What difference to all this might the 'digital divide' make?
a) To socioeconomically related access issues within a society?
b) To global access issues across countries and regions?
I think that the implication here is that the digital divide, and its’ implications, will increase. As education moves towards: 1/ being more technology based and 2/more tailored to fit individuals needs (likely through personalised learning online etc as opposed to traditional f2f methods), the digital divide will become more a split between the educated and the uneducated. This in turn will become a divide between the employed and the unemployed, and the well off and the less well off. This said, education is becoming more accessible to those who are less well off thanks to government loans for students and institutions such as the OU. However, for those who grow up without even a chance to grasp technologies becoming increasingly popular in education, this may make little difference. As this cycle goes on, the digital divide can only increase.
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But there are more Indians online than the population of Britain! That might imply that old inequalities could be about to shift?
ReplyDeleteDo you care whether the person typing this is a Brit in Lincoln -or a Tamil in Chennai? Don't you care more that they're available when you want them? and that they can support you effectively?
Hopefully, this unit will have encouraged you to be very sceptical of any one author's position -especially if their sources are shrouded in mystery and their interests not clear (Prensky was a computer games maker before he came up with 'immigration'). And I'd include myself in that 'deserving of scepticism' camp!