Digital Divide/Digital Inequality

As I reflect on this weeks studies of "the digital divide" and "digital inequality", I realize how little I know about combining academia and multimedia presentations. I am well used to providing mock-up presentations to graphic designer business partners, as an instructor/SME, but here I was reminded of how unpolished I am when designing a final deck myself. I also felt like I was in a fog about how to present academic material, since it seems like a clash of worlds: academic material seeming dense, lengthy/verbose, and dry, versus what my experience has been of presenting outside of academia with decks that are pithy and "pretty". I felt pretty lost about how much information to put in my deck: I am used to keeping slides very brief, with more of the information shared orally by the presenter, but I felt conflicted that I should put in more of what I researched (citations and all). This confusion is easily seen as most of the deck is tight and uncluttered, except where I describe the 3 issues I discuss, and then it explodes into wordiness (which I still feel is actually too brief and incomplete!)

I loved learning about the digital divide and digital inequality because it directly relates to my own interests. I found myself confused over definitions and the difference between the two. I also didn't realize there was such a robust discussion about it (meaning, the two together) here in the United States on a national level. More importantly for me personally, I learned that my own focus on ICT4D (internet & communications technology for developing nations) has been much too narrowly focused on tools and ideas, and I have barely scratched the surface of the issues which I read about this week. In fact, I sort of hung my head when realizing this - here is something I believe is important to me, and my knowledge of it is not broad, but rather deep in a very small number of other related areas. Naturally, I plan to aggressively expand my knowledge about these issues in the future. The learning resources I used this week provided me some great directions.

If I had more time, I'd continue researching this topic - indeed, I want to be a student of it the rest of my life and make it one of my primary focuses - and better incorporate it into the deck I made. I want to better understand how to do this since I remain a bit confused over how to present "academia" using solid presentation principles, as described above. I remain completely grateful in learning how little I know, in observing personal learning blind spots.

My presentation may be view here (speaker notes only accessible when logged in to my account.)

Elements of Educational Technology

Below is a link to my brief paper, Elements of Educational Technology. This project was an interesting evaluation of which three of the elements of the definition of educational technology that I think are most important. The definition was produced by the Members of the Definition and Terminology Committee of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), representing a conception that is temporary, a “snapshot in time” (Januszewski, 2008). The definition is stated, Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources. The three elements I will discuss are ethical practice, improving and creating.

Unsurprisingly, what struck me most as I read this chapter, and as I read further in the book, was how nuanced the topic is and how very little I know about much of it. Reading a chapter that lists 14 elements, and each subsequent chapter that details each element in more detail, is the tip of the proverbial iceberg. It makes me want to understand more because it bothers me how little I know about so much of it. A great example is the element of creating. Creating focuses on systems approaches, which naturally spotlights ADDIE. Many of those who hold a doctoral in instructional design devote their lives to studying this one element. It's well understood that such is the way of academia, but reviewing this chapter presented me with a raw reminder of this, and left me very curious to learn and understand more.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Wo1LodIkjHaLWW_fjL5AK6NHnv6GrMEnHsOk9cUh3h8/edit?usp=sharing

Welcome!

Hi! My name's Michael Atkinson. I live in Herriman, Utah. I'm married and a father of 5. I spend most all my free time doing things with my family... (here's a picture of us from a couple Halloweens ago :)


The purpose of this - my learning log - is, from my perspective, to help me learn by expressing my thinking, reflecting, and posting artifacts.

Here's a quick little video telling more about me, personally and professionally/academically:

Thanks for visiting!

- Michael

Thinking Outside the Box Brings Cinema and Community Libraries to Refugees

( An article I recently wrote for National Geographic's news blog @ http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2014/05/02/thinking-outside-the-box-brings-cinema-and-community-libraries-to-refugees/)

If you close your eyes and imagine a refugee camp, you’ll probably come up with thoughts of the sweet aroma of cooking and baking, mingled with the smell of dust and smoke. Shuffling people, the cry of a homesick infant. Raw exposure to the elements may include a hot wind in an arid, dusty desert, or humid tropics, or bitter cold. And it may include the sight of giggling children and smiling adults, eyes wide with wonder, surrounding brightly coloured crates from which they carefully take a treasure of books, tablets, puppets, movies and more. 

In an age where technological miracles come compressed into ever-smaller containers, it should come as no surprise that there are now colourful boxes packed with resources to help alleviate heartache, boredom and a lack of access to learning among displaced people. Described as a both a cultural centre and library within a box, The Ideas Box project was unveiled to the public on March 25, 2014. The first two boxes are now in Burundi, Africa with more heading soon to Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. It is a partnership between Libraries Without Borders, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and internationally renowned French designer Philippe Starck.

Mr. Starck speaks of the Ideas Box as fulfilling a dream. “The dream is all the more important when we have lost everything. That is why the approach of Libraries Without Borders moved me so much. This is the first and last thing we should give to people who have lost everything. All of a sudden there should be people coming out of nowhere, carrying colorful suitcases, raising up tents. And in each suitcase there is wonder”.

Colorful boxes of hope and wonder

The wonders Mr. Starck speaks of meet the needs of both children and adults, with each Ideas Box containing:

• A satellite Internet connection
• 15 tablets, 4 laptops, 5 high definition (HD) cameras, 50 readers with 5,000 books and 250 paper books
• Offline learning resources including Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs), Wikipedia, Khan Academy and TED
• Workshops for literacy, computer literacy, electronics, coding/programming, as well as non-formal education and activities for children
• A cinema module with built-in TV and projection screen, 100 films including documentaries and cartoons/animated features
• Board/video games and other recreational activities
• Arts and crafts, puppets and a built-in stage for theatre.

 

All of these resources are supplied in the local language of the camp’s recipients. “For instance,” says Eve Saumier, Head of Communications at Libraries Without Borders, “the Ideas Box that will be deployed in Jordan and Lebanon will mostly include content in Arabic, with some French and English to follow the Lebanese curriculum. They will be selected and approved by a dedicated, local scientific committee (made up of researchers, teachers and publishers, among others) that will ensure all content fits local needs.”

Interestingly, because of a scarcity of materials like eBooks in languages such as Arabic, The Ideas Box project is becoming an opportunity to unite and encourage local publishers to work towards further digitisation of Arabic fiction and nonfiction. This then creates further opportunities to leverage technology to get literature and educational materials into the hands of impoverished populations who may not have otherwise had access to them.

A focus on education and literacy

A common concern voiced by refugees, especially parents of children, is lack of access to education. This has also been an ongoing concern for governments and relief agencies. The Ideas Box not only addresses education by providing a large number of learning resources, but also by integrating with local school systems and resources.

“Of course, all contents embedded in the Ideas Box are highly customised to the linguistic, cultural and pedagogical characteristics of the area of deployment,” Ms. Saumier says. “For example, all learning resources are identified consistently with the National Education Curriculum of the country in mind. So in the case of Burundi they follow the Congolese and Burundian curricula.”

In addition, in the case of Burundi, Libraries Without Borders works closely with the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The IRC is in charge of all the schools within the UNHCR camps for Congolese refugees, to develop (together with teachers and trainers) workshops and activities that use the contents and materials of the Ideas Box.

Connecting with these types of learning resources can make a life-changing difference. Refugees tend to have little, and even less opportunity and hope. “I am separated from everything. We have no access to information or training. There is no Internet, there are not even computers,” says Consolata, a Congolese refugee in Burundi.

It is unsurprising then, and heartening, to hear that all of the Ideas Box materials are seeing heavy usage in the short time they’ve been in the camps, and by all kinds of users. Many different workshops have started, including educational activities, information and communications technology mastery, play activities and more.

 

Joy in a box

The Ideas Box field co-ordinator in Burundi, who is in charge of the management of the Ideas Box within the Kavumu and Musasa camps, described a joyous scene after an Ideas Box arrived. While about 30 school-age children were happily bouncing and laughing in front of the “Kirikou” cartoon movie showing on the box, many others, outside of the shelter where the Ideas Box is located, were watching the movie as well, standing on the shoulders of the adults. Even the security guard in charge of the protection of the box kept his eyes on the screen, watching the movie.

Next to the kids, about a dozen teenagers were focused on using the tablets and the Internet with great attention. At the end of high school, other pupils were running as fast as they could to the Ideas Box to look for geography handbooks and study grammar. While they were doing their homework, a few older people sat next to the group to read books about the  history of Congo. And while all this went on, about a hundred refugees came, looked and asked questions.

It’s easy to imagine the difference in a camp before and after an Ideas Box arrives. The arrival of all of this is something of a return to normality, a moral boost, a great opportunity and an emotional and psychological shot in the arm. How does this project gain momentum then, to put more education and joy into the lives of men, women and children who have far too little of both?

“First through economies of scale,” Ms. Saumier states pragmatically. “As more Idea Boxes are ordered, their individual price drops lower.” But she also emphasises the value of partner relationships with suppliers of equipment and resources, such as electronics, publishing and so on, which Libraries Without Borders is steadily developing. She says the work is worth it. “One device alone can provide the service and content equivalent of a small town library, or up to 5,000 users. That’s only several dollars per user.”

Several dollars per user to connect a soul with life-changing education, literature, ideas, communication, theatre and more via technology is more than simple creative genius. It’s thinking outside the box, and for many that looks and feels like a dream come true.

Lorem ipsum dolor

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Duis quam tortor, adipiscing nec est sit amet, lacinia ultricies tellus. Nullam euismod dictum tortor, ut ultricies magna suscipit sit amet. Proin velit erat, aliquam quis mattis ac, elementum elementum felis. Nam pellentesque sit amet odio id imperdiet. Aliquam non lectus non lorem dictum rhoncus. Duis interdum cursus massa. Sed suscipit consectetur quam, eget pulvinar sem aliquam quis.

Ut vitae bibendum velit. Cras rutrum varius sapien a vestibulum. Ut in eros euismod, viverra turpis aliquet, sollicitudin erat. Fusce sed erat scelerisque, imperdiet mi quis, lacinia urna. Nunc in enim rutrum, mollis enim a, malesuada urna. Donec eleifend massa a tempor egestas. Donec convallis ipsum sit amet tincidunt lacinia. Integer porta ac leo eu cursus. Nunc ornare ultrices orci. Curabitur malesuada odio ut tincidunt aliquam. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Nulla facilisi. Aliquam consectetur velit vitae sodales fringilla.

Maecenas eu placerat lectus. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Nulla facilisi. Sed luctus lectus sed pellentesque cursus. Donec imperdiet placerat lorem tempus ultricies. Cras scelerisque, elit non interdum aliquet, nunc sem ultrices magna, eu pulvinar metus massa scelerisque velit. Morbi bibendum, nulla nec accumsan malesuada, nulla ligula congue erat, congue dapibus tellus orci ut massa. Vestibulum fringilla, felis ac ornare consequat, dui justo pulvinar velit, vel facilisis enim est ut nulla. Pellentesque sagittis lobortis nisl vitae ultricies.

Nam ut velit ipsum. Curabitur ac dui diam. Sed in risus a urna adipiscing mollis. Morbi viverra eros eu nibh laoreet, eget ullamcorper quam ultrices. Fusce tristique elementum est sed pellentesque. Donec in lacus orci. Cras velit ligula, tincidunt id magna ut, sollicitudin rutrum libero. Cras iaculis dolor faucibus iaculis vulputate. Vestibulum elementum ullamcorper ligula, at ultrices sem facilisis vitae. Sed bibendum, risus sed aliquam porttitor, massa nisl euismod magna, ac lobortis neque tellus vitae ligula. Praesent vitae vehicula sem. Donec elementum elementum semper. Cras ac suscipit sem, fermentum varius purus. Aenean ac sapien adipiscing, semper orci ut, eleifend felis. Pellentesque sagittis dui elit, quis molestie leo pellentesque eget. Etiam bibendum aliquam turpis, vitae ullamcorper lorem viverra sit amet.

Vestibulum congue non nisl vitae tempus. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Sed tristique tempor lobortis. Maecenas fringilla est nec nunc ultrices, et vestibulum orci luctus. Curabitur quis lobortis tellus, nec aliquam ante. Donec vestibulum sed nulla nec pharetra. Proin nec quam non nisl rutrum pretium a sit amet tortor. Cras sed dolor sem. Curabitur a lorem sit amet sapien tincidunt egestas at vitae purus. Quisque non mauris odio. In ut vestibulum leo, ac sollicitudin nibh. Mauris lorem arcu, porttitor ut nulla eget, vulputate sagittis odio. Quisque dolor lectus, adipiscing a accumsan ut, rutrum et sem.