My Service-Learning Project

Well, I’ve lined up my service-learning project. I’ll be working with Sharon Smith, the Frick School International Baccalaureate advisor who visited our class several weeks ago. This will be a challenge for me for several reasons. For one thing, my previous notions of the digital divide were between those in society who were poorer and less educated than the “haves.” However, there is also a need for training among those who are intelligent and relatively better off, and this requires a different mode of teaching and a different approach, one I’ll have to learn. For another, I think Sharon has some very focused projects in mind, which I wasn’t necessarily expecting. In the long run, it’ll be good to have a more in-depth teaching experience, but it’ll be tough at the beginning.

~Chris

Computer Interfaces

I recently read an article in the Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST) for another class entitled Interface Design and Culture. It was a really interesting article, if a bit long. It mentioned that computer interfaces (Websites, keyboards, etc.) have to be changed for different cultures. The author discussed translation problems of course, but many other things like how icons look and what the fact that colors mean different things in different cultures are things I’d never thought of.

As I was reading the article, the digital divide popped into my head. How much do bad interfaces affect learning among the “have nots” of the world? For example, should Windows be customized for those who have never used a computer before? What about customization of Websites for different ethnic groups or subcultures in the U.S.? These are big questions that I won’t even pretend to have answers to, but it’s definitely something to think about and adds more complexity to the knotty digital divide issue.

Digital Divide of a Different Sort?

Seems those who are using the Internet too much are being shut out too. Read the article at the link below. You may have to register with the site to read it.  This is my first post, so I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing!  

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/06/AR2007090602545.html?hpid=topnews

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