ITGS Forum

Cookies: Some questions

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 05:40:00 +0000

Respond to this post with your ideas and comments on this topic to do with Cookies.

Many websites use cookies to record and store the browsing activity of persons accessing the website.

Identify two browsing activities that could be collected from a cookie by a website.
Describe one advantage of a cookie for the owner of the website and oneone practical example in each description. advantage for a person accessing the website. Include
Describe two concerns that a person acessing the website may have about the use of cookies.

Policies and Standards in ICT

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 08:40:00 +0000

This week I have asked you to investigate policies and standards as part of the social and ethical issues in IT.
Respond to this post by contributing one or all of the following:

Describe one national or international policy to do with ICT.
Describe on national or international standard to do with ICT.
Find one news article to do with the development and/or implementation of a policy oe standard and hyperlink it from your response.

Grameen Bank founder wins Nobel Peace Prize

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 12:41:00 +0000

Andy Carvin's post about this:

"Muhammad Yunus is the founder of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, a truly pioneering institution in the fight against rural poverty. As a young man in the early 1970s, Yunus spent time in the US on a Fullbright scholarship; when he returned home to Bangladesh, which was in the midst of a famine, he realized the current system of poverty alleviation simply wasn't working."

and also

"One of their best known accomplishments is the digital divide initiative known as the Grameen Phone program. Women are given loans to start small telecom businesses in their home village. They receive a mobile phone and training, then make that phone available to villagers for community use. For villages with no other telecommunications link to the outside world, the Grameen Phone program has created new opportunities for local residents while helping women achieve improved socioeconomic status. It's proved so successful that Grameen is now replicating the initiative in Rwanda and other central African countries."

and also

"Perhaps what's most exciting about this Nobel selection is that the people of Bangladesh can rightfully claim that they as individuals have won a share of the Peace Prize. Approximately 94% of the bank is owned by its 6.6 million borrowers - the farmers, the women entrepreneurs, the beggars - while the remaining six percent is owned by the government of Bangladesh, which of course represents the people. No matter how you slice it, this years Peace Prize has been rewarded to the Bangladeshis themselves. Muhammad Yunus may be the one standing in Oslo this December - and rightfully so - but he will be standing on the shoulders of millions of Bangladeshi citizens, each of whom must be swelling with joy this day."

Post a comment to this post with the following:

Hyperlink (use HTML within the comment to do this) to one other useful resource for this topic.
Comment on the impact of personal and public communication devices in rural Bangladesh and your views about the Grameen Phone program.

Globalization in Developing Countries

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 05:10:00 +0000

Recently we've been looking over the topic of "Globalization" as a worldwide issue. Approximately nine hours ago an online article was published on the UN website, discussing the issue of Globalization in developing countries.

The article was short but pointed out one strong point which speaks against Globalization's ability to help developing countries.

“Only investment in the productive sector will create employment, increase household income and reduce poverty over the long term,” he said, citing especially the world’s 50 least developed countries (LDCs).

In developing countries there may be a few productive sectors, however not enough to take the entire country out of the gutter and onto the mainstream of technology and human advancement. As Mr. Supachi had said, developing countries "simply lack the capacity" and "the ability to produce foods and services, the knowledge needed to create a broad industrial base and the infrastructure that enable countries to trade and communicate." Many developing countries in today's world have attempted to catch up with the rest of the world when it wasn't prepared to, therefore creating only a small industrial base and infrastructure. Without a broad "industrial base", the nation may just collapse.

The article finally emphasizes on the point that, for globalization to benefit an entire country, the country itself must "strengthen managerial and entrepreneurial skills" and "to bolster the Aid for Trade programme" in order to create the broad industrial base Mr. Supachi had mentioned earlier.

If you would like to view the article, please click here.

Responses to IT AUP

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 04:15:00 +0000

Thank you for your considered responses to the draft IT Policy.

Here are some highlights from your comments:

Refa'at said:
"Every student needs the ability to navigate through the 24/7 information flow that today connects the global community. For students to thrive in a world enabled by information technology, we must give them the skills to make sense of and use the information that engulfs them. We need to give them full resposibility in choosing what is right and what is wrong. If they want to misuse technology and not avail the advantages than its there problem not the teachers or the schools. There are students who are using technology rightfully so it won't be fair to them if privelleges are taken away from all the students. They need to know how to learn new skills as quickly as technology creates new challenges. Many students already use computers and surf the Web on their own, but there's more to educational technology than desktop computers.
Teachers and students need access to laptops and pocket PCs to collaborate across miles. The technology environment of today's schools should match the approaches of the work and life that students will encounter when they leave school. ISD is a sort of school that is taking alot of initiatives in carrying out such a program and they should continue giving privelleges to the students in order to run the program effectivily.
If a student is using inappropriate websites during school time then they should be warned and if it happens second time than the parents of that student should be called and if it continues happening than that particular student should be blocked from accessing websites and his privileges should be taken away."

Saif said:
"On the other hand, yes I agree that the school bandwidth should be preserved only for academic purposes, and that students should refrain from using it for other uses such as downloading software, chatting, playing games, and viewing inappropriate websites. Overall I think that the implementation of the IT AUP will be a positive step for the school and will contribute in making the school network more secure for students to use."

Debanjan said:
"However since the laptops are student’s personal laptops they shouldn't be barred from doing everything. Students should be given a limit on what they can download from the net. For example downloading music won't cause much harm but there should be a limit as to how much music a student can download. If they exceed this limit they should be warned."

Nader said:
"Then again, a student's performance in class is always dependant on how relaxed and ready he/she is to accept the information about to be taught, thus the internet being a tool for leisure too would assist in their ability to learn. However, the definition of leisure should be outlined clearly, due some student's interest and visiting inappropriate sites.
As said by Mrs. Lindsay "We can block any website we want", the school does have the ability to filter our system."

Shaveena said:
"considering that the IT policy is for school, the idea of primarily using the laptops for educational puposes over recreational is more sensible. however as the laptops are personal property of the students, they should be allowed to do whatever they please as long as it is not interfering with school work."

Reem said:
"The school has already blocked p2p softwares, IM-ing software and other things that would take up a students time in class. However I think that firewalling websites is not an ethical approach. For example for ITGS, last year, we debated if porngraphy should be banned. In order to argue one needs sufficient research, if the word "porn" is banned, then it wouldn't be possible for senior to research."

Wasi said:
"However the questions remain as to the implementation of this policy. How and who will implement the policy? What are penalties for breaching the policy? As far as I am concerned, I think the policy should specify these things so that students and staff could be aware of the consequences. It is also important that the policy is revised and overlooked every year to ensure that it is up to date with the rapidly changing in the technological world."

Arpit said:
"The point of keeping the websites just for an educational purpose may have a lot of disadvantages to the students as they won't be able to get information about extra curricular activites or when they have one free period after seven long periods in the school, as from a student point of view i would say that a student is allowed to do some of his personal work in school as well to ease his or her mind. A solution to this can be done by unblocking all those websites in the library computers or some specific computers."

Our new DELL desktop PCs have arrived this week and we look forward to having them deployed throughout the school. ITGS students will benefit from the higher-end multimedia lab installed as it will complement the work they are doing with their laptops.

Your input to an IT AUP

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 01:39:00 +0000

I am interested in your views on the redevelopment of our IT Acceptable Use Policy at ISD. As part of the process we are using a wiki for teachers and administration to collaborate on the final documents. See this in action at IT Policy on the 123elearning wiki.

Your task is to read through the policy sections and contribute ideas, comments, suggestions as a response to this blog posting. I am particularly interested in your views as laptop students and your ideas as to the viability and usability of social /academic networking sites for education.

Some questions to get you thinking:

When and where do we draw the line in terms of academic validity and recreational or social activities when using online resources?
Should our school bandwidth be preserved only for 'academic' pursuits online?
What are your personal solutions to the issue of students finding and using inappropriate websites during school time?

I look forward as usual to reading your comments.

Obsolesence and the Impact of IT on Health and Medicine

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 08:54:00 +0000

Our recent visit to Apollo Hospital here in Bashundara, Dhaka opened our eyes to the unique requirements of ICT used to support health and medicine.
In particular the IT Manager talked about obsolesence as being the main disadvantage of using ICT in this area.
Post comments in response to this statement.

Do you agree with it?
What does he mean by obsolesence?
What becomes obsolete?
How does this equate in business or financial terms?
How does this relate to maintaining a high quality service.

I look forward to reading your informed opinions.

Health and Medicine: HIPAA

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 16:22:00 +0000

This week we visited the relatively new hospital opposite our school, Apollo international hospital. We spoke to the IT Manager about the impact of IT on all parts of hospital services and functions. He talked briefly about HIPAA, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
Do some investigation into Title II of this act in terms of privacy and security.
Can you descibe the meaning of this Act? What are your opinions about this?

OLPC and Bangladesh

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 01:57:00 +0000

I would like to highlight some of the comments made by the ITGS class in response to OLPC Keeping in Touch posting last week. It seems that many of you have the opinion that the $100 laptop will not be suitable for Bangladesh given current infrastructure and levels of literacy.

Reem said: "I think the OLPC is something that will bring immense changes in all fields but once it has been implemented properly. I think that for the first couple of years, problems such as theft and a loss in developing countries in expected."

Wasi said: " I do not think that the OLPC program will succeed in Bangladesh and other developing countries. First of all .......... the OLPC it is a 100 million dollar project. Frankly speaking 100 million dollars is extremely expensive for many developing nations.

Bangladesh already can produce decent brand new desktop computers with a price tag of Tk. 9,000. Second hand desktop computers can be bought for around Tk.5,000 to 6,000 range. Now if we do some calculations $100 is equivalent to around Tk.7200.

If Bangladesh purchase’s these laptops we lose a large amount of our valuable foreign currency reserve. Why don’t we develop and experiment with the indigenous Tk.9000 desktop and try to bring down the price? This implication will be very useful for Bangladesh and other developing nations to adopt because by buying indigenous products the government will be supporting its own industries. This will be encouraging private sector, new employment will be created and thus it will be a big boost for the local economy. Consequently creation of such an industry will be a matter of nation pride and this concept or our products could be introduced or exported to other developing nations.

Bangladesh government has already donated about 10,000 desktop to government run school throughout the country. ..... Unfortunately many of the computers are in use and they are still packed because teachers in schools lack adequate training to operate such machines. In that case lack of training and trainers will make the $100 laptop of little or no use to the children. Furthermore greater changes in our education system are required before introducing the $100 laptop."

Nader said: "Not only do the local communities have to learn how to utilize these devices, but if they are expected to follow the mainstream of digital technology, they must be connected like the rest of the world; to the internet, to a reliable power source, etc."

Ishad said: "initially training centres can be opened up by the government to provide training in order make the OLPC programme succesful..because the literacy rate in BD is extremely low...less than 50% of the population cannot read or write...for an underdeveloped country like BD this might be too soon to invest on the IT sector because the majority of the population are deprived of primary education. therefore i dont think OLPC programme is viable in bangladesh."

Saif said: "Also, even if underpriviledged children are provided with the laptops, don't they need the basic computing skills to use them? I think before a country like Bangladesh takes in the OLPC project, the government should first start a training program, and educate the underpriviledged, raise the IT literacy rate. Just purchasing the technology and spending money on such projects will not work, the main area which lacks improvement is education."

My question this week is, what are the costs involved in implementing OLPC? If the Bangladesh government went ahead and planned for a shipment of these devices what other costs woudl they incur? What planning would need to be done? What infrastructure and training needs to be instigated?

Keeping in touch with OLPC

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 02:41:00 +0000

Here are some new links to help you keep in touch with the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) ($100 laptop) initiative by Nicholas Negroponte.

One Laptop Per Child News and RSS feed (put this into your Bloglines account)
The 'Gods Must Be Crazy' Solution (artcle and commentary)
Nicholas the Great! (moblog from NECC06 conference)

What is your opinion now, after having read these? Is the OLPC going to work? What are the essential problems that may prevent it from being a success?

ITGS Review and Reflection

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 06:45:00 +0000

As the year is almost over I thought it would be a great idea for the first ever ITGS (Information Technology in a Global Society) students at ISD to spend 15 minutes refelcting on what they have experienced and achieved during this subject. This could help current Grade 10 students to choose ITGS next year and also provide material for our Yearbook ITGS page. So......over to you. I would like to to hear your comments about:

Your best ITGS experience this year and why
Your thoughts about the development of our online learning community and the tools we use to foster this
Your favourite topic in class this year and why
Your biggest challenge doing ITGS and why
Words of wisdom for upcoming ITGS students

Also, because we are working online and we have discussed the 10 Habits of Bloggers that Win I ask you to hyperlink to your favourite post/comment on this blog this year. Was it one of your posts that is good? Was it one of mine? Was it a comment from another student?

The $100 Laptop: How will it impact?

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 06:35:00 +0000

We have spent time researching and discussing the digital divide and education. Revisit this again and focus on the development of the $100 laptop.

Resources to get you thinking:

Nicholas Negroponte speaking on IT Conversations (podcast)
Andy Carvin at the launch of the $100 laptop last November (video)
A quote from 'Being Digital' by Nicholas Negroponte and comments about digital litercy from the eLearning blog

Your Task:
Share your thoughts about this issue by responding to this post.
As part of your posting add one other resource directly related to the $100 laptop and its impact on education. Don't forget to include at least one social and/or ethical issue!
Questions you should be asking:

Who is Nicholas Negroponte and what inspired him to develop the $100 laptop?
What are the specs of the laptop? How can he produce it for $100?
What will be the international/global impact of the $100 laptop? Who will have access? Who will benefit? Why? How?
What are the main issues with this technological development?
Who are the main stakeholders?

International Student Online Debate

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 11:58:00 +0000

Starting this week, students in the ITGS class at International School Dhaka will participate in an online debate with students from Presbyterian Ladies College, Melbourne, Australia. The debate will be conducted asynchronously and speakers comments will be posted as vodcasts, podcasts and blogs.

The debate topic is:
"School students can use the web to change the world"

The full detail for the online collaborative project can be found on the Bangladesh to Australia website. Also, for a fast-track to the PLC material go to Burwood to Dhaka.

*****************************
PLC Speaker 1 for the affirmative.

ISD is taking the negative. Here is Nader, Speaker 1 for ISD.

Watch the Video

Listen to the Podcast
Read the Summary

Every invention of man has always come with consequences. Over the last century, technology has made incomprehensible progression through man’s potential and imagination. The internet was only introduced publicly within the last decade, and within this decade, the various methods in which the internet could be utilized was developed, from storing random data, to a form of direct visual communication. However, when human beings put personal information on the World Wide Web, others take advantage of such data. Students may place information on the web to educate others, attempting to change the world; however the intentions of the student are uncontrollable. Thus, they could put information which could misguide others, and lead to great arguments amongst others.
"Digital literacy is the ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources when it is presented via computers... (Not) only must you acquire the skill of findin gthings, you must also acquire the ability to use those things in your life. Acquiring digital literacy for Internet use involves mastering a set of core competencies. The most essential of these is the ability to make informed judgments about what you find on-line." (Gilster, 1997)
Therefore I feel that the internet could be used to change the world, however it is a great risk trusting individuals or certain organizations data. Another issue to consider is that majority of the people on the planet doesn’t process a computer, or even have access to the internet.

Students can change the world through the internet producing some positive results, however there will be severe consequences.

*****************************
PLC Speaker 2 for the affirmative

Here is Wasi, ISD Speaker 2 for the negative. Wasi is presenting on behalf of Shaveena who preapared the material but was absent on the day of recording.

Watch the video
Listen to the podcast
Read the summary

The internet is in fact a marvelous invention and can be extremely helpful
to people of all ages. But it can also be considered very dangerous. There
is always risk of coming across inappropriate material on the web, or
meeting an anonymous sexual predator in a chat room. There have been cases
where children have been kidnapped or exploited over the web.

The internet can be useful to students. They can use the internet in
everyday aspects of their lives. But in a country like Bangladesh, there
are only a few schools who can afford to gain access to computers. Some
schools don’t even have any electricity. How can they gain access to the
internet and even if they do, how can their problems be solved? This is
the case with many countries all over the world. The internet is very
influential, but it is not powerful enough as not all students from all
over the world can gain access to it.

The Internet does have innumerable benefits and has bettered the lives of
many people. But the internet cannot be used to change the world for
people who have very little or no knowledge of what the internet is.

DOPA: What do you think?

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Tue, 16 May 2006 14:45:00 +0000

The DOPA (Deleting Online Predators Act) is proposed in the USA.
If it passes all access in public schools to social networking sites on the Internet would be banned (including MySpace).

Read the act: Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006

Read the Cool Cat Teacher comments: From Book Burning to Blog Burning

Read what Andy Carvin on Learning.now has to say: Join the Fray over Online Social Networks

What do you think? Should it be passed by the government? What are the social and ethical issues here? Who are the stakeholders?

Respond to this posting with YOUR comments and opinions about this issue.

ITGS Exam Revision

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Thu, 11 May 2006 17:31:00 +0000

As end of year exams loom next week, let's use this forum to discuss revision ideas and topics over the next few days. Don't forget the revision outline is available on page 5 of our ITGS Protopage.

Exploring eCommerce

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Mon, 08 May 2006 06:38:00 +0000

As part of the Area of Impact Business and Employment respond to this posting with your own links to eCommerce related websites that will provide vital information and statistics for global and national coverage.

Here are some resources to get you started:

Podcast Digital Divide!

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Tue, 02 May 2006 16:10:00 +0000

Concluding our recent studies on the digital divide here are some recent student group podcasts.

Shaveena, Reem and Mehrab: Some countries are 'bridging the digital divide' by sending second hand computers to Africa. This discussion explores the impact of this and whether it is a viable solution to the digital divide issues in Africa. Podcast Bangladesh Episode 9
Sunny, Mehran and Debanjan: The United Nations World Summit on the Information Society is discussed in terms of the effect on developing countries such as Bangladesh.
Podcast Bangladesh Episode 10

Censorship and Education

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 05:08:00 +0000

There is a lot of discussion about MySpace, the online web space available for people of any age to create a profile and have this information accessible to others (one of the facilitites provided by the free online tool). A blog posting this week by Andy Carvin, "The Word that Will Get Your Blog Censored by Texas Schools" discusses this in relation to the use of MySpace.

What do you think of this?? How far should censorship of online material and websites go?
Post a comment to this posting with your opinion and ideas about this type of censorship. Who are the stakeholders? What are the issues? IT system technology allow this to be possible but should it be allowed? Why? Why not? What are the policies and standards that allow this to happen or not?
Can you find recent information to support your viewpoint or to contribute to the body of data we have already about this topic (blog, article)?

I look forward to reading your comments.

ITGS Debate: Podcast to the world!

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 16:29:00 +0000

Recently in ITGS we have been researching on the impact ot IT on education. One of the topics discussed is censorship of the Internet and how it applies to education, how it is found in educational institutions and whether it should exist. To highlight this topic the students conducted an in-class debate which we also recorded and now present as a series of short podcasts.

Debate Topic:

"Censorship of the Internet is necessary to protect students from unacceptable online content"

Each entry below is a summary of each speakers position with the podcast audio file also available for listening and/or downloading.

Speaker 1 FOR: Arpit (Listen to the podcast)
The first speaker on the side “for” censorship on the internet was Arpit. He had introduced the topic of discussion, and had immediately spoke on the usage and production of pornographic material across the globe. In order to back up his statements he gave real life examples of children and the crimes they had committed which were provoked by content viewedon the Internet.

Speaker 1 AGAINST: Saif (Listen to the podcast)
These days Censorship of the internet is becoming quite popular in
countries throughout the world, such as China, UAE, Myanmar, Morocco,
Singapore, France, South Korea, USA, etc. We may think that this is a
positive thing, but look at the reasons as to why most governments have
started the censorship. Other than censoring pornographic sites,
governments in the UAE, South Korea, Singapore, France, have censored
websites containing religious, and political, and racial content.
Therefore why should censorship of these types of content be necessary for
students? Students should have the right to know about racial and
political issues in their country. Every human being has the right to
know. Therefore why should they be banned from visiting sites which
contain such information. It would be biased of the ruling government not
to let people read about the political situation of the country. Thus
there is also an issue of Equality of Access. Students along with everyone
else, should have the right to read about anything they want, they have
the right to know, and reading will help to increase their general and
practical knowledge. Therefore no, censorship of the internet is not
really necessary to protect students from unacceptable online content.

Speaker 2 FOR: Shaveena (Listen to the podcast)
She opposed what Saif had said regarding the responsibility of certain students and their access to the internet. Shaveena introduced the notion of viewing information which maybe propaganda, and might give children inaccurate information. When approaching the educational aspects in society, Shaveena had mentioned that the internet, through pop ups, and spam, tempt individuals to plagiarise material placed on the Internet.

Speaker 2 AGAINST: Reem (Listen to the podcast)
As Saif said censorship of the internet is indeed becoming very popular.
Yes I will agree to the fact that banning pornographic sites for children
is right. However some countries have banned many religious and social
sites. In Korea for example, people cannot access websites without their
ID number. What if the database is not updated regularly? The word wide
web is certainly one of the best ways to access a vast quantity of current
information. If the internet use of the internet of censored, it will
affect different businesses and companies and on the long run this may
take a toll. Don't we all find Wikipedia useful? Their site stated that
their site is on the most commonly censored website. Why would one do so?
At times its easier to find information using wikipedia. Countries like
Tunisia have banned P2P software. Life without Limewire or Kazaa would be
unbearable, where would you download all your illegal music from? Syria on
the other hand has blocked political websites and arrested people who
tried to those sites. Morocco on the other hand has blocked access to
blogging sites like livejounral.com. how will the world overcome the
digital divide if useful resources like blogs, and useful political and
religious websites are blocked? Yes, censorship is a problem regarding
pornography but other viable, useful software's and sites are being banned
because of internet censorship. Therefore I conclude with saying I think
censoring the internet is not exactly a viable solution to decrease the
access to pornographic sites.

Speaker 3 FOR: Wasi (Listen to the podcast)
Wasi had begun with relating hard copy libraries to the internet. Stressing that if books and other hard copy material could be filtered when brought within the confines of a school, why internet material can’t be filtered as well.
He then quickly mentions the reliability and validity of certain material on the internet, and how sites should be censored which fall below a certain level of reliability when it comes to the material being exposed.

Speaker 3 AGAINST: Mehrab (Listen to the podcast)
The internet is filled with explicit and useless popups. As reem and saif
have mentioned earlier, censorship of the internet is mainly used for
religious, cultural or other purposes concerning age. But today, it is a
huge issue in most countries around the world such as China, UAE, South
Korea, Singapore and other countries and many lisenced websites are banned in these countries for containing racial, sexual or certain cultural
purposes. But the problem is that nowdays it has become an everday saying that children of today will be the leaders of tomorrow. But how will this
happen and how will they able to be leaders if they do not have access to
all sorts of information that they need to know. The internet should be
available to anyone and everyone who can access it and none of the
websites should be banned or censored. As long as the information on the
website is reliable and has not been altered, everyone should have the
rights to access websites. Most people today use the internet for good
causes and to gain knowledge and information about many different things
under different topics. Censoring valueable websites that contain a lot of
good and reliable information shouldn't be censored or banned by anyone
because if it is information, it is there for a cause. Most schools or
organizations use filters or censors to block certain websites or online
downloading or communicating programs or p2p softwares but this is always
done within the boundaries of the school or organization. Blocking
websites or programs that are not useful when at a specific place can be
banned by the person in charge of the place. Information about cultures,
politics, countries, science and many other topics are always available on
the internet, so blocking the pathway to all these open information will
lead to huge gaps in ones mind and knowledge.

Thank you to Ms Nilanthi Das for adjudicating our debate.
Thank you to Refa'at for facilitating the podcast recording.

Online Education - Advantages and Disadvantages

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 03:48:00 +0000

Many people today have been relying on online degrees as a cheaper and less complicating method to earning a legal degree through a qualified university. Yes there are certain advantages, yet there are just as many disadvantages towards the idea of earning an online degree; they are:

Advantages:

Online degrees are accessible anywhere in the world, as long as there's a computer with a decent connection to the internet.
Like a university, the student applying online has just as many (or more) courses to chose from.
Rather than limiting oneself to the students present in the class, the student online is able to communicate with students across the globe.
A major factor concerning most of the present day parents, is the amount of money required to get their children a decent education. Thus, online education is seen to be a more feasible option.
Online education allows the student to be more flexible when it comes to attending seminars, giving in assignments, and exams. It allows the student to work at his/her leisure.
Documents, transcripts, live discussions and training materials are available online, or mailed to the individual. Instructors are also available at convenient times and respond quickly through email.

now for the disadvantages:

Disadvantages

One of the main purposes for having a good education is to follow get a good job afterwards. When it comes to employment not all work industries acknowledge online degrees.
Due to interaction through email or text chatting, individuals may not have a chance to enhance their oral communication skills.
Many online degrees are not valid or accredited.
Not all courses are available online.

For more information click here.

Digital divide in education and example of bridging

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 18:14:00 +0000

Though the internet is known and using as the one of best education method, lots of people doesn’t really use internet for education in poor countries either in the country sides. As a result, MIT developed $100 Laptop to bridge digital divides and other organizations started to help out to bridge it.

For one Example; the Magic Johnson Foundation and the HP Inventor Center has chosen the Florida Digital Divide Council to assist in bridging the digital divide. The Florida Digital Divide Council was established by Governor Jeb Bush and the Florida Legislature in 2001. The council was intended to ensure that residents have frequent access to information technology so that they can obtain proper knowledge to qualify for high-waged employment. The world is technologically driven and these organizations intend to expand the reach of residents in under-served communities by exposing them to technological skills that can improve their lives.

http://student.plattsburgh.edu/camp1491/kaypowerpoint.ppt

Digital Divide Network: Andy Carvin

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 09:31:00 +0000

Andy Carvin is the Director of the Digital Divide Network, a project of the Center for Media and Community in the USA. He is also author of the blog 'Andy Carvin's Waste of Bandwidth'. As part of our digital divide work in ITGS we have spent some time exploring global issues and possible solutions to do with the divide. Andy is an enternationally renowned speaker about this exact topic.

I challenge you this week to listen to the podcast of Andy giving the keynote speech at the University of Missouri Scholarly Communications Conference, "Open Content vs Closed Doors". (16MB, about 1 hour in length) Also Andy has provided a PowerPoint show to go with this speech.

Andy describes the digital divide as the gap that exists between populations in terms of Access, Basic Literacy Skills and Content (ABC's), gives statistics to do with the divide in the USA and discusses the development of Web 2.0 where the web has become a 'read and write' medium where all can contribute content. He also discusses copyright and creative commons licences, Wiki's and Wikipedia.

Respond to this blog posting with your comments about Andy's speech.
What is one important issue that Andy raises in terms of the digital divide? How does this same issue apply globally?

Bridging the Digital Divide

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 18:20:00 +0000

Possible Solutions to the Digital Divide:

1. NGO/GO institutions assisting in the teaching of building one’s computer and digital literacy levels could be established in all areas (Rural & Urban), either for free, or at low prices, encouraging the public to learn, leading to the linking of the digital divide.

2. Public fund raising events, such as G-8, should be introduced to the public, giving developing countries a better opportunity to provide high quality facilities and education to the underprivileged.

3. Community service programmes should be established within school’s and education institutions, in order to build awareness amongst members of the future generations; hoping to build an early interest making a difference for the lives of future generations to come.

4. Government policies should be established, encouraging each educational institute (both private and public) to facilitate a minimum number of PCs to their students.

5. The importance of information technology (IT) should be displayed in the media. Becoming a fast and effective method to spread information to a mass of people over a large area.

Should old computers be recycled, or be thrown away?

I personally feel that the recycling of old computers will be slow step towards eliminating the digital divide. So slow, it would only stabilize the growth of the digital divide. Even though it may decrease the rate at which the digital divide is increasing, it doesn’t benefit towards the “bridging” of the divide. If old computers are introduced to a community of computer illiterates, the information given to them will come useless when entering today’s modern technologically based world. Due to the fact that technology is rapidly evolving, its old forms will prove to be useless in assisting individuals to keep up with the pace of technological evolution. It may teach the illiterate the basics of each electrical device; however, it wouldn’t cover enough of the aspects of the system individuals are faced with in the offices of today.

Methods in which to provide computers to the underprivileged.

If money is truly an issue to developing countries around the world, and none is being provided from more privileged source, the government could provide tutoring and access to computers to computer illiterates (in both rural and urban areas) through properly supervised, professional institutions. This way, computers wouldn’t have to be distributed (leading to a requirement of a larger budget) in order to be accessible. Centres provide a system in which computer accessibility is provided to the public, without having to spend large amounts of money.

Podcast Series: The Digital Divide

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 15:06:00 +0000

On this episode of Podcast Bangladesh Debanjan discusses the divide in India, Sunny looks at the $100 laptop and Mehran and Omar consider digital divide bridging issues in the USA.
Podcast Bangladesh ITGS: More about the Digital Divide

Solution for the Digital Divide

lindsay.julie@gmail.com (Julie Lindsay) — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 17:06:00 +0000

One solution is to make a class of computer and teach the people who are not really experienced with computers. Software installations and other operations that require only moderate amounts of technical knowledge. But this solution needs lot of funds and other staff problems. Like teachers; this class might not get a good teacher which able to teach people who doesn’t know the computers. Not only staff, technical problems will be happening to. Since most of non-computer users are village people or poor peoples. So they can’t afford to pay for all the technical stuffs. So this class has to consider the funds carefully and afford the computers and staffs. Also this class can get a cheap laptop from which MIT maded. If Goverment will paticipate in this work, students could get a laptop to study computers.

Bibliography: http://www.idra.org/Newslttr/2000/May/Chris.htm

http://laptop.media.mit.edu/
$100 Laptop which MIT developed and will be only distributed to schools directly through large government initiatives. Initial discussions have been held with China, India, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt, Nigeria, and Thailand.