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1) a) Do you think that the digital divide is an important social problem within the USA? b) If so, how can it be addressed? Will it fix itself over time? If it takes 20 years, is that a problem? c) To what extent do you think it can be solved spending money on technology? What other kinds of social activity might need to accompany the machinery. 2) Different social communities may have very different ideas about the appropriate use of technology. The Amish are one example, but even a community such as IU Undergraduates has its own ideas (cell phone and IM yes; blogs no). a) Identify a group of which you consider yourself to be part. What is distinctive about its attitudes toward technology. b) Some people have said that the divide is caused primarily by some groups not wanting technology access, or at least choosing not to prioritize spending in this area. (Government data, for example, shows that black families are less likely to be online than white families with similar incomes). Should government groups or community activities try to promote the potential of technology as well as providing it to people who already want it? (For example, children are obliged to go to school regardless of their wishes). 3) Technology access is not a simple matter of "yes" or "no". The reading includes examples of a UCLA professor with a high speed connection, an Asian student who occasionally connects in a cybercafe, and a rural activist in Indonesia who has no computer of phone but whose colleagues in a women's group download and print material for her. a) Is there just one divide? Does a certain minimum level of access satisfy the need for equality. b) The divide also has an international element. Do you think that the same kinds of technologies and access are appropriate in different countries. 4) In lecture, you heard the suggestion that alarm over the digital divide was closely connected to the idea of an information revolution popular with 1990s politicians and new economy thinkers. a) Do you think this is true? Is there something special about Internet access that makes it as important as food and healthcare as a basic need that all children should receive to guarantee reasonable equality of opportunity? b) Even if there isn't, should we worry anyway? |
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