Applications of 3g Technology in the Education Essay Example for Free

Applications of 3g Technology in the Education Essay Applications of 3G technology in the Education sector: Perspective Bangladesh ABSTRACT: Bangladesh recently touched a new milestone in Information and Communication Technology with the inauguration of commercial testing of Third Generation (3G) services through the state-run mobile service provider Teletalk. Teletalk will distribute 400,000 (4lacs) 3G-enabled SIMs’ for the capital Dhaka primarily. 3G is supposed to open new windows for mobile phone users. It’s a giant leap for Bangladesh. The advantages of 3G services include faster data connectivity which means one can download faster and web surfing will be a lot more fun. It will give uninterrupted video streaming on phones, enable video calls and big MMSs, hence facilitating optimum usage of data intensive applications which will create a mutual bridge between the education system of international ground and Bangladesh. This paper evaluates how 3G can be effectively used in education in Bangladesh. Understanding the impact of 3G, especially in education, could be seen as strategically crucial for Bangladesh moving forward as the country can enter a new epoch through wider use of 3G.Pedagogues will have central roles to play in taking education forward through the use of 3G and the way ICT is integrated in education. Two key areas will be addressed in this paper: 1. An analysis of 3G and its impact on teachers; and 2. An evaluation of the students’ abilities to think critically, especially when 3G is concerned. The hypothesis of this research work will find the maximum applications of 3G in the education sector of Bangladesh as the key tools for being the Digital Bangladesh. It will represent our modern education system which will be recognized international arena. To establish the hypothesis I facilitate qualitative and survey method. This paper is set in the context of Bangladeshi colleges and universities especially in Dhaka. The colleges and universities will be identified through Purposive sampling. The key focus and emphasis of this paper is on the changes of teaching and learning that will result from the applications of 3G. The findings may be used to enhance the applications of 3G in other sectors in Bangladesh. Keywords Applications, 3rd generation technology, education sector, e-learning Introduction: Third generation (3G) has dominated this modern world in just a decade. But in Bangladesh it is the inception of 3G. The state-run mobile service Teletalk is providing this facility. Teletalk is distributing 400,000 (4-lacs) 3G-enabled SIMs’ for the capital Dhaka primarily (www.bdnews24.com, 2012). 3G is supposed to open new windows for multimedia phone users. Using the 3G functions there are already so many devices taking advantages. People can perform all the functions in a 3G phone. However, the speed, efficiency and connectivity will be better than before. 3G technology offers us faster connectivity, music entertainment with the best quality and faster internet access. We can easily get other benefits like quick and easy video calling, clearer communication experiences and faster speeds when the two parties are using 3G technology. Generally the First Generation (1G) of wireless technologies is used for the needs of voice services. The Second Generation (2 G) started with digital content transportation but at low speeds. General Packet Radio Switching (G.P.R.S) and Enhanced Data Rates Evolution (E.D.G.E) made it possible to run any educational application at speeds of 128 Kbps (Kilo Bits Per Second) and 384 Kbps. It is the third generation (3 G) that made it possible to run the applications at incredible high bit rates at an affordable cost (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_mobile_phones). According to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the total number of cell phone users has reached 97.475 million at the end of November 2012. And the total number of internet subscribers has reached 29415.693 thousand at the end of July 2012 (http://www.btrc.gov.bd). Now-a-days students all over the world are â€Å"digital natives†. They are growing up in a decidedly digital world. Digital learning educates students using the same technology they use for communication and entertainment outside of school. Also the teachers are very much engage with technology. They provide their class materials through internet. Many studies (Attewell, 2005; Murat et al, 2008) have already shown that mobile technologies have considerable potential to enhance teaching and learning across all education sectors. Their impact on student behavior, enthusiasm, motivation and progress is well documented, especially in some conventional schools in the UK (Cook et al. 2007). The National Training and Simulation Association and the U.S. Department of Education studied that, technology based instruction can reduce the time and students take to reach a learning objective by 30 to 80 percent. According to a meta- analysis and review of online learning studies by the U.S. Department of Education, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. (Means et al., 2009) The new technology 3G can bring a profound impact on economic landscape of Bangladesh. It can create scopes for e-learning and telemedicine i n rural areas. Though the high speed 3G network students at rural schools and colleges can gather knowledge on different topics which in practice will sharpen their knowledge and will also increase interest on regular education. (Singha, 2012) In this paper I examine how 3G can be effectively used in education in Bangladesh. Also understanding the impact of 3G, especially in education, could be seen as strategically crucial for Bangladesh moving forward as the country can enter a new epoch through wider use of 3G. Teachers will have central roles to play in taking education forward through the use of 3G and the way ICT is integrated in education. Two key areas address in this paper: 1. An analysis of 3G and its impact on teachers; and 2. An evaluation of the students’ abilities to think critically, especially when 3G is concerned. The results will be presented within a comparative framework and an analysis of the applications of 3G among public and private colleges and universities teachers, students in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The hypothesis of this research work will find the maximum applications of 3G in the education sector of Bangladesh as the key tools for being the Digital Bangladesh. Literature Review: The growth of 3G technology adoption in worldwide is steady now. A wide range of 3G diffusion levels across the world. But in Bangladesh it is a new dimension. In this regard, I couldn’t find any research in this particular field in Bangladesh. But I found some 3G related researches in the outside world. The region of Asia trumped all others in 3G adoption with close to 52 percent of the world 3G market share as early as in 2006 (ITU, 2006). More recently, Asia-Pacific was home to an estimated 158 million 3G subscribers in 2008 and is expected to reach 564 million subscribers by 2013 (Suppiah, 2009). Historically, Korea, Italy, Japan, Portugal and Hong Kong were the top five 3G mobile economies in terms of 3G mobile penetration rate (ITU, 2006). According to the official ITU report, while the number one 3G nation, Korea, had a penetration rate as high as 25.95 percent, the number five country, Hong Kong, reached only about one third of Korea’s rate (8.19 percent). It is evident that there are significant regional differences in the number of 3G subscribers. While close to half of the 3G subscribers are located in the region of Asia, less than thirteen percent of them are in Europe. Pew Research Center’s Internet American Life Project finds that almost a third of American adults have used mobile devices to access the internet, and 19% of survey respondents had used a smartphone or other cell phone to access the internet the day before the survey (Horrigan, 2009). Pew Research found that for people ages 18-29, access to information on-the-go is a more important aspect of mobile technology (60%) than staying in touch with others (57%). Teenagers are slightly less likely to go online than using mobile devices than adults or undergraduate students, with only 27% reporting that they access the internet from their phones. Older teens, who have more disposable income to pay for mobile internet connectivity, are more likely to access the internet from mobile devices than younger teens (Lenhart, Ling, Campbell, Purcell, Kristen, 2010). Sakulsri Srisaracam, a lecturer at the Faculty of Communication Arts, Dhurakij Pundit University, said that with the 3G network, we will see an education everywhere at any time scenario. Lecturers and students will be always connected. They can download content, textbooks, and learning applications easily onto their mobile devices. They also can interact and keep in touch with the teachers. (The Nation, 2012) He also added if lecturers can develop innovative learning, which encourages and engages students to stay connected with learning via mobile devices, the 3G network will prove very beneficial. Mana Treelayapewat, deputy dean of Mass Communication Faculty at University of Thai Chamber of Commerce, said that 3G network availability will be good for education as it would help improve online learning with greater speed, especially if 3G network can reach the whole country. It will help bridge the gap in education of urban and rural students. (The Nation, 2012) EDUCAUSE surveyed undergraduate students regarding their use of internet using mobile devices. They found that half of the student respondents own a mobile device that can access the internet, but only a third of the students actually access the internet from this device (Smith et al., 2009) Cellular connections use the user’s cellular network to access the internet. Cellular connections can be used wherever the user has a phone signal, though often at slower speeds than WiFi networks. Most cellular connections currently use 3G technology, though carriers (and devices) are beginning to transition to 4G networks. Sprint’s HTC Evo released in March 2010 is the first 4G capable phone in the United States, though a good percentage of the country does not have 4G network access yet (Barrett, 2010). 4G networks are expected to be twice as fast as 3G (German, 2010), which opens up possibilities for faster mobile internet use and more reliable video streaming without relying on WiFi connections. People spend time on the mobile internet accessing web portals and social n etworks or blogs. Using portals has decreased by double digits, but social networking has increased significantly (Nielsen Wire, 2010). Naveed Siraj Country Manager Intel Pakistan said education needs could be facilitated to masses through 3G-technology as if its expected benefits to different sectors in the future. The education transformation is inevitable with the availability of relevant content for studies and on the other hand smartphones and tablets are in the reach of masses to connect with the world of information. (The Lahore Times, 2012) The attitudes, skills, and behaviors of the faculty members related to their IT use at a large Canadian research university. (Anderson et al., 1998) Based on Roger’s two major adopter categories, they defined the faculty members as â€Å"earlier adopters† and â€Å"mainstream faculty† and provided strategies for reducing the gap between these two groups. (Roger, 1995) Rogers also added that mainstream faculty used information technologies for research and professional communication applications. But their adoption of these applications in teaching was very low. For this reason, Rogers recommended that to increase mainstream faculty’s adoption of computer technologies for instructional purposes, the incentives, training programs, and barriers should be taken into account in comprehensive adoption strategies. Carter conducted a computer survey and in-depth interviews to determine computer-based technologies that were being used by the faculty members and the factors that affect their use of these technologies. Faculty attitudes toward using computer-based technology, support, resources, and training were the selected factors needed to use these technologies effectively. (Carter, 1998) The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been considered the most useful for predicting the acceptance of information technology in consumer context. The theoretical constructs of TAM consist of two basic determinants for attitudes to use a specific system: perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. (Davis et al., 1989) Susan et al. examined students perceptions and their acceptance of implementing a laptop program by adopting Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as the theoretical framework. (Susan et al., 2006) Cheong and Park adopted an extend TAM model to explore consumer’s determinant of acceptance behaviors in using the mobile internet. (Cheong and Park, 2005) The factors affecting students’ behavioral intention to use mobile learning based mainly on the TAM. (Park et al., 2011 and Fadare et al., 2011) Different types of studies were conducted to understand the factors affecting 3G adoption so far. In the study of Phuangthong and Malisawan, primarily aims to examine the factors affecting the user adoption in mobile learning of 3G mobile Internet technology in Thailand by using TAM. (Phuangthong and Malisawan, 2005) According to this study, user acceptance is examined by attitude towards use and intention to use, rather than actual use due to the fact that 3G technology. Research Methods: To find the applications of 3G technology in education sector, I conduct systematic comparative analysis through survey and qualitative method. Basically survey method focuses to improve quality and reducing cost. It seeks to ensure principles about the design, collection, processing and analysis of survey in connection to the cost and quality of survey estimates. As Groves and others said that, â€Å"survey methodology is both a scientific field and a profession. Part of the task of a survey methodologist is making a large set of decisions about thousands of individual features of a survey in order to improve it.† (Groves et al., 2009) The researchers frequently use qualitative method as their research purpose. Through the method data come in a variety of forms, such as notes made while observing in the field, interview transcripts, documents, diaries, and journals. According to Wimmer and Dominick, â€Å"qualitative researchers use an inductive method: Data are collected relevant to some topic and are grouped into appropriate and meaningful categories; explanations emerge from the data.† (Wimmer Dominick, 2011) To conduct this study I took 100 respondents. At first I selected the sample through stratified sampling on the basis of teachers and students, colleges and universities. In this regard I picked two colleges and two uni versities in Dhaka. Two colleges are Birsrestho Nur Muhammad Public College and Dhaka City College. And two universities are Dhaka University and Daffodil International University. In every institution I took five respondents from teachers and 20 from students. So the numbers of the teachers are 20 and the numbers of students are 80. â€Å"A stratified sample is the approach used to get adequate representation of a subsample. The characteristics of the subsample (strata or segment) may include almost any variable: age, gender, religion, income level, or even individuals who listen to specific radio stations or read certain magazines. †¦ Stratified sampling ensures that a sample is drawn from a homogeneous subset of the population—that is, from a population that has similar characteristics.† (Wimmer Dominick, 2011, p-98) When I collect my data I took my respondents through random sampling. Randomly I picked 10 teachers from two colleges and 10 from the universities. And I took 80 students, 40 students from two colleges and another 40 from two universities. â€Å"The most basic type of probability sampling is the simple random sample, where each subject, element, event, or unit in the population has an equal chance of being selected.† (Wimmer Dominick, 2011) He added that the most widely used random sampling method is a subject or unit is drawn from the population and removed from subsequent selections without replacement. In this study when I gathered data from 100 respondents of those colleges and universities, each teacher and student in the population has an equal chance of being selected. Critical Framework: In this study I followed the â€Å"Diffusion of Innovation Model† provided by communication scholar and sociologist Everett M. Rogers. Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system (Rogers, 2003). He added that, the study of the diffusion of innovations began during World War II, prior to the establishment of communication study in university schools and departments. To an individual or other unit of adoption an innovation is an idea, practice, or object perceived as new. The diffusion process typically involves both mass media and interpersonal communication channels. And, in today’s world, information technologies such as the Internet and cell phones – which combine aspects of mass media and interpersonal channels, represent formidable tools of diffusion (Morris Ogan, 1996). Most of the observers agree that the diffusion of innovations is fundamentally a communication process; communication scholars constitute only one of the dozen research traditions presently advancing the diffusion field (along with geography, education, marketing, public health, rural sociology, agricultural economics, general economics, political science, and others). Other communication research areas such as persuasion and attitude change and mass communication effects also began prior to the institutionalization of communication study in university units (Rogers, 1962, 1983, 1995; 2003; Singhal Dearing, 2006). For convenience in understanding diffusion research results, the continuous variable of innovativeness is often divided into adopter categories, such as innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards (Rogers, 1983). Rogers’ diffusion of innovations theory is the most appropriate for investigating the adoption of technology in higher educatio n and educational environments (Medlin, 2001; Parisot, 1995). In fact, much diffusion research involves technological innovations so Rogers usually used the word â€Å"technology† and â€Å"innovation† as synonyms. For Rogers, â€Å"a technology is a design for instrumental action that reduces the uncertainty in the cause-effect relationships involved in achieving a desired outcome† (Rogers, 2003, p-13). In this study purpose I took the first one ‘innovators’. According to Rogers, innovators were willing to experience new ideas. Thus, they should be prepared to cope with unprofitable and unsuccessful innovations, and a certain level of uncertainty about the innovation. (Rogers, 2003) Also, Rogers added that innovators are the gatekeepers bringing the innovation in from outside of the system. Technology adoption process inaugurates with a tiny number of visionary, imaginative innovators. They often lavish great time, energy and creativity on developing new ideas and gadgets. And they love to talk about them. Diffusion of innovations research promises to enhance our understanding of how social change occurs, a fundamental issue for all scholars of society. What is the role of technology in bringing about social change? One way to find out is through diffusion research, a micro level type of study of the macro level issue of social change. Scholarly interest in new communication technologies by communication students has given a special boost to interest in diffusion research in recent years. There is no reason to expect that the scholarly popularity of diffusion research by communication (and other) scholars will decrease in the foreseeable future. Innovations continue to be generated and studied. Meyer, G. (2004).Mobile phone