Assignment #2 Part B

Online Learning for Carpenter Apprentices in Ottawa ON

Examining the Digital Divide (Michael Nauth, 20/10/13)

Overview

This short paper examines the results of a paper survey of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that was conducted in October, 2013 with three levels of Carpenter Apprentices (CA) as well as with students enrolled in a Post-Secondary diploma program called Building Construction Technician (BCT). The CA students (average ages: 20 in year 1, 22 in year 2, 24 in year 3) are already employed in various sectors of the construction industry such as new residential, home renovations, and the ICI sector (Industrial, commercial, institutional). The BCT students (average age 20) are fee-payers who are gaining knowledge and skills in the construction field with which they will find employment as apprentices in construction or pursue studies in construction-related programs such as architecture or engineering. The survey questions were structured to investigate whether a ‘Digital Divide’ exists between the CA and the BCT students, not only in terms of access, but also in terms of the frequency and scope of use of the ICT. The purpose was to determine the appeal of online learning and the subsequent best approach to take when developing a Blended Learning format for apprenticeship training. The paper survey was chosen since Survey Monkey® does not yet support Blackberry® or Android® phones.

For the CAs, the findings show an increase in connectivity and in the frequency of use of the internet, year over year, as well as a growth in the desire to participate in Blended Learning. The BCT students are significantly more ‘wired’, though there is a reluctance to engage fully in the digital technology, a 50-50 split. Both groups are comfortable with word processing, Facebook®, and web browsing, but Twitter® is a low priority. Females make up 2% of the CAs and 6% of the BCTs. There is a bit of a divide when it comes to owning a computer. All of the BCTs have one, but 10% of the CA’s do not, though this percentage is dropping annually. These numbers confirm the trends that have been observed and noted (by survey) for both programs over the past four years.

Research and Survey

      A research study into the Digital Divide was conducted in Michigan from 2005 to 2007 with 515 children (average age 12, half boys, half girls) with 172 of them African Americans and 343 of them Caucasian. The girls were more likely to use the internet to download music and their cell phones to text and exchange photos, and the boys were much more likely to play videogames. Children whose parents had more education and income had been using IT longer. (Jackson et al, 2007, p. 440). As habits formed in childhood continue on into adulthood, it is important to note that boys whose parents have less education and income spend very little time on the internet. This parallels the findings of the survey of the apprentices since almost all of them (males) spend much of their screen time playing games, on the TV at home, and, on their smartphones on the road. And many of them come from families that favour manual labour over post-secondary education.

       There has been a significant increase in the percentage of smartphones over that of regular cell phones, primarily because of monthly cost, but also because of the ease of texting, web access (especially YouTube), and gaming. A few years ago, less than a third of the class had smartphones, compared to today with 75% to 100% of an entire class owning one. The apprentices are learning intuitively to use the internet and when they get lost they learn by asking their peers. This is one of the advantages of coming in to school. I hear them lean over and ask, time and again, “How’d you do that?”.  As a result, I think that they have enough of a base knowledge and skill to be ready to tackle online courses. A reasonable comfort level with the technology is as important as being functionally literate. There will be written directions to follow and the assumption will be that they can navigate the web and interact with the course materials. Access and computer ownership alone do not guarantee ICT literacy (Mobasseri, 2013, p.2), so there will be a need for some hand-holding up front. Fear of the dark can be dispelled by turning on the lights.

On the technical side, Facebook®, Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, and other giants in the IT industry have banded together and formed Internet.org with the goal of making affordable Internet access a reality for the next 5 billion people. This will require bringing down the underlying costs of delivering data combined with using less data by building more efficient apps. (White Paper from Facebook et al, 2013). They are banking on “If you build it, they will come”, but it will take more than hardware and software. It will require attention to the individual and community aspects as well in order to promote social inclusion. (Warschauer, 2002).

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has said that 70% of small- and medium-sized businesses in Canada do not have a website.(Canada’s Digital Divide, Geist, 2013). Even with high-speed internet access, these businesses are neglecting to avail themselves of the benefits of the new medium. The apprentices work for small businesses such as these, and what is not promoted and practised by the boss will not be pursued by the workers. The government of Canada has failed to devise a practical plan to provide high-speed internet access for all Canadians, and to promote the value of ICT to the consumers and businesses alike. (Canada’s Digital Divide, 2013). The ‘carrot’ that can be held out to both the apprentice and the employer is that less time in the classroom means more time on the job, which means more productivity, more profit, and more money in the pockets of everyone.

Summary

We, as educators, have an important role to play. First, and foremost, we need to get endorsement and promotion from the employers, the trade associations, and the carpenters’ union. We facilitate a forum where the breadth and the depth of online learning is presented, discussed, and debated, until consensus is reached. After that, a needs analysis is conducted with the apprentices and an upfront training session(s) is planned. Course materials are developed by the professors working together with IT technical experts. There are programs that are already developed by other provinces that can be purchased and re-mixed. A pilot project comes next, then there is a review of lessons learned, adjustments are made, and then we proceed with the full program. There will be the usual requirements of consistent and timely feedback for the professors and of deadlines to be met for the apprentices.

What should be avoided is a two-tiered system, another type of ‘Digital Divide’, with the ‘smart’ guys doing online courses and the ‘not-so-smart’ guys heading into the classroom for the empirical experience and the camaraderie. If we value the digital world as fundamental to today’s students, then we must make every effort to establish, to coax, to win over, and to nurture each and every one of the apprentices along the way. Once they embrace the internet, they will find new tools, new technologies, new materials, problem installations, proven practices, and world of fellow carpenters who are proud to share their knowledge of the trade.

References

Jackson, L.,Zhao, Y., Kolenic, A., Fitzgerald, H., Harold, R., Von Eye, A. (2008) Race, Gender, and Information Technology Use: The New Digital Divide, Cyber Psychology & Behaviour, Vol. 11, #4, 437-442

http://academics.hamilton.edu/ebs/pdf/NDD.pdf

Mobasseri, M. (2013), What is Digital Divide?, Sixth Annual Digital Divide Lecture Series (2013), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Discussion Handout

http://groups.lis.illinois.edu/cilab/slides/2013/maria_mobasseri.pdf

Whitepaper from Facebook, Ericsson and Qualcomm , A Focus on Efficiency,  2013

https://fbcdn-dragon-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/851590_229753833859617_1129962605_n.pdf

Warschauer, M.,(2002). Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide, First Monday, Volume 7, number 7, doi 1^st July, 2002

http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/967/888

Canada’s Digital Divide Likely to Widen, (2013, April 05), The Star Tech News,

http://www.thestar.com/business/tech_news/2013/04/05/canadas_digital_divide_likely_to_widen_geist.html

Tags: EDDL 5111