Tag Archives: digital divide

Module 4:2 – Digital Agenda for Europe

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http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/

The Digital Agenda for Europe is a broad program that “aims to reboot Europe’s economy and help Europe’s citizens and businesses to get the most out of digital technologies” and “deliver sustainable economic growth.” Some of the stated future benefits of the Digital Agenda for Europe would be ”increasing investment in ICT, improving eSkills levels in the labour force, enabling public sector innovation, and reforming the framework conditions for the internet economy.” ICT investment? Skilled labour? Internet economy? It all sounds good for business. Who’s driving the agenda? “Public sector innovation”?…meaning what? Online service delivery?

One of the seven goals of the program is “enhancing digital literacy, skills and inclusion” –  addressing the digital divide. The website makes some dodgy claims, such as “Some 30% of Europeans have never used the internet. These people – mostly elderly, unemployed or on low incomes – lack the skills, confidence and means to use digital media and are thus unable to participate in today’s society.”  I’d expect that the 30% of Europeans who don’t use the Internet would be very surprised to find out they are unable to participate in today’s society.

I don’t mean to question the importance of addressing the digital divide, but this website was an eye opener for me.  Tech savvy citizens are good for business and help the government to save money. It’s a good reminder that when assessing initiatives to help indigenous people bridge the digital divide (this is not one of them), pay close attention to who benefits and why.

Module 4:1 – “Who’s Not Online & Why”

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Pew Internet “Who’s Not Online and Why”

The Pew Internet & American Life Project published this report in May 2013 based on U.S. data from a survey of adults and Internet use. The study found that 15% of adults do not use the Internet at all, and 9% do not use the Internet at home. There was a 1% gender disparity. Education showed up as the most significant determinant: only 59% of adults with no high school diploma go online, whereas 96% of adults with a college education use the Internet. Though education was the biggest factor, household income was also an issue (low income adults are less likely to go online), as was location (rural adults are less likely to go online).

The people surveyed were identified as White, Black or Hispanic (no category for aboriginal people). Since aboriginal people in the U.S. are more likely than other groups to live in rural areas, and also face high levels of poverty and challenges at reaching higher levels of education, I think we can safely assume that aboriginal adults in the U.S. are more likely not to go online than other adults.

Statement Connecting Blog to Research Project

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     Language Revitalization Using Technology

        The final weblog I posted last week was about the first graduates from Nawahi, the Hawaiian Immersion University.   I was inspired by the news article as many of the first graduates continued finding careers using their own Native language after University.

Language preservation is a vital component to keeping Indigenous cultures alive as language itself holds different meanings, metaphors and values that cannot be expressed once it’s gone.  According to Cultural Survival “More than 70 could fall silent in the next 5 years unless immediate action is taken to teach them to younger generations of tribal citizens.” I would like to focus on how technology can improve and empower Indigenous cultures through language revitalization.

Language revitalization seemed to be a resonating theme in many weblogs I posted. Native American Public Telecommunications is a site that provides media, film, podcasts, music and radio created by a board of Native Americans about Native North Americans. Cultural Survival is a website for all Indigenous cultures around the world to connect. To help protect indigenous languages from disappearing, there is a radio broadcasting section to share radio spoken in different Indigenous languages around the world.  Since most people have access to radio, new generations can enjoy listening to their own language.

The digital divide creates boundaries for Indigenous people who are unable to connect and use technology as an educational tool.  According to Cultural Survival “Indigenous Peoples constitute about 5% of the world’s population, yet account for about 15% of the world’s poor.”  I would also like to explore the theme “Is technology culturally neutral?” as I carry out my research.

References

Eisenlohr, P. (2004). Revitalization and new technologies: cultures of electronic mediation and the refiguring of communitiees. Annual Review of Anthropology, 33 (21), p. 21- 45.

Hermes, M. (2012).  Designing indigenous language revitalization. Harvard Educational Review, 82 (3), p. 381- 402.

Hermes, M. (2013). Ojibwe language revitalization, multimedia technology, and family language learning. Language Learning and Technology, 17 (1), p. 125 – 144.

Hinton, L. (2003). Language revitalization. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 23, p. 44- 57.  Doi: 10.1017/S0267190503000187

Warschauer, M. (1998).  Technology and indigenous language revitalization: analyzing the experience of hawai’i. Canadian Modern Language Review, 55 (1), p. 139 – 159.

http://www.culturalsurvival.org/

http://www.fpcc.ca/language/toolkit/Language_Revitalization_Strategies.aspx

http://www.nativetelecom.org/

http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/langhotspots/revitalization.html

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/enduring-voices/revitalization/