ICT - Weiye Loh on Diigo

Mar

7

2012

Community Informatics and Older Persons: The Necessary Connection « Gurstein's Community Informatics

gurstein.wordpress.com/...rsons-the-necessary-connection

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Age Community Informatics ICT

we know instinctively and research evidence itself is beginning to emerge that particularly in the case of older persons individualized, medicalized, institutionally focused care may be precisely what is not needed and may have the effect over the span of the final decades of life to not only reduce the quality of life but even the length of life itself.
individuals including or even especially older persons are happiest and healthiest and thus less likely to need interventions from the formal medical system if they are living surrounded by family and friends and firmly embedded in communities where they have support, friendship and love.

Feb

28

2012

Don’t be evil (World Bank & Google edition) | Owen abroad

www.owen.org/5270

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Google ICT ICT4D Development Map Open Acesss Open Information Data

The intention is good: it is to promote crowd-sourcing of maps, to improve planning in disasters and to improve the planning, management and monitoring of public services. This is an important goal, which is now being made possible by new technologies and the spread of the internet. The deal is sufficiently important for World Bank Managing Director Caroline Anstey to write about it in the opinion pages of the New York Times:

Under the agreement, the bank and its development partners — developing country governments and U.N. agencies — will be able to access Google Map Maker’s global mapping platform, allowing the collection, viewing, search and free access to data of geoinformation in over 150 countries and 60 languages.

This is all consistent with an admirable push in the World Bank towards ‘democratising development‘, including becoming more open about its own activities and promoting open data. Indeed, this effort has come to be a defining achievement of Robert Zoellick period as World Bank President.
Where [the World Bank] once imposed prescriptions on the Third World, it now shares knowledge with respected clients from the new world. Where it once hoarded data, it now displays it on the web. … One decade ago, the Bank was routinely accused of indifference to the views of local people. Today Mr Zoellick talks of empowering the most humble netizen to provide feedback on projects.
5 more annotation(s)...
- The problem is the way the data is licensed: once any data goes in to Google Map Maker, it all becomes the property of Google. If governments and citizens choose to use the Google Map Maker platform to contribute their information, then the data will only be available through Google’s own mapping system, and the data will be available under conditions specified by Google.
- The Bank has said that they ‘want a blanket permission from Google to provide NGOs, humanitarian groups, and other non-commercial entities with the data whenever they need it’ – though we do not know if this has been written into the agreement (and if so in what terms) or is just wishful thinking. Even if this concession were secured, it would not be enough. Open data offers opportunities for everyone – not just NGOs and governments but social enterprises and businesses too, and they should all be allowed to use the data which governments and citizens have contributed.
- There is an alternative platform – Open Street Map – which proved its value in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. Data in Open Street Map is all available to everyone to use for any commercial or non-commercial purpose. So if the data were contributed to Open Street Map, it could be used by Google Map Maker, but not the other way round.
- The World Bank defends itself by pointing out that the deal is non-exclusive – that is, everyone is free to give data to anyone else as well as to Google Map Maker. But that misses the point. Citizens will in practice contribute to one platform. If an organisation as prominent and powerful as the World Bank encourages governments and citizens, and UN organisations, to use Google Map Maker, then that becomes a de facto global standard.
- it seems to me that there are only two possible satisfactory resolutions. The first possible solution is for Google irrevocably to change the terms of the license for all the data in Google Map Maker to allow commercial and non-commercial use. I think that is unlikely (which should tell us something about Google’s assessment of the possibility that they may want to do something in future with their control over the data). If Google will not do that, then the second solution is for the World Bank to terminate the agreement and instead encourage citizens and governments to contribute to Open Street Map, or some other genuinely open system. Google Map Maker can then use that data if they wish, like everyone else. Anything but these alternatives is likely to be an unsatisfactory fudge. Furthermore, the full terms of the agreement must be published.

Sep

4

2011

Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog: Faith-Based Education and a Return to Shop Class

In 2008 Dick Nelson and Dan Sarewitz had a commentary in Nature (here in PDF) that eloquently summarized why it is that we should not expect technology in the classroom to reault in better educational outcomes as they suggest we should in the case of a tehcnology like vaccines

rogerpielkejr.blogspot.com/...d-education-and-return-to.html

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Education ICT Technology

In the United States, nearly a half century of research, application of new technologies and development of new methods and policies has failed to translate into improved reading abilities for the nation’s children1.
the reasons why progress has been so uneven point to three simple rules for anticipating when more research and development (R&D) could help to yield rapid social progress. In a world of limited resources, the trick is distinguishing problems amenable to technological fixes from those that are not. Our rules provide guidance\ in making this distinction . . .
6 more annotation(s)...
- unlike vaccines, the textbooks and software used in education do not embody the essence of what needs to be done. That is, they don’t provide the basic ‘go’ of teaching and learning. That depends on the skills of teachers and on the attributes of classrooms and students. Most importantly, the effectiveness of a vaccine is largely independent of who gives or receives it, and of the setting in which it is given.
- The three rules for a technological fix proposed by Sarewitz and Nelson are:
  
  I. The technology must largely embody the cause–effect relationship connecting problem to solution.
  II. The effects of the technological fix must be assessable using relatively unambiguous or uncontroversial criteria.
  III. Research and development is most likely to contribute decisively to solving a social problem when it focuses on improving a standardized technical core that already exists.
- technology in the classroom fails with respect to each of the three criteria: (a) technology is not a causal factor in learning in the sense that more technology means more learning, (b) assessment of educational outcome sis itself difficult and contested, much less disentangling various causal factors, and (c) the lack of evidence that technology leads to improved educational outcomes means that there is no such standardized technological core.
- This conundrum calls into question one of the most significant contemporary educational movements. Advocates for giving schools a major technological upgrade — which include powerful educators, Silicon Valley titans and White House appointees — say digital devices let students learn at their own pace, teach skills needed in a modern economy and hold the attention of a generation weaned on gadgets.
  
  Some backers of this idea say standardized tests, the most widely used measure of student performance, don’t capture the breadth of skills that computers can help develop. But they also concede that for now there is no better way to gauge the educational value of expensive technology investments.
- absent clear proof, schools are being motivated by a blind faith in technology and an overemphasis on digital skills — like using PowerPoint and multimedia tools — at the expense of math, reading and writing fundamentals. They say the technology advocates have it backward when they press to upgrade first and ask questions later.
- [D]emand for educated labour is being reconfigured by technology, in much the same way that the demand for agricultural labour was reconfigured in the 19th century and that for factory labour in the 20th. Computers can not only perform repetitive mental tasks much faster than human beings. They can also empower amateurs to do what professionals once did: why hire a flesh-and-blood accountant to complete your tax return when Turbotax (a software package) will do the job at a fraction of the cost? And the variety of jobs that computers can do is multiplying as programmers teach them to deal with tone and linguistic ambiguity.
  
  Several economists, including Paul Krugman, have begun to argue that post-industrial societies will be characterised not by a relentless rise in demand for the educated but by a great “hollowing out”, as mid-level jobs are destroyed by smart machines and high-level job growth slows. David Autor, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), points out that the main effect of automation in the computer era is not that it destroys blue-collar jobs but that it destroys any job that can be reduced to a routine. Alan Blinder, of Princeton University, argues that the jobs graduates have traditionally performed are if anything more “offshorable” than low-wage ones. A plumber or lorry-driver’s job cannot be outsourced to India.

Jul

3

2011

The Value Of Simulation | Wired Science | Wired.com

The benefit of a flight simulator is that it allows pilots to internalize their new knowledge. Instead of memorizing lessons on the blackboard, they were forced to exercise emotional regulation, learning how to stay calm and think clearly when bad stuff happens. (I’ve been in these realistic flight simulators and let me assure you – they can be terrifying. After I crashed my jetliner, I left the simulator drenched in sweat, all jangly with adrenaline.) The essential point here is that pilots were the first profession to realize that many of our most important decisions were inherently emotional and instinctive, which is why it was necessary to practice them in an emotional state. If we want those hours of practice to transfer to the real world – and isn’t that the point of practice? – then we have to simulate not just the exterior conditions of the cockpit but the internal mental state of the pilot as well. For far too long, we’ve assumed that expertise is about learning lots of facts, which is why we settled for the “chalk and talk” teaching method. But it’s not. True expertise occurs when we no longer need to reference facts, because we already know what to do.

www.wired.com/...the-value-of-simulation

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Simulation Simulator Flight Pilot Training Education ICT

Feb

14

2011

Is Singapore’s Education System Too Dependent On Information And Communications Technology (ICT)? « guanyinmiao's musings

guanyinmiao.wordpress.com/...-communications-technology-ict

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ICT Education Singapore

Meet the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. This amphibious creature can reach an average size of 30 to 33 centimetres; and after spending its early years and mating season in aquatic environments, its adapted skin conditions have allowed them to live in moist rainforests away from pooled water. Incredulously, whilst one of its arms – covered in suckers – grabs onto a branch for stability, the Tree Octopus strikes at insects or small vertebrates with one of its eight limbs; aided largely by its human-like eyesight, which coincidentally also helps facilitate inter-octopus relations [1].

The catch? The Tree Octopus does not exist.
The fictitious amphibian was created by a group of researchers at New Literacies Lab [2], as part of a study funded by the United States Department of Education to comprehend students’ usage of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), as well as the consequences on online learning. A group of students, identified by their institutions as competent online readers, participated in the research study; in which they were required to find out more information on a campaign to “Save the Endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus”. After being directed to a fabricated website committed to the aforementioned cause, the involved students insisted on its factuality, even after researchers explained that the available information was entirely made-up [3].
4 more annotation(s)...
- , is our education system too dependent on ICT? Second, do our students have the proficiency to process information; or possess the abilities to discern and verify virtual content? Finally, how can ICT evolve from being a mere fad into something that is technically stable, academically sustainable and ultimately complementary to teaching-learning pedagogies in the long run?
- ICT usage [5] in Singapore has been greatly proliferated [6]. On a consistent basis, education institutions – often funded by the Ministry of Education (MOE) – employ ICT methodologies in their syllabuses and training methods: schools use iPads in language lessons, departments adopt e-learning for students, educators utilise social networking sites as platforms for discussions et cetera. Given the sheer volume of ICT-based projects and initiatives, it is worth contemplating the genuine benefits; or whether its widespread – often laissez-faire – adoption is a mere fad for educators and their institutions.
- Considerable funds and resources have been dedicated to the physical development of these virtual learning portals. Unfortunately, what makes evaluation tricky is the difficulty in gauging ICT’s effects upon learning behaviours and overall academic performance. Proponents point to the convenience and interactivity of materials, as well as adequate preparation for a highly-computerised world and workplace; nonetheless, opponents are quick to point out the ramifications: a plethora of unreliable information online (a knowledge minefield, as highlighted in the opening case study), instances of plagiarism, and an assortment of distractions – for both teachers and students.
- Efforts must be undertaken to properly integrate and orientate ICT methodologies into school curriculum; instead of rushing blindly. For instance, it has been contended that even with the proliferation of school-based resources, there is a lack of inter-school interaction through the usage of ICT, creating duplicity in resources and portals.

Weiye Loh's Library tagged ICT → View Popular, Search in Google

Community Informatics and Older Persons: The Necessary Connection « Gurstein's Community Informatics

Don’t be evil (World Bank & Google edition) | Owen abroad

Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog: Faith-Based Education and a Return to Shop Class

The Value Of Simulation | Wired Science | Wired.com

Is Singapore’s Education System Too Dependent On Information And Communications Technology (ICT)? « guanyinmiao's musings

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