Posts Tagged ‘ Digital Divide ’

Transliterate Divide – Working Definition

November 23, 2009
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Transliterate Divide – Working Definition

Transliterate Divide – The gap between people who have the skills to understand (read) and create (write) a message (information) and interact using a variety of tools across multiple media and platforms and the ability to apply those skills to new situations and formats and those who do not. My interest in transliteracy is tied to the skills one needs to be transliterate and determining the role of libraries in the acquisition and development of such skills.  Although the primary direction of my work and this blog is tied to the internet and digital content, transliteracy is not. I’ve been reading. A lot. Reading about literacy and all the different types of literacies, technology, the digital divide and anything specifically written about transliteracy.  My research and subsequent note-taking on a relatively new term (the practice is in no way new) has created a need for definitions.  What about those who are not transliterate, un-transliterate, non-transliterate, transilliterate?  I don’t know, I gave up on moved on leaving the decision, if any, to individuals wiser than me. This lead to my next issue, since I’m more interested in the skills and the development of those skills, I am interested in the divide between those with the skills

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Commentary On the Digital Divide from the Chief Executives of Netflix & CommonSenseMedia

November 4, 2009
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Commentary On the Digital Divide from the Chief Executives of Netflix & CommonSenseMedia

If you’re thinking about transliteracy you almost have to be thinking about the digital divide. What does it mean? Is it real? How will we close the gap? This New York Times piece Will the Digital Divide Close by Itself? From the Google’s Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age provides a look at and arguments about the digital divide from two different perspectives. From Jim Steyer, chief executive of CommonSense Media and co-sponsor of the event “every kid needs to be digitally literate by the 8th grade” and called for a major public education campaign to make that happen. He argued that technology and learning are synonymous and that schools, parents, and kids must get up to speed in the next five years. On the other hand: Reed Hastings, the founder and chief executive of Netflix, contradicted him directly, saying it would take well more than five years to bridge the divide. Mr. Hastings, an avid education philanthropist and proponent of school reforms, argued that at the advent of any new technology — television, cars, even rockets — people get riled up and wring their hands over a growing gap between the haves and have-nots. He said that gaps narrow naturally

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Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy Warns of “Second Class Citizens” in the Digital Age

October 6, 2009
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The Knight Foundation has released a new report Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy. A good deal of the content either is or could be applies to libraries.  The entire report is 148  pages, you can also download a 2 page summary that includes recommendations like these 2: Increase support for public service media aimed at meeting community information needs.  Read more … 6: Integrate digital and media literacy as critical elements of education at all levels through collaboration among federal, state, and local education officials.  Read more … 7: Fund and support public libraries and other community institutions as centers of digital and media training, especially for adults.  Read more … 10: Support the activities of information providers to reach local audiences with quality content through all appropriate media, such as mobile phones, radio, and public-access cable.  Read more … 12: Engage young people in developing the digital information and communication capacities of local communities.  Read more … 14: Emphasize community information flow in the design and enhancement of a local community’s public spaces..  Read more … 15: Ensure that every local community has at least one high-quality online hub.  Read more … The Foundation has also taken actions that affect libraries: $3.3 million to improve free, public Internet

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The UNICEF Bee and the Digital Doorway

June 29, 2009
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This video, The Future of the Library, has been making the rounds on library blogs and after watching it I visit the blog Everywhere is Here.  Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the digital divide and the bubble I spend most of my time in so I was much more interested in this video.  It is about the Digital Doorway and the UNICEF Bee, providing access to the internet for those in remote areas.  The project was inspired by the Hole in the Wall experiment (perhaps more famous for inspiring the movie Slumdog Millionare) The information and access we take for granted, so for granted in fact that we we’re concerned about the future of libraries as they have been traditionally, is something a great many people don’t have.  This video and the projects linked to are in Africa and India but the divide is real, right here in the United States.  There are a great many people without access to the internet access or a computer or a smartphone. People, who, if they did have access wouldn’t know how to use them. Just something to think about. Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Share on FriendFeed Share on

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“Go be secretly awesome. Then tell someone.”

June 4, 2009
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I’ve never been fortunate enough to hear Jessamyn West speak and based on Jenica’s notes from last week, I’m really missing out.  Some of my favorite bits The digital divide is real, and our system for technology education scales very badly.  There are economies of scale in most library work – processing 30 books does not take 30 times as long as processing one book – but teaching 30 people about the internet and computers takes 30 times longer than teaching one person.  Libraries have become the social safety net for many Americans to learn what the tech-savvy think of as remedial technology skills, but the project doesn’t scale. “We are living in a future that they are not that interested in.” “Librarianship both is and is not sexy.  Exploit that.  Go be secretly awesome.  Then tell someone.” These are some really good things to think about, but we’re supposed to do more than just think – “Go be secretly awesome.  Then tell someone.” Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Share on FriendFeed Share on netvibes share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Tumblr it Buzz it up Subscribe to the comments on this post Print for later Tell a friend

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photo by Beth Tribe

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