Symposium Journals - 5 views
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stu lewis on 29 Feb 12E-Learning and Digital MediaISSN 2042-7530 The Rural Wings Project: bridging the digital divide with satellite-provided Internet. Hansson, H. , Mihailidis,P. , Larsson,K. ,Sotiriou, S. ,Sotiriou, S. ,Uzunoglu, N. &Gargalakos, M. (2007) The Rural Wings Project: bridging the digital divide with satellite-provided Internet. Phase I: Identifying and analysing the learning needs of 31 communities in 10 countries. E-Learning 4 (2), 107-115 The Rural Wings Project is a multi-year EU-funded assessment and analysis of numerous rural communities in ten different European nations, with the primary goal of assessing their needs and providing solutions to these needs by use of satellite-provided internet. During the analysis, numerous common problems and issues are revealed, all of which can be taken care of by making more reliable and frequent internet connections available to rural communities in Europe. The most commonly addressed solutions included educational and language opportunities. Rural Wings makes the assessment, implementation and oversight of educational media technologies in non-urban communities a focal point of the initiative. Both surveys were given to and Interviews were conducted of national and regional coordinators. The national coordinators were also given the task of processing and analysing the information as it relates to their individual nation, as each country in the study is an independent part of the overall Rural Wings needs analysis survey. Each country was given a focus of "formal" or "informal" learning based on the experience with technology that the users have. A formal learning focus would necessitate personal and face to face teacher training, training of farmers and doctors, as well as basic IT training. An informal learning focus would allow for more communication and learning via email, video and IP phone, as well as independent Internet use. Regardless of the primary focus of the individual country, (Cont. in comments)
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Inna Bolechowsky on 05 Mar 12Hi Stu, Thanks for another detailed critical review of the article by Hansson, Mihailidis, Larsson, Sotiriou, Sotiriou,Uzunoglu & Gargalakos, (2007). I like how you related the theme of the article to what we have been discussing in this course in regards to the issues in the broad adoption of e-Learning in Canada. I totally agree with you that without coordinated organized measures and teamwork there will always be some lack of effectiveness in any short-term or long-term projects. In my opinion, the given research project serves as a good example on how to identify the varied learning needs of the communities in regards to technology use, as in the given scenario in different European countries. As this study indicates, the different needs of communities for formal and informal learning can be met based on the provision of ICT access and satellite broadcast Internet connection. However, I would agree that more research needs to be done in order to identify how the varied learning needs of the diverse communities can be met with the introduction of ICT or e-learning. Reference: Hansson, H. , Mihailidis,P. , Larsson,K. ,Sotiriou, S. ,Sotiriou, S. ,Uzunoglu, N. &Gargalakos, M. (2007) The Rural Wings Project: bridging the digital divide with satellite-provided Internet. Phase I: Identifying and analysing the learning needs of 31 communities in 10 countries. E-Learning 4 (2), 107-115
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Sean Green on 08 Mar 12There is no doubt in my mind that access to the Internet can be beneficial to anyone, and initiatives like the Rural Wings project are needed to, as you say, level the playing field between those who have access to the Internet and those who do not. You argue that the study is too broad to be of any real use, but I wonder if the point of the article is to show that the Internet is useful in diverse cultural and geographic contexts, thus, promoting the goals of the Rural Wings project and securing the funds needed to run it. After reading your review of the article, I also wonder if bias is not something to consider as a criticism for the article. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Henrik Hanson is one of the organizers of the Rural Wings project, so what he has to say about it's usefulness has to be taken with a grain of salt. Your discussion of the problem of creating standardized methodologies is both interesting and controversial. On the one hand, standardized methodologies and practices will allow us to evaluate the effectiveness of of learning across time and situations, reduce redundancy, and improve efficiency, but the very act of standardization dampens what I believe is elearning's most powerful features, its flexibility. Honestly, I have yet to see or hear about any one elearning strategy that has been shown to be significantly better than others, and I think the the area is far too young for anyone to say that they have the best solution to the elearning problem. Until the right solutions show itself to us, I am quite content to let provinces, countries and even small communities determine how to best use ITC to improve their quality of life.