Revolution on the Internet - Assignment Example

Task Searching  With all the universe of information available at one’s finger tips, internet has revolutionized the way in which young people usethis information interface. Livingston (03 December 2007) has criticized that society is not properly supporting the internet literacy of young people “through design, education and regulation.” The internet search skills that the youth have difficulty while using include, “typing […] spelling […] spacing and punctuation […] alphabetization […] composition of search statements using Boolen logic […] formulation of appropriate search queries […] reactive rather than planned searching […] and lack of consideration of authority, accuracy or bias of the information found” (Chelton and Cool, 2004). Chelton and Cool (2004) had also found out, from their review of studies made in this field, that students were making use of “global search strategies that minimized cognitive load” and they had the common habit of keeping away from “sophisticated system features.” This finding draws attention to the lack of development on the part of students in acquiring more effective internet search skills. The challenges faced by students while using internet search have been categorized into four, namely, complete knowledge of how to use, “hardware, software, content and messages” (Livingston, n.d.). Livingston (n.d) has explained this concept further. The problem related to hardware is that students get confused about choosing, locating and operating the hardware. The content on internet makes the children hard-pressed to update and upgrade their knowledge constantly. How to access the content and services which are available online is the third dimension of this problem. Another study carried out by Skinner et al., (2003) has shown that the students were being somewhat overloaded by the immense information content available on internet and even then not being able to get a particular question answered precisely. It was also revealed that “bulletin boards and specialized chat rooms” were the most popular places on internet as far as the students were concerned (Skinner et al., 2003). References Chelton M.K. and Cool C. 2004, ‘Youth information-seeking behavior: theories, models, and issues’, Volume 1, Illustrated edn., Scarecrow Press, Lanham, MD. Livingston S. n.d. ‘Internet literacy: Young peoples negotiation of new online opportunities’, Digital Young, Innovation, and the Unexpected, MIT Press Journals, pp.101-122, posted on 03 Dec 2007, viewed 27 Oct. 2010, http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/dmal.9780262633598.101 Skinner, H, Biscope, S, Poland, B & Goldberg, E, 2003, ‘How adolescents use technology for health information: implications for health professionals from focus group studies’, Journal of Medical Internet Research, viewed 08 November 2010, http://www.jmir.org/2003/4/e32/ Task 2: Digital Divide  Digital divide has remained a hot topic of this century. It is the growing gap between those who have access to internet and those who have not. The term digital divide had gained popular when it “became part of the title of the second NTIA survey in 1998” (Compaine, 2001, pp.14 of the preface). More data on the digital divide was forthcoming in the following decade. Some of the findings say that, “those with a college degree are more than eight times as likely to have a computer at home and nearly sixteen times as likely to have home internet access as those with an elementary school education” (Compaine, 2001, pp.18). Also it is inferred that “a high-income household in an urban area is more than twenty times as likely as a rural low-income household to have internet access” (Compaine, 2001, pp.18). Another interesting finding that throws light into the poverty politics involved, says that “a child in a low-income White family is three times as likely to have internet access as a child in a comparable Black family and four times as likely to have access as children in a comparable Hispanic household” (Compaine, 2001, pp.18). With all these facts compiled and presented, Compaine (2001, pp.18) has said that digital divide exists for certain demographic groups and in some instances has widened considerably. A European Commission report on the status of current research on digital divide has found that digital divide is simply not a problem faced by the developing world and rather many developing countries are also finding it difficult to “close the gap” (Gourova et al., March 2001, pp.15). The report (Gourova et al., March 2001, pp.5) has also revealed that “links between ICTs and social and economic growth is still very weak.” The overall political situation of a nation has been found to be an important factor in that nation taking up ICTs as an accessible technology to all (Gourova et al., March 2001, pp.5). The digital divide also invites serious scrutiny in the context that world wide there is a scarcity for: Managers capable of completing complex technology projects; policy analysts who understand the tendency of government regulation to dampen business, particularly in a changing technology environment; local content creators aware of the network’s potential; …(and)…software, hardware and communication engineers (Gourova et al., March 2001, pp.12-13). All these research findings show that we have to go a long distance before we close the digital divide. References Companie, B.M. 2001, The digital divide: facing a crisis or creating a myth?, MIT Press, Massachusetts. Gourova et al. March 2001, ‘The digital divide: a research perspective’, A Report to the G8 Opportunities Task Force, European Commission Joint Research Centre, viewed 26 October 2010, http://fiste.jrc.ec.europa.eu/download/eur19913en.pdf Task 3: Copyright  When internet became prevalent, there were two groups of observers who viewed the issue of copy right in connection with this phenomenon. First group had said that “copy right is obviously dead, so let’s abolish it” and the second group contested this by saying that “copy right law needs to be strengthened and we need technical solutions to police what people are reading and copying to ensure that they do not infringe” (Liberty, 1999, pp.134). Happenings in this field have been paving way for all copy right holders to take a middle path between these two extreme stands. For example, in UK, copying is permitted if the purpose is “private research; commercial research; private study; criticism or reviewing; or reporting current events,” which come under the category, “fair deal” (Liberty, 1999, pp.135-6). Copy right on internet has been a contentious issue in US since Internet Service Providers had been found partially liable by different courts for the copy right violations that happened through them (Jackson, 2007, pp.310-13). A study commissioned by Intellectual Property Rights Commission has described the purpose copy right by saying that “it should primarily serve the instrumentalist function of satisfying social goals and values: the creation, spread and sharing of knowledge and information, and public use and access” (Story, n.d., pp.4). It has also been revealed that “the biases and interests of developed countries are monopolizing the international copy right agenda” (Story, n.d., pp.4). International agreements like Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property (TRIPS) and the Berne Convention have been alleged as to be serving developed countries alone and also the multinational companies who are the major copy right owners (Story, n.d., pp.4). The report (Story, n.d., pp.4) has also stood behind the attempts to develop free/open source software and has declared that: Copy right protected proprietary software….incurs very high licencing costs and encourages unauthorized uses and is inflexible, cannot be adapted to local needs, provides narrow training opportunities, creates further technology dependence, and raises anti-competitive practices outside the abilities of LDCs (Least Developed Countries) to curb (Story, n.d., pp.4). Thus, the issue of copy right has developed as a political issue as much as it is an intellectual property owner ship issue. References Jackson, M. 2007, ‘Finding safe harbors for speech: Internet service providers and copy right law’, in Intellectual Property and Information Wealth: Copyright and related rights, Peter K.Yu (ed), Greenwood Publishing Group, Connecticut. Story, A. n.d. ‘Study on intellectual property rights, the internet and copyright’, Study Paper 5, Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, viewed 25 October 2010, http://www.iprcommission.org/papers/pdfs/study_papers/sp5_story_study.pdf Liberty (Great Britain) 1999, ‘Liberating cyberspace: civil liberties, human rights, and the Internet’, Pluto Press, London. Task 4: Politics  It has been argued by many that internet is changing the face of politics. Oates, Owen and Gibson (2006) have studied the role of internet in attracting youth into US politics, helping UK based pro-hunt protestors, supporting the people’s resistance in Ukraine and “Palestinian and Northen Irish terrorism.” When internet became a powerful presence in the society, the initial assumption made by researchers was that “the inherent structural logic of new media….would inexorably lead to the opening up of a decentralized interactive public space in which, people, or ‘netizens’, would form new social bonds and create new for a for political decision making” (Oates, Owen and Gibson, 2006, pp.3). But another group of researchers (cited by Oates, Owen and Gibson, 2006, pp.3) had simultaneously warned that the ICTs have an inherent ability to lie as well and that they will be made use of in order to “improve and ‘pair down’ current governance apparatus rather than replace it entirely.” A third group of researchers (cited by Oates, Owen and Gibson, 2006, pp.4) underplayed the political role of internet and had said that it only helped to maintain the “status quo.” It was also revealed soon after that most of the internet users did not use internet in connection with any political interest (Oates, Owen and Gibson, 2006, pp.4). Anyway, many government have been attempting to use internet to create public interest in politics and British government shows the way by using “a variety of institutional techniques on the internet” to encourage the same (Oates, Owen and Gibson, 2006, pp.8). In 1999, when the world convention of WTO was held in Seattle, “anti-globalization demonstrations” had been carried out all over the globe which were prompted and facilitated by “internet-based methods” (Oates, Owen and Gibson, 2006, pp.9). All these instances show that internet can be effectively used to draw people towards politics. But it should not be expected that this technology, by its inherent nature would support freedom and democracy. There will always be reverse process also going on, by which the rich and powerful in the society would try to control the society through new technologies, whatever it may be (Oates, Owen and Gibson, 2006, pp.12). References Oates, S., Owen, D.M., and Gibson, R.K. 2006, ‘The internet and politics: citizens, voters and activists’, Routledge, London. Task 5: e-commerce  Reed and Storrud-Barnes (2009, pp.223) have observed that “by facilitating outsourcing, reduced costs and easier marketing, Internet diminishes the importance of firm size.” This has been the mantra of e-commerce since the inception of Internet. For smaller companies, it is easier to go ahead with innovation, and it is this possibility that makes them more adaptable to internet marketing. It has been found out by researchers that “about half the companies of the United States are selling on the internet” (cited by Reed and Storrud-Barnes, 2009, pp.226). One major advantage of e-commerce has been observed to be, the reduction in transaction costs while using internet (Reed and Storrud-Barnes, 2009, pp.226). Internet made it “easier for buyers and sellers to search, meet compare prices and negotiate” (cited by Reed and Storrud-Barnes, 2009, pp.226). Another major finding has been that Small and Medium Enterprises which have been using internet for marketing, have been gaining revenues “40% higher than those do not” (cited by Reed and Storrud-Barnes, 2009, pp.226). The advertising cost is also reduced as no “hard copy” of the “advertising materials” is needed while advertising on internet (cited by Reed and Storrud-Barnes, 2009, pp.226). Filson (2004) has studied the impact of e-commerce on businesses and has concluded that online advertising and marketing strategies can enhance the business considerably. By studying the example of Amazon.com, Filson (2004) has shown that ‘web traffic is an important indicator of the market value of internet retailers.” Hence, it becomes clear that small businesses can benefit from doing their retail business on internet. Another finding has been that internet could help small businesses to “overcome psychological, operational, organizational, andmarket barriers” (Sudweeks and Romm, 1999, pp.115). Small businesses can also “communicate with other potential business partners” via internet (Sudweeks and Romm, 1999, pp.116). What small businesses expect from e-commerce have been such “forthcoming business opportunities and returning customers” as well, as the long-term benefits of internet marketing (Sudweeks and Romm, 1999, pp.119). But, mostly, the small scale retail businesses have been able to reign in maximum profit from internet as compared to manufacturing sector and othe areas (Sudweeks and Romm, 1999, pp.119). References Filson, D. 2004, ‘The impact of E-Commerce Strategies on Firm Value: Lessons from Amazon.com and Its Early Competitors’, The Journal of Business, Vol.77, No.S2. Reed, R. and Storrud-Barnes, S.F. 2009, ‘Open innovation and the implications for sustainable profit’, in New Frontiers in Entrepreneurship: Recognizing, Seizing, and Executing Opportunities, David B. Audretsch, Giovanni Battista Dagnino, Rosario Faraci, Robert E. Hoskisson (ed.), Springer, Berlin. Sudweeks, F. and Romm, C.T. 1999, ‘Doing business on the Internet: opportunities and pitfalls’, Springer, Berlin. Task 6: Technologies  Web 2.0 technologies have been used in various academic environments, the major of which have been the libraries and academic researchers. For example, the Yale University Library had adopted the “Library 2.0 concept of taking the library to the users” (Cohen, 2007, pp.30). This project has integrated “library services in the browser, portal and course management environments at Yale” (Cohen, 2007, pp.30). Library 2.0 is the terminology used to indicate the application of “Web 2.0 principles to libraries” (Hurlbert, 2007, pp. 28). Another application of Web 2.0 technologies is in the academic research environment. The transformation of internet from being “a medium to a platform” and “from a read-web to a read-write-web” has been cited as the reason behind the usefulness of Web 2.0 technologies in the process of learning and research (Anandarajan and Anandarajan, 2010, pp.120). One aspect of this change is that “the writing of research and peer review can now become widely parallel, simultaneous processes” (Anandarajan and Anandarajan, 2010, pp.120). The positive consequence of this facility has been described as the richness of research content, better scrutiny and testing, and enhanced adaptivity to integrating “many expert perspectives” (Anandarajan and Anandarajan, 2010, pp.120). For example, while doing a doctoral work, a researcher now has the opportunity to carry out massive blogging so that parallel peer reviews can be conducted online (Anandarajan and Anandarajan, 2010, pp.120). One problem that may arise here is the concern about the privacy of a unique piece of research in an open-sourcing environment (Anandarajan and Anandarajan, 2010, pp.120). But it has been pointed out that privacy can be achieved by going for the options of restricted access in a blog (Anandarajan and Anandarajan, 2010, pp.120). E-research has even become a terminology on its own. Archiving is the major advantage of this Web 2.0 technology (Anandarajan and Anandarajan, 2010, pp.115). Another aspect is that “having the ability to save entire sections of a project will provide (the researcher) important peace of mind that these vital representations of knowledge constructed online can be exported and saved for future reference” (Anandarajan and Anandarajan, 2010, pp.115). Further, it has been suggested that: In addition to establishing a sense of trust in the grid as a repository of knowledge anddata, it is paramount that researchers start to move beyond the mindset of working with individual files stored on a single computer and instead, embrace the concept of accessing shared files and data stored online in the ‘cloud’. (Anandarajan and Anandarajan, 2010, pp.115). This kind of immense possibilities offered by Web 2.0 technologies, can revolutionize the way in which our academic environment evolves. References Anandarajan M. and Anandarajan, A. 2010, ‘E-Research Collaboration: Theory, Techniques and Challenges’, Springer, Berlin. Cohen, L.B. 2007, ‘Library 2.0 initiatives in academic libraries’, Assoc of College & Reserch Libraries, Chicago. Hurlburt, J.M. 2008, ‘Defining relevancy: managing the new academic library’, Libraries Unlimited, Santa Barbara. Read More