Decentralisation has become a popular topic nowadays and its impacts on education have been debated on multiple occasions, all over the place ranging from net neutrality to an even more complex stuff which involved the administration and politics which I would not (and could not) emphasize much (or at all) in this article. Education is an important tool to create a better thriving community. Everyone needs to learn something before they can contribute and often, people who possessed a higher level of education in a community would be treated differently compared to someone who assumes the same level of knowledge but low educational backgrounds. You can argue that both education and knowledge are similar in concept but in my opinion, they are not; education is a formal form of learning while knowledge can be instituted through life experiences.
So how does education benefit an individual?
- Education plays an important role in improving income rate per capita which could enhance economic development
- Education could improve and strengthen each individual skills while giving them opportunities to assume a much higher income earning potential
- Education would allow people to contribute to the betterment of a local society, national government or even better, the whole world
- Education could provide opportunities for a much better quality of life and productivity
Considering a bunch of good stuff that can be extracted by emphasizing education in a community/nation, it is, therefore, worthwhile to consider ways of improving it to provide a better economic growth potential, governance and of course, quality of life. In a study conducted by Backlund E. et al in 1999, they concluded that people with a higher level of education tend to live longer and healthier than its counterpart (Source). Improving education itself is a broad scope, so today, in this article, I would focus more on Net Neutrality and how STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) educators can benefit from net decentralisation.
Net Neutrality
Net neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers treat all data on the Internet equally, and not discriminate or charge differently by user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or method of communication.
Honestly, I didn't even know about net neutrality until just recently. I thought the concept of net neutrality was just being laid out 5 to 6 years back but it's actually has been conceptualised in 2003 by a professor in Columbia University. Since then, there are a lot of things which have been happening around the subject and most of the issues/abuses can be traced down to a system which I would like to call as the three-lane road. Depending on which country you are from, the right lane is reserved for people who want to speed up and the left lane, pretty much for every slow-moving or heavy vehicle; people who wanted to enjoy the view, but not so much would stick on the middle lane. That's what happened on the internet right now other than the issue with privacy that might have given you the impression of us being spied; actually, we are (or might, whatever).
The only problem is, every single site on the net doesn't have the free will to choose their preferred lane. Honestly, if every owner of websites is given the luxury to choose, pretty much everyone would stay either in the right or middle lane; no one wants to be placed in the slow zone which can eventually stop at the "unable to connect to the proxy server" station. It's like you, figuratively, die and respawn at the last save point, you have to start all over again only to wind up with the same error. After 100 times, persistently, pushing the refresh button, finally, you are able to connect to your desired website but once you clicked the "login" button, the same problem happens. Okay, let's say everything connected just fine and there are no error and whatnot, you will still realise that some website might have been slower than the other for example, you might have noticed your internet service provider is restricting certain pages or even increase the page load time of its competitor website.
There are a few case studies that can be taken as examples but I'm going to list out two of those:
In August 2012, a non-profit organisation called "Public Knowledge" has threatened AT&T to bring an issue regarding Apple facetime service restriction to people who registered with the latest data plans which are more expensive than the previous one.
In July 2017, a petition was submitted to the Federal Communications Commission to investigate one of the largest telecommunication company called Verizon Wireless regarding a violation of consumer's right to net neutrality by throttling a few video applications which include Netflix and Youtube. They couldn't provide a proper explanation regarding their action, just stating the fact (or not) that they were conducting some kind of network test that could have caused those connectivity interruptions.
Slowing down the video, and only the video doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If Verizon's network can handle traffic, it can handle traffic—whether it's video or not. That's why the Net Neutrality rules allow for network management—but prohibit companies from cherry-picking which apps work and which ones don't.
It is clear cut that people want everything to move at the same designated speed regardless of who you are on the net. Every single pathway should be opened so that everyone can gain access to an equal amount of information around the world, and not just only for a selected few. The service providers shouldn't discriminate against websites either for personal or professional reasons (not even if they belonged to competitors or someone you were having arguments with). People have been fighting for net neutrality in order to sustain creativity and innovation but most of the regulations in placed or a new one seems to restrict that; just imagine, only certain people can gain access to certain information on the net whereas some of the brilliant minds who work in STEM fields are denied of such. If we want to seriously invest in STEMs to create a better world, constant and equal access to a flow of information should be one of the changes that people want to see.
Decenternet (a.k.a. DNet) And STEM
In 2017, the internet has made a 3 trillion USD profits with none of it, not even a small portion being distributed to users (you know, as an appreciation). We spend a lot of money for a good internet speed and in exchange, we are provided with services that are managed by a specific organisation which have access to most (if not all) of our personal data. Some of them even find a loophole that can be utilised to earn more profit or to cover up any wrongdoing that might have been distasteful for a consumer. I can give you an example, but I have mentioned what happened to Verizon Wireless, right? How can they escape by stating that currently, they were conducting network tests that might have disrupted the speed of internet used for video streaming websites such as Youtube and Netflix?
The FCC’s Net Neutrality rules clearly state that broadband providers cannot "impair or degrade lawful Internet traffic on the basis of Internet content, application, or service" unless it's what the agency calls “reasonable network management” for a legitimate technical purpose.
Kinda wicked isn't it? As they were the one who controls internet speed, they can manipulate them according to their needs and later claimed that it was for the sake of network testing which is conducted to optimise internet speed. We are the one who pays for their services but they are the one who controls us, like string-tied puppets. How many web pages that we accessed were recorded by the third party? Is it possible anything related to monetary transactions was being monitored as well? Can't we for a goddamn second be free from the grasp of organisational's pervert eyes which monitored our web scrolling/clicking behaviour? The answer is yes, you can.
Enter Decenternet.
The Decenternet (a.k.a. DNet) is an alternative P2P permanent hyperspeed neutral decentralized internet infrastructure platform solution unbound by politics and oppression.
Blockchain has been a relentless tool with unlimited potential. I'm sure, with a right kinda tool, we can succeed, like a warrior who needs a fine sword. It is a non-corrupted system (just like what have been stated in the quoted box above) which provide powers to the people without interjections from third parties. DNet is equipped with a decentralised search engine which is able to provide information without restriction or influence from others. Mind you, providing a platform for users to share information with others without restriction is kinda like a dream for STEM-related fields. In science, we share and I'm sure other fields adopt the same principle too. It is important for is not to be deprived of information just because we are financially declined compared to others; sometimes, brilliant minds and the capability to provide for oneself doesn't tally which kinda restrict that particular person capability to innovate.
Before blockchain even a thing, STEM bloggers were rarely appreciated or supported by the community for them to continue their work on a specific subject. Of course, most of their research was paid by a specific grant but motivation and emotional upbringing along with the fact that we are being paid peanut compared to our effort are some of the things that we have been struggled with. Feeling motivated to work usually equal to being able to work and can you imagine how motivated are we going to be when SPYCE, an eCommerce service which integrates mining functionality with a reduced cost is included with Decenternet? It's like a dream come true package, you get a whole lot of information along with mining benefits that would operate 24/7.
“DNet architecture provides a software-defined solution that adds more default transparency, ownership of data to its users, elimination of profit extortion by intermediaries, the proliferation of suppressed knowledge by inducing a default open source environment for its components such as search engines and OS”. - Sean Kim (Decenternet CEO)
Nowadays, most of the teaching sessions in the school are conducted with the user of the internet. The Internet is a great medium but a minor disruption in the teaching session due to internet disruption can make school's administrators think twice about wielding such educational concepts as a tool that can be utilised to create a better future.
“Net neutrality is essential for library and educational institutions to carry out our missions … The internet has become the primary platform for learning, collaboration, and interaction among students (and educators).” - American Library Association
Without decentralisation, there are a lot of organisations and companies that are willing to pay more for a greater distribution of internet speed which could cost whatever speed that has been provided for educational purposes. Information sharing is an essential component of STEM and without an efficient medium to back it up, communications can't really be that effective which might have impaired knowledge sharing.
- Check out Decenternet’s website
- Check out ANUVYS websit
- Follow the Decenternet Facebook page
- Follow the Decenternet Twitter page
- Join the Decenternet Telegram group
Sources
- A Decentralized Internet Will Preserve Innovation In STEM Education
- Net neutrality
- The Impact of Education Decentralization on Education Output: A Cross-Country Study
- Verizon accused of violating net neutrality rules by throttling video
- AT&T Breaching Net-Neutrality Rules Despite Lifting Some Facetime Restrictions
- The Education Effect on Population Health: A Reassessment
