old

old

More on that Theme

The Diminishing Digital Divide Read Later by Krystal D'Costa | • April 30, 2012 Concerns about the digital divide have started to take on a bit of hysterical edge—think along the lines of Reverend Lovejoy’s wife: “But what about the children?! she would exclaim over every single slight change that threatened her sense of idyllacy. Make no mistake, however, there is more than ample reason to be concerned about the degree of access people have to technological resources, which includes equipment, information, and education. As technology becomes increasingly integrated with different—ahem, all—areas of our lives, not being connected can definitely present certain challenges with regard to information and services. These separations have been largely been aligned with age, education, and household income, but recent data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project report the digital divide is diminishing—thanks in part to the rise of mobile technologies. While age, education, and household income are the strongest negative predictors for Internet use, access has become less of a limiting factor for non-Internet users. In the last decade, only 6% of this group have cited a lack of access as the main reason they don’t go online. (Instead, a primary reason cited by non-users for why they don’t log on is a belief the Internet isn’t relevant to their information or communication needs.) Access is now almost ubiquitous since almost every electronic gadget that goes to market needs to be able to connect to the Internet to some degree. From cell phones to MP3 players to game consoles to e-Readers and tablets, access to online content has moved beyond the bulky, stationary confines of a desktop computer. Of the 88% of American adults who own a cell phone, 46% own a smart phone (Android, BlackBerry, iPhone). Smart phone adoption is high among the financially-well off, the well-educated, and adults under the age of 50, which are groups that are typically early tech-adopters. Race appears to remain an insignificant factor: Overall access and adoption rates have been consistently comparable for African-American and Latinos to the national average for all Americans. What is significant is that for a growing number of of people, cell phones and other gadgets represent their primary source of Internet access. For one-third of adults who primarily use their smart phone to go online, their device is their sole access to online resources—they do not have a high speed broadband connection. So what are smartphone users doing with their phones? You’ll note that making an actual old fashioned phone call doesn’t seem to have made the list. Instead, activities tend to lean toward the more “social” sphere. Mobile users are going online, but they’re also creating new content and sharing that content from the palm of their hands. The digital divide may be diminishing but what the Pew Internet & American Life Project has termed “mobile differences” seems an extension of a second tier of the digital divide—an issue that extends beyond access, and relates more to digital literacy. If we’re being programmed to use the Internet in pre-programmed “buckets” that take the shape of the apps we download to our smartphones, what do we lose in terms of critical thinking and understanding about the potential of the ‘net?

One of My Bugbears

Is the 'net generation' a myth? Read Later by James Morgan23 April 2012 Dr Christopher Jones Dr Christopher Jones New research, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), has revealed that some university students are confused by the array of technologies available to them during the course of their studies. The report, led by Dr Christopher Jones from the Institute of Educational Technology at The Open University, also found that whilst many students are distracted by social networking sites during study, a small minority of their peers do not even use e-mail. One of our really interesting early findings was that there exists a very small minority of students that don't use e-mail. This came as a major surprise because in the first year, everybody is told that they need to be on e-mail if only for administrative purposes. However, there were a handful of students that neither used e-mail for social nor educational purposes. Dr Christopher Jones The project surveyed more than 2000 students to provide an empirically based understanding of the 'net generation' as they first engaged with e-learning in tertiary education. However, the researchers found evidence to suggest that the notion of such a generation is inaccurate. I interviewed Dr Jones to find out more about the implications of his research, and began by asking whether he was surprised to find evidence to suggest that the 'net generation' does not exist. "I can't say that I was surprised," he answered. "Previous studies have indicated that the matter is not as simple as popular literature might imply. A joint research project, led by the University of Wollongong's Dr Sue Bennett and published in the British Journal of Educational Technology, called for more empirical work in this area. In some part, therefore, the inspiration for my research came from a critical stance that had already been adopted by academic researchers in Australia." I went on to ask Dr Jones whether or not he thought that his findings were likely to be representative of the wider population. "It is important to note that there are clear differences between university students and the public at large," he said. "The first thing that I would say is that the use of web 2.0 technologies and internet and mobile technologies in general, is fairly prominent in advanced industrial countries. In a sense, therefore, our findings relating to the use of new technologies for social and leisure purposes are likely to be broadly representative of wider society. "The contrast comes, I think, when you begin to look at more specific educational uses. There is no clear link between the use of technologies for social and leisure purposes, and the ability to use them for educational purposes. Neither is there a clear link between using universal technological services, and the ability to use the particular services that students are required to engage with at university. Essentially, being able to use Facebook does not necessarily mean that you'll be able to effectively search for a journal article. Things that students might do in their social lives do not easily translate into an educational context." Dr Jones and his colleagues found little difference in the reported IT skill levels between the sexes. However, male students reported being more confident than their female counterparts when using spreadsheets, graphics, audio and video content, security software, and in the field of computer maintenance. "We unravelled numerous complexities; some of which we expected and others we did not," he said. "There has been a great deal of research in this area, but over the years, these differences have diminished. However, we found that certain, significant gender differences still exist. They are not as pronounced as they were, but they are still there. To a certain extent, these findings were expected. "What was interesting was that trends seemed to alter depending on when the surveys were taken. We only looked at first year university students and I think that there would be a bigger story to tell if we were able to examine the full span of a university career; after all, there were clear changes within just the first year. For example, a certain subgroup of young males actually became more involved in game-playing than they were when they arrived at university. Perhaps this is because of the social setting in which they find themselves; it could be a good way to make friends. Whilst our data cannot really tell us anything about why these changes occurred, we did identify clear gender differences, both in confidence with technologies and in the trajectory of students over the course of their first year at university." Student outside with laptopThe team found that students aged 20 years or younger reported being more engaged than their peers aged 25 years or above, with social networking sites, uploading images, instant messaging, text messaging, and downloading or streaming television programmes. Only 4.3 per cent of those aged 20 or younger never used social networking websites, compared to 78.5 per cent of those aged 35 years and above. Younger students also tended to use information and communication technologies for social and leisure purposes, whilst their older counterparts were more likely to utilise them for academic reasons. "We observed differences between the younger age group, and this was unexpected," explained Dr Jones. "When we divided students into those who were 18 and those who were just into their 20s, we noticed significant variations in behaviour. This was particularly interesting because notions behind the 'net generation' and 'digital natives' assume that there is something generic about the supposed change; that it occured because of the introduction of the internet, for example. It seems instead that specific technologies arriving at particular times – such as social networking sites in the mid-2000s – are having the most pronounced effect. If you're growing up, and technologies are changing around you, your appreciation of different technologies could well differ from that of your slightly older or younger peers. "It is an oversimplification to say, 'Young people born after the mid-1980s are different from older people in terms of their technological capabilities.' We need to be more subtle. An easy example is that of social networking sites. Generally speaking, it would be acceptable to say that the younger you are the more you use them, and the older you are the less you use them. However, this is not to say that older students are not using them; simply that they are using them to a lesser extent overall." Student in library with laptop97.8 per cent of those surveyed possessed a mobile phone, 77.4 per cent owned a laptop, 38.1 per cent had a desktop computer, and more than two thirds of students felt that their access to computers was sufficient to meet their needs. Whilst some students reported being initially surprised or confused about the array of technologies on offer to them at university, few thought that these issues resulted in long-term difficulties. The mobile phone was chosen by 83.2 per cent of participants as the device that they would most miss having access to. Despite these high levels of technological engagement, the researchers identified a small minority of students who didn't use e-mail or have access to a mobile phone. I asked Dr Jones whether he thought that it was significantly harder for students to obtain a modern degree without engaging with new technologies in an educational capacity. "I don't think that our data can answer that, but my personal suspicion is that it would depend on the course," he explained. "Our project did examine disciplinary differences, but again, I would like to investigate the trajectory of students throughout the course of a full degree. Humanity and social science students are required to look at online journals very early on in their degrees. This is typically not the case with science students. I would guess, therefore, that over time, the disciplinary elements would influence the difficulty of studying without technological engagement. "One of our really interesting early findings was that there exists a very small minority of students that don't use e-mail. This came as a major surprise because in the first year, everybody is told that they need to be on e-mail if only for administrative purposes. However, there were a handful of students that neither used e-mail for social nor educational purposes. There was a larger group that used e-mail for either one or the other, but there exists this tiny subgroup that clearly doesn't engage with technology. The possibility that educators and policymakers might not be aware of this group is a concern, as universities need to work closely with these students to bring them up to speed." I concluded our conversation by asking Dr Jones whether he believes that a genuine 'net generation' is inevitable. "No," he replied, "Although, I should qualify my answer with two points that may initially appear contradictory. The nature of this issue is not generational. One of the lessons that we can learn from this research is that we cannot treat young people as a single generational cohort. We cannot afford to look after older students by helping them become acquainted with new technologies, and leave their younger peers to their own devices. Many young people coming to university need assistance in learning how to use technology for educational purposes. Smartphone"We must understand that there are age-related differences, but that they are not generational. We should not simply divide students into 'younger' and 'older' groups. It would be more helpful to react to wave after wave of young people progressing through the university system. A major current change that we are seeing is the rise of mobile technologies; specifically smartphones. There is likely to be a wave of young people that is accustomed to mobile technologies, and this will inevitably impact on universities and their courses. Exactly how this impact will manifest itself is still uncertain, but if educators are able to meaningfully build new technologies into their pedagogies, students will engage with them at an educational level."