A Technology towards Bridging the Digital Divide: Applications and Acceptance

Transcription

1 A Technology towards Bridging the Digital Divide: Applications and Acceptance NORIZAN ABDUL RAZAK, NOR FARIZA MOHD NOR, MOHD YUSOF ABDULLAH, JALALUDDIN ABDUL MALEK, ALI SALMAN, YOONG SIEW WAI Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia UKM, Bangi, Selangor MALAYSIA Abstract: The use of technology especially computers does instill fear and increase apprehension level among certain marginalize groups at the marginalize area, for example the senior citizen and women. The complexity of the computer and the operational procedures might lower their participation in utilizing Internet and accessing Broadband. Thus, a research was conducted to measure to what extent a device which has been simplified in its technologies features and user interface could assist the marginalize groups mentioned. This paper will discuss the application of a new device which acts as a bridge for the marginalize groups to access Internet. The objectives of this paper are to address usage and impact which is focusing on the application of the device and to find out users acceptance towards the device in order to eliminate technophobia and complexity of the technology. Key-Words: digital divide, technophobia, marginalized group, technology acceptance, JENii 1 Introduction The government s mission in striving to achieve Vision 2020 has prompted the Malaysian government to place importance on human resource development as a vehicle towards realizing the goals of the Vision. However, in the process, Malaysia is confronted with the challenge to narrow the divide between the urban have and the rural have-nots. The challenges faced by Malaysia reflect those faced by many other developing and developed countries in the world where rapid and uneven economic growth has brought about this divide. It is a common knowledge that coverage of Internet is sometimes slow and not available in some marginalized areas in Malaysia. In addressing the digital divide between urban and rural communities, the Malaysian government together with the private sectors have undertaken a concerted effort to ensure that the rural segment of its population is provided with access to ICT services that have already become the norm among its urban population. In laying out the regulatory framework, the CMA (Communication and Multimedia Act) also details the Government s national policy objectives for the communications and multimedia industry, which includes the universal service objective to ensure an equitable provision of affordable services over ubiquitous national infrastructure [2]. Remarkable progress is continuously made towards a developed nation through the informatization strategy. Informatization strategy is a process through which communication and information technologies (ICT) are used as a mean of furthering social economic development of the people [12]. The path to a developed nation requires the people to develop their minds with knowledge and skill. The task of developing people s minds with positive knowledge and skill for self progress and national development fits well with the functions of ICT. ICT can be used as an effective tool to expose the people with information on current issues, make them aware about the leaders and socio economic opportunities, and educating them about the efforts of the government to develop the country [6]. Recognizing the numerous potential of ICT for development, most countries in the world including Malaysia has planned and developed a complete infrastructure of ICT. The challenge now is to ensure all levels of society must use ICT and benefit from it. At the core of national ICT agenda is the goal of ICT for all, that is all Malaysians should have access to affordable computer and Internet services. This agenda aims to address the issue of digital divide between groups defined by income, age, and geographic area. The invention of easy to use ISSN: ISBN:

2 technological gadget with computer applications by MIMOS (Malaysia s applied research centre) is one of the initiatives in bridging the digital divide particularly among the ICT illiterates. This gadget called JENii or Jendela informasi anda or literally translated as your window of information aims to alienate the fear of using computer among ICT illiterate senior citizens and women. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to report a study which was undertaken to investigate the use of JENii. Some of the findings on the impact of JENii among its users in two locations in Malaysia will be reported in this paper. The effort taken in the setting up of broadband has answered many unexplainable issues related to unimaginable networks of 26 million Malaysian Citizen; furthermore its fruitful technology has opened new opportunity not only for social usage but for the strength of Malaysia s economy. Internet connection should be affordable by all communities in order to get benefit out of it; either in the suburb or rural area but there needs to be a balance in terms of infrastructure and mind set of the citizens. However, the statistics for the past 3 years published by Malaysia Commission of Multimedia and Communication (MCMC) showed that there is evidence of digital divide. Up to today only 18% of the marginal group from rural area is able to enjoy the benefit of Internet and this is clearly a big gap if compared to those at the suburb area where 82% of the community in these areas can access the Internet. The ratio of computer ownership in this country is 24 out of 100 household while Internet access is at 10.4 out of 100 household (EPU, Sumali Amat 2009). 2 Literature Review on the Applications of Information Communication Technology A number of studies in developed and developing countries indicate that there are considerable gaps in computer use and access between sub groups of the society. For example, a study by the National Telecommunication and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, reported that people who reside in rural areas and inner-city communities have less access to the Internet than households located in the more affluent metropolitan areas [5], senior rural citizens also recorded lowest rate in computer penetration compared to younger citizens [3]. A survey in Finland on 1555 elderly in 2007 cited three main reasons for computer non-usage among elderly which are motivation, access and skills. The respondents were afraid that they would not know how to use a computer and do not enough skills to get them started [4]. A study by Rahmah and Becker [11] found that in Malaysia, the computer and Internet are known to be a metropolis phenomenon where many dwellers in the metropolis own computers and access to the Internet. Their study also shows that most early adopters of Internet are male, in their mid-twenties and mid-thirties and have higher or tertiary education qualification. Another study by Musa Abu Hassan and his team [8] among elderly agro-based entrepreneurs, also revealed that the respondents did not use ICT because they did not know the benefits, did not have skills in using ICT, difficulties in using ICT and were afraid to use it. Although the percentages of computer ownership and Internet users have increased over the years, there is still a gap among the younger and older people. A study carried out by Abdul Razaq et al [1] in examining achievement of adult learners towards Computer Literacy Program organized by the Ministry of Rural Development in Malaysia to increase quality of life among adults in rural communities, showed that having wider knowledge in using computer, helped the adult participants to use computer in a more useful manner. This means that they are aware that technology can empower them to search for and get information easily. In addition, the result revealed that they are motivated to use the computer more often because their knowledge about computer has increased. This view is akin to Jonassen (2000, cited in Abdul Razaq et al, 2009) who points out that individual who always search for information from the Internet are those with high motivation in using computer. Studies by Norizan et al [10] found favors related to time, low literacy and low needs on the application of ICT among women affect the patterns of use among Malaysian women aged 35 and above. To sum up, there are several reasons for low use of computer and Internet particularly among the senior citizens and women. We can relate this issue to factors such as; (1) Low ICT literacy. (2) Users in the group seem to be less enthusiastic for new technology and their slow capacity to learn to use it quickly. (3) The fear of technology or technophobia. (4) Low needs and no demand of use. (5) Perceived difficulty-of-use. ISSN: ISBN:

3 3 The Research This study was conducted based on funding from MIMOS (SK/09/2009/GLKK and SK/18/2009/GLKK) research grant. It was carried out to find out how a device, named JENii can help to empower the marginalized and ICT illiterate group. MIMOS developed this affordable technical gadget in its initiative to bridge the digital divide in the country. The goals of JENii are to increase awareness of ICT and to ease adoption of technological gadget for the users. This will ultimately empower the ICT illiterate group so that they can have equal access to ICT. Features of JENii which include community applications such as chat, , SMS, simple navigation controlled by icon user interface, touch screen function which eases complexity of usage, lightweight and built-in WiFi, Bluetooth, WiMax certainly makes it the right technological gadget in order to reach the citizens who are considered ICT illiterate. The introduction of JENii is a practical solution in terms of providing a simple device with easy to push button for computer application. It is a noble invention designed for the senior citizens who are mostly ICT illiterate and have the fear to use computer. towards the device (in order to eliminate technophobia and complexity of the device), and (3) to address the gap in accessing Internet coverage. 4 Methodology Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were carried out in order to collate the maximum input for the research. Furthermore, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of MIMOS initiatives (JENii) on bridging digital divide as compared to the other Malaysian government initiative, it is very important to conduct and observe the use of technology applications for 30 hours of usage. This is to avoid the novelty effect of the introduction of the technology. Thus, in order to cover all the aspects of the impact study evaluation, data was collected for a period of six months. There were three visits in total, to the respondents homes. There are three phases of data collection which will be explained in the next section. This paper reports the qualitative data gathered in the present study. The respondents involved in this study were from two localities: one in Peninsular Malaysia, in a state which takes about four hours drive from the capital city of Malaysia and the other one is in a state in the middle of West Malaysia. The respondents in both locations are housewives aged 35 and above and also senior citizens aged 55 and above. Fig. 1 JENii Device In view of the divide in ICT between certain groups in the country, it is appropriate that an impact study be conducted to find out how JENii functions in bridging the digital divide. The goal of the study is to understand target market usage behavior and user interaction towards the device, i.e., JENii. The objectives of the study are (1) to address the impact gap (usefulness of content and community applications), (2) to find out users acceptance 4.1 Phase 1: Pre exposure to JENii Face to face interviews were conducted with the selected samples of JENii recipients in the piloted areas. A set of questionnaire were distributed with the objective of gathering and collating the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of race, age, education background, household information (income, children) and geographical areas, the socio economic statusemployment, economic activity, e-inclusion activities and finally, information and communication technologies literacy and penetration- infrastructure, dial up and broadband connectivity, Internet access points, e- community centers, handphone, and fixed telephone line. 4.2 Phase 2: Exposure phase In this phase more focus was given to observation and face to face interview. For recipients who could write and willing to write, they were encouraged to record their reflection and experience in using the technology in a log ISSN: ISBN:

4 book. The purpose of observation was to collate information regarding the target group usage behavior and device user interactions. This phase involved recording and documenting users perceived level and understanding of the gadget and ergonomic interaction between the device and users. Interviews were conducted to document the assistive and hindering factors of gadget on users. 4.3 Phase 3: Final phase Another round of focus group interviews were conducted. In order to evaluate the impact of technology introduction, results and data obtained in the first and second phase and data obtained from phase three were correlated. 5 Discussion of Findings This section reports the findings based on face to face interviews and observations. Findings of the study are divided into two parts; which are feedback from respondents concerning JENii and challenges faced by the respondents. 6 Usage and Impact of JENii Generally, encouraging and positive feedback was given by the respondents. JENii was well received by the respondents and they also showed high interests to use it. They said that it is easy to operate JENii in that they only need to press the buttons instead of using keyboard. This is especially helpful because the respondents have low or not ICT literate and have high technophobia level. Consequently, fear of technology is reduced. In addition, they are excited because they are given the opportunity to access information using technology. They said that access to technology, specifically the Internet, has empowered them to get access to information, and hence, they are more aware of what is happening around them, for instance, they can get the latest information about current issues from newspapers, recipes, family related issues, tourism, education, product prices, job, e- government and finance. Based on the interview data, respondents mentioned that JENii offers several benefits, for example, they become more confident and knowledgeable as they can get current issues in JENii. In addition, some respondents reported that they can get many benefits from exposure to various information and they also become more open-minded and confident as well as are more sensitive towards the society and surrounding area. They also reported that they can use JENii anytime at their convenience. Furthermore, placement of the instrument at their homes have impact on their social relationship, i.e, they interact more with family members because they have new knowledge to share, relationship with family members become closer and they spend more time with their family. Finally, the introduction of JENii has helped to familiarize the respondents with computer related terms or terminology such as connectivity, computer icons and computer parts. 7 Challenges The respondents reported some technical problems, namely connection problem related to unstable signal and slow connectivity to Internet and this somehow affected their motivation. Connection is also slow on heavy rainy days and JENii relies on electricity. Therefore, this poses a challenge for those who are living at the remote areas without electricity. JENii can be plugged in to the television for easier viewing but the limited knowledge of technology among the users hindered them from using such application. A technical one stop center is set up in one of the piloted areas but the users did not utilize the assistance and services offered. This was due to the fact that the center is located quite a distance and the housewives did not have time to visit the center. The technical problems and connectivity issue do affect the overall applications of the device. Users interest and motivation to use the instrument become low and this impacted their frequency of usage. In addition, users fear that the device will get damaged with frequent use and they decided not to use it. Some of the respondents also claimed that low usage was due to their busy schedule and household chores. 8 The Way Forward in Bridging the Gap Although the introduction of JENii has managed to achieve its objective to a certain extent, there are several issues if addressed effectively will assist the bridging process. The study found users need continuous technical support team technology vendors. Training of device could be offered more regularly firstly prior to use, and secondly at individual s home and conducted in easy to follow steps. This will enable the trainers to detect any problems and address the individual needs of the respondents. In addition, the training should also included teaching manual in various languages and JENii should also be battery operated for mobility. ISSN: ISBN:

5 9 Conclusion The introduction of JENii is a right step by the government to encourage wider usage of ICT and to address the issue of digital divide among the society, especially the marginalized group. JENii is a simplified device in terms of its technological features and user interface, to cater especially for the ICT illiterate group and technophobia group. The results of the study revealed that respondents found the device easy to use, and hence, helped in reducing their fear of technology. Their knowledge of computer terms or terminology has also been developed. The device has also changed the respondents perception towards technology as a tool to search for information, as they are now aware of its importance in their life. The adoption of ICT will help the development of information society, which is in line with the nation s ICT agenda. To conclude, Malaysia s efforts in bridging the digital divide have been laudable as reflected in the continuous work and pro-active role shown by the appointed Ministries and its agencies in achieving its goal to ensure ICT access to all Malaysian citizens. Besides providing connectivity, the government has also conducted many and various training programme to ensure that the rural community not only has connection to the Internet but also the capacity to benefit from that connection as ICT development is a vehicle for wider economic prosperity [9]. References: [1]Abdul Razaq Ahmad, Norhasni Zainal Abidin, Jamaludin Badusah and Pang Shiau Wai, Computer Usage and Achievement among Adults in Rural Areas in Malaysia, Journal of Social Science, Vol.5, No.1, 2009, pp [2]Building Digital Bridges: The Case of Malaysia, Symposium on Building Digital Bridges, [3]Compaine, Benjamin M., The digital divide: Facing a crisis or creating a myth, Cambridge Massachusetts: MIT Press, [4]Elina Jokisuu et al., Computer usage among senior citizens in Central Finland, Agora Human Technology Centre: University of Jyvaskyla, Finland, [5]IDEA BRIEF, No. 2, July 2000, [6]Mohd Yusof Abdullah and Noor Rahamah Abu Bakar, Expanding knowledge horizon of indigenous people through communication technologies: A case study in Malaysia, Paper presented at IV International conference on communication and reality, May 2007, University Ramon Hull, Valdonzella, Barcelona, Spain, [7]Musa Abu Hassan and Mohd Safar Hasim, My Malaysia, Retrieved 9 th July [8]Musa Abu Hassan, Md.Salleh Hasan, Hayrol Azril Mohamed Shaffril and Jeffrey Lawrence D Silva, Problems and obstacles in using ICT among Malaysian agro-based entrepreneurs, European Journal of Scientific Research, Vol.36, No.1, 2009, pp [9]Norizan Abdul Razak, Empowering the Rural Communities Via the Telecenters, European Journal of Social Sciences, Vol.9, No.3, 2009, pp [10]Norizan Abdul Razak, Ruzy Suliza Hashim, Faridah Ibrahim and Zaini Amir, Access Adoption and Value of ICT anong Malaysian Women, [11]Rahmah, H. and Becker G., (eds.), Internet Malaysia, Bangi: Department of Communication, UKM, [12]Singhal, A. and Rogers, E.M., India s communication revolution: From bullock carts to cyber marts, New Delhi: Sage Publications, ISSN: ISBN: