This is a nice way to reach out to the illiterate Indian population. Hopefully, they will utilize these privileges to improve their literacy and their knowledge. This is a great example about how much the world depends on technology. It is amazing that with the advanced technology Indian citizens can learn about what is going on in the world. In my opinion news is extremely important, therefore it is necessary that these citizens have a way of understanding and communicating with the world.
While I think Google’s new services are very helpful to people of India, I also believe that it is bringing them farther away from trying to learn how to read. They will become increasingly dependant on this search engine and technology, that they will not try to become literate. Since this new advancement is easy for them to use they will not try to read words in the newspaper or write an article, they will simply put headphones on and listen or record the news of the day.
The problem with this new advancement is that the Indian people did not look at the screen to see the list of words because they were too busy focusing on the keyboard. To improve this problem, I suggest that when the words are generated, or there is something important on the screen, a noise should generate so the user will know to look up at the screen. This way, they won’t always be completely focused on the keyboard and they will slowly be able to connect the sounds of the words with the visual aspects of it. I also agree with the suggestion to have the search guesses stay on the screen longer so the citizens will eventually realize they are up.
http://blogs.wsj.com/india-chief-mentor/2010/02/12/drivers-drive-googles-india-innovation/?KEYWORDS=IT+innovation
I agree with both opinions that it is both a great advancement and a set back. While this Indian population will become more aware and knowledgeable of the world news, they will become dependent on this. Google should make it so the search engine is interactive and maybe a little bit more challenging to navigate. It should in some way be helping them learn how to read, like she said, connecting the words they hear/see on the screen with the images that correspond with the news story. A major set back for this new technology could be that the percentage of illiterate adults in India would increae as people become less interested in learning how to read as a result of their dependence on this service provided.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that while Google is expanding its reach globally, it is also causing a setback. It is important to bring technology into developing countries. It can potentially help bring the citizens in these coutries into contact with the rest of the world. In addition, it is important for them to have access to what is going on in their own country. However, it would be advantageous for Google to provide some sort of language tool that can help teach and improve the illiterate population. Making the search engine too easy could just increase the illiterate population.
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