Online Class-

I enjoyed the reading about 10 lessons in ICTs and education in the developing world. But the paper focused mostly on issues of access and the challenges of getting broadband connections and resources to install and troubleshoot computers in school. There was very little mention on the actual usage of the machines in the curriculum. The World Bank and other institutions must go beyond merely placing machines in the classroom and providing occasional teacher training. The actual use of the technology in the classroom and its integration in the curriculm is critically important.

In developing countries, even those lucky students who finish high school and college are often unemployable because the education they received is substandard. For example in a non-profit program that I ran to teach poor women computing skills, many women had finished college but could not use excel meaningfully because they did not understand why 2+2=4.

There is also the issue of language. Accessing the internet is fine but most of the content is in English and most government schools use English (if they do, ineffectively). While I agree that technology excites teachers and students alike, the most important part of this equation are the teachers and their training. Would not resources be better put into teacher education than on providing hardware.

What I am going to right about

I am planning to do a literature review with one main overiding question namely does the advent of modern communication technologies change existing power structures for the better. I want to look at two things to help answer this question. The first is the use of ICTs in developing countries to help people come out of poverty and to leapfrog development. The other is the use of the net in collective movements for democracy etc around the world. I already have several sources for the first aspect of this paper some of which come from the MIT press journal on information technology and development.

I hope that the two points for this paper are not too broad although the intent is to answer the same overarching question from two perspectives and maybe do a comparison of effectiveness between them.

Social Networking Sites

I think the papers we read today mostly confirmed what we already know: people who have are social offline take those connections online and are social online as well. The internet acts as a communication device to help people keep in touch in today's increasingly mobile world and increases weaker links. It may help people who who have problems with social cues etc. I am not surprised either that there is some fudging in the online dating world. Basically there appears to be consensus about the research on social capital and online interaction. What that means perhaps is that power structures may simply remain the same regardless of the existence of the internet. Power structures depend heavily on linkages and networking with people in powerful positions.

Social Networks

Duncan Watts theory of six degrees of separation is fascinating. The idea that I am connected to everyone on this planet by only six degrees of separation is amazing given that there are billions living on this planet. It shows us how close and yet how far we are from each other. Then the question is, what role are these social networking sites playing in bringing us close to each other. The paper by Donath and Boyd talk about the nuances of making our connections public and how the intricacies of the rules of social websites make an impact.

I agree with Donath and Boyd in when they that while we may increase our list of acquaintenances, we will not increase our deeper more fulfilling relationships. In the end of the day, it is these deeper relationships that help and support us. In the interest of the larger question that I am asking 'will power structures in the world be changed because of ICTs' I am curious whether this expanding network of acquaintenances can help start social movements. I think the answer is yes.