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Digital Divide and Digital Equity

Let's start with what the digital divide is, as mentioned in Danica Radovanovic's article Digital Divide and Social Media: Connectivity Doesn't End the Digital Divide, Skills Do "Whether we like it or not, we live in a very unequal and stratified world. We live in societies in which inequality is ignored in education, science, and in the social media. As Internet technologies are rapidly evolving and new digital divides on the Internet emerge, we must move beyond, at some point, a singular concern over Internet access and technological infrastructure issues. We must tackle socio-cultural differences, we must focus on Internet skills, literacies and social media usage." 

According to my understanding, our world is unequal. In the United States, people can receive education very easily and then marry and have children very well to have a good life, but in some developing countries, people are not able to receive education and even can not solve the problem of food. Even though they are all Americans, some have money and can go to good universities and schools, while some poor people cannot afford college tuition. These are authentic problems, and with the rapid development of Internet technology, people can communicate with each other and find that people's quality of education is different, and it will cause misunderstanding and trouble. This is called the digital divide.

Digital equity is defined in the NDIA as "Digital equity is a condition in which all individuals and communities have the information technology capacity needed for full participation in our society, democracy, and economy. Digital equity is necessary for civic and cultural participation, employment, lifelong learning, and access to essential services." In other words, the right of people to participate in socializing on the Internet and the ability of people to engage in online activities. An example of this is the provision of free public wifi services. Also most important in digital equity is the use of "equity" and "equality. When we use the word equity, we accurately acknowledge the systemic barriers that must be removed before equality can be achieved. It cannot be said that what different classes of people get on the network are not the same. We want everyone to have the same service.

So what can we do to bridge the digital divide? 

According to these five points summarized by NCDIT.

Affordable, robust broadband internet service

Internet-enabled devices that meet the needs of the user

Access to digital literacy training

Quality technical support

Applications and online content designed to enable and encourage self-sufficiency, participation and collaboration

In fact, it is an indirect requirement on the hardware and improving individuals' digital literacy. The digital divide is then bridged through digital equity and digital inclusion. Digital inclusion is about the activities necessary to ensure that all individuals and communities can access and use information and communication technologies. Due to the evolutionary nature of technology, digital inclusion strategies must evolve as technology grows and changes.

reference

Definitions - National Digital Inclusion Alliance. (2022). Retrieved 26 April 2022, from https://www.digitalinclusion.org/definitions/

Radovanovic, D. (2022). Digital Divide and Social Media: Connectivity Doesn't End the Digital Divide, Skills Do. Retrieved 26 April 2022, from https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/digital-divide-and-social-media-connectivity-doesnt-end-the-digital-divide-skills-do/

Gonzales, A., Calarco, J., & Lynch, T. (2022). Technology Problems and Student Achievement Gaps: A Validation and Extension of the Technology Maintenance Construct.

Closing the Digital Divide | ncbroadband.gov. (2022). Retrieved 26 April 2022, from https://www.ncbroadband.gov/digital-divide/closing-digital-divide

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Blog 3

Digital Citizenship Learning

To begin with a definition of digital citizenship, a digital citizen uses digital technology to participate in society, work, or learn. And now, the popularity of the Internet is leading to more and more people getting involved, so Ribble, Bailey, and Ross quick summary of nine elements to help people understand digital citizenship. (Mike, 2019) These nine elements are digital etiquette, digital access, digital law, digital communication and collaboration, digital Fluency, digital commerce, digital rights and responsibilities, digital security and privacy, and digital health and welfare. After summarizing it, you can understand it from three points. The first is respect, the second is education, and the third is protection. (Young, 2016) First of all, in this respect, digital citizens and real citizens should be the same. Both should respect each other to have a good communication environment. So digital citizens cannot disrespect others just because they are virtual images of each other. The second point is education, which also refers to the fact that people's participation on the Internet is a learning process and a bond that connects them to each other. The third point is protection. Digital citizens should also abide by the relevant laws and comply with ethics.

Digital literacy is more like using and understanding information in the digital age. In contrast, digital citizenship refers to people who are able to demonstrate appropriate and responsible behavior by following the appropriate norms in the application of information digital technology. The two are indeed similar and even share a lot of similarities, such as both getting help from the Internet. But compared to digital citizenship, the four principles of digital literacy are more like some of the points at work, such as a digital work environment, creating links between multiple work environments, and thinking and adapting in a digital environment. These are all things that digital literacy differs from digital citizenship.

Learning about digital citizenship for youth is not very complicated. We can make digital citizenship a hands-on class so that students can learn in course and practice at any time. In my opinion, learning about digital citizenship is not a difficult task, but the real impact is the negative influences during the learning process. After all, not everyone on the Internet will follow proper digital etiquette. So when people get stuck in a rut, they need help from others, so I suggest creating a course so that teachers can help students solve problems in a timely manner and not let them be influenced in a wrong way. Of course, this will encourage the students to use digital citizenship to have the correct values.

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Blog 2

Social Media & Participatory Culture

What is the most critical point of social media? With what I've learned this week, it seems that the most important point is to get people involved and do so in large numbers, the more people the better. It's what we call a participatory culture. So what is participatory culture? According to Henry Jenkins, "Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education in the 21st Century," we can find the definition "a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one's creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices." In layman's terms, this means lowering the cultural requirements and allowing more people to learn and create through the Internet. If we think of the Web as a university, then all the people involved in Internet activities will be the professors and students of the school. Because the Internet has no cultural restrictions, all people who can link to the Internet can learn and share their opinions on the Internet, which is a learning process for everyone. And those with low literacy levels can share their daily lives and let others know about them. So that's the interactive and participatory nature of social media, whether you post the right or wrong opinion. As long as there is communication and exchange, social interaction is good.

According to Henry Jenkins's presentation at ted, we know that most teenagers are now using the Internet. The way society communicates is changing as more and more young people become participants in the community. According to Henry Jenkins, "we can't take a laissez-faire attitude towards the Internet. We should have some basic skills and knowledge." It's some of the basic knowledge we learned before on the Internet, such as searching, selecting, eliminating, etc. It's actually what gives people the ability to use the Internet independently; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to use it or communicate fluently.

I've been using Tic Tok a lot lately, and I really enjoy watching the funny videos in there. It's an excellent way for me to relax. Of course, there are also other videos such as cooking, math, and even little skits that people make themselves. There is a built-in commenting system where people can write their thoughts in the comments section of the video and also comment on the messages left by others. I think this is all very much in line with the point of participatory culture, where we can learn what we want to learn and express our opinions about the video and what we think about others. In fact, this is the epitome of human communication on the Internet, not only on this software but also on other software or websites that operate similarly. This means that the restrictions on participation are very low, and many people can come to interact.

So, in a nutshell, social media and engagement culture go hand in hand. Social media provides the platform, and engagement culture is the popular behavior that facilitates people to communicate. Culture is actually the general trend of the masses, what most people are doing, and more and more, it forms the culture.

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Connected learning

We have been reading some connected learning articles this week and have some personal insights to share. 

First, we need to understand what connected learning is. It is learning in an age of abundant access to information and social connection that embraces the diverse backgrounds and interests of all young people. It is learning in an age of abundant access to information and social connection that embraces the diverse backgrounds and interests of all young people. In other words, connected learning is finding the intersection of interests, relationships, and opportunities. Find something that interests you, then find a mentor or peer who is also interested in that thing, and finally learn from each other or together.

According to Mimi Ito, "As more and more young people's learning, attention and access to information happen outside the classroom, and through online networks and communication, we are seeing a growing gap between in-school and out-of-school learning." So it seems to me that connected learning is working, at the very least, in terms of achievement. So connected learning is also a new trend in learning, a more efficient learning model built on shared interests.

In my opinion, it is easy to understand that connected learning is effective. After all, the most important driving force of learning is interest, and the most important point of connected learning is also in interest. In addition, connected learning is to find people with common interests on the Internet. That is, a bunch of people who are interested in the same thing gathers together to learn. In this state, it is easy to have higher learning efficiency.

Another thing that I think is great about connected learning is that it's a way to meet new people. It's like when I post something I like on Twitter, and someone else sees it and comments on it, then we get to know each other and become friends in the learning process. As time goes by, more and more of the same enthusiasts will discover us and come to join us.

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Blog1

Social media is now an indispensable way for people to socialize in their lives. People can share their lives on the Internet, share the pictures they take, and discuss them. It is like inviting strangers on the Internet into their own lives, where they have never met but can discuss different views on the same thing. And with modern technology and human development, social media has become more powerful. From the original YouTube, where you had to edit videos before posting them online, to TikTok, where you can post what you see fresh at any time. This has also led to more messages and ways to receive new things.

In the report, "Common Sense Media," YouTube and Facebook still dominate the online space, with 81% and 69% of people have used these two sites, respectively. The users are different for the latter platforms, such as Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Twitter, WhatsApp, TikTok, Nextdoor. The primary users of this software are teenagers, especially Instagram and Snapchat. Seventy percent of the people have used this two software. On the other hand, older people mostly use Facebook, the most senior social media site. So, according to Common Sense Media's data survey, we can conclude that young people are more enthusiastic about using new social apps, while older people are using older apps.

Social apps have a substantial impact on teens. In the report, Social Media, Social Life: Teens Reveal Their Experiences (Links to an external site.) (Common Sense Media, 2018), it is written that teens can be affected by messages on social apps. One example in the article is Aija Mayrock, who was subjected to online violence on Halloween because a girl she never knew dressed up as her. What appeared to be two completely unrelated people were subjected to online violence over a photo, causing the girl to suffer severe psychological trauma. As a 15-year-old minor, it must have been torturous to be subjected to hundreds of messages telling her to kill herself and go to hell every day. This is a negative influence and is not promoted. According to the survey, only a tiny number of teenagers say that using social media has a negative impact on their sense of self, while more say it has a positive effect. The reading says 21 percent of people feel welcome, 20 percent feel confident, and 18 percent feel better about themselves. In addition, because of the dramatic increase in social media use among teens from 2012 to 2018, more people say social media has positively impacted their lives. In particular, 29% of people with depression have become less depressed. After all, there are two sides to the coin, and all we can do is try to spread positive energy and reduce the incidence of online violence and other incidents.

So the relationship between teenagers and social media is now more like a double-edged sword relationship. Social media can give you optimistic energy or make you suffer from the pain of the cyber wraith. Whether these effects are positive or negative, social media still can't be removed. It is like a weapon that can be used to protect yourself or attack others, but it is also always there. The real controllers of social media are still the people who use them, and it is the users' choice to share their lives to bring joy to others and turn into demons and insult others.

Social media brings another new model of socialization, and it raises a whole new set of questions. But it will ultimately be a more direct and convenient way to communicate. It seems that the new model of social interaction brings a lot of joy and areas to explore.