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The Problem with Digital: Can Everyone Use It?

The topic of importance this week was framed around two vital terms: digital equity and digital divide. To discuss them at depth, it’s noteworthy to determine what exactly these words mean. Digital divide is the concept of one group of individuals getting a better opportunity for internet communication between another group. As Scientific American explains an example, “ We are already experiencing the way that the old, pre-digital divides are now labeled as new types of divides in the social Web context, such as the connectivity inequalities - high-speed wireless for those who can afford it and second-class wireless for poor and rural Americans have been recently mentioned as a “new digital divide". “ (Radovanovic, 2011) So even in a first world country such as America, we’re still experiencing new aspects of digital divide everyday.

Digital equity is the possibility of being able to use technology and have access to it. As Govtech puts it, “ Digital equity refers to whether people can access and effectively use the technology necessary to participate in modern society. Another phrase, “digital inclusion,” denotes efforts to remedy deficits in digital equity. Simply put, digital equity is what cities and states want, and digital inclusion is the work they and their partners are doing to create it. “ (Quaintance, 2018). This idea is slightly newer than that of digital divide, but it emphasizes an important point that needs to be made; everyone deserves access to the digital landscape of the web.

It’s fascinating to see what the impact of using the web brings to an individual. It’s so important that the government has taken strides to bring the web to many. Just take a look at what Quaintance has said about the positive aspects of tech-”  ... it [government tech departments] will become even more important as technology continues to advance and services continue to migrate online. Overcoming major obstacles — such as having to travel to a public library to use it or lacking the skills to find resources and forms — positively impacts communities, leading to kids doing better in school, senior citizens having an easier time receiving health care, and adults being able to get and keep better jobs, said Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, a nonprofit group that advocates for digital equity.” (Quaintance, 2011).

So what other things can we do to stop forms of digital inequity? Well, that’s something that the NDIA is attempting to solve. “ NDIA is offering these definitions in an effort to create consensus and provide a resource to various stakeholder groups, including NDIA affiliates, funders, and policymakers (local, state, and national). We recognize that while the technology will change, the goals and steps toward achieving digital equity should have continuity. Defining these terms is an important step in that direction. “ (Siefer, 2016). So, while the answer on HOW to solve these pressing issues is not exactly immediately present, we’ve been able to at least define WHAT the problem is. As Siefer mentions, this is a big first step that exists regardless of the new tech coming out. New tech constantly coming out shouldn’t scare us either, it should inspire us to get this tech in the hands of everyone faster!

It’s not just the government that has noted the abilities of tech and taken steps to get it in the hands of everyone; schools and other institutions are seeing the positive aspects as well. Laura Ascione, a writer for eschoolnews, has an excellent article that details 10 different stories of how digital equity and divide are being handled by various schools and companies. She also discusses the benefits of universal tech. “ Giving students a device is one step in the fight to close equity gaps–students may not have internet access at home, but at least in school, they’re closing the access gap and are able to learn to use the digital tools and build the digital skills they’ll need for success.” (Ascione, 2018).

As you may see, most of these articles have been published within the last 10 years, which to me confirms that this is a relatively recent issue that has arisen. This is especially true considering how much more our society relies on tech everyday. It’s my hope that the combined efforts of the government and citizens alike can come together to tackle this issue head on and get some form of tech in everyone’s hands. Internet cafes and libraries are a great start- we should expand on these and focus heavily on third world countries where these currently aren’t available.

SOURCES:

https://www.govtech.com/civic/The-Quest-for-Digital-Equity.html

https://www.benton.org/blog/what-do-we-mean-when-we-say-digital-equity-and-digital-inclusion

https://www.eschoolnews.com/2018/10/17/10-conversations-about-digital-equity/

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/digital-divide-and-social-media-connectivity-doesnt-end-the-digital-divide-skills-do/

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The Expanding World of Digital Citizenship

During the last week, we’ve taken a unique look into the new ideas of digital citizenship; a new ‘norm’ of appropriate and responsible behavior when dealing with the newfound tools of technology. According to digitalcitizenship.net, digital citizenship is a series of ‘rules’ that essentially dictate how one should correctly go about interacting and using the web for educational purposes. (Digitalcitizenship) On the other hand, Josie Alquist views it more as a means of empowering a student’s abilities to seek out educational tools online. (Alquist, 2014) 

Overall, I take the meaning of digital citizenship to be not only a way of interaction amongst one another, but it is also an indirect way of smarter searching of materials sought out. Digital Citizenship points out that the curriculum would span out from as early as Kindergarten to 8th grade, focusing on different aspects of digital technologies at each level of schooling. While the 9 rules they listed serve as a interesting set of ‘commandments’ thou shall follow during educational events, these rules can comfortably extend out to the use of any form of media and technology in any sense. 

When comparing and contrasting the ideas of digital citizenship against digital literacy, I see a fascinating contrast that stands out against each other. On edscoop, they mention that digital citizenship is a new way of teaching some core truths in the digital landscape. (Ottesen, 2018.) The primary directive of these ideas is that they are an attempt to inform children of the various enigmas of digital life that exist most places. Just looking at the list, things like security, media literacy, and digital footprint aren’t unique to education nor one website, but they’re rather ideas that are universal. 

Contrast this with digital literacy; take for example Microsoft’s course on digital literacy. As per the course outline, “ The Digital Literacy Course for anyone with basic reading skills who wants to learn the fundamentals of using digital technologies. The curriculum is written at a reading level like that of most newspapers around the world. Learners who complete the curriculum will understand basic computing concepts and skills. “

It seems to me that the major difference is that digital literacy focuses more on cold and hard concepts of proper usage of digital tools. Digital literacy is the “How to” of the technological world, and digital citizenship is the “What to” of it, as in what to do in certain scenarios as they arise. Digital citizenship is much more concerned with the etiquette of technology use in my opinion. 

I’m sure others may have shared this website, but personalizedlearning.com has a great article on the facets of teaching both of these ideas. 

This chart is a great example of the way digital literacy and citizenship go hand in hand. Here, you can see that literacy comes first because you must know your great power before considering the great responsibility. 

I think that as the future continues to churn more technological advancements, it’s important to ditch the old ways of education and embrace these new ideas, as they’ll be much more relevant to the learners of tomorrow!

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Social Media & Participatory Culture

This week, we took a dive into the study of Participatory Culture. As stated, “Our online experience increasingly involves methods of actively providing information about what we are doing, or what we think of something.”  (Hinton & Hjorth, 2013) 

Kind of ironic, considering that this post alone is a prime example of the material being discussed. I suppose it’s a recursive idea, in that respect. Frequently, we’ve seen in past weeks that there’s a certain level of digital literacy that is needed nowadays to determine if the information you’re finding is relevant to your cause. Now, we’re taking it one step further- can we provide or add to the ideas given in a certain field? 

As always, I’m a fan of examples. Take the popular forum application Piazza; it’s a simple web service that allows computer science students to create posts and discuss concerns or questions regarding material. The forums are designed as a centralized hub for all information in terms of some specific class. 

As seen, the layout is simple. On the left, you can sort through various posts folks made that range from simple questions to expanding beyond concepts that were discovered in class. Piazza is a great example of young college students using a form of social media to share and discuss ideas. Not only will instructors answer questions (as seen on posts with an orange ‘i’), but students can also attempt to answer their peers’ questions as well (as seen on posts with a green ‘s’). 

The negative aspect of social media fails to consider such applications of it like Piazza, and it’s a direct contradiction to the surface-level ideas portrayed by the media that shines a bad light on it. 

“Yet, the focus on negative effects of media consumption offers an incomplete picture.These accounts do not appropriately value the skills and knowledge young people are gaining through their involvement with new media, and as a consequence, they may mislead us about the roles teachers and parents should play in helping children learn and grow. “ (Jenkins, Puroshotma, Clinton, Weigel, & Robison, 2009) As mentioned in “ Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century “, ignoring the ways that parents and teachers can get involved in new forms of media terminates a whole new way to connect with aspiring students with new ideas. We should encourage young minds to continue using these platforms to challenge their minds and connect with them on a deeper level. Applied learning is one of the best ways to get something across to someone. I’m always a fan of the statement my dad has made throughout my schooling, “If you can explain it to a 5th grader, then you understand the material. If you can’t, go back and review it until you can.”

Finally, one of the most crucial things to remember is that the idea of participatory culture isn’t a new idea. As mentioned by Henry Jenkins in his TEDX video, since the inception of “Web -10, or the first printing press, young adults came up with certain acronyms to communicate with each other, which later expanded in the 1920′s to radio, and finally in the 1990′s to internet.” Looking at the graph that he shows, it’s a good idea to stay on top of the current ways of getting new ideas across. We’re a long way from the early days of the web, where static HTML pages with various colors of text relayed simple information. Even now, we’re past the point of web 2.0, where early YouTube videos allowing young minds to get behind a webcam and discuss their thoughts and feelings via a 240p resolution. Now, we’re to the point where we have interactive websites with real-time professionals and experts ready to help at a moments notice. We have forums with tenured individuals actively answering questions that are posted. The videos nowadays are produced with a story and set of events to discuss so that it maintains a professional atmosphere and valiantly relays new ideas to the person watching, as opposed to the ‘rants’ that older videos of web 2.0. 

Participatory Culture is a great way for people to connect and better understand something, and it will continue to be the past, present, and future of discussing new ideas. 

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Reflection Post 1

For this week's reflection post, we're taking a look back at the content we've been viewing in regards to social media usage by varying groups of people. Unsurprisingly, teenagers made up more than 70% of the user base for various platforms like Facebook and Instagram. What was interesting to me was that YouTube is one of the most 'universal' forms of social media that exists. It's funny to note, considering that we view YouTube as some separate entity. When you take it into account, however, the expression of creators and connection with an audience forms a quite social media-esque presence.

In the video posted by common sense media, we got some insight into the modern teen's view of social media's current state. It's weird to see after not having seen such a video since high school. Now, 4 or so years later, the idea of checking social media daily and constantly updating your status seems silly. However, years ago, it was a way of life! While they dwelled on some of the negative aspects of social media, I thought that the postive aspects were inteesting to note. Still, regardless of the dangers and downsides, people much prefer a life with social media where they can connect with their peers and discuss things they see in life. I think that's a healthy and great way to look at it. We can share so much these days; years ago only a phone call on a landline would suffice a discussion with your friend (it feels so weird calling that ancient...).

Of course, it's not all flowers and sunshine. As the young kids in the video stated, bullying and criticism is rampant on these sites. Especially Instagram, where users can create false pseudonyms and comment with rude profanities and slurs. I see this happen much more that I did on Facebook, but I think that may be because of how Instagram operates against Facebook. To me, Facebook was more of a closed environment between you and your friends. Instagram is much more of a 'share this funny video' or 'comment on this guys pictures.' Since it's more open to the public, there's many more instances of harrassment and bullying that is prevalent. The other thing that people forget is that using social media sub-conciously makes you compare your life to someone else's. I found myself doing it so much that I ended up deleting it. I realized that '100 likes' isn't the key to happiness, but having a few close friends is. I can only hope that other young minds discover the same thing as they age- they'll be much better off.

I found it an odd coincedence that people use social media in forms of 3, but I suppose I find myself in that same boat. I use YouTube everyday and Snapchat frequently as a means of keeping up to date with my friends. I've also started using Instagram to communicate with my coworkers, so I suppose that I have 3 current social media accounts! Of course, being a senior means I'll likely have to make a LinkedIn account, but we'll forget that for now...

Overall, I'm impressed by the numbers of social media. Years ago, it was just a 'fad' that those youngsters were involved in. Now, many years later, people use it to keep in touch with old friends, check for news, and make new acquaintences with folks around the world. I think that as it evolves, it will shape into something truly beautiful that will allow genenerations of great stories and events be archived on the world-wide web!