Learning Reflection (VI)

Reflection and notes of "Mapping the digital divide in Britain: implications for learning and education"


We live in a convenient and hi-technology society; it is important implications for education and learning from an individual to the government. For example, in Taiwan, government policy encourages not only teachers to use "interactive whiteboard", but also pupils and high school students to use ''e-schoolbags" (only those selected schools can use interactive whiteboard and e-schoolbags because they are participants of the research). Even though this research has been conducted over 7 years, there are still have arguments. Of course, using technologies to assist learning is not a panacea. Not just policy-makers and academics have to promote policy for educational technology, everyone also needs to think about how we can use technologies properly to assist education and learning.

There are a lot of factors could influence people accessing the internet, such as socio-economic status, age and  life-stage. In Britain, according to the article, people who have positive attitudes towards ICTs entail higher education, higher income and being younger. Moreover, Adults who have children in the household used the internet are more than adults who don't have children. Today, more and more countries have "free wifi" service in the public, people might not have to be younger, have higher income and higher education, they still can access the internet.

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Reflection and notes of "New technology and Digital Worlds: analyzing evidence of equity in access, use and outcomes"


- When we are talking about out-of-school using digital media, we can divide the behaviour into two categories:  friendship-driven and interest-driven. In Taiwan, most people use facebook and line (similar to what's app) to contact and hang out with friends; the other group of people would hang out with friends via video games. Personally, when I contact and hang out with friends, I prefer using facebook and line to giving a phone call. To be more specific, it is for socialising and leisure activities.

Next, as for interest-driven activity, I thought it meant a group of people who have same interests and get together and hang out together, but it turned out it was not what I thought. To be more specific, there are two stages, messing around and geeking out, of interest-driven activity.

The term "messing around" means that people interesting in and focus on the technologies and eager to extend and explore the understanding of it. "Geeking out" means that people become obsessive in the technologies and have particular knowledge of technology that most people don't have.