Online education can help unleash frozen potential
Re: “Time for digital economy to grow at grass-roots”, Editorial, March 27.
This morning, before having my daily newspaper session, I quickly made a start on an article about the loss of potential due to the “introversion, lose-face” combination.
A couple of months ago, I read a story about Pim, a Thai student attending Duke University in the US, explaining the impact of “fear” on her classroom participation. I watched a Ted.com talk titled, “The power of Introverts” by Suzan Cain. She reveals barely known self-esteem-increasing truths about introverts.
In my search for methods to remove or bypass hurdles, which prevent the acceleration of the digital economy, ie Thailand 4.0, especially at the grassroots, I have always asked myself what kind of negative load, introversion adds to the cultural “lose-face” aspect with respect to education. In my days, such a situation would lead to “reconstruction of a single-student classroom at home” and trying to get through the stuff on my own or the help of my brother.
In my opinion, we should research every possibility that could shorten the road to the digital economy. In the protective domestic area, the “lose-face” burden can be discarded and the 24x7 private teacher can provide assistance and at the same time enhance self-esteem.
The above, however, can only take place in grass-roots areas where Internet is available at an affordable price. In my village, I am one of the 5 or 6 villagers owning a cable Internet connection, but quite a few students do have a smartphone connection, Facebook, Whatsapp, LINE etc. Implementing affordable Internet should get the highest priority, even consider lowering the Ministry of Energy budget for one year, in favour of nationwide Internet implementation in grass-roots areas.
I agree with the headline: “Time for digital economy to grow at grass-roots”. But I think that paving the road and removing or bypassing hurdles have a higher priority, to avoid having a “Thailand 4.0 train” moving at half the available speed in the end. Deputy Commerce Minister Suvit Maesincee has a similar vision, but should also facilitate measures to increase human potential.
Dirk Sumter
