Reflective Post #7: Diversity in Technology

The New Literacy: Scenes from the Digital Divide 2.0

Rappaport, Richard (2009)

According to the article, the digital divide is decreasing due to the access to inexpensive computers and smartphones. Starting in the mid 90’s, the use of computers and the Internet has skyrocketed. While there was initially some concern for the digital divide, now the focus has changed to how to bridge the gap between students’ ease and knowledge of the Internet with teachers’ sometimes limited knowledge. Teachers will be in trouble if they don’t bridge the gap between students’ use of the Internet and learning.

The Macarthur grant switched its focus to digital learning. People working on this new technology are “pedagogical theorists of the 21^st century”. From a 2008 survey, 80% of students use a computer. Therefore, the classroom is no longer the primary source for learning. Teachers must learn how to be a current source of information that uses the Internet.

Teachers need to focus on teaching students how to get facts for themselves via the Internet. Digital natives are comfortable because it’s all they’ve ever known; however, they need to learn how to apply their technical ease. As teachers, we must teach them how to use social media and that Internet text must always be questioned for validity.

In Dr. Wesch’s video, Web 2.0: The Machine Is Us/ing Us, Wesch inspires us to learn and teach how to use this powerful source called the Internet. He maintains that the “machine is us”; we will decide and create how to use all of the information available to us. We will be rethinking and linking together in ways we’ve never done before.

The Participation Divide: Content Creation and Sharing in the Digital Age

Hargittai, Eszter; Walejko, Gina (2008)

http://www.webuse.org/the-participation-divide-content-creation-and-sharing-in-the-digital-age/index.html

It is easier and less expensive to reach audiences via the Internet. However, this article researched if these opportunities are distributed equally. There appears to be a two-tiered system where some users contribute on the Internet and others simply just consume information. Women are underrepresented online. Is it because they are submitting less or because women are not taken as seriously as men? Online developments are leveling the playing field somewhat by offering women more opportunities. However, are men and women participating in equal ways?

The study found that the results were not randomly distributed. The use of the Internet for creating and sharing is directly related to socioeconomic status. Students who have at least one parent with a graduate degree are significantly more likely to create content; engaging in content is unequally distributed, however. The study also found that women are less likely to share. These findings have definite implications for society and increasing equality among these sections of our populations.

Finding a Place in Cyberspace: Black Women, Technology and Identity

Wright, Michelle (2005)

This article investigated the African-American women’s presence in cyberspace. Wright maintains that cyberspace is not equal when looking at race. According to Wright, the divide is now rapidly closing. Latinos and African-Americans are currently in the number one and number two slots of fastest-growing groups of Internet users. African American Internet use has grown rapidly in the last few years. Wright asserts that the access to technology has more to do with money than race. According to the African-American women interviewed for the article, women have the education but not the power. They believe that the amount of Internet use also relates to age and income.

African-Americans tend to use the Internet for job searches, health care research and religion whereas whites tend to use it for staying in touch with friends and family. The amount of African-American websites is increasing; however, in the past 350 years, very little has changed in relation to African-American women and their role in Black Nationalism. Black men dominate these African-American websites; black women are mentioned far less frequently. Sites such as www.sistahspace.com are becoming a popular and effective way for African-American women to share and intersect their websites.

Slamming the Closet Door and Taking Control: Analysis of Personal Transformation and Social Change as LGBT Podcasting Blazes a Trail of Democratization of the Media

King, Kathleen (2008)

King asserts, from her research on podcasts and their use by the LGBT community, that the growth of podcast use has allowed them a voice they previously did not have. The LGBT community was allowed to explore non-mainstream topics and present ideas they wanted to be heard while also preserving their anonymity. King likened this as a digital method of drag queen and drag queen personas. It allows them a safe environment to share and explore.

This type of learning method has allowed them to increase their confidence, public education and activism. It allowed them to be in control. King found that when they stopped creating podcasts it was due to lack of time, technical difficulties or lack of interest from the listeners. Some of the time they stopped because of confrontation from listeners and disjuncture in their lives. Often times, these podcasts allowed them to “try on” different personas and find that they didn’t fit.

Language learning is the most common type of podcast. We now live in a global world and people need different languages. The “digital natives”, as coined by Prensky, solve every need with technology. If they need to learn a new language, they look to podcasts first.

In the LGBT community, podcasts are a way to test the waters. It allows for active learning, immediate application, transferable workplace skills and relevant learning. Some instructional examples of podcasts include small group dialogue, learner-created media, presentations and storytelling. These assignments can be in class, out of class, individual, group or long-term. Podcasts and their use allow the LGBT community the freedom and platform to share.

 One Laptop per Child videos

The mission of this nonprofit organization is to provide laptops to the world’s poorest children. They provide the XO laptop for the children. The XO is designed to be rugged, survive tough conditions and need low power. There are five important guidelines for their mission. First, the kids get to keep the laptops. Second, their focus is on early education. Third, they provide them to large amounts of children. Fourth, the children need to be connected to the Internet. Fifth, the laptops need to be free to grow and adapt.

By providing one laptop per child in these poor countries, they are providing education for children all over the world. This education allows the children to come up with solutions to better living. Since the laptops can be charged with solar power, the children don’t have to worry if they live somewhere without electricity. Also, the laptops can be read in direct sunlight, have a webcam and free, educational-focused software. These laptops, and the access to education, allow students to be engaged, inspired and stay in school longer. This education will hopefully allow these children to solve the world’s biggest problems.

Can One Laptop per Child Reduce the Digital Divide and Educational Gap? Evidence from a Randomized Experiment from Migrant Schools in Beijing

Di Mo, Johan Swinnen, Linxiu Zhang, Hongmei Yi, Qinghe Qu, Matthew Boswell, Scott Rozelle (2012)

This research focused on the one laptop per child (OLPC) program in China. The researchers studied the effectiveness of this program on narrowing the digital divide between the poor and rich in China. They provided 300 third grade migrant students in Beijing with laptops preloaded with educational software but without access to the Internet.

The study found the students had an increase in technology skills and in their math scores. The amount of time students spent on schoolwork (on the computer) increased while time spent watching television decreased. They also found that the children’s self-esteem increased.

After six months of use by the students, the researchers found this program had a greater impact on those with few technology skills when they began using the laptops. The digital divide is decreasing due to this program. It is also important to note that this program was successful even without access to the Internet. The laptop with the preloaded educational software was useful on its own. 

Reflection

With the new PARCC/Common Core assessments coming our way, I've given quite a bit of thought to diversity in use of technology. My husband taught at a low-income inner city school and we had many conversations about these new tests and how they will all be taken on a computer. My own children, and most children in middle and upper class families, have been using a computer their whole life. They know how to use the Internet, how to type, how to play games and how to create and save a document. My junior high kids know how to share on Google drive and upload assignments to a dropbox. My guess is that many low-income students may not have these same advantages at home and, without even talking about the content of the tests, will be at a disadvantage due to their lack of use of technology. The OLPC program could really help with this. However, the divide between the haves and have-nots, I feel, is just going to be more glaring due to these tests. 

At my former school, I was the advisor for our LGBT/Straight Alliance club. Those teens would tell stories that would rip your heart out. The article on podcasts shed a new light on a way for those teens to express themselves. I can see how many of them would like to "anonymously" try out their new persona, maybe before even revealing their truth to their families. I think any tool that can allow people to express themselves honestly and find their niche is a good one.