Wikis are articles or websites that can be created by anyone. However, these websites or articles can also be modified or edited by anyone as well whether it is the author or reader. The information provided in wikis are usually collaboration of multiple users rather than a single user.
To a limited degree, wikis can be an effective form of communication depending on the circumstance. Clearly, wikis are a powerful form of information sharing since anyone can provide the data with ease. When I mean anyone, I mean anyone around the world with internet can contribute their data which can be an effective method of communication. Since anyone can contribute data to wikis, it is not always guaranteed that the users provide valid data. Users of wiki site would usually know nothing about other users and fail distinguish whether the data or information given is reliable. Under the circumstance that a wiki site or article is very popular and contains many data contributions by multiple users, it can be a very effective form of communication since they tend to be more reliable and valid. However, if a certain wiki site is poorly visited and contributed by very few users the site or article can be a weak form of communication and lack reliable information. In this sort of circumstance, wikis are a weak form of communication and cannot be fully reliable. This matters deeply since wikis is starting to become a very commonly used site and users need to know that the information being exposed to is not completely valid. Being misinformed and misled by unreliable information can have negative effects as well. Wiki creators are aware of this and sometimes state certain information is fully valid by indicating a paragraph may need to be revised, need more citations or has been modified many times. Today, we should use wiki with care and distinguish between reliable and unreliable data.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Should we be worried about the digital divide? Why or why not?
Firstly, the digital divide should be defined before I should begin assessing the question.
By definition, the digital divide is the gap between people who own at least one computer and have access to the internet and people who do not. This gap is primarily determined by sociological and economical factors.
The digital divide is an occurrence we should be aware and concern about since it is occurring at a global scale. Depending on how wealthy the economy is will determine the digital divide within that economy. Mainly the highly educated and wealthy people have quicker access to the internet compared to less wealthy and poorly educated people. The upper class will always have the resources to gain such access while the lower class will always require more time to gain such resources. It is nearly impossible for the rich and poor to all acquire access to the internet unless a third party intervenes to help the poor by providing resources. Today, many benefits and opportunities occur on the internet and the rich continue to take advantage of such factors. Those who are poor and do not possess the internet continue miss such benefits and opportunities. Thus, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Today, people should have equal benefits and opportunities and a great start would be if everyone had equal access to the internet. However, with the digital divide there will always be those who will and will not have access to the internet and this gap continues to grow larger each passing day. Thus, equal opportunity is eliminated and inequality continues to persist in our world. As long the digital divide creates greater inequality in the world, it will make the world a worse place to live in. This is a notable issue worth worrying about if we are to make this world a better place to reside in. Closing this gap is the primary objective we should strive for if we are to be ethical citizens.
By definition, the digital divide is the gap between people who own at least one computer and have access to the internet and people who do not. This gap is primarily determined by sociological and economical factors.
The digital divide is an occurrence we should be aware and concern about since it is occurring at a global scale. Depending on how wealthy the economy is will determine the digital divide within that economy. Mainly the highly educated and wealthy people have quicker access to the internet compared to less wealthy and poorly educated people. The upper class will always have the resources to gain such access while the lower class will always require more time to gain such resources. It is nearly impossible for the rich and poor to all acquire access to the internet unless a third party intervenes to help the poor by providing resources. Today, many benefits and opportunities occur on the internet and the rich continue to take advantage of such factors. Those who are poor and do not possess the internet continue miss such benefits and opportunities. Thus, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Today, people should have equal benefits and opportunities and a great start would be if everyone had equal access to the internet. However, with the digital divide there will always be those who will and will not have access to the internet and this gap continues to grow larger each passing day. Thus, equal opportunity is eliminated and inequality continues to persist in our world. As long the digital divide creates greater inequality in the world, it will make the world a worse place to live in. This is a notable issue worth worrying about if we are to make this world a better place to reside in. Closing this gap is the primary objective we should strive for if we are to be ethical citizens.
Friday, January 15, 2010
How did my grandparents communicate? How could Web 3.0 change my life? How would being a ‘digital native’ affect my answer to this question?
How did my grandparents communicate?
The capabilities of grandparent’s communication vary depending where and when they lived at that time. My grandparents lived in Taiwan in the 1960s where communication was not fully modernized to the whole society. Depending on how wealthy a family can be, they would have better access to phones. However, no matter how wealthy a family could be internet was clearly out of the picture due to the drawback in technology at that time. My grandparents lived in a village rather than an urban area and communication within was quite flexible. Everyone in the village knew each other well and communication to one another was merely in walking distance. Talking in person to one another was how my grandparents communicated since it was free and convenient. Contacting one another was extremely local during their daily lives and using a phone to communicate to a person within a village was unnecessary, expensive and unavailable. On rare occasions, my grandparents would actually use a phone to maybe contact family far away. However, contacting family far away was quite expensive using the phone and mail was the primary use of communication on that kind of circumstance. When referring to mail, I emphasize on writing one’s own mail rather than today’s online and fast email.
How could Web 3.0 change my life?
Web 3.0 is supposedly an innovation of Web 2.0 and is a giant leap in between. This new innovation offers Semantic Web and personalization. If you wanted to conduct research in Web 2.0, the web would help your research by focusing around the syntax of your topic which is the actual wording and grammar. This can be very time consuming if you compared it to Web 3.0 which instead helps you according to both syntax and semantics (meaning). I usually tend to make mistake once in awhile and may misspell the word of my topic of research. In a Web 2.0, it will probably leave me 0 findings on my topic unless I spell it correctly. However, in a Web 3.0 it will offer a list of words I may have intended to spell or words close enough. This will offer a broader list of findings since Web 3.0 can look into my previous browsing history and make inferences about what sites and information I may be looking for. With personalization research has been faster and quicker than before. If you have a YouTube account, it will display recommended videos for you upon your login. These videos are derived based on the history of videos previously watched and can be very convenient on the user’s interest. Web 3.0 is starting to surface on our daily lives and for a start You tube is a very common site used world wide. Lastly, search engines now offer terms most popular to the public as you type in the topic you desire to search which can be very convenient and faster for most people.
How would being a ‘digital native’ affect my answer to this question?
Young people these days are clearly digital natives since they have lived with the web and communication technology as they grow up. The Web has become part of today’s young people’s daily lives and is used for their career as well as for recreation. Old people on the other hand had just encountered such new communication technology and may be slow in adapting it compared to younger people. For the digital natives, the change from the web 2.0 to 3.0 can be very effective and life changing since they constantly use the web. Being digital natives will let them see the improvement better since they’re more likely to use the web to a higher potential and extract higher benefits. Non-digital natives tend to consist of old people since most never had such communication technology in their younger days. Quite often today, youngsters teach older people how to utilize the web. Non-digital natives will more likely fail to see the augmentation from the Web 2.0 since they probably don’t use the web as often. Due to the lack of Web usage, non-digital natives will fail to see the effectiveness of personalization and Semantics. To them, Web 3.0 will not change their lives that much if they do not use the Web often.
The capabilities of grandparent’s communication vary depending where and when they lived at that time. My grandparents lived in Taiwan in the 1960s where communication was not fully modernized to the whole society. Depending on how wealthy a family can be, they would have better access to phones. However, no matter how wealthy a family could be internet was clearly out of the picture due to the drawback in technology at that time. My grandparents lived in a village rather than an urban area and communication within was quite flexible. Everyone in the village knew each other well and communication to one another was merely in walking distance. Talking in person to one another was how my grandparents communicated since it was free and convenient. Contacting one another was extremely local during their daily lives and using a phone to communicate to a person within a village was unnecessary, expensive and unavailable. On rare occasions, my grandparents would actually use a phone to maybe contact family far away. However, contacting family far away was quite expensive using the phone and mail was the primary use of communication on that kind of circumstance. When referring to mail, I emphasize on writing one’s own mail rather than today’s online and fast email.
How could Web 3.0 change my life?
Web 3.0 is supposedly an innovation of Web 2.0 and is a giant leap in between. This new innovation offers Semantic Web and personalization. If you wanted to conduct research in Web 2.0, the web would help your research by focusing around the syntax of your topic which is the actual wording and grammar. This can be very time consuming if you compared it to Web 3.0 which instead helps you according to both syntax and semantics (meaning). I usually tend to make mistake once in awhile and may misspell the word of my topic of research. In a Web 2.0, it will probably leave me 0 findings on my topic unless I spell it correctly. However, in a Web 3.0 it will offer a list of words I may have intended to spell or words close enough. This will offer a broader list of findings since Web 3.0 can look into my previous browsing history and make inferences about what sites and information I may be looking for. With personalization research has been faster and quicker than before. If you have a YouTube account, it will display recommended videos for you upon your login. These videos are derived based on the history of videos previously watched and can be very convenient on the user’s interest. Web 3.0 is starting to surface on our daily lives and for a start You tube is a very common site used world wide. Lastly, search engines now offer terms most popular to the public as you type in the topic you desire to search which can be very convenient and faster for most people.
How would being a ‘digital native’ affect my answer to this question?
Young people these days are clearly digital natives since they have lived with the web and communication technology as they grow up. The Web has become part of today’s young people’s daily lives and is used for their career as well as for recreation. Old people on the other hand had just encountered such new communication technology and may be slow in adapting it compared to younger people. For the digital natives, the change from the web 2.0 to 3.0 can be very effective and life changing since they constantly use the web. Being digital natives will let them see the improvement better since they’re more likely to use the web to a higher potential and extract higher benefits. Non-digital natives tend to consist of old people since most never had such communication technology in their younger days. Quite often today, youngsters teach older people how to utilize the web. Non-digital natives will more likely fail to see the augmentation from the Web 2.0 since they probably don’t use the web as often. Due to the lack of Web usage, non-digital natives will fail to see the effectiveness of personalization and Semantics. To them, Web 3.0 will not change their lives that much if they do not use the Web often.
Monday, January 11, 2010
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