According to a internet usage and marketing report from the Internet World Stats, the number of internet users in South Africa have increased from 2 400 000 in the year 2000, to 5 100 000 at the end of November 2007 . This implies that an estimate of 11.6 % of the South African population had access to the internet by the end of 2007.
Although connectivity costs have considerably come down, the high cost of internet connectivity remains a challenge. A lot of schools still make use of ISDN dial-up connections to connect to the internet. These connections normally also come at higher cost than broadband connections, are slower and are difficult to manage from a cost perspective since costs depend on time spend online.
Schools making use of dial-up connections also very often restrict internet usage to email downloads in the fear of getting exorbitant TELKOM accounts at the end of the month. This however implies that the powerful tool of the Internet cannot effectively be used for other educational purposes. The question to be posed is “Why do some schools still prefer to go the dial-up route?”
The following might be some of the reasons why a lot of schools have yet not converted to a more affordable, faster, reliable and manageable internet connectivity type:
· The unavailability of broadband coverage (especially ADSL) in some areas. You can do an ADSL availability check by visiting the following link on the TELKOM website: https://secure1.telkom.co.za/app/dslavailability/.
· Is it possible that schools can just be uninformed and do not have enough knowledge on the topic to make an informed decision?
Can you think of any other reasons why schools still prefer to use dial-up? Any ideas on how we should handle these challenges to make sure that all schools have a reliable and affordable always on internet connectivity?
Schools who want more information on broadband connectivity can visit the Khanya website at http://www.khanya.co.za/projectinfo/?catid=38. Please also consult the relevant CeI services managers or Khanya coordinators who will be able to give more advice on the various options available.
Monday, February 4, 2008
To dial or not to dial
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4 comments:
Do all our facilitators understand the different options and the implications of each? Even though it is the school's responsibility to make the correct choice of the school, we must ensure that our advice is sound.
Both reasons mentioned in the article is relevant to the area I work in. Cost is also an issue even though schools will be saving on their internet bill. The monthly payment seems too expensive and not well understood by some principals. The introduction of ADSL also brings with it "unrestricted" access to material which is not necessarily educational. The responsibility of controlling access to relevant sites is proving to be a problem for those who are not clued up on how to do it. Another problem principals have highlighted is a staff issue : educators hide in the computer room and surf the web during teaching time since the internet is on all the time.
One of the reasons could well be,that there is no reason!If you look at the discernible factors in terms of downloading speeds,multi-media capabilities and overall response times,one would assume there could be no debate about the two options.A huge factor could be ignorance of the available options and their merits and demerits.It is thus our task to correctly inform our educators aboutthe pros and cons of broadband technology.Another reason could well be if it aint broken,why fix it?Or a total fear of the unknown.
Schools using dail-up are in not aware of the benefits of ADSL. They see ADSL as expensive, while they can save with dail-up. It is the responsibility of the facilitator to motivate schools for ADSL and inform them how it works and how they can save. Coordinators only visit schools two or three times
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