Abstract
2020 has been a year full of changes and challenges to all teachers, students, and even parents. Because of the outbreak of COVID-19, school systems at all levels have been forced to modify their ways of educating students and many turned in-person teaching to online education. Before the pandemic, distance or online learning was treated by many teachers as an alternative or complementary method for the conventional classroom education; however, it has now become a necessity and seemingly the most feasible way to continue education, as long as schools remain closed because of the pandemic. Yet, the more the demand for distance or online learning grows, the more apparent the problem of digital divide would be. A nationwide coverage of the network transmission or the digital infrastructure does not guarantee digital equality among all citizens. Social, economic, political and even racial discrepancies should also be taken into consideration. This paper will begin by discussing the challenge of education in this digital era we have in Taiwan, and how to “bridge” the digital divide to achieve digital equality in our society.
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Notes
- 1.
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrpYIv0oGhk, last accessed 2021/2/10.
- 2.
See National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), U. S. Department of Commerce, https://www.ntia.doc.gov/, last accessed 2021/2/10.
- 3.
See 2020 Taiwan Internet Report, Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC), https://report.twnic.tw/2020/en/index.html, last accessed 2021/2/10.
- 4.
See Digital Application Promotion Project in Remote Areas, Digital Opportunity Center, Ministry of Education, Taiwan, https://itaiwan.moe.gov.tw/english/, last accessed 2021/2/10.
- 5.
See News Release of MOE, https://www.edu.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=9E7AC85F1954DDA8&s=868B3A6EDF9BA52D, last accessed 2021/02/11.
- 6.
According to Taiwan Internet Report, in non-rural areas, the household Internet rate is 83%, and in rural areas, the household rate is 70.3%. The broadband rate in the non-rural areas is 99.7%, and it is 100% in rural areas. The figures show that the Internet is quite accessible all over Taiwan. See Digital Divide Analysis, 2020 Taiwan Internet Report, TWNIC, https://report.twnic.tw/2020/en/index.html, last accessed 2021/02/12.
- 7.
About 92% of people are against that the government stops distributing masks, 85% of people think it’s more convenient for the elders and the ones who don’t use Apps or online shopping. Only 8% of people think the government could stop distributing. See UDN news report (2020), https://udn.com/news/story/7266/4537914, last accessed 2021/02/12.
- 8.
According to Child Welfare League Foundation’s report, 82.7% of children and teenagers have their own mobile phones and 87% have accounts of social media. These figures show our children and teenagers have more chance to assess the Internet services than we think; therefore, it is urgent and imperative for us to teach them how to use the services properly and protect themselves when accessing the online resources. See Child Welfare League Foundation (2019), https://www.children.org.tw/research/detail/67/1525, last accessed 2021/02/12.
- 9.
See Regulation for the Rating of the Internet Content, Laws and Regulations Database of the Republic of China, https://law.moj.gov.tw/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=P0050021, last accessed 2021/02/12.
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Lee, Sy. (2021). The Challenge of Digital Education and Equality in Taiwan. In: Degen, H., Ntoa, S. (eds) Artificial Intelligence in HCI. HCII 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12797. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77772-2_5
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