Masalah jurang digital antara pelajar sekolah bandar dan pelajar sekolah luar bandar: satu kajian awal di kalangan pelajar Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Jelutong, Pulau Pinang dan Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Junjung, Kedah
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Date
2002-06
Authors
Sunder Rajah, Suganti
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Abstract
In the wake of adapting various new communication technologies into our lives
today, there lies a problem that is increasingly worrying many - the digital divide. The
digital divide refers to the gap between the Haves and the Have-nots, those who can afford
and are able to use new communication technologies (such as the computer) and those who
are not able to do so.
It is a fact that digital divide can occur at a global or national level. Digital divide at
a global level refers to the gap between individuals in a developed country and individuals
within a developing one. At the national level, it is believed that digital divide exist
between those in the urban and .rural area within a country. The Malaysian government bas
accepted the fact that digital divide exist in our country and this has led to many program
implementations in order to overcome this divide.
Being a new concept, there bas been lack of studies pertaining to this problem
especially at the national level. Previous studies conducted in the United States and New
Zealand found that the digital divide is a multi-dimensional problem. Various dimensions
such as access, content, training programs and user attitudes are among the factors that are
said to be causing this divide. Therefore, this study aims to analyze these different
dimensions of the divide between an urban and rural school at a micro level whereby a
survey was conducted at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Jelutong (representing the urban
school) and Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Junjung (representing the rural school).
The fmdings of this study revealed that there is no significant difference between
urban and rural students in terms of access to computers. A very interesting revelation was
made in terms of the level of awareness of these students. It was found that students from
both schools have very low level of awareness towards the computer facilities provided by
their schools. This result has strengthened the findings of past studies which claim that
digital divide is not only about lack of access but is also influenced by other dimensions
such as content, training programs and user attitudes.
In short, the strategies formulated towards overcoming the divide must take into
consideration developing all the dimensions coherently in order to succeed the battle
towards this increasingly worrying phenomenon.
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Keywords
Jurang digital antara pelajar sekolah bandar , Pelajar sekolah luar bandar , Pelajar Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Jelutong, Pulau Pinang , Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Junjung, Kedah