Internet Applications among Malaysian Youth: Access, Adoption and Value Assoc. Prof. Datin Dr. Norizan Abdul Razak norjef @pkrisc.cc.ukm.my E-Community Research Center Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Knowledge Networking ICT high potential to digitally link Malaysian in all communities Empower society to participate in economic and social progress and access information and knowledge via e-learning and assist Malaysian towards Knowledge and value added society. Enable Malaysian to make informed decisions on issues affecting them
Knowledge based economy The Government of Malaysia has shown its committed to the use of ICTs for national development to move to an ICT and knowledgebased economy. The knowledge-based economy development index (KDI) was developed by the Government to monitor the progress of the economy towards becoming more knowledge-based. The overall KDI increased by 591 points from 2,413 in 2000 to 3,004 in 2005 with improvements recorded in all areas. The most noteworthy improvement was in respect of computer infrastructure. It registered an increase of 196.4 per cent in terms of scores between 2000 and 2005, followed by research and development (R&D) and technology at 25.9 per cent and education and training at 22.9 per cent. In terms of KDI by countries Malaysia remained at 17th position in 2005.
Definition of Youth Commonwealth Youth Secretariate 1993 Youth 15-25 years old Bangladesh- 15-30 Brunei 15-35 India 15-34 Hong Kong 10-24 Pakistan 18-30 Singapore 15-30
Malaysian Youth and Employment Despite progress made by the nation there is still a large number of Malaysian youth still unemployed, not able to further studies due to many reasons: their failure to meet admission standards lack of financial support and other familial commitments working, getting married Majority of those studying at tertiary level are women statistics 2002, 59%of university graduates were women Today percentage of female and male students registered at the university is 69% and 31 % respectively
Majority of employed youth remain concentrated in low skilled and low waged jobs and very few in top managerial and decisionmaking posts due to lack of experience and qualifications
Qualities Needed for Employment Academic Qualification Personality Attitude Language Ability Creativity Job Competency ICT Skills X Factor Experience
Research: ICT Literacy Among Rural Youth (Norizan & Ruzy 2006) Objective: To evaluate ICT literacy and readiness among and Rural Youth To evaluate ICT knowledge and skill (perceived and actual skill ) of Rural Youth in 5 topics Internet, Powerpoint, Excel, Word, Computer Graphic and Multimedia To evaluate ICT training needs of Rural Youth Sample:426 youth 54.2 male and 45.8 female Location: 10 selected Rural Areas
Access Point for Internet Among Rural Youth (number of sample) Tempat Kebiasaan Menggunakan Internet 194 95 35 36 16 Rumah Pejabat Sekolah Pusat siber Lain-lain
ICT Competency among Malaysian Rural Youth Perceived Skill Level And Training Needs (Norizan & Ruzy 2006) Training and Skills According to Gender 2.0 1.8 1.6 1.6 Male Female Training 1. Not interested 2. Training not needed sufficient skill 3. Maybe need training 4. Need training Skills 1. Very limited 2. limited 3. moderate 4. Good 5. Very good
Perceived ICT Skill Level Categories Among Rural Youth Persepsi Tahap Kecekapan Penggunaan Komputer dan ICT 35% 39.2% 20% 4.5% 1.4% tidak cekap kurang cekap sederhana cekap cekap sangat cekap
ICT Competency Among Malaysian Rural Youth Actual ICT Knowledge And Skill Level Knowledge and ICT Skills According to Tipic Indicator: 5.2 4.7 4.8 4.7 Topic 1 Computer, graphic and multimedia 4.4 Topic 2 Internet 4 4.1 3.9 Topic 3 Ms Word Fundamental 3.3 3.4 Topic 4 Topic 5 MS PowerPoint Ms Excel Male Female Topic 1 Topic 2 Topic 3 Topic 4 Topic 5
Research: ICT competency among first year university students (Norizan, Nik Hairi and Mohd Azul 2005) Objective: To measure the first year students level of perception, knowledge and skills in using ICT based on UKM ICT competency standards (Norizan 2003) Sample : 269 first year university students
ICT Competency Among The First Year Undergraduates Perceived Skill Level And Training Needs (Norizan, Nik Hairi & Azul 2005) Training and Skills according to Gender 93.2 95 61.5 61.2 Male Female Training Skills
ICT Competency Among The First Year Undergraduates Actual ICT Knowledge And Skill (Norizan, Nik Hairi & Azul 2005) ICT Knowedge According to Topic 4.4 3.7 3.8 3.4 3.2 3.9 4.1 3.5 2.8 2.4 Male Female Topic 1 Topic 2 Topic 3 Topic 4 Topic 5
ACCESS PATTERN ITEM RURAL n 426 University n 239 Access Cyber café 45.5 Cyber Café 48.1 Use Internet before 82.6 74.1 Own computer 20.2 28
ADOPTION USE INTERNET TRAINING TRAINING SKILL SKILL RURAL University RURAL University n 426 n 239 n 426 n 239 Mean 1 5 Mean 1 5 Mean 1 5 Mean 1 4 Search engine 3.25 2.68 2.80 2.18 Online banking Online shopping Downloading Use email Chat Design webpage 3.32 3.19 3.25 3.20 3.17 3.48 2.79 2.76 2.73 2.58 2.59 2.79 1.82 1.77 2.25 3.10 2.70 1.89 1.55 1.48 1.76 2.26 2.10 1.44
VALUE Information Exchange Life long learning Entrepreneurship Youth and Technology Empowering Mechanism Rural Internet Center Kedai. Kom Facilitates Employment Broader Contacts
Open up avenues for life long learning via e-community centers
Pusat Internet Desa 42 Rural Internet Centers (PID - Pusat Internet Desa) Provide ICT training for communities Undertake community participation programs Provide centralized monitoring and reporting system Development of local content Development of sustainability programs Certification Program - (under development) e-commerce program - (under development) Provide advisory and consultancy services on the program to the Government of Malaysia on a continuous basis
Entrepreneurship ehomemakers and ICT Through its trilingual website, www.ehomemakers.net, the network supports over 12,000 registrants who use the site as a portal for information exchange, business and family advice, and up-to-date news and advice for homemakers. Over 400 businesses are advertised on the website, showcasing a wide array of services that are on offer.
Barriers Access Issue upgrading and expansion of communications infrastructure to increase accessibility throughout the country - Capacity and skill - Majority of rural youth still having low levels of literacy and lack of access to technical education, - Rural youth are more at the disadvantaged position than youth at urban areas to fully benefit from the knowledge networking via the technology
Barriers Language barriers - Much knowledge presented in the Internet is in English - Not understood by majority of youth at the poorest, rural, or marginalized communities - Material developed not meeting the needs of youth in general
Towards Empowering Youth with Technology Awareness program Upgrading literacy level continuously via both formal and informal education for literacy skills, internet access and information, desktop publishing and e-commerce Materials developed relevant to youth s needs and address their concerns and perspectives in local/vernacular languages. Credit transfer for formal learning Certificate for technical modules- MGFL online materials More ICT Access Centers- Mobile computer lab for rural areas, INTRARED and Mr. Internet Postman Cambodia experience
Towards Empowering Youth with Technology Incorporate local ICT volunteers ( college students ) to impart training on the use of developed materials or modules by professionals working from any part of the globe Materials develop for youth could be the effort from smart partnership involving strategic stakeholders from both public and private sectors, government bodies, NGOs ex: Maxis in Bridging the Digital Divide, DAGS projects (Telecenters, Kakak Tua.Com, E-Pekak)