Week 11, Activity 2 The Global Digital Divide.

A1a Looking at the Global figures.
Internet World Stats

There is a digital divide between developed and undeveloped worlds, according to the above statistics. This divide is shortening as the number of people with access to the internet is increasing. Internet users are defined as people who have (potential access) to the internet and knowledge of how to use its applications and this can vary widely.

A2b Looking at Latin America

The digital divide is less pronounced for Latin America. About one third of the population has internet access.

A2c Looking at Africa

This has the lowest population of internet users yet is also growing at the highest rate. Like South America there is significant regional variation.

A2d Is the X0-1 the answer?

One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is a project of the Miami-based One Laptop per Child Association which was backed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). It had the goal of producing a computer for $100. This was known as the X0-1:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Laptop_per_Child

Latin American placed a lot more orders in general than Africa, reflecting the digital divide previously discussed. India felt it could do better and produce a laptop for $10. NO WAY. But in 2010 they did unveil a laptop that cost $35 called the Sakshat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakshat

The give 1 get 1 scheme (whereby donor would buy an X0-1) was orginally quite successful and had over 80,000 'customers'. However in 2008 when a second initiative was undertaken only 12,000 orders were made.

Criticisms include

• top down approach imperialistic
• other priorities for low income countries (esp. Africa)
• more cost effective solutions without computers would be better
• countries are forced to buy them
• little technical support or teacher training

A2e Digital divide debate: proposition ‘OER will reduce the digital divide’

I think the digital divide is more a matter of hardware. However the statistics seem to indicate that this hardware divide will be shortened (Internet World Stats), at which point OER will be more relevant in a digital content divide. The OER that are produced by Openlearn and MIT are as Santo's states one-way mediums. There seems be little evidence of a framework with Openlearn of MIT, etc, in which localised indigenous providers can contribute there own blend of education.

A second point I think it that because the West has had a headstart in terms of hardware, this will always be reflected in web content. By the time the third world catches up in hardware, the OER market may well be staturated. Like a lot of web services it is a case of 'getting in there first'.

I agree that OER are imperialistic and education is never neutral, but I do not think there is anyway around this. The West cannot produce educational material with a localised indigenous slant because it is not 'part' of that culture. The education it produces will always be originated in Western ideals and philosophy. I am even dubious about the neutrality of free OER software like Moodle is in allowing third world countries to produce completely localised educational resources, as Moodle by its very design does not allow the flexibility in its framework for completely autonomous elearning.

I think OERs only reduce the digital divide by providing a homogenising force to education. Because Western originated OERs will be the only choice of OER to third world countries, educators and learners in those countries will have to subscribe to this Western education in order to use them.