Digital inclusion in education in Tarija, Plurinational State of Bolivia

This study analyses digital inclusion in secondary education in the Tarija School District in the Plurinational State of Bolivia for the 2012-2013 school year, using the indicators in the Plan of Action for the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean (Plan of Action elac). This is an exploratory and descriptive analysis based on a sample of 311 students, 108 teachers and 15 school principals. According to the findings, teenagers use the Internet to look for information and entertainment; the expansion of mobile technology among them offers numerous educational opportunities; and insufficient training for teachers on how to integrate information and communications technologies (icts) into the learning process is a top challenge. The existence of icts in schools has been confirmed, but not their use. Local and national efforts are helping to reduce the digital divide and promote equality of opportunity for young people.

Expert survey on priorities for the information society in the Caribbean

An on-line survey of experts was conducted to solicit their views on policy priorities in the area of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the Caribbean. The experts considered the goal to “promote teacher training in the use of ICTs in the classroom” to be the highest priority, followed by goals to “reduce the cost of broadband services” and “promote the use of ICT in emergency and disaster prevention, preparedness and response.” Goals in the areas of cybercrime, e-commerce, egovernment, universal service funds, consumer protection, and on-line privacy rounded out the top 10. Some of the lowest ranked goals were those related to coordinating the management of infrastructure changes. These included the switchover for digital terrestrial television (DTT) and digital FM radio, cloud computing for government ICT, the introduction of satellite-based internet services, and the installation of content distribution networks (CDNs). Initiatives aimed at using ICT to promote specific industries, or specific means of promoting the digital economy, tended toward the centre of the rankings. Thus, a general pattern emerged which elevated the importance of focusing on how ICT is integrated into the broader society, with economic issues a lower priority, and concerns about coordination on infrastructure issues lower still.