Last Thursday's lecture/assignment!

Hey guys! I don't see anything new on Learn@UW and didn't get an email from the professor about Thursday's lecture or assignment. Did we have a lecture or assignment to go over? Let me know! Thanks! -Julie

That Digital Divide, Bridged in a Classroom

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/jobs/30training.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=Digital%20Divides%20in%20technology&st=cse


This article discusses the challenges of computer and technology use that older generations face while trying to advance in their careers. Today, many people are having to find second jobs or coming out of retirement in order to make ends meet. However, with a statistic of "computer use among adults 65 and older ...[at] 38 percent" finding suitable jobs can be really difficult. Luckily, many colleges and communities are offering computer classes for those who need them. Personally, I have noticed a divide in the use of computers in my family. My dad is not as familiar with computer programs, typing on a keyboard and using the internet as the rest of the family.But because he's the one who takes care of most of the finances and taxes, it takes him a little more time to do those things online, than it would if he was more familiar with the technology. I think that this often happens, and in some situations, people may avoid computer use all together because of their frustrations. This problem could expand to not just age, like the article discusses, but possibly race, ethnicity, and economic standing as well. Which in turn would create even more divides between all of these groups of people.

Technical college difficulties

This article describes the recent influx of students into the Wisconsin Technical College system. These students consist mostly of middle aged adults who have been laid off from their jobs because of the recent economic downturn. The students are seeking to re-educate themselves and gain a new career. Because these students have not been in school for a while, they often lack fundamental skills such as math and computer skills. Willingness to learn may seem to lessen the technology gap, but the economy may put learning to a stand still. Technical colleges receive much of their funding from state programs and property taxes. With the state budget in deficit, the schools aren't getting the funding they need. Likewise teachers and supplies are in high demand and low supply. Though citizens are willing to learn new technology, the state is unable provide.

read article here

Who Does the "Digital Divide" Effect?

I read an article about the "Digital Divide" and who uses technology, vs. who would use it more if it was avaliable to them. The article was interesting because it says that though research suggests lower classes would use technology more than upper classes if it was avaliable, upper classes use it more, and this is causing there to be a "electronic underclass", to which important technological services are unavaliable. However, they found that within those able to get online, the lower classes used the internet more. They had several possibilities as to why, including amount of leisure time, usefulness of the internet (for those who can't find the services elsewhere), and possibly the fact that lower- income people feel the cost of the internet is so high that they need to be on it more. This surprised me, because I have never had to pay for my internet, so trying to get alot of use out of it never occured to me.

http://www.physorg.com/news127403188.html

ADAPTING TO THE ERA OF INFORMATION

This article focuses on Northwestern Indian College and the increase of internet use at the college. It describes how recently professors started relying on the internet to get information to their students. This is creating a problem for many of the students because they do not have access to the internet. The college is all wireless but most of the students cannot afford to have their own laptop computers and the they do not have enough computer labs for all the students at the college. Since the college did not want people to have to drop out of college because they could not access course work online, they college used a grant to purchases laptop computers that they could lone to the students. The laptop loan programs works like checking out a book, they students simply request a computer from the library and then return it when they are done using it. This program has proven succesful to help bridge the digital divide at Northwestern Indian College because the computers are available to anyone and they create another option for students to be able to connect to the interent.

http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=29&did=1608989801&SrchMode=1&sid=6&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1234119990&clientId=12286

Technology Creating Inequality

In searching for an article concerning technology creating inequalities, I came across an article entitled "E-Cash: The Future of Money."  As the title suggests, the article gave insight that paper money will become virtually obsolete with online, electronic cash, and smart cards (on which money is loaded and can be used as a debit card for anything ranging from vending machines to store purchases) taking precedence. I found this to be really striking in the fact that, everyday, news articles highlight the fact that the digital divide is widening with computers becoming the means for the divide.  Therefore, in accordance with my article, creating e-money would greatly increase the digital divide.  Those who have no access or funds for computers, i-phones etc., and especially privacy in accessing to computers to manage his or her money will not at all be able to benefit from this act, maybe, to be more "green" or efficient.  Why can't "cold hard cash" done the old way without this new e-technology, and even the use of credit cards, online banking etc.?  Why does everything have to take a step in a direction away from efforts to close the digital divide? Is this a negligible argument? It may be convenient for some, but highly inefficient for others. 

Here is the article link, my comments may make a bit more sense in reading this article:

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/news/features/ecash.aspx

Re: Gender Gap with Computer Use

There are a number of other articles that also play to what Caitlin said, but rather than just focusing on gender with regard to general computer use, they focus specifically on Internet use, looking at a variety of factors such as gender, race, income, and education. In the aggregate, the findings indicate what one would expect; the same factors that predict income levels or access to or use of other services are good indicators of Internet use as well. Rich, well educated, white males have always had societal advantages when compared to others and according to these other studies, the same is true of Internet usage as well. I'm not saying that this is a good thing, by any means, but it is not surprising that history still holds true in today's more technology-driven world.

One very interesting thing found in the article by Hargittai and Shafer was that, between genders, while actual abilities on the Internet may be the same, women tended to perceive their skills as "significantly lower than men." While this is interesting simply by itself, when put into a broader societal context, we can clearly see that society's preasures are felt just as strongly in cyberspace as they are in reality. What I mean by this is that women who are, say, doctors, even today, if they are just as good as a male doctor will percive themselves as being worse, and will also likely not be selected for a job against an equivalent male doctor simply due to ingrained, unintentional(hopefully) societal perceptions.

So, while I do think that the gender equality gap is closing, I am not sure how large a part the Internet is playing. As we have mentioned numerous times, "social networking" sites like Facebook, Myspace, etc. seem to bring people together, but it seems that they really hold everyone at the same distance. For long-lost friends, this might mean being brought closer together, or if the friend lives on the other side of the planet, but for the majority of our friends, the ones we actually have day-to-day (or at least week-to-week) contact with, it removes the face-to-face component, eliminating more than 50% of the conversation! This impersonalizes everything, and holds everyone at the same distance, effectively isolating people from the human interaction we desperately need!