Accessibility & Digital Divide



	Domestic Income (2007) (From U.S. Centus Bureau) The Patchwork Quilt Digital Divide Initiative A Digital Revolution for the World's Remotest Regions Senior Websites SeniorNet.org TouchTown AARP Seniors-Site.com Questions 1. According to Faigley, large IT companies are infiltrating the educational system by providing technology that is designed and produced by them to schools and colleges. Do you think the increasing use of technology in schools and college will lead to these big companies control of the young generations? What do you think about Microsoft’s adaptation of Jesuit maxim, “Give me a child of seven and I will give you a Microsoft user for life”? 2. Bruce writes, “The major currents flow the opposite way, away from asking questions about access, fairness, income disparities, corporate influence over education, disruptions of employment, hierarchies, power, authority, ideology, morality, writing that “dazzles,” or even, meaningful communication” (222). The neglect (intentionally or not) and unpopularity of discussions on these topics in the scholarship of composition and education is also addressed (passionately) by Moran. What do you think are the reasons and what are the implications of this state in the academia for us researchers, scholars and educators? 3. Bruce argues that technology is “an expression of the ideologies, the cultural norms, and the value systems of a society” (225). What do you think about Bruce’s critique of the “absolute virtue of efficiency” (226)? 4. What is the difference between technique-oriented and technology-oriented teaching? How can (or cannot) this distinction shed light on our teaching in practice? 5. Is technology the answer to the high demand of higher education? (Access to education?) (Western Governors University, Faigley 135) Is distance learning “inferior”? 6. What do you think about the media’s reinforcement of the stereotype of elderly people as “weak and confused” (O’Hara 429) or “technophobes” (430)? What can we do to change this stereotype? What are the implications of this in our teaching? 7. What are the potentials and limitations of CTCs (Community Technology Centers)? Additional Resources Allen Nace, et al. “Native American Schools Move into the New Millennium.” Educational Leadership 56.7 (99): 71-4. Cotton, Shelia R. and Shameeka M. Jelenewicz. “A Disappearing Digital Divide Among College Students? Peeling Away the Layers of the Digital Divide.” Social Science Computer Review 24.4 (2006): 497-506. Kuttan, Appu, and Laurence Peters. From Digital Divide to Digital Opportunity. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2003. Quigley, Marian. Ed. Information Security and Ethics: Social and Organizational Issues. Hersey: IRM Press, 2005.

Domestic Income (2007) (From U.S. Centus Bureau)

The Patchwork Quilt Digital Divide Initiative

A Digital Revolution for the World's Remotest Regions

Senior Websites

Questions

1. According to Faigley, large IT companies are infiltrating the educational system by providing technology that is designed and produced by them to schools and colleges. Do you think the increasing use of technology in schools and college will lead to these big companies control of the young generations? What do you think about Microsoft’s adaptation of Jesuit maxim, “Give me a child of seven and I will give you a Microsoft user for life”?

2. Bruce writes, “The major currents flow the opposite way, away from asking questions about access, fairness, income disparities, corporate influence over education, disruptions of employment, hierarchies, power, authority, ideology, morality, writing that “dazzles,” or even, meaningful communication” (222). The neglect (intentionally or not) and unpopularity of discussions on these topics in the scholarship of composition and education is also addressed (passionately) by Moran. What do you think are the reasons and what are the implications of this state in the academia for us researchers, scholars and educators?

3. Bruce argues that technology is “an expression of the ideologies, the cultural norms, and the value systems of a society” (225). What do you think about Bruce’s critique of the “absolute virtue of efficiency” (226)?

4. What is the difference between technique-oriented and technology-oriented teaching? How can (or cannot) this distinction shed light on our teaching in practice?

5. Is technology the answer to the high demand of higher education? (Access to education?) (Western Governors University, Faigley 135) Is distance learning “inferior”?

6. What do you think about the media’s reinforcement of the stereotype of elderly people as “weak and confused” (O’Hara 429) or “technophobes” (430)? What can we do to change this stereotype? What are the implications of this in our teaching?

7. What are the potentials and limitations of CTCs (Community Technology Centers)?

Additional Resources

Allen Nace, et al. “Native American Schools Move into the New Millennium.” Educational Leadership 56.7 (99): 71-4.

Cotton, Shelia R. and Shameeka M. Jelenewicz. “A Disappearing Digital Divide Among College Students? Peeling Away the Layers of the Digital Divide.” Social Science Computer Review 24.4 (2006): 497-506.

Kuttan, Appu, and Laurence Peters. From Digital Divide to Digital Opportunity. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2003.

Quigley, Marian. Ed. Information Security and Ethics: Social and Organizational Issues. Hersey: IRM Press, 2005.