How Digital Natives Learn and Thrive in the Digital Age: Evidence from an Emerging Economy

As a generation of ‘digital natives,’ secondary students who were born from 2002 to 2010 have various approaches to acquiring digital knowledge. Digital literacy and resilience are crucial for them to navigate the digital world as much as the real world; however, these remain under-researched subjects, especially in developing countries. In Vietnam, the education system has put considerable effort into teaching students these skills to promote quality education as part of the United Nations-defined Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4). This issue has proven especially salient amid the COVID−19 pandemic lockdowns, which had obliged most schools to switch to online forms of teaching. This study, which utilizes a dataset of 1061 Vietnamese students taken from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s “Digital Kids Asia Pacific (DKAP)” project, employs Bayesian statistics to explore the relationship between the students’ background and their digital abilities. Results show that economic status and parents’ level of education are positively correlated with digital literacy. Students from urban schools have only a slightly higher level of digital literacy than their rural counterparts, suggesting that school location may not be a defining explanatory element in the variation of digital literacy and resilience among Vietnamese students. Students’ digital literacy and, especially resilience, also have associations with their gender. Moreover, as students are digitally literate, they are more likely to be digitally resilient. Following SDG4, i.e., Quality Education, it is advisable for schools, and especially parents, to seriously invest in creating a safe, educational environment to enhance digital literacy among students

Smartphones

Many of the research approaches to smartphones actually regard them as more or less transparent points of access to other kinds of communication experiences. That is, rather than considering the smartphone as something in itself, the researchers look at how individuals use the smartphone for their communicative purposes, whether these be talking, surfing the web, using on-line data access for off-site data sources, downloading or uploading materials, or any kind of interaction with social media. They focus not so much on the smartphone itself but on the activities that people engage in with their smartphones

Addressing the cyber safety challenge: from risk to resilience

Addressing the cyber safety challenge: from risk to resilience describes the cyber safety issues emerging from a range of technology trends, how different populations are using technologies and the risks they face, and how we can effectively respond to each group’s unique cyber safety needs. Written by the University of Western Sydney for Telstra Corporation Ltd, the report advocates for continuing to move cyber safety from a ‘risk and protection’ framework to one that focuses on building digital resilience, as well as fostering trust and confidence in the online environment. To do this we need to: Address the needs of populations often neglected by current policies and programs – including adults, seniors, parents, and small to medium enterprises Continue to build the digital literacy skills of all populations, because digital literacy strongly influences users’ ability to engage safely online – this is best achieved by a hands-on learning approach Keep risk in perspective – the risks and benefits of digital participation go hand in hand Broaden the focus from awareness-raising to long-term behaviour change. As digital technologies become further integrated into the everyday lives of Australians, users are potentially exposed to greater risks. However, the risks and benefits of digital participation go hand in hand. The challenge, therefore, is to support users to minimise the risks without limiting their digital participation and their capacity to derive the full benefits of connectivity. If Australians are to benefit as either consumers or providers of online services and products in the e-commerce environment, consumer safety and trust need to be improved. Cyber safety needs to be considered against a transforming backdrop of technology trends, products and practices. While the rise of social media has tended to dominate recent debate and developments in cyber safety, particularly in relation to young people, a range of other trends is also shaping how users engage online, the risks they potentially face in the new media landscape, and the strategies used to address them. These trends include the rise of user generated content and content sharing platforms; the uptake of mobile technologies and, in particular, the adoption of smartphones; cloud computing; platform integration and single sign-on mechanisms; and the rise of GPS and location based services

Youth and telecentres in community building in rural Peninsular Malaysia

This paper aims to investigate the factors that affect telecentres in community building in the perspective of youth in rural Peninsular Malaysia. The perspective of youth on developing a model for telecentres in community building is important as: 1) youth are at the forefront of adoption of new technology, 2) youth as a group are the highest number of users of telecentres, and 3) youth are tasked with the responsibility of building up the community in the near future. This paper employed a cross-sectional survey method to achieve the study objectives. Data collected were from 313 youth randomly selected from the users of Medan Info Desa (MID) and Program Internet Desa (PID) telecentres in rural Peninsular Malaysia. The results of the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analyses show that the proposed model explains 47% variability on the influence that telecentres have in community building from the point of view of youth. Furthermore, all independent variables including information, telecentre and community characteristics were significantly related to the influence telecentres have in community building; characteristics related to information form the more powerful predictor. Possible measures that the government and donor agencies can implement as implied from these findings are also discussed

Young people's voices on cyber bullying: what can age comparisons tell us

This is a report of a youth-led research study, commissioned by the Diana Award. It illuminates contemporary experiences of and attitudes towards cyber bullying, with a particular focus on age comparisons between older and younger youth. This is the largest survey carried out on cyber bullying in England to date that has been steered by young people themselves. It consisted of: one large survey, two online surveys and four focus groups, carried out from September 2009 to July 2011. In total, it encompassed the views of 1,512 young people in England (consisting of 1490 pupils who completed the surveys and 22 who designed the research). It provides a a clearer understanding of the nature and prevalence of cyber bullying among young people and recommends effective ways to strengthen preventative action

2010 Population and Housing Census Report: Millennium Development Goals in Ghana

According to the 2010 Population and Housing Census (PHC) report, Ghana?s population stood at 24,658,823 at the time of the 2010 census. The country has ten administrative regions and 170 districts. Ghana has one of the highest GDP per capita in West Africa and is ranked as a Lower-Middle Economy by the World Bank. The country has a diverse and rich resource base with gold, cocoa, timber, diamond, bauxite, and manganese being the most important source of foreign trade. In 2007, an oilfield which could contain up to 3 billion barrels of light oil was discovered. Although oil and gas exploration in Ghana dates back to a century, it is this latest discovery and many more afterward that have catapulted the country to be counted among the league of oil producing countries across the globe. Yet, in spite of the abundance of natural resources, a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line. However, the country has made considerable progress in reducing poverty over the last two decades. Successive nationally representative living standards surveys conducted between 1992 and 2006 (respectively, GLSS3 in 1991/2, GLSS4 in 1998/9 and GLSS5 in 2005/6) suggest that monetary poverty (measured by the level of per capita consumption) has significantly reduced. The number of poor went down from 7.9 million people (or 52 percent of the population at that time) in 1992 to 6.3 million people in 2006 (or 29 percent of the population at that time). With the rapid economic growth since the last survey in 2006, it is likely there is a further poverty reduction. Structurally, Ghana?s economy has undergone some significant transformation over the last couple of years. Ghana?s economy which until 2006 was dominated by agriculture is now led by service accounting for about 51% of national output. Agriculture accounts for about 30% (although about 55% of employed are engaged in the sector) while industry trail with only 19% of total national output. The informal economy accounts for about 86% of total employment while gold and cocoa remain the leading export earnings. This is expected to change with the commencement of oil production in commercial quantities in 2010

Promoting Entrepreneurship amid Youth in Windhoek’s Informal Settlements: A Namibian Case

Considering the high unemployment rate among Namibian youth and a lack of job opportunities, the promotion of entrepreneurship has gained wider attention in the country. A number of initiatives have been started such as entrepreneurship trainings and workshops, business idea competitions, etc. All these aim to inspire young people to think of alternative income sources. As part of a two-year funded community outreach research and development (R&D) project, we have investigated participatory approaches to engage marginalized youth into conceptualizing their own context, imparting skills, and deriving new career paths. This article reports and reflects on one of the interventions we have recently concluded with a group of youth in Havana, an informal settlement in the outskirts of Windhoek. We conducted what we entitled “The Havana Entrepreneur”, a series of interactions inspired upon the model of the American reality game show “The Apprentice”. Over a number of weeks two youth groups were given challenges to tackle by means of competing against one another. After completion of each challenge, groups were rated by a number of judges on skills demonstrated such as marketing, presentation, reflection and creativity among others. We observed an increase in, and improvement of skills revealed along tasks’ completion, besides an openly expressed self-realization and discovery of abilities by participants. Moreover, the youth are currently engaged in the continuation of activities beyond the initial entrepreneurial interactions. Thus we suggest replicating “The Havana Entrepreneur”, including the recording on camera of it by the youth themselves as a new mode to instigating a wider entrepreneurial spirit in informal settlements

ICT Usage at Rural Libraries: Does Positive Youth Development exist?

This study was to discover the Positive Youth Development (PYD) dimensions towards ICT usage in rural libraries among youths in Malaysia. This is a quantitative design and descriptive study in nature, which involved 400 respondents among rural youths from 16 selected rural libraries in four states of Peninsular Malaysia were chosen based on multistage cluster and simple random sampling. Rural youth community in Malaysia exhibited a high level of PYD towards ICT usage at rural libraries especially on the level of confidence when using ICT. Based on the analysis performed, education level and employment status have significance difference, meanwhile, age has a positive relationship with PYD towards ICT usage at rural libraries. The findings are of limited generality due to the small size of the sample. However, the study has implications on the understanding of the acceptance of technology among socioeconomically disadvantaged people towards PYD. The practical implications are the implementation of PYD through ICT usage in local rural libraries instead of other positive places, particularly in terms of local community participation. Data on demographics can be used as evidence of service provision for the rural community in the future

Making Waves: Media's Potential for Girls in the Global South

There are around 600 million adolescent girls living in developing countries. Doubly marginalised because oftheir gender and age, many live a bleak existence -- excluded from access to basic public services, unable to shape the decisions that affect their lives and vulnerable to violence at home and on the street. Their voices often go unheard.Slowly, this is beginning to change. Over the past two decades girls have become a growing priority for the international development community. Investing in their health education and employment prospects is nowwidely considered to have an important ripple effect on other development outcomes such as economic growth and social equality. As a result, development assistance programmes that support girls' empowerment are now seen by many as not just the "right" thing to do, but a necessity Less well understood is where media fits into this equation The interplay between media and gender norms has long been recognised and a substantial literature explores how media affects girls in the Global North But against a backdrop of rapidly changing media landscapes -- characterised by increasing competition for audiences sensationalism and expanding access to new technologies -- the role that media plays in girls' lives in the Global South demands further examination.Drawing on expert interviews as well as insights from the media and development literature, this policy briefing seeks to fill this gap. It argues that media -- whether traditional or online -- matters a great deal in the lives of girls in the developing world. It matters because it has the ability to be harmful to girls' interests and self-esteem, and it matters because it can also be so effective in playing a positive role in girls' lives. Specifically, media can influence girls' aspirations and behaviours around their health and livelihoods open the door to greater participation in society and ensure that girls' issues move higher up the public agenda. If challenges around media access and control and the extent to which media organisations value girls as part of their audience, are addressed head on, media can play a vital role in helping to advance the wellbeing of adolescent girls in regions of the world where their interests have traditionally been most neglected

USAGE PATTERNS AND CHALLENGES OF MULTIPURPOSE COMMUNITY TELECENTRES IN MALAWI

Domestic digital divide denotes the divisions between the haves and the have-nots of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) within a country. To bridge the domestic digital divide, the government of Malawi has been establishing telecentres since the early 2000s. It is now two decades since the first telecentre was opened. However, three important questions persist: Who uses the telecentres in Malawi? How are the telecentre used? What are the challenges in the use of telecentres? Using data from users, telecentre management and within telecentres, the study shows that there is uneven access for multipurpose telecentres in the country, as users are predominantly male, young, relatively educated and belonging to low-income levels; that users mostly used photocopying, printing and library services; and that, at one telecentre, a good number of users accessed the internet and computer services. The main challenges that users experienced included inadequate books and computers, the high cost of some services, lack of information in local languages and lack of internet-searching skills. The multipurpose community telecentres experienced poor infrastructure, lack of technical expertise, bureaucratic delays and demand that the telecentres should be free to the communities they serve. The study shows that telecentres are failing to achieve the objective of bridging the digital divide