In my last IT. Scheiss post, I commented on Perai State Assemblyman (ADUN) and Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang, Y.B. Tuan P. Ramasamy's statement highlighting the issue of a digital divide, especially with regards to computer, tablet and smartphone-based online learning.
Well today, The Star of 22 April 2020 carries a South China Morning Post article about a digital divide in "affluent", urban and "sophisticated" Hong Kong, between school pupils from wealth families who can afford to provide their children with a device each to use exclusively for online learning on and on the one hand pupils from lower income families who have no choice but to take turns to share devices used for online learning from home when schools are closed due to COVID-19.
Below is an excerpt from the article which cites results of a study which found that students mainly used their devices, whether exclusively or shared, for communication with family and friends and for leisure purposes - i.e. for messaging, engagement in social media, surfing the web, watching videos and so forth. Well, that's also what I had observed about how most people young and old use their devices - i.e. mostly for messaging, social media, for entertainment and some to access information such as news and websites.
However, when it comes to online learning, the Kong Kong University professor who headed that research project believes that students who do not have exclusive use of a device for online learning will be at a disadvantage to students who do have exclusive access.
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Nancy Law Luk Wai-ying, a professor at HKU's Faculty of Education who spearheaded the research, said when the data was collected last year, students were mainly using electronic devices for communication with family and friends and leisure purposes.
While a complete lack of digital access represented a clear disadvantage, an analysis of student performances showed there was a relatively small difference between those who had to share a device and those who had their own.
"Having access or no access, it makes a real difference. But having to share, when it wasn't the main means of learning, where one needs to t didn't hurt the students' digital competence," Law said.
But that was last year.
While data for the past few months was unavailable – a batch of data covering the 2020/21 academic year will come later – Law believed the sudden emphasis on digital learning would likely have an adverse impact.
"When you have to be online a lot of time when you are learning, if you don't have your own device and have to share, will it affect [one's performance]? It probably would," Law said, adding she had recently heard of a family of four sharing one or two devices between them.
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This is one of the concerns a friend who had a daughter in one of the 1Bestarinet "Champion Schools" - i.e. if a family with five school going children were to have to share the one PC in their home for online learning, doing and submitting their homework and so forth using the Frog Virtual Learning Environment (Frog VLE), how much time each day would each student within such a family have to study and do their homework online.
Also, as I had pointed out in my earlier post, if school pupils are accustomed to use such devices for messaging, social media and for entertainment, how well would they adapt to use such devices for concentrated learning without falling for the temptations to engage in more frivolous and fun activities on these devices?
As it turned out, use of the Frog Virtual Learning Environment for learning, doing and submitting homework online was found to have been minimal and I don't expect that the use of Google Classroom today will turn out to be very different, especially with school children.
The article in full follows below:-
Wednesday, 22 Apr 2020
1:05 PM MYT
By Chan Ho-him
Researchers from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have warned of a "tsunami-scale" divide in digital learning after a months-long class suspension that about 10% of Hong Kong students could be weathering without any electronic devices at home.
The university study's findings, released on Tuesday, also found about 40% of more than 2,000 primary and secondary pupils polled said they needed to share electronic devices with their family members, according to data collected during the 2018/19 school year.
About 900,000 kindergartens, primary and secondary school pupils have been out of class since February due to the Covid-19 epidemic, and with most switching to online learning, children from low-income families have faced an entirely new set of challenges.
Nancy Law Luk Wai-ying, a professor at HKU's Faculty of Education who spearheaded the research, said when the data was collected last year, students were mainly using electronic devices for communication with family and friends and leisure purposes.
While a complete lack of digital access represented a clear disadvantage, an analysis of student performances showed there was a relatively small difference between those who had to share a device and those who had their own.
"Having access or no access, it makes a real difference. But having to share, when it wasn't the main means of learning, it didn't hurt the students' digital competence," Law said.
But that was last year.
While data for the past few months was unavailable – a batch of data covering the 2020/21 academic year will come later – Law believed the sudden emphasis on digital learning would likely have an adverse impact.
"When you have to be online a lot of time when you are learning, if you don't have your own device and have to share, will it affect [one's performance]? It probably would," Law said, adding she had recently heard of a family of four sharing one or two devices between them.
Elizabeth Loh Ka-yee, assistant professor at HKU's Faculty of Education, said many teachers had found it challenging to help children lacking online infrastructure such as electronic devices or Wi-fi.
"There is not much teachers can do in terms of students' lack of devices. Some teachers have even worried about a 'tsunami-scale' digital divide [between students with and without digital access] when face-to-face classes eventually resume," Loh said.
Over the past few months, some schools have lent electronic devices to families in need, while principals and non-governmental organisations have provided children with internet services, including giving out pocket WiFi routers and SIM cards.
Law suggested primary and secondary schools should both expand their scope of e-learning and trace students' progress during the online learning period, so different aspects could be improved.
She also encouraged the government, schools and community to work together to provide better infrastructure for disadvantaged students, including donating devices and assisting them with Wi-fi access.
Stanley Kam Wai-ming, principal of SKH Bishop Hall Secondary School, added that schools should be spending more effort in promoting students' digital literacy and competency, something that should go beyond traditional computer or IT classes.
"Parents' input is also particularly important," he said. "During the pandemic, kids will make better use of [time] if parents spend time with them during online learning." – South China Morning Post
The above article is further proof that online learning cannot replace classroom learning, especially for school students and that industrial age "chalk and talk" learning still rules the day.
Take care and keep safe during this COVID-19 crisis.
Yours truly
IT.Scheiss
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