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ONO shows us the risks and vulnerabilities of mobile phones communications.

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Online Identity and Reputation 29-03-2017

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Uploaded by Cambridge Analytica on 2016-07-25.

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Student digital experience tracker 2017: summary of key findings

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Student digital experience tracker 2017, summary of key findings Jessica Francis, research manager product and improvement. Sarah Knight, head of change studen...

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Anna Byhovskaya & Kavya Tibrewal

Digital divides - ie the unequal access to ICT- has several dimensions, including regional, gender, income distribution. Resolving digital divides also matters in the context of the SDGs. The following briefing offers an overview the issues at stake and, from there, three key policy areas where government would need to take action: (i) public investment to close infrastructural gaps, (ii) targeting affordability through lowering of prices and (iii) developing skills sets and digital literacy.
What are digital divides?

Digital divides refer to the unequal access (or lack of access) to information and communication technology (ICT) across countries, regions or certain sections of the society like low-income earners, rural populations, women, youth or migrants. The global digital divide refers to the technological gap between developed and developing countries. It is a result of a number of socio-economic factors, of which low income, lack of educational attainment, high prices of data and insufficient infrastructure (in particular broadband coverage) are prime causes.

The World Bank's report on Data for Development in relation to data capacity building efforts in developing countries shows that financial assistance has been rather concentrated in 26 countries which have received financial support of more than $2 million dedicated entirely to developing data systems and technologies (World Bank, 2017). When it comes to uptake in industrialised countries, privacy concerns are another contributing factor as highlighted in OECD's Digital Economy Outlook 2017: " In 2015, around 3% of individuals in the OECD area said they had experienced an online privacy violation in the last 3 months." (OECD, 2017) It is thus important to foster data security and privacy to encourage internet use.

Incorporating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Target 9C of the SDGs refers to universal and affordable access to internet, especially in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) by 2020. As seen above, there is a long way to go in order to achieve universal penetration and adoption of ICT. Policy must aim at providing economic incentives to close the gap of digital divide (including social clauses in public procurement) (Shenglin et al., 2017).

Digital technologies spread rapidly but the benefits have accrued to a small section of society. Only small percentage of the world's population has access to high speed internet, and around 50% have extremely limited access or none at all (World Bank, 2016). The following map shows the portion of population without access to ICT and the countries which make up this population pointing to a strong link between internet access and income, as well as wealth inequalities. Out of the global population of 7.4 billion people, 4.2 billion do not have access to internet and have not witnessed the digital revolution. This population is mainly concentrated in developing and emerging countries like India, China and Nigeria (80%, 55% and 61% of their populations respectively), but also present in developed countries as in the United States, 51 million people (13% of the population) do not have access to the internet or in some cases could have access but don't use it. The numbers differ for various social groups: for example, 41% of older people (above the age of 65) in the US do not use the internet. Similarly, people living in rural regions are twice as likely to not use the internet as those living in urban and suburban settings (Anderson and Perrin, 2016). This shows how skewed and layered the distribution of benefits of ICT is across the world.

The question of cyber security is also becoming increasingly important as a digital divide issue. Where countries, enterprises or other entities do not provide sufficient security, either due to poor management, or in particular in poorer countries due to insufficient resources, their potential to play a full role in digitally-mediated economic activity is compromised.

The potential for "digital brain-drain" must also be considered. There is an increasing risk that employers will "poach" people from poorer countries, who have tertiary ICT qualifications in particular, rather than investing sufficiently in education and training themselves. In effect this would mean education systems in poorer countries subsidising the skills requirements of multinational companies, and also inhibit the development of digitally-mediated economic activity in poorer countries.

Gender disparity in access to digital technology

Access to digital technologies by women is lower than that by men in most regions of the world. The internet penetration rates vary substantially, with a smaller lag in the developed countries (82.2% of men use the internet in developed countries whereas 79.9% of women do) as compared to the least developed countries (LDCs) which have a 50% higher internet penetration rate for men compared to women (International Telecommunications Union, 2017). According to the OECD, " 250 million fewer women are online than men; and 1.7 billion women do not own a mobile phone " (OECD, 2017). Women face barriers to adoption of digital technologies due to various reasons: lower earning capacity compared to men, lower access to mobile phones (which is the primary medium of going online in low-income countries) and lower education levels (largely due to access to training) which lowers digital adoption compared to men are some of them.

Regional disparity in access within countries

Unequal access is caused not only by variation in income and development level of the countries, internet penetration varies within countries as well. As can be seen from the chart below, the rural population has a much lower penetration rate in the EU, especially for countries like Bulgaria (total broadband penetration is ~60% but it is 40% in the rural areas) and Portugal (total broadband penetration is ~70% but it is 50% in the rural areas) (European Commission, 2017).

Policy solutions

The needed policy measures in this respect are categorised into three areas: Public investment to close infrastructural gaps, developing skill sets and digital literacy.

1. Public investment to close infrastructural gaps

Addressing the digital divides consists of closing the infrastructural gaps to improve access. The framework as put forward by the World Bank consists of categorising supply as the first mile (where the internet enters a country), the middle mile (where it passes through the country), and the last mile (for it reach the end user). For most OECD countries, the infrastructure for the last mile has been from telephone and cable TV based infrastructure from the 1960s to serve mobile and internet networks. However, those developing countries which did not have country-wide infrastructure for telecoms in 1960s have to leapfrog the whole stage of network development and make bigger investments (World Bank, 2017). While they are advocated by some institutions, public private partnerships cannot deliver long-term sustainability goals unless they are put under strong accountability and transparency guidelines, long-term financing commitments or public procurement with social clauses. Due to security concerns, networks should always be under partial public control. Still, there is need for both private and public participation. Yet, in case of last mile connectivity to remote areas, private investors may underinvest due to high costs and low returns. What is needed is:

Adequate public investments in high-speed broadband and fibre networks, as well as basic infrastructure, and ensuring that private investors follow standard accountability rules.

An extension of transfers of free technology to developing countries to enable local content creation.

2. Targeting affordability through lowering of prices

With respect to affordability, the price of internet connectivity can be lowered through government subsidies based on income levels but also to market price controls (Shenglin et al., 2017). Lowering of prices is the primary route to achieving mass market adoption of ICT. The difference between ICT as a necessity good and ICT as a luxury good is roughly around US$10 per person per month - that is, ICT expenditure of US$120 per year is considered as basic necessity (Hilbert, 2010). Since more than 40% of the world population lives on less than US$2 per day, and around 20% live on less than US$1 per day, these income segments would have to spend one third of their income on ICT (120/365 = 33%). This is a large price to pay for internet and acts as a barrier to widespread adoption. Although there has been a global decline in prices for fixed broadband and mobile cellular, policy needs to focus on increasing adoption in rural areas and among lower income sections of the society.

3. Developing skills sets and digital literacy

Digital skills are increasingly becoming a complementary competency to the basic skills of reading and writing (World Bank, 2016). Lack of digital literacy and awareness of the potential usefulness of digital technologies is a major cause of lower penetration in some regions. Governments, in addressing such skills gaps, should take a holistic view on educational outcomes and lifelong learning systems that integrate the notion of digital literacy (and STEM) while continue fostering core skills and competencies by:

Providing internet connectivity to all public schools and investing in ICT training and support for teachers.

Giving a training guarantee (a right to training) to all workers and providing continuous on-the-job training to enhance skills use, strengthening VET systems and extending coverage to non-standard jobs.

Anticipating future competency needs and updating curricula of education and training systems for all age groups in consultation with teachers and the social partners (i.e. in Skills Councils). Providing on-the-job training co-designed with workers' representatives to reflect the needs of the workforce.

Ensuring that "Massive Open Online Courses" used to deliver worker digital learning support are affordable, accredited, licensed and monitored for quality assurance processes.

Fostering cross-disciplinary skills including foundational knowledge (basic numeracy and literacy skills), digital literacy, cognitive, and social skills.

Promoting enrolments in STEM and ICT related VET and higher education programmes including coding, especially for women, and combining digital literacy with the notion of digital security and information literacy.

Enabling adequately paid (and where necessary subsidised) full- or part-time educational leave and the right to return to a/ their full time job.

References
Anderson M. & A. Perrin, 2016, "13% of Americans don't use the internet. Who are they?" Pew Research Centre.[online]. Available at: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/09/07/some-americans-dont-use-the-internet-who-are-they/

European Commission, 2017, "Broadband market developments in the EU 2017", [online]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/download-scoreboard-reports

Hilbert, M., 2010, "When is Cheap, Cheap Enough to Bridge the Digital Divide?", [online]. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X09002174

International Telecommunication Union, 2017, ICT Facts and Figures, [online]. Available at: http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/LDCs/Pages/ICT-Facts-and-Figures-2017.aspx

OECD, 2017, Digital Economy Outlook 2017, p. 263, 270. [online]. Available at: http://www.oecdilibrary.org/docserver/download/9317011e.pdf?expires=1511869797&id=id&accname=ocid84004878&checksum=C5C347DC2020A2927A2C4C1B0A1CEA2B

OECD, 2017, "Going Digital: The Future of Work for Women". [online]. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/employment/Going-Digital-the-Future-of-Work-for-Women.pdf

Shenglin et al., 2017, "Digital infrastructure: Overcoming Digital Divide in Emerging Economies", [online]. Available at: http://www.g20-insights.org/policy_briefs/digital-infrastructure-overcoming-digital-divide-emerging-economies/

UNCTAD, 2016, "Development and Globalisation: Facts and Figures", [online]. Available at: http://stats.unctad.org/Dgff2016/prosperity/goal9/target_9_c.html#ref_Un_2016a

Web Foundation, 2017, "Why it's time to prioritise digital literacy", [online]. Available at:
https://webfoundation.org/2017/09/why-its-time-to-prioritise-digital-literacy/
World Bank Group, 2016, Digital Dividends, p. 6-8. [online]. Available at: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/896971468194972881/pdf/102725-PUB-Replacement-PUBLIC.pdf

World Bank Group, 2017, "Data for Development: An Evaluation of World Bank Support for Data and Statistical Capacity", p. 20. [online]. Available at: http://ieg.worldbankgroup.org/sites/default/files/Data/Evaluation/files/datafordevelopment.pdf

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Digital Divides - Workers Voice @ OECD - Medium

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Anna Byhovskaya & Kavya Tibrewal Digital divides - ie the unequal access to ICT- has several dimensions, including regional, gender, income distribution. Resolving digital divides also matters in the context of the SDGs.

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Use search engines that do not track you.

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Use search engines that do not track you.

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DuckDuckGo - Protection. Privacy. Peace of mind.

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The Internet privacy company that empowers you to seamlessly take control of your personal information online, without any tradeoffs.

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The all-important literacy of determining the credibility of information found on the Internet. A companion to my blog post of the same title. (Voice-over interviewer in some sequences: Betsy Aoki)

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Increasing accessibility and the ability to communicate with thousands of citizens quickly has made the internet a tool of choice for individuals or organisations looking to spread a social message far and wide.

Independent activists the world over are using the internet and digital tools to build their community, connect with other similar-minded people outside their physical surroundings as well as lobby, raise funds and organise events.

Simply put, digital activism is where digital tools (the internet, mobile phones, social media etc) are used for bringing about social and/or political change. Examples of digital activism are scattered throughout the '80s however, things started to really snowball with the advent of web 2.0 and the dot com boom. The introduction and rapid growth of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter from 2004 onwards helped buttress digital activism to the point where entire campaigns can now be run online (sometimes with little to no offline component) and still have a wide reach.

A good timeline of digital activism around the world can be found here.

The Tools

The tools used by digital activists are vast and changing constantly as technology evolves.

Online petitions. Websites such as , ipetitions.org, are hubs of online activism, where people can communicate with others worldwide regarding their cause.

Social networks. Sites with high usage numbers such as Facebook and YouTube have proven beneficial in spreading a message, garnering support, shining information on a subject that might otherwise be overlooked by mainstream media. Protests in 2011 in Tunisia and Egypt against their respective governments were in part organised and promoted via Facebook. Social media also played a role in mobilising people in Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests in 2019, as well as connecting environmental activists around the world as part of Extinction Rebellion or Fridays for Future.

Blogs. Essentially a form of citizen journalism for the masses, blogs provide an effective means of non-filtered communication with an audience about any topic and have been used in numerous online campaigns.

Micro-blogging. Micro-blogging sites such as Twitter are used to help spread awareness of an issue or activist event. Twitter's hashtag function, which allows people to have their tweets contribute to a multi-user conversation by typing a keyword or phrase preceded by a hashtag, is used frequently as a digital tool for spreading a message. The Chinese equivalent to Twitter, Weibo is subject to scrupulous government censorship however people circumvent this blockade by using code words when writing about issues that might be government-sensitive. Other massive movements to hit the mainstream, such as #metoo, #blacklivesmatter and #fridaysforfuture, made use of the hashtag to spread a concept rapidly around the world using social media as a tool for resistance and disruption.

Mobile phones. Controversy surrounding the 2007 presidential elections in Kenya led to the introduction of Ushahidi Inc., a company which developed a piece of software that allowed people to send texts and pictures of violence following the elections which were plotted geographically on a Google map. The software has since been used to plot activity in disaster zones following earthquakes in Haiti and New Zealand and flooding in Australia and the USA. Furthermore, the built in camera featured on most mobile phones has resulted in dramatic changes to how we respond to global events, and broadcast evidence to uphold social justice (such as documenting police brutality, political protests, etc.)

Proxy servers. As a means of circumventing government intervention when it comes to online protesting, many people employ proxy servers, which act as intermediaries between a user and a site. In 2009, student protesters in Iran took to social media to voice their concern over the contentious reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. This led to a cat and mouse game of the government trying to identify which media were being used by the protesters to communicate (social networks and then eventually proxy servers) and shutting them down.

Crowdsourcing platforms. Using the internet to distribute problem-solving and resource acquisition, these platforms help individuals and initiatives to mobilize a global community and create collaboration opportunities between groups of (otherwise) unconnected people. is a good example, as well as popular collective funding platforms such as Kickstarter and .

Getting the Message out There

One of the biggest benefits of using digital tools for positive change is the ability to connect with a large community and, if applicable, globalise a campaign's goals. The interconnected nature of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter lend themselves easily to information sharing, meaning an activist can post a slogan, picture or details about an issue, share it with friends, plug into like-minded online communities and distribute info through their networks in a much less time and energy-consuming way than more traditional methods of going door-to-door or standing on street corners and asking passers-by to sign petitions.

Some of the most successful movements make use of social media and online activity to rally support and then combine this with ''leg work'' on the ground, not just talking the talk, but also walking the walk. The 2019 climate strike movement is an incredibly successful example of this combination of online and offline activism. Rallying behind Greta Thunberg and Fridays for Future, millions of citizens all over the world have mobilise to address the climate crisis and support environmental activism.

Beyond getting the message out there, digital activism allows anyone with access to the digital world a platform to make their case and call for change and it can be particularly beneficial to those who are often silenced or have no vehicle for their message. By allowing ordinary citizens to share their stories, it also helps create a better perspective of what is going on - and can pressure governments to take action on issues that are not normally reported on within conventional media.

In April 2014, for example, Boko Haram terrorists kidnapped more than 300 girls from a school in northern Nigeria. Some 50 girls managed to escape but 276 remained captured prompting an international outcry that was largely funnelled into a social media campaign to lobby governments to intervene. The topic #BringBackOurGirls went viral within a week, with people like activist Malala Yousafzai and US First Lady, Michelle Obama, tweeting their support. The rapid fire rate that the hashtag #BringBack OurGirls shot across the internet helped galvanise public support for the families of the girls while the case drew attention from the international media and heads of state offered to help Nigeria find and bring back the missing girls.

Another pertinent example of this is the massive upswell in the use of #BlackLivesMatter to motivate and unite a global movement against police violence, and more broadly, the ongoing challenge of systemic racism, following the killing of George Floyd on May 26th, 2020. After footage of the injustice was shared on social media, it quickly spread, ultimately inciting anti-racism demonstrations in over 60 countries worldwide. Social media continues to play a vital role in documenting the protests, publishing demonstrations of support, promoting donation and allyship opportunities and generally spreading information that the general public may otherwise have been unaware of. Overlapping with the coronavirus pandemic, this latest phase in the Black Lives Matter social movement came at a time when people were already relying on digital tools more than ever to carry out their day to day lives - and some were completely unable to leave their houses to protest in person. This was possibly a factor in why the movement developed online as fast and as strongly as it did, spreading through and connecting a global network of activists, largely via social media.

When social movements and demonstrations are criticising the status quo - such as the police force, racist social structures and historical inequalities - digital forms of media often hold a particlar power because they allow for a greater variety of voices to be heard than would be reflected in traditional media outlets. Writing about the blurring of offline and online activism that occurred in the US following the shooting of African American teenager Michael Brown, founder and director of the Meta-Activism Project, Mary Joyce, stated: "just like any other kind of activism, digital activism is only necessary when conventional methods of addressing injustice fail. "[I]nternet campaigns calling for justice" are only necessary for those whom the existing system does not serve."

Where digital activism often enjoys the biggest success however, is when it is used as a complementary tool to offline action or is used as the introductory method to encourage people to engage in offline action. One of the other key attributes of digital activism is that it is, for the large part, a non-violent form of protest. Acts of cyber crime are certainly committed under the guise of 'digital activism' (for example, cases of cyberterrorism, malicious hacking and extreme cyber bullying of a company or organisation) however, according to a study by the University of Washington, these make up around two to three percent of total digital activism cases.

Reduced to a Hashtag: Clicktivism and the Threat of Too Many Messages

Generally speaking, clicking like on someone's Facebook post or retweeting a trending hashtag on Twitter requires less effort and less forethought than signing (or setting up) a petition or joining in a demonstration on the streets. Because of this, digital activism has come under fire with some arguing that much of the online engagement in issues is too reductive and passive, defining this new era of activism as 'clicktivism', 'slacktivism' and 'armchair activism'.

Detractors of digital activism point out that it requires people to do the bare minimum to engage in a topic (while allowing them to score some virtual brownie points for their 'good deed'). Messages and ideals can get brushed aside in the push for more clicks, likes, impressions and page views when campaigning online and the information superhighway is now bumper-to-bumper with causes and campaigns which can make it difficult for any of them to achieve meaningful impact. Just like with traditional media, a lot of the time, certain campaigns and causes only start to gain momentum once a prominent individual or organisation picks up on it.

One of the biggest digital campaigns in recent years took place in summer 2014 in support of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. The campaign featured videos of people, including a number of global celebrities, tipping buckets of ice water over themselves before nominating three other people to do the same. As part of what was called the 'ALS Ice Bucket Challenge', challengees were asked to make a donation to the ALS Association or other ALS non-profit.

The web-friendly nature of the campaign (the use of videos, the involvement of celebrities as well as nominating others to do the challenge, thereby ensuring the spread of the campaign) saw it weave through the web quickly with more than 2 million video uploaded to Facebook and over 3 million up in Instagram, dominating social media feeds as well as online and offline media. The challenge helped raise 220 million USD globally for ALS yet drew criticism from some about the fact that the serious aspects of the campaign (the disease) were buried under jaunty, jovial videos of people dousing themselves in cold water. Some iterations of the challenge meant that those taking part did not have to make a donation while a number of videos uploaded made no mention of ALS at all.

Similarly, the efficacy of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign mentioned above has been called into question with the girls still in the hands of Boko Haram. An article published by Al Jazeera in 2014 highlights that despite the huge level of awareness raised about the kidnapping, to date, little has been done to successfully bring the girls back. In the article, protest coordinator Hadiza Bala Usman stated "People need to remember that 219 girls remain in captivity. We appreciate the fact that the media propelled a lot of support around the world, but that support has not translated into any rescue. For us, if whatever is said and done doesn't translate into the rescue of the girls, it hasn't really achieved anything." The reaction on social media to the girls' kidnapping was sharp and swift but attention dropped off as other campaigns and issues (such as the ALS challenge) took precedence. As stated in an article by the BBC about the ice bucket challenge, "our mental budget for charity is finite".

Co-creator of the Occupy Wall Street protests (which called for an end to social and economic inequality and challenged the amount of corporate influence on government) Micah White has argued that this passivity is undermining traditional forms of activism. In a 2010 piece for the Guardian, he wrote: "The truth is that as the novelty of online activism wears off, millions of formerly socially engaged individuals who trusted digital organisations are coming away believing in the impotence of all forms of activism. Even leading Bay Area clicktivist organisations are finding it increasingly difficult to motivate their members to any action whatsoever. The insider truth is that the vast majority, between 80% to 90%, of so-called members rarely even open campaign emails. Clicktivists are to blame for alienating a generation of would-be activists with their ineffectual campaigns that resemble marketing."

The 24 hour news cycle coupled with the breakneck pace at which we learn of, digest and move on from certain issues can often mean that issues and campaigns can run hot across the web one day and vanish the next.

Computer Literacy, Internet Accessibility, Censorship and Mobile Campaigning

Of course, a number of factors come strongly into play here regarding who can get involved and how, particularly in parts of the world where access to the internet and digital literacy skills are low or where web activity is highly monitored and often interrupted by the government and authorities.

To help circumvent issues around digital literacy and access to the web, activists use technology and media that has high penetration in some of these areas. For example, the number of people who regularly use the Internet in India hovers around the 560 million mark. Based on these figures, there are some who argue that precedence should be given to mobile campaigning in India (which has already had success when used during blood donation drives) given that 74 per cent of the population uses mobile phones.

As mentioned earlier, many activists in China use coded language in order to dodge the heavy censorship laws in the country. In 2014, as the 25 th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests approached, officials placed strict limits and blocks on any online activity or searches relating to the anniversary or the event itself. To get around this, the online community went covert, employing actions such as wearing a black shirt, replacing the protest's date (June 4 1989) with May 35 in online activity and photoshopping giant yellow ducks over the tanks in the iconic Tank Man photo and spreading that online. This endless cat-and-mouse game, whereby censors try to keep up with the codes and ban them, could result in action and codes becoming so obscure that they have reduced impact, as a 2014 article in the MIT Technology Review pointed out.

Measuring Success

The success of online and digital activism can be difficult to determine. Mary Joyce, founder of DigiActive and Meta-Activism Project, states that overall success can be perceived if the activist's initial campaign goal was achieved. However, in many cases of online activism, the goal of the online components may have been achieved (awareness building, mobilization of people) while the overall goal of the campaign was not. This trend leaves the field ripe for argument from critics of online activism to discuss the validity of it as a movement.

The larger-scale campaigns get the attention of the media, however smaller-scale campaigns can be just as effective and often meet their goals. Examples of this include non-profit organisations using online platforms to raise funds for a cause or corporations withdrawing advertising or as a result of online backlash and petitions.

While digital activism has a lot to offer the savvy campaigner, it also does sometimes have limitations as to how much effective change it can generate. With this in mind, it is worth considering that all online activity should be coupled with offline activity in order to have greater impact.
Last update: May 2020 (Kristine Mitchell)

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Increasing accessibility and the ability to communicate with thousands of citizens quickly has made the internet a tool of choice for individuals or organisations looking to spread a social message far and wide.

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Digital Citizenship Copy | Piktochart Visual Editor

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The digital native - myth and reality -  A MUST READ!!!

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The digital native - myth and reality -  A MUST READ!!!

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Do access this article via your university library login.

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The date on your computer is in the past. If your computer's clock shows a date before 1 Jan 1970, the browser will automatically forget the cookie. To fix this, set the correct time and date on your computer.

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An article that will help you understand Biesta's 'learnification' argument.

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Safeguarding people & the planet from the global toxic trade.

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What We Do e-Trash Transparency Project Basel Advocacy Electronics Stewardship Investigative Watchdog Green Ship Recycling BAN's Library BAN's Photos

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Paper-machine? - something to think about

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Paper-machine? - something to think about

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Abstract

There is nothing less about paper and its use when it comes to academic study as we experience increasingly converging media spaces and functionalities of online applications within the screens of our laptops, mobile phones and tablet devices. The paper persists, and the paperless office, classroom and pedagogy become nothing but pure rhetoric. Hence, it is most pertinent to focus on paper and its "stickiness" in maintaining educational structures and practices. Usually hidden from view or neglected in educational technology studies is a consideration on how we think and interact not only with our mind but also with our heads and limbs. This paper will argue that paper has a composite place or bearing, a kind of stickiness to our technologised bodies, digital mobilities and hybrid practices in what I have coined here as papier-mach(in)e. This claim will be supported by evidence that demonstrates how we simply think both practically and pathically and that our mobilities in media and physical spaces are in one form or another meshed with paper. In fact, a drive towards a paperless classroom or pedagogy is without much foundation when it comes to mobilising a sustainable agenda for technology-enhanced learning.

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Papier‐mach(in)e: Thinking with "sticky" paper in the cloud

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There is nothing less about paper and its use when it comes to academic study as we experience increasingly converging media spaces and functionalities of online applications within the screens of our laptops, mobile phones and tablet devices. The paper persists, and the paperless office, classroom and pedagogy become nothing but pure rhetoric.

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Technologies impact in educational achievement - are there really?

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Technologies impact in educational achievement - are there really?

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Contact author

he two-year degree is back. The idea of increased flexibility in higher education is, in the broadest sense, a good one. But it is a sign of how captured we have been by market-centric thinking that "flexibility", to this government, is manifested as "squeeze the same amount into a shorter period of time to maximise your financial returns later". The sector has undergone a "catastrophe" as part-time student numbers have collapsed; that the government's response is a degree format the polar opposite of part-time - and to charge £2,000 extra for the privilege - is indicative of its approach to governance in general.

For most demographics whose access to higher education is restricted, condensing the course doesn't address the barriers they're facing. If you're balancing employment and childcare with a full-time education, especially if you're relying on sketchy public transport infrastructure, it's unrealistic to squeeze any more into your schedule. Many universities currently structure their courses around the reality that many students work, at least part-time, while studying. None of this is to mention those with disabilities who may face additional barriers to access.

There are no doubt some - the independently wealthy, for example - who may benefit, but it seems perverse that these people should be the focus of a major policy change. Once again we seem to be seeing policy as a function of the education minister's pet project rather than the sector's needs. Troublingly, we seem to have fully accepted the shift from education as a social good to a product sold to students on grounds of higher earnings in the jobs market.

Often, the grand promises of access to employment don't hold up. The labour market has been increasingly casualised and "hollowed out", with a gap emerging between the skilled and "unskilled" (or those whose skills are less valued). Progression through the ranks is vanishing, with a degree becoming a requirement for all sorts of jobs beyond simply those with high wages. A study from the Resolution Foundation found that, among those who were low paid in 2001, only one in four had progressed from that wage bracket 10 years later. Average graduate earnings can seem higher because average non-graduate earnings are so low.

Graduate averages, meanwhile, can be skewed by high wages at the very top of the ladder. "Median starting salaries" that approach the £30,000 mark are, frankly, marketing figures: they only take in graduates who got graduate jobs directly related to their degree. They conveniently exclude those who have not been able to find employment after graduating, nor the one-third of all graduates who are in low-paid employment six months after graduating.

Even beyond the gap between the promise and reality, though, lies a philosophical flaw with the current approach. Education should be seen as a social and personal good in itself. What of the factory worker who wants to learn about economics, not because she wants to become a banker but because she wants to understand the chancellor's autumn statement? What of the fruit picker who wants to study literature because of a love of language and poetry?

What does it say when a society views any aspirations that can't be expressed in financial terms as luxuries reserved for the rich?

The two-year degree, in and of itself, is neither a good nor a bad thing. For some people it will be a positive, for the majority of others an irrelevance. What is troubling is what it represents about how Britain's political establishment sees education. It fits well into the reductive free-market philosophy, where every aspect of life can be sold as a commodity. A government that sees the price of everything and the value of nothing will inevitably be drawn to idea of squeezing maximum output into minimum time.

A government that really wanted to make higher education more flexible, open and accessible would be exploring options that made sense for single parents and working-class people. More part-time degrees, more graduate qualifications, modules that you could take without having to commit to a whole degree, a commitment to learning that people could use at the pace appropriate to them.

It would also help ensure that work was decent at all levels - rather than taking it as read that low pay and miserable conditions are all you can expect without a degree - and that education wasn't just an expensive commodity you bought on tick as a way of clawing an advantage in an ever more cut-throat job market.

I see no evidence, though, that this government thinks the choice between being stuck in a low-wage hellscape or taking on thousands of pounds in debt to play a roulette wheel with better odds is a bad thing. The days of education policies that address none of the problems with education are far from over.

* Phil McDuff is a writer on economics and social policy
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The two-year degree shows education has become just another commodity | Phil McDuff

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Contact author he two-year degree is back. The idea of increased flexibility in higher education is, in the broadest sense, a good one. But it is a sign of how captured we have been by market-centric thinking that "flexibility", to this government, is manifested as "squeeze the same amount into a shorter period of time to maximise your financial returns later".