[my Ashford MAIN page] [^^^PNS home page]Edu-613: Week 1
See also: -[]- -[Three Case Studies - Analysis and Review]- (M/S word doc) -[]- -[]- -[]-Edu-610: Week 2
NOTE: An "SME" - Subject Matter Expert; eg, "an orinthologist". "SMA" - Subject Matter Area; the area of knowledge that the SME is an expert in; eg, "birds". "K-domain" - Knowledge domain. Should be sufficient to locate via googles. Thus "an orinthologist" is an SMA in "birds" (K-domain: aves). NOTE: For proper spelling refer to the Dewey Decimal System; specifically "Melvin Dewey". - that is all (well, for now ;) IN THIS Block: -[Case Studies: Paper 1]- (word doc) -[]- -[]- -[]- -[]- On this page: {Intro} {Stuff} {} {} {} {} {Refs} {Links}Intro
Week Two Readings ================= May the Oracle protect and guide us. [The Matrix] Week Two Guidances (via the teacher) ================== Digital Divide Technology has changed the way people learn, work,and communicate, but not everyone has access to technology. The digital divide is the gap between those who have access to technology and those who do not have access to technology. There are students who do not have computers at home and those who have computers at home but do not know how to use them. Rural households are less likely to have Internet access than urban households. Blacks and Hispanics are less likely to have Internet access than their white and Asian counterparts. The young are more likely to have access to technology than the old and the disabled. There is also disparity based upon on income/education levels and geographic location. Why does closing the digital divide matter? 1) It is a precondition for reducing proverty. 2) It is a precondition for solving terrorism. 3) It is a precondition for achieving sustainable world markets (Digital Divide, 1). For those who lack access or do not know how to access the internet, they will become functional illiterates. Connectedess is important across our society: Workforce. The earning prospects of people who lack technological skills are bleak. Education. Students must have a high level of competence with technology and telecommunication technologies. Communities. Communities need high-speed internet connections and workers with technology skills so they can remain strong. Government. Most transactions between individuals and government take place electronically; without access and skills, citizens will be removed from the services they need. Communication involvement. Opportunities must be created for people to maintain a reasonable level of participation in society (Minnesota Planning, 2-3). Some possible solutions to the digital divide include: corporate donations to poor communities/school systems, grants to facilitate the development of technology ENV, teacher/staff training in how to use or maintain computers. Digital Divide: Beyond the infrastructure. Minnesota Planning Critical Issues, (August 2001), 1-15. Digital Divide: What it is and why it matters. Retrieved on June 8, 2008 from http://www. digital divide.org/ dd/digital divide.html. Related topics: digital inclusion internet access digital disconnect Written Assignment ================== Edutopia's Digital Divide Filmmaker George Lucas has been dedicated to bridging the digital divide for decades. His educational foundation, known as Edutopia, contains a wealth of resources about technology and education. Take a look at the website -[www: EduTopia.Org]- and click on the Digital Divide link (listed in the Topics area). -[www: EduTopia.Org]- and click on the Take a look at the various resources you find in this section and select at least two resources to discuss in a short essay. Write a short essay in which you reflect on the resources you selected. Summarize what you read and provide your evaluation, opinion and/or critical analysis of what you found on the Edutopia Digital Divide webpage. The essay must be a minimum of three-pages in length (not including the cover page and reference page). Support your statement with information gained from the week’s readings. Discussion Forums ================= Participate in the following Discussion Forums: Technology and Organizational Change/Youth Empowerment Technology is a great thing as it can connect people from dif socio-economic B/G's cultures, and ethnicities. Change is endemic in all cultures. There has been a paradigm shift in many orgs, schools, hospitals, companies-that involves the use of technology to improve the output of the organization. Change brings issues and problems. One of the issues in the technological ENV is that of digital divide/equity. To achieve digital equity all players within the organization must be empowered to support the efforts of communicating the idea that technology can increase human performance. In Toward Digital Equity: Bridging the Divide in Education, Delpit states that empowerment is a starting point to begin to discuss the "culture of power" in achieving equity and fairness in power structures (p.42).Youth must be empowered to contribute to their own lives and to the revitalization of their schools, neighborhoods, and communities by joining adults in action to create change. Youth possess energy, enthusiasm, creativity, and insight that can offer solutions on how best to use technology in education to what is needed to create a peaceful world. To empower our youth with new technologies we must have a change in attitude and a change in heart about what youth an contribue. There must be a willingness to engage in youth-adult dialogue that involves genuine respect for the views of youth, [?] And, there is a need to use e-learning technologies in ways that open the communication between youth and adults on issues critical to all of us. All oranizations will experience change at some time. Managing change requires open communication which helps to minimize resistance. See the checklist to guide digital empowerment on page 56 in Toward Digital Equity: Bridging the Divide in Education. RELATED TOPICS: change management digital divide technology and organizational change youth empowerment Frank's rsvp: As per the concept of "The Culture of Power", even these e-classes are consistent with that. Who has access to an on-line credit account? Who has to pay using a money order, waiting for a paycheck. Those students with money to spare will be able to buy computers and other learning that other students in a poorer house- hold may not be able to use. It's fine to have a university such as this one that requires us to have "access to the internet" - but, what does that mean? In most cases, students depend on the availability of computers, printers and the inter-net accounts of the school where they are attending. Everyone (well not "everyone" - it's an expression), acts like "well of course our students will have internet access, and all of this technology. But, in reality the old "separate but equal" idea is here - it's just wearing a different hat. The challenge is to get the communities to support the idea of TREU equal access. In reality, often areas of the city are inhabited by people who resent having to pay high taxes to support the schools. Somehow, they forget that their children or even they themselves benefited from the system. And the whole concept of "pay it forward" doesn't quite penetrate their reactionary thinking. One of the most powerful ways that a JOB in a high tech industry benefits the people working there, is that they have access to the internet and often through a high-speed connection. It's amazing how much time one loses when limited by dial-up or even a DSL line at home. I think that we (as educators) all know and see the need - how we can get that need across to the public in general is quite another thing. It is becoming more and more that the "haves and have nots" are in the DIGITAL realm - and i'm not talking about HDTV - which yet another "nice to have now" - but, may become a "need" to have in the future as the I/A (Inter/Active) world of the on-line life more and more pervades our everyday existance. And of course, all of this pre-supposes one is a member of the 1st or 2nd world, and not the 3rd world (and some sociologists are now refering to 4th and 5th world countries). As the rate of technological change accelerates, more and more people will get left behind - even though they might be *the* one to make the difference. References Solomon, G., Allen N. J., & Resta P. (2003). Toward Digital Equity: Bridging the Divide in Education. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. ISBN: 0205360556 Wachowski, Andy and Larry (Directors) (1999). The Matrix. (film) imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/
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