Thesis draft 1 for essay prompt

main topic area: digital divide in learning experience between different education level in Singapore


main problem identified:
-normal classroom learning experience in lower education level is a hassle as compared to tertiary level due to the lack of immediate access to information where doubts cannot be resolve as quickly without the help of modern ICT

where: in a secondary and lower education
who/ what : students as well as teachers who encounters problem can have immediate access to solutions


proposed solutions:
- promote the advantages of a flip classroom situation where students can get connected at ease
- provide tools to access the internet so that students can access the addition informations at ease

who can solve: governments can provide more subsides to schools to allow the building of better wifi infrastructures

proposed thesis :

Due convenience of internet access to information, students of all levels should use this in their learning experience in order to attain a better efficiency as they can have access to databases they need at the tip of their fingers if they encounter a problem while studying. 

Draft 4(edited)

Wakefield (2010) observes that sources from International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ranked countries based on internet connectivity, where the more economically developed countries are the most connected. Thus, many developing countries are trying to improve the lack of connectivity with the implementation of wifi infrastructure to their rural villages. Certain countries like America do attempt to reach native communities, which remain as a ‘barren desert,’ by offering technical support in broadband access. 

According to Wakefield (2010), some countries are improving their communications technology in order to improve their countries economically ranking. However, providing just the necessary advance in technology may not be enough to increase connectivity of a country. It is also important that people are able to the use of technology. Without the necessary knowledge, technology is just a word with no meaning. However, in the right hands, technology can help to improve and even save lives. This shows the importance of education as it allows people to use technology more competently so as to improve connectivity. Although this aspect is very important, not all countries can provide that level of education for people to work with these technologies due to several problems they face.

Many developing countries in the world face problems financing education for technology. For these countries, their main priority would be basic necessities such as food, shelter as well as healthcare for their citizens. According to The African Economist (2013), in several parts of Africa, illiteracy rates are as high as 90%. This could be because many Africans were being denied basic education due to lack to monetary capabilities. The African government does not intervene with these education problems as they are busy handling basic necessities like food to its citizens. Without education, the citizens will not be able to effectively use the Internet technology to their advantage. This would greatly hinder the bridging of technological gap between developing countries.

Wakefield (2010) also reports that there is a digital divide even within a country. Even though some of these countries are highly connected, there might be a digital divide occurring between the old generation and the current generation. According to an article from Deloitte entitled " The smartphone generation gap: over 55? no app for that" (2014), there are a few factors that stop the senior citizens from accepting new technologies like the smartphone. One reason is that members of the older generation are generally more confused by how the technologies work and the new allowances they are given like data allowance. Furthermore, the older generations were not familiar with these technologies due to their lack of education in this aspect. Hence, government can provide subsidised IT courses to enhance the IT knowledge of the older generations. These makes it easier to bridge the with the younger generation and would greatly hinder the bridging the technological gap within countries

In a nutshell, although it is important to focus on the distribution of technology within countries, education is also a must in order for technology to be effectively utilised. Hence, countries should always make sure that their citizens know how to effectively utilise the technologies they are given in order to more effectively bridge the ever growing digital divide.

References: 

Wakefield, J. (2010, March 19). World wakes up to digital divide. BBC News. Retrieved September 09, 2014, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8568681.stm.

The African Economist. ( 2013, July 6)., Ranking of African Countries By Literacy Rate: Zimbabwe No. 1. Retrieved September 09, 2014 , from http://theafricaneconomist.com/ranking-of-african-countries-by-literacy-rate-zimbabwe-no-1/#.VA8GkPmSxgI 

Deloitte. (2014).The smartphone generation gap: over 55? no app for that. Retrieved September 20,2014, from  http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Technology-Media-Telecommunications/gx-tmt-2014prediction-smartphone.pdf

Draft 2

Wakefield (2010) observed that sources from International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ranked countries based on internet connectivity, where the more economically developed countries are the most connected. Reports from the New America Foundation (NAF) also showed that the internet usage of a nation was not proportionately represented as the rural areas tend to have lesser internet access and usage. Thus, the less developed countries in Europe tried to increase their countries' access to internet by providing wifi infrastructure to their suburban villages. This helped some villagers to improve their lives socially, economically and culturally.

According to Wakefield (2010), many countries are improving their communications technology in order to improve their countries economically ranking. However, providing just the necessary advance in technology may not be enough to increase connectivity of a country. It is also important that people are able to the use of technology. Without the necessary knowledge, technology is just a word with no meaning. However, in the right hands, technology can help to improve and even save lives. This shows the importance of education as it allow people to use technology more competently so as to improve connectivity. Although this aspect is very important, not all countries can attain that level of education to work these technologies due to several problems they face.

Many developing countries in the world face problems financing education for technology. For these countries, their main priority would be basic necessities such as food, shelter as well as healthcare for their citizens. According to The African Economist (2013), in several parts of Africa, illiteracy rates are high as 90% as many are being denied from basic educations due to lack to monetary capabilities. The government did not intervene as they are busy handling basic necessities like food to its citizens. Without educations, the citizens will not be able to effectively use these technology to their advantage. This would greatly hinder the bridging the technological gap between countries.

Wakefield (2010) reported that there was a digital divide even within a country. Even though Singapore is a highly connected country, this problem is still prevalent. Singapore is experiencing an aging population where the population from the 1970s are aging. This causes a digital gap between the old generation and the current generation Y. The older generation are less prone to changes and are unwilling to learn about the new technology. This makes it difficult to bridge them with the younger generation and would greatly hinder the bridging the technological gap within countries.

In a nutshell, although it is important to focus on the distribution of technology within countries, education is also a must in order for technology to be effectively utilised. Though this, many developing countries increase their connectivity within the nation, thereby narrowing the technological gap between countries.  

References: 

Wakefield, J. (2010, March 19). World wakes up to digital divide. BBC News. Retrieved September 09, 2014, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8568681.stm.

The African Economist .(2013, July 6). 

Ranking of African Countries By Literacy Rate: Zimbabwe No. 1. Retrieved September 09, 2014 , from http://theafricaneconomist.com/ranking-of-african-countries-by-literacy-rate-zimbabwe-no-1/#.VA8GkPmSxgI 

An event that shaped my life

National Service (NS) is a period where all boys in Singapore will have to go through. I too have to go through that period. It was said that NS turn boys to man. However, i have to say that that may not be always true. To me, it was the various events that happened during that time period that changed me. One of the most significant one will be the passing of my dad. since young, i have been sheltered and protected by my dad. i do not know the true meaning of taking care of myself, let alone others. However, everything changed when my dad passed on. At that instance, everything was on my shoulder. Finance and bills, various paperworks to do around the house as well as to consult my mum and taking care of my family. During that period, I almost collapsed. I had to hold on to my sadness while handling all the stuff my dad left behind, as well as taking care of my family. Being away in camp, I had to constantly worry about my family while making calls here and there to settle stuff. There were a few times where I almost cried under stress and the sadness of losing a loved one. As times goes, things got better. Though this incident, my mindset and thinking changed significantly and I learnt the true meaning of "taking care of myself" as well as taking care of other.

Reader response Draft 1

Wakefield (2010) observed that sources from ITU ranked countries based on internet connectivity, where the more economically developed countries are the most connected. Reports from NAF also showed that the internet usage of a nation was not proportionately represented as the rural areas tend to have lesser internet access and usage. Thus, the less developed countries in Europe tried to increase their countries' access to internet by providing wifi infrastructure to their suburban villages. This helped some villagers to improve their lives socially, economically and culturally.

Although I live in a developed country like Singapore, I do not consider technology a basic need in life. I was quite shocked that the world have placed more focus on technological advancement over other necessities such as food and healthcare. I believe that it boils down to how we define our needs and wants.

As a science student, I have learnt that the basic needs for human survival was food (including water), shelter, clothing and basic healthcare. Technology was not mention at all. In many developing countries, what the citizens need was not the access to computers or wifi connections, but to have sufficient food and water to survive. Taking Eastern Europe as an example, Wakefield (2010) reported that the government was coming up with a wifi village programme to reach out to those of its population living in rural poverty. However, there were also many Street children and orphans in Eastern Europe who faced many problems and troubles such as malnutrition and HIV. Therefore,  Instead of focusing on wifi connectivity, I feel that developing countries should focus more on basic necessities for survival before moving on to luxuries.

In many developing countries, education may not be adequate. Even if the citizens were provided with internet access and information in the tip of their fingers, they may not know how to utilise it well. Statistics shown that for all Africans over the age of 15 and 50% of women above the age of 25 are illiterate and that half the population of Africa lives on less than US $1 a day. Even if wifi connections and computer access was provide, most African will not know how to utilise it. Furthermore, they do not have the economical capability to own a computer. Hence, I feel that if countries such as Africa wants direct resources to implement the wifi village scheme as reported by Wakefield (2010), it will better if these resources are diverted to providing more basic necessities.

World wakes up to digital divide by Wakefield (2010) clearly shown that technological advancement have been considered a basic human necessity in developed countries. Many developing countries have neglected the basic necessities and have concentrated their resources onto technological advancement in order to be considered “developed”. This problems seems to be persisting until countries can correctly differentiate their needs and wants.

Facebook summary

Leake and Warren (2009) state that the report from Ohio State University found out that students who use Facebook do not score in their academic aspects as they tend to spend more time on this social media. The results of this was lower study efficiency as well as lower grades