has a similar look to this and has a very inviting image. The primary resources website is very plain and dull with boring colours and too much text. I think this would be hard for a child of primary school age to use. There are a few basic pictures but it looks like very little effort has gone into the design of the website. Net frog is the worst set out but this is aimed at older students so it gets away with being plain and informative, the images are very basic and the layout is poor.
BBC Bitesize is the easiest of the 5 websites to use; it has a clear navigation and images to enhance the experience. Sam learning is quite similar to Bitesize as the navigation is again quite simple to use and clearly set out. Most of the websites were easy to use, ‘primary resources’ was again the worst one because it was very difficult to find exactly what I was looking for, there is lots of unnecessary information on the homepage.
Whilst using the websites I didn’t have any problems with any of them, there were no errors and nothing functioned incorrectly.
On Sam learning the total usage time is calculated so students can be rewarded for there revision efforts, this is a very good idea. All of the websites used a range of multimedia assets including videos, flash animations and basic pictures. On Bitesize as I moved my cursor around the screen images and texts would highlight and flash, Sam learning is the best website for multimedia, it gets the user really involved in what they’re doing because all of the exercise require you to drag and drop the correct answers into the right places. The science museum website uses mostly basic images but there is a few interactive activities for people to use. I think one of the best things about the websites is that the user can get instand feedback, especially on sam learning where it gives you an estimated A*-U grade for GCSE.


Advantages of online learning

• Quick and easy
• Inexpensive worldwide distribution
• Accesible by anyone anywhere
• Users can work at there own pace
• Sound, videos and graphics can be used
• More affordable

Disadvantages of online learning

• Computers may replace human contact
• Feedback is limited
• Someone must provide web server access.
• You have to be self motivated

Sources
www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize
www.samlearning.com
http://frog.edschool.virginia.edu/Frog1/
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/
www.sciencemuseum.org.uk

Fridays Weather

Fridays forecast said there would be sunny spells, this was correct and it was fairly warm.

NetFrog.

This website teaches people how dissect a frog in the right way, it uses very graphic videos. From watching this the user can learn how to take out insides of the frog correctly and how to identify the organs within the frog. I think the fact it is so graphic helps the user visualise exactly what it would/will be like dissecting a real frog. I imagine if i was to be dissecting a frog it would be quite useful to myself.

Learning objects and simulations

To find out about educational simulations i visited the site: http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/stories/the_age_of_ambivalence/02.ST.04/?scene=1

It fits the purpose very well and contains very detailed information. It informs the user and uses various multimedia assets to keep the reader involved and entertained. From it users can learn things they may not have learnt from looking through pages and pages of information on paper. It teaches us that online education can help people learn a lot more in a more visual and involved way.

Thursdays Weather

Today it has been relatively sunny, it has been a lot colder than the rest of the week though.

Wednesdays Weather

Today there was supposed to be sunny intervals, unfortunately it's been very dull all day and it looks like it's going to rain.

Tuesdays Weather

Today it was forecast to be sunny intervals, unfortunately there have been no sunny intervals and just cloud.

Mondays Weather

Today it was forecast to be Sunny Intervals, this was correct.

This weeks weather forecast

Northamptons weather forecast from monday 15th September - Friday 19th September

My house to Tottenham court road, London

Car: (AA Route Planner)
Depart my house at 11:55am,
Follow the directions to Northampton train station below.


Train: (National Rail)
Arrive at the station by car at approximately 12:02pm.
Buy a ticket and get on the train for 12:07pm when it will depart.



Walking: (Google Maps)
Arrive in Euston station London at 13:12,
Walk to Tottenham court road taking approximately 21 minutes.



Arrive Tottenham Court Road at 13:33

Total Time: 1 hour, 38 minutes.
Total Cost: Petrol: Approx. £4
Train ticket: I could not find this out because of an error on the national rail website

I found the websites fairly easy to use, other than the error on the national rail website. If i was doing this journey i would use these websites.

Tsunami disaster and modern communication

Presenting information in different ways:

• Scrolls were set up along the bottom of the Sky News channel to display messages from worried relatives and survivors
• Specialist blogs were set up immediately so people could reassure others they were ok
• Bulletin boards were used to let people know what was going on
• Webpages were set up so missing people could be located

Sharing information quickly:

• E-mails were sent to other people from survivors
• Text messages were able to be sent and received as almost all fixed-line local communications systems failed or were overwhelmed.
• Bulletin boards relayed information instantly
• Blogs also instantly displayed information
• Live television feeds kept everybody updated

Greater interaction between individuals and organisations:

• Organisations set up webpages so individuals with missing relatives could try and locate them
• The BBC News website received 30,000 emails related to the disaster the day after it happened
• Sky news set up a ticker on its TV Channel to relay messages sent by text and email about the disaster

Virtual communities, where people are bought together via the internet

• A sweedish boy aged 2 was reunited with his aunty after she recognised his face on a webpage
• In a story carried by BBC news, Survivors were sending emails from an internet cafe in Thailand to reassure people at home they were alive and well.
• Hundreds of families logged on to internet bulletin boards to try and find backpackers missing in South-East Asia.

During the aftermath of this disaster modern communication services were used rather than older ones because they are alot faster and more reliable. A large ammount of todays communication methods are wireless so the Tsunami didn't have a direct effect on these. Messages could be sent and received instantly, phonecalls could be made and information was posted all over the internet immediately. All of the services used were very effective in informing relatives and the public instantly. The only service that was a let down was the fixed-line local systems as the sea washed them away or malfunctioned there computer systems.

Instant Messaging or Chat Rooms?

Instant messaging:

• Only the recipient can read what you're saying
• Only people in your contact list can converse with you
• Files can be transfered
• Images can be shared
• Webcams and microphones can be used more easily
• Emoticons can be used

Chat rooms:

• You can meet new people
• In some cases webcams & microphones can be used
• Who you're talking to may not be who they say they are

Newsgroups

I Found the groups very hard to understrand.
All i could find out is that the digital divide is the divide between people who use ICT and the people who dont.
I think newsgroups are quite unreliable as the information could be out of date or wrong.
On the other hand though they are quite useful.

Source: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.dcom.telecom/browse_thread/thread/79e657de8aa67e28/f68a000266b0e92d?lnk=st&q=digital+divide#f68a000266b0e92d

Communicating Electronically

Today communication via text, instant messaging and chat rooms is very popular.

The advantages of these services are:

• Instant contact
• Easy to write
• Mobile
• Cheap
• Easily understood

The disadvantages of these are:

• Can be talking to someone who is not who they say they are
• The language used can be used inconveniently in the wrong places
• They are bringing the quality of the english language down
• Can be less reliable than having a face to face conversation with someone

Email summary

There are many good points to emails. These include:
-Instant communication
-Reliable
-Fast
-Secure
-Simple to use
-Can see date and time it was sent
-Can compose messages with subject headings
-Can be sent to more than one recipient
-Attachments can be added
-Drafts can be saved
-Can be received when the recipient is offline
-Can be sent directly to a mobile device

There are also many bad points. These include:
-Has to be sent to someone with a computer
-Requires an internet connection
-Spam can be received
-Viruses can be received

This is a very basic diagram of how it works:

The purpose of this blog :]

This is where i will record my findings on my research of the following communication methods:
-Email
-Newsgroups
-Instant Messaging
-Online Confrencing
-Blogs