DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY AND LITERACY IN PAKISTAN

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DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY AND LITERACY IN PAKISTAN

• Working Group on Internet Culture and Blog
• Presentation by
• Amina Jameel and Aqsa Bajwa

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CONTENTS

• INTRODUCTION
• BACKGROUND
• STATISTICS
• Rural Education
• Urban Education
• STUDYING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
• RESEARCH CONDUCTED
• CONCLUSION

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INTRODUCTION

• As mankind starts its journey into the new
  millennium, Information and Communication
  Technology (ICT) is the major force shaping up
  the future of this world
• Reducing geographic boundaries, bringing cultures
  and societies closer to each other
• Creating a paradox of wealth and poverty
• Bridging gap between individuals, and isolating
  them at the same time
• Creating simultaneously the information haves and
  information have-nots
• Empowering people contribute and restricting
  communities to participate.

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INTRODUCTION

• Technology is affecting education in
  revolutionary ways, and the momentum toward these
  changes is irreversible.
• Drastic change in the traditional framework of
  learning.
• Teaching is no longer limited to conventional
  classrooms.
• Technology offers a unique opportunity to extend
  learning support beyond the classroom, something
  that has been difficult to do until now
• E-Learning systems (learning via the Internet)
• Development of online alternatives to traditional
  types of education and training systems

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BACKGROUND

• By the end of 20th Century, most of the countries
  all over the world had jumped on the Information
  and Communication Technology wagon.
• Some countries achieved the heights of success in
  this arena
• Others are struggling to make a niche for them
  selves.

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BACKGROUND

• Pakistan also took the challenge and started to
  concentrate in this field
• Did the digital technology and Internet
  revolutionize education in Pakistan?
• Well, not exactly. It did provide an opportunity
  to expand learning options for teachers and
  students who were fortunate enough to have
  Internet access, a few computers, and appropriate
  guidance on usage.

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BACKGROUND

• The focus of the paper is to compare the two
  extreme segments in the Pakistani society
  coexisting in this digital world.
• First segment is further divided into two
  categories
• The first category is totally dependant on the
  use of digital technology and is achieving great
  heights in educational and corporate sector.
• The other category has not accomplished much more
  than replacing the type writer and calculator
  with a computer.
• The second extreme consists of population totally
  ignorant of a thing called computer and a
  technology called internet.

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ILLITRACY ON RISE IN PAKISTAN STATISTICS

• THE CURRENT STATE OF EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN IS
  ABYSMAL
• literacy rate in Pakistan is only around 35
• For males 42
• For females 25

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ILLITRACY ON RISE IN PAKISTAN STATISTICS

• Pakistan ranks among the countries of the world
  with highest number of out-of-school children
• Pakistan spends less than 2.5 of its GDP on
  education
• 10 million children of primary school-going age
  are not enrolled in any educational institution.
• More than 50 of children enrolled in schools
  drop out before they reach 5th grade.
• The disparity between rural and urban areas is
  even more marked. In 1981, only 7 of in rural
  areas were literate, compared with 35 in urban
  areas. Among men, these rates were 27 and 57,
  respectively
• Out of 28 literate people ,computer users
  roughly range from only 7-9.
• Internet users 2.12 percent
• Majority of population without any knowledge of
  the World Wide Web

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STATISTICS

• Education level and income are the predominant
  determinants of those who use technology
• Those who have higher education levels and larger
  incomes more likely both to use computers and to
  access the internet.

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RURAL EDUCATION

• Pakistans population is about 160 million
• 68 percent live in villages
• 90 percent of technological infrastructure is
  installed in urban areas only.
• Dismissal state of education in rural areas

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RURAL EDUCATION

• Enrolment of students decreasing with every New
  Year.
• Lack of desks, books, blackboards, electricity,
  doors, and windows, not to mention the problem of
  overcrowded classrooms.
• According to a Human Development report, 70 per
  cent of the schools in Pakistan especially in
  rural areas, have no toilets, 68 percent no
  drinking water, 92 percent no playgrounds, 60 per
  cent no boundary walls and 16 percent are without
  a building.

• Rural students ultimately have to move to urban
  universities for higher studies

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Govt. Schools in Pakistan
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URBAN EDUCATION

• Most of the students are fully equipped with the
  latest technological treads
• Well aware of the direction in which the
  technology is paving its ways.
• More exposure, confidence and ability to think on
  a broad spectrum.

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DIGITAL DIVIDE

• The term digital divide refers to the gap between
  those people with effective access to digital and
  information technology and those without access
  to it.
• It includes the imbalances in physical access to
  technology as well as the imbalances in resources
  and skills needed to effectively participate as a
  digital citizen
• Its the unequal access by some members of the
  society to information and communications
  technology, and the unequal acquisition of
  related skills.
• The term initially referred to gaps in the
  ownership of, or regular access to, a computer.
• As Internet access came to be seen as a central
  aspect of computing, the term's usage shifted to
  encompass gaps in not just computers but also
  access to the Internet.

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STUDYING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN PAKISTAN

• Higher education in the country is clearly an
  urban phenomenon
• Students from both extremes come together for
  perusing higher education in cities.
• Higher education Universities are using
  technology to a good percentage to equip the
  students to meet the technological challenges
  ahead.
• The government is giving high priority to expose
  the students to the technological advancements as
  a result of which the inflow of students in
  universities is from every region of the country.
  
• This blend of regions not only brings diversity
  in culture and language but also in the level of
  digital education that has already been imparted
  in them.
• This digital divide is so significant that in
  every educational institution one can experience
  the striking difference in its classical sense.

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RESEARCH

• Research at a local leading university of
  Islamabad to see
• How these segments get along with each other
• And cope up with the requirements of modern
  digital world.
• We studied the behavior of students in one such
  class during the span of one semester (5-6
  months) and evaluated them on various factors
• Computer knowledge.
• Willingness to learn technology.
• Ability to think.
• Ability to ex press.
• General knowledge on current happenings.
• Technological vocabulary.
• Confidence

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RESULTS

• Over the period of 6 months, it was observed
• Students coming from the urban educational
  system
• had better computer knowledge
• Functional knowledge of different computer
  components.
• Skilled internet surfers and used it as a help in
  their research assignments and projects.
• Students from the rural educational background
• 99 of the students did not know how to use a
  computer.
• For them it was hard to understand how the
  computer works and how it is able to process on
  logic.
• Difficulty in understanding what internet is.
• Some of such students however, grasped the basic
  concepts but finding the comfortability with
  computer was not that easy after all.
• A tough challenge for them to come up to the same
  level as that of the other computer literate
  students.

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RESULTS

• This resulted in low self esteems, less
  confidence and further deterioration in students
  from rural educational background that were
  otherwise some of the most brilliant and
  intelligent students of the class.
• Brain storming sessions with the class on
  different technical and general topics. It was
  observed that there was a big difference in the
  ideas that were poured in from the students of
  different backgrounds.
• The digitally aware students were
• more creative and,
• could critically analyze every situation that was
  put in front of them.
• The digitally less aware students
• lacked confidence and,
• less exposure was limiting their ability to think
  and express.

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RESULTS

• After the digital shock got a little absorbed it
  was noticed that some of the students showed
  remarkable improvement and excelled in every
  possible way to reach at the general level of the
  class.
• However, a good number of students could not
  adapt to the drastic change and dropped out.
• We also came across students for whom the
  internet, in addition to opening positive
  avenues, also exposed them to the negativity of
  the internet world.
• The unregulated internet exposure led to the
  opening of unwanted, unethical and improper
  avenues to otherwise bright students.

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CONCLUSION

• Learning through information technology is
  evolving a new era of education all over the
  world
• To excel without digital literacy is impossible
• Developing countries are feeling the pressure of
  preparing its next generation to the modern
  digital world
• Huge gap between technology and education in
  Pakistan
• Lack of digital knowledge hinders progress of
  individuals
• Reaching out to the rural masses is the need of
  the day
• Use of technology to create a new educational
  platform and reconfigure the way a student
  learns.
• Need of Digital literacy for every Pakistani
  student from rural or urban origin in early
  stages to pave a better future to the progress
  and image of Pakistan