Mr. George Munroe, keynote teacher: learning and information won't be reserved to those who can afford it but it should be open to everyone
Mr. George Munroe, What are, in your opinion, the main barriers in the development of the Internet usage?
think there are two main problems. One is that people don't understand what it is and the second is if they want to use it ; they don't usually know how to do it. There is lack of education, lack of ability. I think both of them will disappear because young people learn very quickly, and most of them do know how to use the Internet.
What are the main advantages and disadvantages of the on-line user's support compared with the traditional one?
I would say that there are no disadvantages but that may seem naive. Disadvantages are quite insignificant I believe. Some people don't like idea of no having one to one conversation and discussion with someone who can help them. But there are lots of advantages. It is almost impossible to support everyone on one to one basis therefore we have to provide some on-line service. When we have on-line, the queries and the solutions to the queries all can be stored for future use.
What implications will distance learning through the Internet have on our society?
If it's done correctly, it will remove lots of problems that currently exist in society. People will not be underprivileged because they can't go to the University because they would have an easy access to the knowledge from the different places which are close to them. The main implication would be that learning and information won't be reserved to those who can afford it but it should be open to everyone.
What are the ethical dimensions of the development and usage of new information technologies?
I think there are two main ethical dimensions, is the governance uses of the Internet, and Government's issues, and the second is what sort of information should be allowed on the Internet. The first one is an ongoing problem, it has always been the responsibility of the Internet Engineering Task Force and Internet Society to more or less make the recommendations for what and in which way can be used over the Internet. Second issue of information content should be allowed over the Internet is more to do with self regulation of the Internet users. They have to conform to some sort of self regulation, so different countries are not forced to produce legistation which restricts the use of the Internet. It may not necesarily mean not putting the information on, but it may mean they have to describe exactly what sort of information they are putting on so the different community systems can filter content , if necessary. If people will not , then there are problems ahead because different Goverments will be forced to introduce different types of rules.
What is meant by the term Information Society and what do you think about its development in the future?
In my understanding the Information Society are those people who currently use Information Communication Technology to communicate with each other and share information. I think that is a society which is global, it extends wide across the world, it embraces different cultures. Its development in the future I think can only be good, I think it's excellent if people can share information with people from different backgrounds and it should be great for the world in general provided the membership of Information Society is open. I have been CARNet CEO for a little longer than a year. Answering a question like that is pretty hard. I can not say that I am delighted with the situation at that moment. When I arrived, the situation was not so bad but unfortunately it was also the start of the overall recession. However, we decided that we will do our best with the equipment and human resources at our disposal. As always, there are two sides to every story. The situation forced us to think well before we act, carefully plan and coordinate every step which will I hope optimize our activities, And that is the challenge I see laying before us.
Interview
-
Sonja Prišćan
Interview
- Jill Foster
Interview
-
George Munroe
Distance
learning
Interview
-
Vesna
Vrga
Basic
English-Croatian Dictionary
