eChapters

Email can be a wonderful tool for delivering feedback to students. Once a basic understanding of feedback’s role in learning has been established, one can begin to focus on how best to take advantage of the pedagogical functions of the com- munication medium. There is little doubt that email is changing how we commu- nicate and learn. For example, in an investigation of the effectiveness of email as a communication and instructional aid between instructors and students, Yu and Yu (2002) found “empirical evidence supporting the usefulness of e-mail as a prom- ising aid to promote student cognitive growth pertaining to computer knowledge and skills”.

Tao and Boulware (2002) suggest that email communication benefits teachers by “identif[ing] instructional focus and tak[ing] advantage of instructional moments to fit the developmental needs of their students in authentic situations”. They also find that email motivates learners, encourages authentic communication and cre- ates new learning opportunities.

Feedback

Feedback’s influence on learning is indisputable and undeniable and feedback’s varying roles in instruction are heavily researched concepts (Mory, 1992). Understanding how feedback facilitates, and, in some cases, hinders transfer of knowledge is essential to creating effective instruction.

Researchers have focused on the many aspects and roles of feedback in hopes of developing some synthesis that will increase learner performance and improve instruction. Researchers such as Bangert - Drowns, Kulik, Kulik and Morgan (1991), Brinko (1993), Clariana, R.B. and Lee, D. (2001), Clariana, R.B., Wagner, D. and Rohrer-Murphy, L.C. (2000), Kulhavy (1976), Kulhavy and Stock (1989), Kulik and Kulik (1988) and Mory (1992) to name only a very few, have sought to discern the complex role feedback plays in learning. While many studies have been convincingly conducted trying to ascertain how feedback best works in certain circumstances, a consensus has yet to be reached in most, if not all, areas and as Clariana (2000) writes, “There are a number of unanswered questions and perhaps even more unquestioned answers”.

Definition

• If a communication source decodes the message that he encodes, if the mes- sage is put back to his system, we have a feedback.

Berlo (1960)

• Feedback is defined as the action reaction interdependence in communica- tion.

• The return to the input of a part of the output is the feedback.

• Feedback is the reaction on the part of the receiver to a sender’s communi- cation.

Fidelity

Fidelity is said to exist in a communication situation when there is no distortion of the message from the time it leaves the source until it is received. The most effective communication occurs when the message transmitted and the message received are identical i.e., when complete fidelity is there. Some communication theorists believe that complete fidelity can never be achieved that no message is ever received exactly as it was intended by the source. This seems likely, since the source and receiver always have different frames of reference. It is clear, however, that the fidelity of any communication can be vastly improved by several methods.

The psychological sets that can be barriers to communication can be characterized into several basic categories. These sets can occur in the sender or in the receiver in the communication process. The sender has the ability to recognize these barrier categories when they occur and to transform communication to overcome them. However, the receiver is a different story. If the receiver is interested in communication, he or she can recognize when these barriers arise and can consciously overcome them. On the other hand, when a receiver is passive in the communication process, he or she does not recognize the barriers and the sender can do little to overcome the blockage.

The emphasis on greater participation of the beneficiaries in the development pro- cess on general and in message development process on general and in message development on particular has led to a reorientation on the study and operation- alization of the role of communication in development activities. There is a shift from the concept of development communication (DC) with its emphasis on top- down, big-media centered government to people communication to development support communication (DSC) focused on co-equal, little-media centered govern- ment with people communication.

A concomitant development is the emergence of a development professionals : the development support communicator, who mediates between the technical experts and their beneficiaries. This person is required to help the beneficiaries interact with the technical personnel, administrators, etc. as co-equal partners. Thus, the new horizontal axes provided by development support communicator will counter- balance the vertical axes of development communication involving the technical change agents.

Introduction

What is Remote Sensing?

Remote sensing means sensing the objects that are far away from the reach of our senses. It is a tool to identify the characteristics of an object without having any direct contact over it.

In other words, it can be defined as, science of acquiring information about earth’s surface viz., land cover, oceans & coastal, agriculture, forestry, geographical mapping etc, through sensing, energy emission and processing, analysing and recording reflected images.

How does it Work?

Remote sensing process involves interaction between radiation emitted from the object and the target of focus. This can be explained by the use of imaging system that follows seven elements. However, it should be noted at this point that remote sensing not only uses imaging system but also uses non-imaging sensors and sens- ing of emitted energy.

Introduction

Satellites are specifically made for telecommunication purpose. They are used for mobile applications such as communication to ships, vehicles, planes, hand-held terminals and for TV and radio broadcasting. They are responsible for providing these services to an assigned region (area) on the earth. The power and bandwidth of these satellites depend upon the preferred size of the footprint, complexity of the traffic control protocol schemes and the cost of ground stations. A satellite works most efficiently when the transmissions are focused with a desired area. When the area is focused, then the emissions don’t go outside that designated area and thus minimizing the interference to the other systems. This leads more efficient spectrum usage. Satellite’s antenna patterns play an important role and must be designed to best cover the designated geographical area (which is generally irregular in shape). Satellites should be designed by keeping in mind its usability for short and long term effects throughout its life time. The earth station should be in a position to control the satellite if it drifts from its orbit it is subjected to any kind of drag from the external forces.

Introduction

The past decade has witnessed a revolution in the use of ICT in Developing countries. Many people and offices as well as rural farmers own ICT facilities such as personal computers and mobile phones. The largest increases in the use of ICT has been in mobile telephony where subscriptions in developing countries increased from about 30 percent of the world total in 2000 to more than 50 percent in 2004 and to almost 70 percent in 2007 (Cieslikowsk, Halewood, Kimura, & Zhen-Wei Qiang, 2009). While internet use has not increased as rapidly as mobile communication, it increased tenfold in developing countries in the same period (Cieslikowsk et al., 2009). Other ICT facilities such as telecast, radio FM and information centres have also increased in number remarkably during the same period. A study by Farrell & Isaacs, (2009) on ICT in 53 African countries revealed the wide use of ICT in the region with countries such as Algeria, Egypt, South Africa and Botswana leading in ICT use. In East Africa, Rwanda is probably the most advanced country in terms of ICT use with 65% of its population being covered by mobile telephony. The country has also a high level of internet use and access to television and radio broadcasts. In Kenya, Uganda and Burundi the use of ICT is also well advanced, especially for mobile phone subscribers, TV and radio listeners (Farrell & Isaacs, (2009). This high use of ICT is likely to stimulate economic development in developing countries, including the agricultural sector where a high proportion of the African population derives their livelihoods. Before 1990, ICT use in Tanzania was mainly limited to radio and landline telephones. New ICT started in the mid-1990s, and by 2001 it was estimated that Tanzania’s ICT industry had generated USD 300-350 million per year. There are now a number of ICT development initiatives in the country funded by the government, donor countries and the private sector. Such initiatives range from telecentres and mobile phones in rural Tanzania to e-Government initiatives being implemented in the major cities and towns of Tanzania.

Introduction

The Kisan Call Centre is an ICT initiative launched by the Department of Agri- culture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture on January 21, 2004 to instantly respond to farmer’s queries in their local language. Farmers from any part of the country can contact KCC simply like common public do to contact the customer care of their preferred network for queries. If it is a BSNL connection KCC can be contacted by just dialling 1551 toll free number. If it is other network, then farmers can dial “1800-180-1551” and get their query solved. In Tamil Nadu, until 2014, it was Cartel India Limited which acted as Level-III centre for Kisan Call Centre in Tamil Nadu. From May 2014 onwards, the administration of Kisan Call Centre was taken over by Indian Farmer Fertilizer Company (IFFCO) and working since then in the name of IFFCO Kisan.

In today’s condition, the policy makers feel it as a real challenge to bridge the com- munication gap that prevails between two farmers, between two villages, between two regions and perhaps between two countries. The only way to bridge this gap is through some ICT initiatives. Recent studies have shown impressive growth of telecommunication network for effective information utilization and delivery of knowledge and information in the country. In Kenya, the helpline service was start- ed on a pilot basis by GSMA Foundation, Inc., which was funded by Rockefeller Foundation. The technology was named Kenya Farmer’s Helpline. It was mainly started to bring a change in the economic, social and environmental development in the country. The helpline received very good support from the local farmers and till 2010, the helpline solved queries of over 30,000 farmers. During the same period, India solved queried of over one lakh farmers. Now, the number would be much more than what we expect.

Introduction

Audiotex is a voice response application that allows users to enter and retrieve information over telephone. Example Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS). Audiotex is a generic name for interactive voice response equipment and service. Audiotex connected with a telephone is like a data processor connected to a data terminal. They are passive service which provides through appropriate access by standardised procedure for the user of Audiotex service to communicate with database via telecom network (i.e.) a subscriber can retrieve the information at any time by interacting with the audio service equipment by using the existing telephone line.

Audiotex is essentially a content provider. It enables the subscribers to record their message in a computer memory area called a “Mail Box”. The recorded message can be retrieved by the recipient by dialling a telephone number. Audiotex service is a telecommunication system which enables a caller, by dialling a designated telephone numbering beginning with ‘1800’ to receive a recorded announcement or to interact with a programme whereby he/she may communicate by means of a dual tone multi frequency telephone key pad, a touch tone telephone or other similar device with a value added network connected to the public switched telephone system for purposes of sending or receiving information. However, there are differing views across the world on what constitutes “Audiotex service”. European Telecommunications Standards Institute in its ETSI technical report 131 (June 1994) on “Terminal Equipment(TE); An investigation into the need for standardization in the area of stored voice services” has commented that “ It can be seen that there are many differing views as to what constitutes an Audiotex service and, in formal usage (e.g. in lectures or articles on the subject), a distinction is always drawn between voice messaging and the other services (information, consultation, transaction, etc.). It is thus misleading to use the word Audiotex without a previous definition. Therefore, in many countries the term “stored voice service” is used to describe Audiotex and each separate application and service is distinguished by a more precise definition.

Introduction

E-Portal otherwise called as an electronic portal is a webpage that allows business application procedure developed by framework to be easily deployed via internet. Portals are usually created in standard Java format. It utilizes an Extensible Mark- up Language (XML) interface protocol in addition to Java Server Pages (JSP). Portals are given different names based on the field they are created. For example, if the portal is developed to improvise agriculture, then they are termed as agri-por- tals. Similarly, if a portal is developed for academic reasons they are called web portal. Examples of web portals are iGoogle, MSNBC, Netvibes, and Yahoo.

Portal concept has opened new possibilities to address some of the issues concern- ing the personal management of academic information and knowledge through internet. Some of the main issues are the lack of integration, personalisation and customisation of existing academic information sources and systems. A Web por- tal can be defined as a Web site that aggregates an array of content and provides a variety of services including search engines, directories, news, e-mail and chat rooms. Portals have evolved to provide a customised gateway to Web information. A high level of personalisation and customisation is possible (Melzer 1999; Boye 1999). It was felt that the portal concept could be further developed to function as a sophisticated Web interface that can support the task performance (teaching and research) of academics.

Introduction

Knowledge and Knowledge management are concepts, which are debated extensively by managers, analyst and academicians. When we refer to knowledge, most of us mainly tend to think of codified and documented knowledge like patents, databases, manuals, white papers etc. knowledge is intuitive, contextual, linked to experience, past memories and difficult to codify, document and communicate. Unfortunately, there is no universal definition of Knowledge Management (KM), just as there’s no agreement as to what constitutes knowledge in the first place. In broadest context KM is the process through which organizations generate value from their intellectual and knowledge-based assets. It is the practice of harnessing and exploiting intellectual capital to gain competitive advantage and customer commitment through efficiency, innovation and faster and more effective decision-making. Most often, generating value from such assets involves sharing them among employees, departments and even with other companies in an effort to devise best practices.

Today, knowledge is still considered power - an enormous power in fact - but the understanding has changed considerably, particularly from the perspective of organizations. The new paradigm is that within the organization knowledge must be shared in order for it to grow. It has been shown that the organization that shares knowledge among its management and staff grows stronger and becomes more competitive. This is the core of knowledge management - the sharing of knowledge. Knowledge management (KM) is all about managing organization’s knowledge effectively by sharing and having a systematic activity for creation of knowledge and exploiting it for the market and benefit of the organization. KM techniques and processes provide such a structured approach to explicate a significant part of this tactic knowledge document in knowledge repositories and also share in teams, through intensive dialogue and discussions. KM refers to the critical issues of organizational adaptation, survival and competence against discontinuous environmental change.

Introduction

e-Literacy as defined by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural organization (UNESCO) refers to the awareness, skills, understanding and reflective approaches necessary for an individual to operate comfortably in information-rich and IT enabled environments. Most definitions of e-literacy or digital literacy covers three abilities

• The ability to use digital technology, communication tools or networks to locate, evaluate, use and create information

• The ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources when it is presented via computers

• The ability to perform tasks effectively in a digital environment

To promote e-literacy, every state in India has initiated a project in their own names. For example, in Kerala the e-literacy is promoted in the name of Project Akshaya. Initially, this project was started with a noble intention of making at least one member in each of 64 lakh families e-literate. The pilot project started in Malappuram, and was inaugurated by His Excellency Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, former President of India on 18th November 2002. 100% eLiteracy was achieved in eight districts in Phase 1 and the project has been roaring success. Nowhere has such a feat been attempted or accomplished. The vision and scope of the project is beyond comparison. The operations of Akshaya as unfolded so far consist of three distinct phases. The first phase is that of enabling the masses by imparting basic skill in computer operations and making them familiar with internet. This phase is the period of eLiteracy training. In the initial phase, the Akshaya ecentre imparts basic training that not only familiarizes people with the basics and the scope of IT, but also ensures hands-on-skill in operating a computer, using the Internet etc to at least one person in the 64 lakh families in the state that makes it the largest rural eliteracy training project worldwide. Malappuram is declared as the first eliterate district in India. Malappuram and Kannur districts were already declared 100% eliterate. Kollam, Kozhikode, Thrissur and Kasaragod districts achieved eliteracy above 90%. So far around 33 lakhs beneficiaries were trained.

Introduction

Interactive media is the integration of digital media including combinations of electronic text, graphics, moving images, and sound, into a structured digital computerised environment that allows people to interact with the data for appropriate purposes. The digital environment can include the Internet, telecoms and interactive digital television. No wonder it is difficult for new entrants to understand. The important concepts to hold on to are ‘interactive’ and ‘media’ across a range of ‘delivery channels’ or ‘platforms’. There are many terms used to denote the interactive nature of digital applications—multimedia, new media and interactive design are common examples. Because the interactive sector has quickly evolved through phases, the terms have often been coined to reflect a phase that then gets surpassed. A quick historical overview will give the background that causes confusion for those joining the dynamic sector.

The word Multimedia used to have a specialist connotation for the audio-visual industry. Uses of multiple or mixed media in such analogue systems as slide shows or overhead projectors were known as ‘multimedia’. But this specialist use was superseded by the arrival of digital technology. Integrated digital media was termed interactive multimedia and usually shortened to plain multimedia for convenience. The need to differentiate between analogue (linear) and digital (interactive) uses of media spawned other terms like New Media and Digital Media. The term ‘New media’ carries its own problems as the media associated with the original term are replaced with newer instances of the ‘new’. Obsolescence is endemic in the interactive arena. However, the term remains in use although Digital Media and Interactive Media are more stable terms and are being used increasingly. The term Interactive Media highlights the interactive connotation that is a key characteristic of the difference between the older style media and the new. ‘Social media’ has evolved to describe the more recent success of digital social sites such as Facebook and MySpace, and would include the phenomenon of mobile texting, especially twitter.

Introduction

India is well-known around the world for its rapid economic growth rates over the last fifteen years or so, fuelled in part by the spectacular growth in its export- oriented software and ICT-based services sector. Many other countries look to India as a model for global outsourcing and try to imitate elements of this in their own strategies (Carmel 2003; Heeks and Nicholson 2004). Success at a particular period of time does not, of course, guarantee its continuation and commentators have expressed concerns such as rising wage rates and skills shortages of ICT professionals (CACM 2007), and increasing competition from countries such as China (Negroponte 2003). It is likely, however, that India will remain a major player in the ICT industry for years to come and thus its global image as an ICT success story will continue. Viewed from a broader development perspective, things are not so simple. The new wealth that has arisen in India from the ICT boom benefits the relatively wealthy and educated in the first instance (Kambhampati 2002). Will this trickle down to the poor and uneducated? Statistics paint a mixed picture of the current situation. On the one hand, India is now the world’s fourth largest economy in purchasing power parity terms, and has enjoyed high growth rates for over a decade rising to an average of over 8% per annum in the period 2004-7 (World Bank 2007).

On the other hand, India was ranked as 128th out of 177 countries on the human development index 2005 (UNDP 2005) which is a composite index based on life expectancy, literacy and education levels, and economic standard of living. Shocking statistics include the percentage of malnourished children under 5 being 46%, the adult female literacy rate as only 48%, and the percentage of the rural population using adequate sanitary services as 18% (World Bank 2007, UNICEF 2004). A major development issue, therefore, is whether India can seriously address the needs of all of its people, including the vast numbers of poor and uneducated in the rural areas and the urban slums. A related sub-question is whether, and to what extent, can ICTs be used to provide development benefits to all Indian citizens. There are increasing attempts to use technology in this way through projects such as e-government services and telecentres in poor areas.

Introduction

In today’s world, the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have become more common and part and part of human life. It plays many roles for a country’s overall growth and economic development. Among all developing countries, the presence of ICT is greatly felt in India. People here use ICT devices mainly to access and share data information available around the world from any part of the country and at any time with just one click. In the last fifteen years, India’s economic growth has been remarkable in trade and commerce, communication technologies, education, transportation, agriculture and administration mainly due to development of advanced software and service based applications. India stands as a role model for many other countries in framing ICT based policies and implementing independent strategies for global contracts (Carmel 2003; Heeks and Nicholson 2004). Since, its significance is highly realised by the Government, bureaucrats and policy makers’ efforts are now being carried out to utilize ICT tools for improving the lives of the Indian rural maases and people below poverty line.

Organizational communication can be defined as the process of the flow (Transmission and Reception) of goal oriented messages between sources, in a pattern and through a medium or media. And organizational communication is the study of how people communicate within an organizational context, or the influence of, or interaction with organizational structures in communicating / organizing.

An additional elements in organizational communication (not present in interpersonal communication) is the flow pattern of messages. Thus here are 6 elements in organizational communication.

1. The transmitting source

2. The receiving source

3. Source (the target)

4. The transmitted message

5. The goal of the message

6. The medium or media and the flow pattern (which is called network). The transmitting and receiving sources are the people sending and receiving the message.

The word communication comes from the Latin communis meaning common. This implies that when we communicate, we are trying to establish commonality with someone through a message. Communication then is a conscious attempt to establish commonality over some idea, fact, feelings and the like with others. In essence, it is a process of getting a source and a receiver tuned together for a particular message or a series of messages.

According to Thayer (1968) there are four types of communication. They are:

Intrapersonal Communication

This refers to communicating with one’s self. It refers to organizing and converting sensory data into meaningful messages having some relevance or utility for an individual’s past, present or future behaviour. Because the psychological system of a human being is constantly engaged in making sense of its environment in the service of that orgnaism’s adaptive and goal seeking needs, the question is not whether communication is going to occur, but what communication and with what consequences. Communication is a continuous process and is determined by an individual’s take-into-account abilities and take - into - account susceptibilities. However, these take - into - account abilities are a function of the capacity of an individual’s conceptual system to ascribe meaning or significance to certain patterns and sequences of the events going on in his internal and external environment.

Intrapersonal communication is a co-function of the individual and of what is going on in his environment that has immediate relevance for him. All that we perceive and comprehend, must be perceived and comprehend through ourselves.

Mass Communication

The term ‘mass communication’ was coined at the end of the 1930s. The term ‘mass’ denotes great volume, range or extent (such as of people or production), while ‘communication’ refers to the giving and taking of meaning, the transmis- sion and reception of messages.

The term ‘mass’ was first formally defined by Herbert Bhumer (1939) as a new type of social formation in modern society, by contrasting it other formations, es- pecially the group, crowd and public.

Gerbner’s (1967) definition of mass communication is hard to beat. He defined it as social interaction through messages.

Mass communications comprise the institutions and techniques by which special- ized groups employ technological device (press, radio, films etc.) to disseminate symbolic content of large, heterogeneous and widely dispersed audience.