Digital Divide (July 28 class: group project discussion)
I want to use this posting to discuss our group project addressing the digital divide between various technologically privileged and underprivileged groups. My group has spent a considerable amount of time deciding on how we should approach this topic, especially given the short time frame of half an hour to present this issue to the rest of the 504 class. We realized that there are many angles we could take in this controversy, but we decided to focus on the groups most immediately represented in the research and media: seniors (age), disabled persons (ability), low-income households (class), and women (gender). Initially, we considered focusing on race. However, we soon reasoned that the racial digital divide probably has more to do with issues of income (class) rather than any inate racial or cultural factors.Moving forward, it seems silly to argue that a digital divide does not exist for these four major categories of people. Nevertheless, we need to argue some sort of point/counterpoint position. We decided that our point would involve arguing that the digital divide is a very serious problem and that not enough is being done to address these issues. The counterpoint will argue that while there does exist a digital divide, the benefits to society of bridging the divides do not justify the costs involved.
Finally, I would like to thank my group. We are working very well together and each person is at some point taking on the role of a leader and a team player (sorry for the cheesy cliche). I appreciate that people have volunteered to facilitate discussion, take meeting minutes, report to our audioblog, and contribute in general. Our ability to function as a cohesive team has increased my excitement and motivation to continue researching this controversial issue.
posted by Nese @ 00:41
1 Comments:
At Tuesday, August 01, 2006,
Jeff Stanzler said…
Nese, based on what you've shared here about the approach that your group is taking, I feel very encouraged about your presentation. I say this primarily because it seems that you've put enough thought into what you want to convey, and the issues you want to put before your colleagues, that you've found a path to take that will get at some of the subtleties of the issue. In a sense, it would be easy to simply decry existing inequalities reagrding computer access (and there are lots of inequities to decry!) but one of the more interesting questions is whether this is an issue of suffiicient importance to merit our attention.
I would also encourage you, as you craft your presentation, to think about whether making a class, rather than a racial distinction clarifies the problem or obscures it (this might even be an issue to explore between the "sides" in your presentation). Some argue that the digital divide is a particularly resonant reification of the racial divide that exists in our society, and that not being proactive about addressing this issue in racial terms gives us a kind of "cover" to avoid facing an uncomfortable issue head on.
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