TY - JOUR
T1 - A comparison of ICT knowledge and usage among female distance learners in endowed and deprived communities of a developing country
AU - Kwapong, Olivia Adwoa Tiwaah Frimpong
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - Working with the premise that information and communications technology (ICT) has the capacity to make or unmake so far as women's empowerment is concerned, this article looks at the ICT situation among female distance learners in both endowed and under-served parts of Ghana, to check the user differentials among the two contrasting groups through a survey that covered 174 respondents. From the results one could not strongly say that there were vast ICT knowledge and usage gaps among the two groups considering the extent of the developmental gap that the regional differences presents. Factors like time or convenience, space, and income have to be considered in using ICT for education and development among women. Exposing the women to multiple usages of ICT is also critical. Another core observation from this study is that women who are generally categorized as not being technology friendly are overcoming at least that. This applies not only to women in relatively well-endowed areas but also to those in under-served areas. This is a good starting point for undertaking gender-specific projects that will promote e-learning, e-government, e-medicine, e-commerce and all other applications among women in both urban and rural communities.
AB - Working with the premise that information and communications technology (ICT) has the capacity to make or unmake so far as women's empowerment is concerned, this article looks at the ICT situation among female distance learners in both endowed and under-served parts of Ghana, to check the user differentials among the two contrasting groups through a survey that covered 174 respondents. From the results one could not strongly say that there were vast ICT knowledge and usage gaps among the two groups considering the extent of the developmental gap that the regional differences presents. Factors like time or convenience, space, and income have to be considered in using ICT for education and development among women. Exposing the women to multiple usages of ICT is also critical. Another core observation from this study is that women who are generally categorized as not being technology friendly are overcoming at least that. This applies not only to women in relatively well-endowed areas but also to those in under-served areas. This is a good starting point for undertaking gender-specific projects that will promote e-learning, e-government, e-medicine, e-commerce and all other applications among women in both urban and rural communities.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=66349107192&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2304/elea.2009.6.2.164
DO - 10.2304/elea.2009.6.2.164
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:66349107192
SN - 1741-8887
VL - 6
SP - 164
EP - 174
JO - E-Learning and Digital Media
JF - E-Learning and Digital Media
IS - 2
ER -