Free «Video Response» Essay Paper

1. The program by Nicholas Negroponte (2008) presents the viewer with an appealing concept of digital divide leveling by means of providing children from the developing countries with laptops. However, the main focus of the project is not the laptop donation, but the knowledge and experience the device may grant. Many developing countries like Colombia neglect making an investment into children, who are one of their key natural resources; this neglect will affect the development of the nation in a few decades. Thousands of children around the globe have been isolated from the rest of the world. Thanks to introducing and implementing the project, the younger generation is provided with an opportunity to familiarize with the technological advancements they might have heard of at best. Furthermore, young citizens are capable of helping their parents to gain knowledge and experience which they were deprived of when they were children. Moreover, the non-for-profit organization grants children with the laptops that are devoid of any connection to famous brand names like Apple. This surely does not mean the poor quality of Apple products. The mutual sponsoring and devising of the brand-free devices by a number of organizations ensures safe learning process and overwhelming experience that children need. Consequently, the manufacturer matters in this case providing it ensures the advertisement-free learning environment for children. Therefore, the main purpose of the project is to invest and supply children from poor and developing countries with the resources for learning, which will enhance the further transformation and enhancement of the society.

2. Among the four systematic risks that Goldin (2009) identifies, one of the most dangerous and unpredictable ones is the pandemics. For millions of years, human beings have been challenged by various obstacles. The mankind has survived several ice ages by devising better shelters, discovering fire, inventing more effective methods to make warmer clothes, and migrating. Consequently, the predecessors have been evolving and adapting to the conditions they were exposed to. Although the current climate change is taking its toll on the well-being of people, it is not the worst risk among the four mentioned. Moreover, thousands of animal and plant species disappeared since the time of our distant predecessors. Nevertheless, the biodiversity that exists nowadays is sufficient for the needs of the Earth population. Furthermore, being well aware of the extinct species, many of scientists’ endeavors to preserve the endangered animals and plants are highly successful. Therefore, the loss of biodiversity is a reversible process. In addition, the humankind has also survived numerous financial crises with their dire repercussions, thus adapting their needs and the whole system. On the other hand, not only humans have been evolving for millions of years. Scientists are nowadays struggling to find vaccination to various unknown and hazardous diseases caused by bacteria and viruses. These may cause irreversible damage to the population of the planet putting at stake the survival of the humankind at worst. Therefore, the pandemics is the most dangerous and worrisome risk among the three others if it is out of control.

3. The idea of a change in media over the last few decades that was presented by Kevin Allocca (2011) provokes many thoughts about the interactive media culture that people are creating nowadays as opposed to the culture dominated by “the one-way media of the 20th century”. The world has been proven by many scientists to be a complex system with its multitude of interrelated constituents. The improvement or any change in one system exerts influence on the others. Consequently, a change in the modern media will definitely affect the people’s understanding and perception of the world as well as their expectations of various life aspects. The majority of people spend from a quarter to a third of their day at school or work. Moreover, these spheres of human life involve interaction with a great number of people on a regular basis. Consequently, maturing in the media culture with more than forty hours of video appearing on Youtube daily will require people to constantly monitor and keep up to date with the new trends and fads in order to maintain or establish connections with other individuals. Furthermore, the change in current media influences the education process. Many findings indicated the benefits of the non-formal education over the unified knowledge acquisition and thus induced the gradual transition of the current education system to a more advanced level. Therefore, being exposed to a substantial flow of information nowadays, people have the opportunity to filter the necessary and interesting data from the superfluous one. That is the ownership of the education in its true nature.

4. The idea expressed by Luis von Ahn (2011) is a revolutionary breakthrough. He introduces the unique way to motivate people to perform tedious tasks with the benefit for themselves and the humankind in general. At the time of major global crises, overpopulation, impoverishment of natural resources, and high unemployment rates, millions of people cannot afford to acquire higher education. Consequently, the adoption of the best features of the online learning resources like Edx, Coursera, the Khan Academy, and TED-Ed in the brand-new project could bring benefits to such people. Firstly, the availability of free learning content on various subjects may be borrowed from the Khan Academy. Secondly, Coursera could offer the feature of multilingual learning content. Moreover, the possibility, which is allowed by Edx, to obtain a verified certificate after the completion of the full course could become a constituent of a new project. Finally, TED-Ed could offer the opportunity of creating lessons by people that are willing to share their knowledge and expertise in certain areas. Therefore, the new enhanced online resource could provide better and affordable services for its users, thus increasing the opportunity of an average person to obtain a higher education and improve the prospects for the future.