The Great Digital Divide
I think that access to the Internet means both physical access to the technology that gives one access to the physical Internet and the technological literacy to be able to use the Internet safely and responsibly.
I do not think that all adults nor should all children need to be online. Online activities are a personal choice and should not be a requirement of life in our society. In my opinion, the Internet is a tool and not an electronic collar and tracking device as some would have it. We keep getting closer to a cashless society, but thank goodness for cold hard cash. I use cash a lot more now for the same privacy issues we discussed last week. I really hate coming back from a trip to find that my credit card company has left a voice message on my answering machine asking me to verify this or that transaction. Just like I don’t want big brother (or my neighbor) knowing about every single financial transaction that I make, I don’t want every Internet transaction, financial or social recorded either (Schneier, B., Lessons from the Facebook Riots, p. 4). The Lenhart studies did not go into detail about “what” people actually do online other that search for medical information (Lenhart, A., The Ever Shifting Internet Population). I would like to read research about online activities before forming an opinion of whether or not more adults or more children need to be online.
I do not think that there is a lack of access to the Internet for lower-income families. Through our tax dollars, public libraries give everyone the physical access to the Internet and libraries also have the tools and programs to help everyone become technologically literate. However, having said that, if the only access an individual has to the Internet is at a public library, they are at somewhat of a disadvantage. For example, they are not as likely to be able to share their online experiences with other members of their families simply because of issues with distance and scheduling. I think that basic elementary education should include courses on use of the Internet to help fill this void of peer interaction while online. Just as in this course blog, we grow by listening to and evaluating the thoughts of others.
I personally think that the One Laptop per Child program is ridiculous from what I could understand of it. Aid in the form of the basic necessities of life to third-world counties would be much more beneficial than a child in Ethiopia getting into a chat room with Sally in Hoboken. I think such a program may be detrimental in many third world countries. For example, the logistical concerns of power for a laptop and Internet access for one thing and the black market for the computers for another. It’s bad enough that people are already being killed around the world every day for humanitarian food shipments. Now someone thinks that it’s a good idea to place an expensive laptop computer in the hands of a child? Without power and access to the Internet what use would the laptop be?