"Digital Distress: What is it and who does it affect? Part 1" provides intriguing information feeding food to thought. "Just like economic distress measures exist — typically looking at unemployment and income levels — this article proposes a new metric called digital distress. Digital distress areas have a harder time using and leveraging the internet to improve their quality of life due to the type of internet subscription or devices owned."
I live in a red area in the Four Corners Region, and I know, along with others serving adults in the area, how much digitally-distressed populations are challenged by the increasing requirements for digital literacy in every sector of our economies.
The article provides an interesting analysis of the topic. Aside from providing valuable information, this article provides very timely and interesting data to feed writing assignments using comparison and contrast.
As an aside, in teaching college writing, I often found that students could approach essay prompts better if they could compare the topic to something - anything with which they were familiar! Practicing the skill can be a lot of fun! What do you think? Leecy
Leecy Wise
Moderator
R&W CoP
Moderator
R&W CoP
Comments
Thanks, Leecy for calling our attention to the first part of this two-part Medium/Technology article by Roberto Gallardo & Cheyanne Geideman. I especially look forward to the second part that focuses on the socioeconomic characteristics of digitally distressed tracts.
In the mid-1990's, when "digital divide" was increasingly used to describe the wide computer and Internet technology gap between those who had access to information through the Internet and those who did not, the "haves" were the well-educated and well-to-do, especially those who were also male, and younger. The Internet access divide has narrowed in the past two decades, but as the data from the first part of this article suggests, it has not been eliminated. For many census tracts in the U.S., Internet access, especially access using a home computer, is still a serious challenge. However, there are other digital challenges that affect those who do have good (reliable broadband) access, and who might be mistaken as Information "haves".
This new digital divide is still between those who are well-educated and well-to-do, and those who are poor and less well educated. In a new world economy where jobs with family-sustaining wages and salaries now increasingly require good digital literacy skills (i.e. problem solving in a technology-rich environment) many who have good Internet access do not know how to use that access to gain the knowledge and skills they need, and will increasingly need, to have good jobs and careers. As adult educators, we may help low-income families who do not have reliable low-cost access to the Internet find some ways (for example through everyoneon.org ) to improve their broadband access and get free training in using computers and the Internet, but I would argue that we have even greater responsibility to help adult learners, all of whom are less educated and a large percentage of whom are low-income, to learn how to use the Internet access they have to learn new skills and knowledge, to improve their basic skills in English (listening, speaking, reading and writing) numeracy/mathematics, science and social science, and digital literacy (digital skills, knowledge and attitudes applied to problem solving).
Everyone: Is our field ready to take on that challenge? Are adult basic skills program administrators and teachers trained to take it on? Do programs and adult schools have the resources they need to take it on? If not, what would we need to be fully prepared?
David J. Rosen, Moderator
LINCS CoP Integrating Technology and Program Management groups