Hello BBracey et. al,
It's no surprise to me that many who discuss the digital divide don't have
much of a clue as to life in the trenches. I work with a large population in
the U.S. near the geographical area you indicate. It is composed of
non-English speakers who are not even literate in the language of their country
of origin.
The World Health Organization estimates that 1% of the world's adult
population has access to a computer. Check their website for more specific
stats if you are so inclined.
The true victory of propaganda occurs when it makes losers feel like
winners.
There is still a digital divide. We don't still have funding for the Digital
Divide Network based on the proclamation that there is no longer a need but...
Most people are unaware of it because those of us on line forget that there
are places where there is nothing. Many of the people blogging about the feds
are my friends.
I probably believe them more than the Feds. But the feds are the ones who
told us that there was no digital divide. I am a victim of fed sponsored
separate
but unequal education. It still affects my life.
Usually people in the majority may have an unawareness of the problems of
being minority in a mainstream culture that has wealth, influence and power.
You may remember, about six months ago, we had a long discussion about the
fact that some black activists proclaimed the divide to be over. I wrote an
essay that talked about the developing changes in the new wave of technology
that
are not even at K-12 level, but...
I think you have to look at the variables of the digital divide, but before
we do that.
Have you worked in places where people don't have much of anything and the
schools are bad?. Come to DC. In the home of the Education president, the
schools are failing, and unfortunately it has nothing much to do with just the
technology, the variables are set over history, decades of neglect and disdain
about 'colored' people no matter what color they were. There have been many
divides in the US that are not about technology. Who cares about DC schools.
Heck we
don't even have a vote. Our city belongs to the nation and the nation doesn't
care about our schools or our political plight. Divide that.
The Navajo may have connectivity in their schools. Many children go to
boarding schools, and many homes do not have telephones. I can tell you more of
these tribal stories.
We may want to also think our web sites are not bilingual as others in other
countries are to facilitate the use of dual language systems.
Probably the economic and education divide affect the digital divide ' more
than anything.
It's the reason we have the Black , Hispanic and Asian cultures. Our concerns
and problems are not always mainstream. Our problems are often pushed aside.
Higher education studies often only goes to schools in areas of choice. In the
last school that I worked in DC, the conditions inside the school would be
oppressive. Think ancient fumes of urine , huge rats and that kind of stuff and
danger in the neighborhood, and theft.
Digital Divide as a Symptom
Education has always played a central role in human development. While today
the world accepts universal primary education as an achievable goal, formal
schooling for everyone is a relatively recent phenomenon. Even when it was
less formalized or standardized, scientific and technical curiosity helped
move mankind from the agricultural to the industrial and now into the knowledge
economy.
At a personal level, education helps individuals move beyond subsistence
agriculture, and helps them compete against their peers. However, in today's
globalized world, the competition is not just with people of the same
village or region, but across continents.
A century ago, improving transportation was a driving force behind
globalization. Now, information and communications technology (ICT) is a major
factor. ICT's role in spurring development is positive, but it has also been
seen
as asymmetric. While it has the potential to be the great equalizer and
democratizer, those who have been left outside its purview, or who fail to
harness its potential, are increasingly at risk of falling further behind.
In response to increasing concerns about the âdigital divideâ - the gap
between those who benefit from digital technologies and those who do not - a
growing number of technology initiatives have emerged over the past decade,
realizing the potential of digital technologies to underserved community
members.
This comes from the work of Dr. Rahul Tongia, at Carnegie Mellon, who goes on
to say
The Digital Divide
The digital divide, however defined, is a stark divide and a challenge
for development and technology
professionals. It is actually a manifestation of other underlying
divides, spanning economic, social, geographic, gender, and other
divides.
Attempting to address the
