Research
Information & Communication Technology and aIndividuala: Prospects & Concerns
Technologies have always played a significant role in the development of human civilization. The contemporary information and communication technologies are also expected to play a similar role. These technologies facilitate of connectivity and cost-effectiveness are such characteristics of ICTs that help individual raise its political, economic and social capabilities. However, ICTs also pose certain threats to the socio-economic life of individuals. The individual seems threatened by loss of privacy, become prey to techaddiction, and suffer from piracy issues. The very nature of ICTs makes these issues global in character, demanding fresh legislation equally global in nature. This article explicates this issue at length by juxtaposing the research findings from the existing research and comes up with a theoretical model for better understanding.
New Public Sphere in an Emerging Global Polity: Prospects for the Issue of Climate Change
State has generally been considered, internally and externally as the most powerful independent political authority. However, it has to engage with civil society and public sphere, the two significant components of nation-state polity at home. Globalization has profound impact on this power structure and shifted it to global level. Globalization also brought with it mundane issues like climate change which the state alone is incapable to cope with. Several powerful states and MNCs even become obstacle in fighting it. Civil society organizations (CSOs) with their limited resources are combating this issue that threatens human existence on this planet. However, ICTs enabled new public sphere brings in a ray of hope by opening new prospects for CSOs to deal with this threat. This article is meant to juxtapose the diversity of research-findings into a compact piece of knowledge and show strengths of NPS for civil society in perspective of climate change.
From Habermas Model to New Public Sphere: A Paradigm Shift
Though Habermas model of public sphere was framed for describing the public and sphere at the state-level however, its principles and mechanisms are postulated as relevant to the theory and practices of global public sphere (GPS) and global civil society (GCS). The emerging digital technologies and particularly global connectivity through Internet and social networking have added new dimensions to the existing GPS thereby generating a new public sphere (NPS). The determinants of NPS like globalization, social software etc. do not seem to stand against the Habermas view of public sphere rather stand supportive and enhancing to the principles and requirements of an ideal public sphere both at the national and global levels. This paper unfolds this issue at length by juxtaposing the research findings from the existing research.
The Problems and Prospects of New Public Sphere for Global Civil Society
Information and communication technologies (ICTS) have revolutionized almost every aspect of life particularly it has created a new global public sphere by providing endless list of tools for global communication thereby establishing a new global society with novel norms and mundane issues. This paper is an effort to review the state of affairs in new public sphere with a focus on the digital tools under use, their role in creating the global society and the threats and opportunities available for the international citizens for behaving effectively to utilize the opportunities and manage threats to the maximum. The paper explores interlinks between the digital gadgets, emerging global public sphere and the mundane issues emanating from this situation. The paper ends with a theoretical model constructed out of the themes floating across the review and analysis.
Implications of the Shifting Paradigms in eLearning for Developing Countries like Pakistan
This paper explores the multiplicity of paradigm shifts in eLearning applications of information and communication technologies (ICT) in higher education institutions (HEI) around the world. Education is reported as the biggest user of software products thus, intentional or unintentional, changes are occurring in user-perceptions, use, and use-environments. These are called ‘paradigm-shifts’ in the structure and roles of higher education. The advances in educational technologies (ETS) are pressing users to change not only in practice but also in conceptions, attitudes, and culture. These shifts are occurring from: 1. technocracy to democracy, 2. behavior to belief, 3. computerization to personalization and 4. from teacher to student-centered learning. Catching up with these departures warrant hectic efforts by government, HEI, and the university constituents: teachers, students and administrators. Developed and developing states are handling it differently due to the diversities of technologies available, professionalism, and variations in political, economic, social and cultural contexts.
