JCK #2

  Second day, a symposium was held  to discuss the three different topics presented yesterday, " Western Culture and Eastern Culture""Representation Of  Youth and Women" and "Digital Divide". We were divided in to groups of 15 to talk about these topics in the time constraint of 2 hours. Sensing that there was hardly enough time to talk about such broad topics in such a short time, the night before we gathered up to discuss the outline of what we would be focusing on during the symposium. Because the topic was so abstract, we really had to decide what we wanted to debate about and although a few had already made a general agenda, there were many things that people wished to be added or deleted feeling that they weren`t worth talking about. Again, I was made to see how difficult it was just to set course of a discussion. There were so many things that were worth focusing on but at the same time, before getting into any details we had to clarify among all of us the perception on certain terms or ideologies . At times it seemed like  we were in the midst of discussing the topic itself rather than about what we were going to discuss; it all became very confusing, due probably to it being one am after a very long day.

  During the actual discussion, we divided further into groups of 5, 20minutes to discuss each topic in the group than 10 minutes to share our ideas. The time constraint was intense and we were practically firing out one idea after another. What I found particularly interesting was about " Digital Divide", as I had never really thought about it but was actually, if you think about it a very relevant issue to our generation and very current in that the Chinese students had limited access to information on the internet, such as constraints on Facebook. It was not about Facebook though that I was especially engaged in,  but about the digital divide between the old and the young. I always vaguely imagined that when we talked about the digital divide between the young and old, it meant simply that the old did not have the benefits that the young gained through the ICTs. However, thinking a little more in depth this time, I came to realise that maybe it was not as clear cut as that. What actually would they benefit from using all the devices?  The benefits from the ICTs are largely opportunities for business, education and such but were the elderly really in need of them? No one I believe is in position to make them use the ICTs just for the sake of  bridging the digital divide. I think the issue here is the elderly feeling the social pressure of having to use these devices. It is the feeling of feeling left behind, that is what we need to draw our attention to and must resolve. Of course it is different for those who wish to learn how to utilise the ICTs, we have to give them full support as a community but I feel that there is a must for us to create a society where it is ok for the elderlies who wish not to use them , not be able to function them. Many other different new perspectives  were brought up during the session. I wish we had a longer time so that we could leisurely engage in conversation about whatever that interested us in the topics. Due to the planning the night before though, I think we were able to hold a very effective and fruitful conversation.