Firstly, I hope you all are well and keeping safe during this COVID-19 scourge which is afflicting us at time and greatly threatening our economy, and livelihoods.
Thus, right now I am on a self-imposed moratorium on commenting about domestic Malaysian party politics during this COVID-19 crisis which afflicts Malaysia and the rest of the world, as we struggle and sacrifice together as Malaysians to contain and hopefully eliminate the scourge of this disease from our midst.
Let us hope and pray for the souls of those most unfortunately departed due to the virus, may their souls rest in peace; that more of those already infected will recover; and that the number of new COVID-19 cases will decline to zero; and that we all can return to some semblance of normalcy, even whilst continuing to take all precautions possible to avoid the disease and to avoid infecting others.
OK. That said, let me commend Y.B. Tuan P. Ramasamy, Perai State Assemblyman (ADUN) and Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang state for highlighting the issue of the digital divide, especially with regards to computer, tablet and smartphone-based online learning in the Malaysiakini article following below.
I started writing about the ICT industry in Malaysia from as far back as when I joined what was then called In.Tech, the weekly ICT pullout of The Star on 22 September 1994, or about 25 years and six months ago.
Especially during the latter half of the 1990s, I wrote several feature articles about online distance learning based upon inputs from online learning advocates in academia, private schools and companies providing online learning courses and ICT companies providing the equipment and systems for online learning.
e-Education was part of Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor's (MSC Malaysia's) Smart Schools "flagship applications", along with e-Government, MyKad, Telehealth, R&D Clusters, Electronic Business and Technpreneur Development "flagships" - i.e. seven "flagship applications" in all.
3. Smart School – to National Education Philosophy, terms to teach and learn for the information-based society.
Whilst some of those "flagship applications" such as e-Government, MyKad (Malaysia's smartcard-based national identity card), electronic business (online shopping, online banking, interbank electronic funds transfers and so forth) and to an extent technology entrepreneur (startup business) development have become significant realities in Malaysia today, however much of the "great realities" and "superiority" of online education and distance claimed by its advocates and proponents have either not materialised at all or have fallen far short of their claims.
Whilst most of the newsprint on which my articles were printed must have ended up as fish, nasi lemak or some wrapper for something else, or has long been recycled into toilet paper and so forth, a fairly recent instance of the failure of online learning is the case of 1Bestarinet.
I covered Frog Asia's and YTL Communications' media event in November 2012 to announce their winning the contract from the Ministry of Education to implement and deploy the first phase of 1Bestarinet.
However, about three years later, when schools were closed due to heavy haze from Indonesia and students were told to learn from home through 1Bestarinet, the teachers' union, the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) issued a statement saying that 1Bestarinet was useless for learning from home.
I won't burden you with the details here but you can read about it in my IT Scheiss blog post below:-
Teachers' union says 1BestariNet useless for online learning from home
In his article below, P. Ramasamy believes that poor children understand the value of computers and of learning through them but they cannot due to issues of affordability.
"It is not that poor children do not know or understand the value of computers or learning through these devices but it is primarily the question of affordability."
Well, he's partly right, especially with regards issues of affordability but from my direct experience of several urban, middle class people who have no problem affording devices such as computers and especially of tablets and smartphones and the high-speed broadband connectivity, including fibre and 4G LTE - is that whilst many of them know how to access social media such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, You Tube, Instagram and so forth backwards, however they are lost when it comes to performing more useful functions on their devices such as to search for information online, check their bank account and perform online banking, check their fibre broadband and cellular service provider's bills, check and respond to their e-mail, perform an e-commerce transaction, file their income tax returns and so forth online on their PCs or through their tablets or smartphones, and this is what can be called a tech-savviness divide.
Also, give a child a PC, tablet, smartphone and Internet connectivity and what do you think he or she would prefer to do on it rather than to use it for study?
We've all been children before, since long before we had computers, tablets and smartphones and we all would remember that between sitting down to study, we'd much prefer to go out and play or hang out with friends, unless we had our parents or teachers standing over us with a cane.
There are many more distractions available to both children and adults on computers, tablets and smartphones than there are in realspace amongst our siblings and friends and parents today tend to be more indulgent and allow their children to do what they like both in cyberspace and in realspace.
Also after about 30 or so years of the promotion and advocacy of online and distance learning being "superior" to "industrial-style" classroom learning "in the informationa age", more recent studies have found no clear evidence that online learning yields better results than classroom learning.
It's unfortunate that the need for social distancing to curb the spread of COVID-19 rules out classroom learning, especially as long as the MCO lasts, but at the same time, online learning does not look like it will be a viable alternative, especially for school-age children, whatever their financial background, whether rural or urban.
On the other hand, mature students, including adults could benefit, just as they did from snail-mail based correspondence courses or attendance at further education courses ("night school") back in the 1960s, 1950s and even earlier, where many obtained certificates and diplomas in accountancy, secretarial qualifications, vocational training and so forth.
Y.B. Tuan P. Ramasamy's article follows below:-
ADUN SPEAKS | Digitalisation bridges or reinforces inequality?
P Ramasamy
Published 10:47 am Modified 11:23 am
ADUN SPEAKS | Under the conditions of the present pandemic with the movement control order (MCO) in place, the country is almost in a state of shut down except for essential services.
While it is a great relief to students and parents that some examinations are cancelled or postponed, the real question in their minds is whether there will be continuous education beyond the classroom.
The imperative of digital transformation to meet the challenges of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution has been much talked about and there have been some serious efforts to bridge the digital divide.
The importance of e-learning or learning through the internet might not have reached its present urgency or demand without the MCO.
The MCO has laid bare our unpreparedness or inability to ensure children have access to learning through the computer, having access to the internet and availability of information.
The Education Ministry was forced to admit that online education might not be effective. It is not because online education is different from straightforward classroom teaching, but simply because of the digital divide between those children who have access to computers and internet services and those who do not.
Children in rural or remote areas don't even own computers and forget about whether these areas are connected with internet services.
It is just not a regional divide, but a class divide between those from the lower and higher socio-economic backgrounds.
Thus, regional and class divide reinforce one another to the extent that school children in rural areas are denied the benefit of online education.
Over the years, the government has spent billions in bringing about development in rural areas, but whether such a move addressed the issue of the gap between the rich and poor remains unclear.
The repeated reference in bridging the digital divide was more at the level of propaganda than anything else.
Long before the Coronavirus pandemic, our system of education was not prepared or did not lay the foundation for online education.
Not that there were no efforts at all, but the initiatives might not have benefitted all children equally.
Even in areas that are wired with services, poor children cannot afford to buy necessities such as computers or mobile phones for access.
It is not that poor children do not know or understand the value of computers or learning through these devices but it is primarily the question of affordability.
Putting food on the table under the MCO seems more of a priority for poor families.
However, children in urban areas, especially those from the middle and upper-class families might not experience the same misfortune.
This is why it is often said that bridging the digital divide might not be as simple as it seems as it might invariably bring about inequality among the people.
P RAMASAMY is the state assemblyperson for Perai. He is also deputy chief minister (II) of Penang.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
Way back when Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak was Education Minister, I asked him on the sidelines of a media event in Cyberjaya whether Smart Schools would create a generation of idiots by the Year 2020 - i.e. now and he replied "No". Well I leave you to figure out the answer to my question.
What we know today is that according to figures by the Ministry of Higher Education, 50% of our university and college graduates are unemployed, whilst graduate unemployment amongst ICT graduates is higher at 60%, and some of these graduates may have delivered your lunch or dinner by motorcycle for a living.
Welcome to the Information and Services Economy!
Take care and stay safe.
Yours truly
IT Scheiss
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