Over the past decade, the use of computers and new technologies has become an important aspect of teaching and learning. They have enabled the teaching community to redefine some of the strategies and concepts of teaching and learning. This has been done in terms of enriching classroom activities, reorganizing course structures, and providing learners with more autonomous as well as more learner-centered opportunities for learning.
A 5G network is a collection of microprocessors that rapidly send packets of data among themselves. At the “edge” of the network, devices including smartphones, cars, and robots will send and receive data over radio waves at 5G frequencies by connecting to a new generation of small-cell radio units that form the radio access network (RAN). The new technology “will move us closer to everything, everywhere and at all times and enable inter-working of different technologies and networks.
Advantages
5G networks will support at least three different major functions. These are (1) enhanced mobile broadband, which will enable faster download speeds for consumers; (2) ultra-reliable low-latency communication, designed for autonomous vehicles and other applications requiring no gaps in communication; and (3) massive machine-to-machine communications, or the Internet of Things (IoT).
“Integration of satellites in 5G networks will allow for new applications in domains such as agriculture, health, and emergency response for communities living in rural areas.”
Disadvantages
On the other hand, some disadvantages can be summarized as follows:
- Lack of personal contact, particularly true for language teaching.
- Problems with technology, time-consuming and demanding for creation and preparation.
- Higher price for students accessing online courses from outside, sometimes inconclusiveness of feedback.
- Absence of emotions that need to be vented.
Risk and Safety
5G will promote cell phone use and, therefore, human exposures from phones and base stations. The higher frequencies will concentrate the radiation in a smaller portion of the human body.
In 2011, WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) reviewed several studies that detailed the effects of a wide range of RF-EMF radiations (from 30 kilohertz to 300 gigahertz) on humans as well as rats and concluded that the radiations are “possibly carcinogenic to humans.”
The Dangers of 5G Technology
Thousands of studies link low-level wireless radio frequency radiation exposures to a long list of adverse biological effects, including:
- DNA single and double strand breaks.
- Oxidative damage.
- Disruption of cell metabolism.
- Increased blood-brain barrier permeability.
- Melatonin reduction.
- Disruption to brain glucose metabolism.
- Generation of stress proteins.
World-Wide Worry
To raise concerns, on March 5, 230 health experts and scientists from 40 countries demanded the Nordic countries to put a hold on 5G until the “potential hazards of acute and long-time health effects of exposure to 5G have been fully investigated by industry-independent scientists.” Earlier in September 2017, as many as 180 researchers from 36 countries, including India, urged the EU to set up an independent task force to assess the impact of 5G on human health. In 2015, US scientists made an appeal to the UN secretary-general, WHO, and all UN member nations to deploy 5G only after assessing its health impacts.
Sme scientists suggest designing networks based on less harmful fiber optic cables. “These can be 20,000,000 times faster than 5G.”
In conclusion,
One can say that technology can improve the learning environment and enhance the learning process if students are perceived as unique individuals with their specific needs, interests, and different learning styles. Then technology can open the door for self-paced, individualized instruction, and student-centered learning. It might create opportunities to access worldwide information resources and develop knowledge within new contexts. Technology can be a road to the world that can offer opportunities to occur anywhere, at any time, or for anyone.