Computer Literacy Programs in Rural Communities: Understanding Social Motivators

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raj Gopal P. Kantamneni ◽  
Ramanjaneyaraju Chintalapati
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Computer Literacy ◽  
Literacy Programs

scholarly journals Bridging the digital divide : effort towards establishing the real impact of information technology to the rural community

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Roshidi Hassan ◽  
Megat Zuhairy Megat Tajuddin
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Literacy Programs ◽  
Technology Literacy ◽  
Power Utilities ◽  
Internet Connections ◽  
Basic Infrastructure ◽  
Impact Of Technology

The Bridging Digital Divide (BDD) Program initiated by the Malaysian government in 1999 has successfully introduced the Information Technology (IT) to the rural communities particularly in Malaysia. The computers and internet connections are available almost at every part ofMalaysia including those in the remote areas. However; to have a real impact of technology on people slives, the effort has to go beyond the infrastructures and technology literacy programs and awareness. Having information available suit to the needs of the local community will bring greater impact ofthe technology to them. Nevertheless, the new approaches need to be introduced to make the effort less costly. Some of the Digital Divide programs require proper coordination with other projects. Coordination with the responsible agencies in providing power utilities and road infrastructures is essential to make such expensive digital divide program more cost effective·and give greater impact to the community. Thus, this paper will provide numerous suggestions on the improvement in providing greater benefits; both the users and the project implementers. Besides, this paper will also discuss on the need of local content in local language with self-sustained nature. lt further highlights the importanceof having basic infrastructure such as electricity and road accessibility that may have influence over the success of BDD program.

Information Literacy

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-60
Author(s):  
Lairenlakpam Shanta Meitei
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Information Society ◽  
Computer Literacy ◽  
Information Environment ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Role Of Information

This article discusses the need and importance of information literacy as an essential component in information society. The article highlights the role of information and information technology as well as the relationship between information and literacy. This article also studies the impact of ICT in rural areas and examines the awareness of the term like, information, information literacy, computer literacy etc. in the rural communities in Manipur, India. Further, it elaborates the need for information literacy and challenges faced by the rural communities in the global information environment.

scholarly journals Open budget: Learning from the Open School Platform in Donetsk oblast, Ukraine

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oksana Huss ◽  
Oleksandra Keudel
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Computer Literacy ◽  
Open Data ◽  
School Personnel ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Learning By Doing ◽  
Open Government ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Open School

The case study developed as part of IIEP‐UNESCO Research Project ‘Open Government: Learning From Experience’ analyses how an open government approach is being applied in Ukraine to resolve the critical issue of non‐transparent school financing through parents’ donations that undermines trust among key educational stakeholders. Developed in 2016, the Open School Platform (OS) is an online tool that allows parents to visualise the school’s budget, needs and expenditures in an easy‐ to‐read format. The study shows that OS has contributed to: improved trust among key stakeholders, improved communication and collaboration between school personnel and local public authorities, and more effective planning. But it also confirms that the use of ICT can lead to inequalities in poor rural communities having low levels of Internet access or computer literacy. It concludes on the importance of open government for shifting to a new paradigm of cooperation and partnership. And it recommends providing access to information in line with the Open Data Charter; ensuring a legal framework for citizen participation; using handy and accessible technological solutions; and following a ‘learning‐by‐doing’ approach to build up social capital for constructive interaction with authorities.

Cyberbullying a desecration of information ethics

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 313-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lancelord Siphamandla Ncube ◽  
Luyanda Dube
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Community ◽  
Computer Literacy ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Rural Context ◽  
Modern Technologies

Purpose Cyberbullying occurs when a minor is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child. Given that cyberbullying entails defamation or spreading false information or portfolios about someone, it is regarded as a violation of the ethical code of information use. The purpose of the study was to explore the perceptions, experiences and challenges of post-high school youth with regards to cyberbullying. This is a quantitative study that used a survey approach to gather data using a self-administered questionnaire, which was distributed to 60 youth from the KwaZulu-Natal computer literacy community engagement project. The findings attest that youth recognise that cyberbullying might have detrimental effects on victims, such as alcohol and drugs abuse, low self-esteem, high level of absenteeism, poor grades and depression and suicidal thoughts. There is a low percentage of victims and perpetrators of cyberbullying in rural contexts in South Africa. It is hoped that findings may will a positive impact in the rural communities and enable the youth to interact with the modern technologies and handle them in an ethical manner. The study recommends that parents need to take cognisance of the probable possible dangers of the various technologies so that they could be instrumental in educating their children about children cyberbullying. Further, the schools and the Department of Education can play a fundamental role in educating children about cyberbullying and cyber ethics. Design/methodology/approach This survey was conducted to explore youth perceptions and experiences, as well as violations, of ethics through cyberbullying as experienced by the rural community at Mbazwana in the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal. Convenience sampling was used, because although the questionnaire was distributed to all 60 participants in the project, not all of them completed the instrument, as participation was voluntary. Only 43 were completed, which is equal to 72 per cent response rate. The validity of the data collection instrument used was enhanced by the fact that questions were derived from the main objective of the study. Some themes of the instrument were self-designed and others were adapted from a similar study by Dehue et al. (2008), who looked at cyberbullying experiences of youth. The instrument was tried out in a pilot study in grade 12 classes in two high schools at Mbazwana in a bid to find out whether the learners would understand the questionnaire. Post-high school learners were considered to be at a similar level as the grade 12 learners polled. The pilot study proved its own importance: students who filled in the questionnaire indicated that they were not familiar with some terms and the researchers had to simplify the language to make it more understandable. Findings A large portion of the youth studied (45 per cent) indicated that they used their smartphones to access the internet, 25 per cent identified libraries as their source of access to the internet and 13 per cent reported accessing the internet from community laboratories (usually found in Department of Education centres). In total, 13 per cent of respondents reported accessing the internet from friends’ computers. Last, the smallest proportion at 4 per cent reported having internet access via their home desktop computers. The South African Mobile Report (2014) reveals that a great majority of South Africans access the internet via their own smartphones. These findings might indicate that many people nowadays do indeed have internet access in their regions. Research limitations/implications The results of this study indicate that not all households own a desktop computer, as some people rely on community laboratories and others rely on friends who own desktop or laptop computers. Practical implications The study results reveal that most students who did the computer literacy course consider themselves at an “intermediate” level. It was noted that cellphones/smartphones play a significant role in gaining access to the internet and to social networking applications in rural communities. The social media applications most visited by youth in this study were shown to be Facebook and WhatsApp. Only a relatively low percentage of the respondents in this study in a rural context in South Africa reported being either victims or perpetrators of cyberbullying. Social implications Social media give people ample opportunities to interact and socialise with other people in global context. Only a relatively low percentage of the respondents in this study in a rural context in South Africa reported being either victims or perpetrators of cyberbullying. It is hoped that insights gained from these findings may have a positive effect in the rural communities if awareness programmes are put in place to enable the youth to interact with the modern technologies and handle them in an ethical manner. Originality/value The contribution to the world of knowledge is that this study gives a clear indication of experiences and perceptions of cyberbullying in rural areas in South Africa. This will inform other scholars who want to engage in similar studies in different contexts that can be compared with the results of this study. It is notable that one cannot predict one’s own knowledge of a certain aspect of a community until one has fully engaged in research. Prior to this study, the researchers did not know whether the rural community youth participated in cyberbullying.

Use levels of electronic government services among German citizens

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 637-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torsten J. Gerpott ◽  
Nima Ahmadi
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Random Sample ◽  
Computer Literacy ◽  
Service Use ◽  
Electronic Government ◽  
Government Service ◽  
Menu Item ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Government Services ◽  
Ordinal Logistic Regression Analysis

Purpose To better understand the use intensity of e-government service offerings among citizens, a considerable number of studies have examined correlations between various attitudinal constructs related to such offerings and citizens’ service adoption (intentions). This investigational paper aims to take a different angle by exploring associations between a set of 11 objectively identifiable household and individual behavioral and socio-demographic characteristics on the one side and three levels of e-government services use on the other. Design/methodology/approach The empirical analysis is based on survey responses of a random sample of 17,012 individuals residing in Germany. Findings Ordinal logistic regression analysis suggests that citizens with low use levels of public e-service offerings are most likely younger male persons with low levels of computer literacy, internet affinity and education, who have a migration background and live in small mid-level-income households located in rural communities. Practical implications The findings imply that public institutions may find it difficult to rapidly raise e-government acceptance by distributing only “technocratic” information explaining various service options. Public authorities should consider supplementing “pure” information programs by measures which ensure that the software of e-government service platforms is designed in a way guaranteeing a very high level of “usability”. Furthermore, they should analyze whether the benefits of providing e-government services in specific foreign languages outweigh the costs of such a service extension. If this is the case, an easy-to-use software menu item should be introduced which enables citizens to switch to another common foreign language. Originality/value The contribution of this paper results from the analysis of a set of objective predictors of e-government service use in a large random sample of citizens residing in Germany, whereas most prior studies are based on surveys of small convenience samples in other countries.

scholarly journals COVID-19 and the New normal in Developing Societies: An Appraisal of Nigerians’ Adaptation to Digital Life in Public and Private Spheres

2021 ◽  
pp. 0169796X2199683
Author(s):  
John Moses Maikomo ◽  
Tordue Simon Targema ◽  
Maria Kisugu Obun-Andy
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Computer Literacy ◽  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Technological Determinism ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
New Normal

COVID-19 significantly altered individual patterns of interaction across the globe. The impediment on physical contact and emphasis on social distancing as measures of curbing its spread gave rise to new forms of interactions among individuals. In the ensuing new normal, digital life took the center stage, anchoring engaging and meaningful interactions of individuals in both public and private spheres. This study appraises the adoption of digital life in Nigeria during this period. Hinged on the technological determinism theory, the study examines the sudden digital migration in Nigeria and identifies the factors that facilitated the process, on the one hand, and the obstacles that inhibited it, on the other. Using secondary data derived from books, official websites, and media reports, the study has established that although the Nigerian society adopted digital life as alternative to face-to-face interactions out of expedience, a combination of systemic, structural, socioeconomic, and environmental factors constrained the process with grave implications on the overall (expected) impact to both individual and national developments. The study concludes that effective digitization in Nigeria requires a holistic approach toward addressing germane issues that retard socioeconomic development in the country—such as endemic poverty, structural inequality and class differences, uneven development between urban and rural communities, low computer literacy and information and communications technology (ICTs) access, poor electricity supply, poor global system for mobile communication (GSM) and Internet access, gender factor and vulnerable groups, and digital frauds—in order to create the enabling environment for productive digitization to thrive.

scholarly journals Digital health in a broadband land

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 140-143
Author(s):  
Wuyou Sui ◽  
Danica Facca
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Rural Community ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Computer Literacy ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Rural Populations

The rapid rise and widespread integration of digital technologies (e.g., smartphones, personal computers) into the fabric of our society has birthed a modern means of delivering healthcare, known as digital health. Through leveraging the accessibility and ubiquity of digital technologies, digital health represents an unprecedented level of reach, impact, and scalability for healthcare interventions, known as digital behaviour change interventions (DBCIs). The potential benefits associated with employing DBCIs are of particular interest for populations that are disadvantaged to receiving traditional healthcare, such as rural populations. However, several factors should be considered before implementing a DBCI into a rural environment, notably, digital health literacy. Digital health literacy describes the skills necessary to successful navigate and utilize a digital health solution (e.g., DBCI). Given their limited access to high-speed internet, higher cost associated for similar services, and poorer development of information and communication technologies (ICTs), most rural populations likely report lower digital health literacy – specifically, computer literacy, the ability to utilize and leverage digital technologies to solve problems. Hence, DBCIs should address this ‘digital divide’ between urban and rural populations before implementation. Practical solutions could include evaluating rural communities’ access to ICTs, needs assessments with rural community members, as well as integrating rural community stakeholders into the design of digital literacy education and interventions.

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