Digital Skills, Income and Education
Digital skills do not only mean the instrumental skills but also the informational and strategic skills. The concept of digital skills guides us to see digital divide in the different way. Material access to computer and the Internet network does not ensure the use of the Internet. Even though users know how to use software and hardware of computers, the Internet cannot be utilized if they do not have the ability to “search, select, process, and apply information.” Strategic skills mean how one will use the information for improving his or her position in society. Inclusion of the strategic skills demonstrates the utility of using the Internet. People use the Internet not only for simple applications like entertainment. A National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) study in 2000 found an increase in the Internet use for study and job search purposes by Americans with low income. The level of digital skills influences the Internet usage pattern among different users.
There is no doubt that this concept of Digital Skills is much more holistic. But this smart presentation of the concept cannot overlook the importance of education and income, which are regarded as the main factors for accessing to the Internet. But Jan Van Dijk’s article explained that other independent factors like gender, ethnicity and age cannot be neglected in discussing access to the Internet. Old people, ethnic minorities and women have relatively less access to the Internet as they find the design of computer application software complex and culturally different. But I would like to give more priority to income and education factors, which I believe, can affect the digital skills and the Internet usage pattern. Income and education gaps have created a divide in terms of possession of computers and hardware in the United States and the Netherlands in the last two decades. People at the better side of the gaps have increased their lead. People with high socioeconomic status tend to have more social participation and networking compared to low income group. People with high levels of education have more political efficacy than the people with low levels of education. People with high levels of political efficacy can meaningfully utilize the Internet for the purpose of civic engagement. Without cognitive skills and educational background, the Internet users cannot attain informational and strategic skills. The General Social Survey (GSS) in 2000 found that the weekly use of the Internet is more related to the level of education of the users than to their household income. Race, gender and age, to some extent, can influence the use of the Internet. But still the main determining factors are the level of education and income. Rogers in his Diffusion of Innovation article also mentioned that early adopters of any technology are distinguished by higher levels of education and higher levels of income. People may not have high income but have high levels of education, which can make them more open and tolerant.
John P. Robinson and his two colleagues at the University of Maryland investigated the association between the Internet use and tolerant social attitudes. The Internet users are more open and tolerant than nonusers as they have higher level of education. The study of Robinson et al. found the association between the Internet use and social attitudes “nonmonotonic,” which means tolerance to social issues does not increase with the level of the Internet use. Again users’ level of education and socio-cultural background influence their attitudes. The Internet users are open to change as they adopt the technology. Such type of personality tends to have positive attitudes about social and political issues. For example, the study of Robinson et al. found that the Internet users have greater level of tolerance for premarital and homosexual sex and greater support for sex education in public schools. The Internet users also expressed optimistic views about life. But from the sample size of the study, it is not wise to generalize the observation about all other Internet users. On the other hand, Johnette H. McCrery and John E. Newhagen discussed about the role of new communication technologies in broadening the public sphere where political and social elites share their informed viewpoints. Interactive feature of the Internet allows live participation of the Internet users on different burning social and political issues. But people with political efficacy dominate both the opinion and process spheres of the public sphere. Again people with high levels of education with more political knowledge can benefit from the Internet.
In the last class, we talked about the concepts of technodispositions and technocapital, where we learned how attitudes of some communities and groups affect the adoption of a technology. But I will argue that the level of education can bring a change in the practice within a community. Otherwise we cannot see an increase in the Internet use for job search and study purposes among the low income and unemployed Americans. Usage access and skills access are more important than material access. A person can be unemployed or may not have higher income, but he has the education or cognitive skills for meaningful use of the Internet. Connection with the Internet network cannot resolve the digital divide unless that connectivity is properly used and served the need of the users.#
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Dimensions of Media Access
Masudul Biswas
Studies on psychological and socio-cultural dimensions of media access have identified that technological complexity, cognitive capacity, economic status, cultural orientation and individual characters can affect the adoption of the Internet. The result sections of the studies demonstrated that psychological factors like personality, cognition, emotion and the level of affective arousal of the Internet users are intertwined with social and cultural orientations of individuals. Bucy and Newhagen, however, presented the studies in two separate sections. We also noticed a tendency to generalize the findings. For example, researchers of a study commented, “the Income and education cannot explain race differences in Internet use” (p. 156). By making such comment, the authors avoided the poor socio-economic realities of minorities. The observation may true to some extent in the US (between European Americans and African Americans), but lacks validity at global level. Poor economic condition affects the level of education, and the level of education can affect the adoption of technology. The culture of poverty and racial minorities is different from the culture of privileged classes of any society. So, disparate groups in a society, with different socio-cultural orientations, use new technology with different level of expectations. In this context, I found the discussion on technodispositions and technocapital is important as the concepts are integrated with cultural, psychological and economic factors of media access.
Technodispositions are the manifestation of the values of a community or a social group, which actually determine the nature of the use of technological applications. In the context of media access research, the analysis of technodispositions of lower class and minorities can help us to know the level of technocapital, which refers to “certain competencies and resources to negotiate within the technofield” (p. 115). But technocapital is the product of technodispositions. Vivian Rojas and his colleagues commented, “Techno-competencies, the acquired skills for and knowledge about ICTs, are shaped by the interplay between technocapital on one hand and the other forms of capital (social, cultural, social, symbolic) on the other” (p. 115). In-depth interviews of the study on the "HomeNetToo" project found that poor economic condition prevents the poorest teens from developing positive technodispositions, which means positive attitude to the Internet. In that case, technocapital cannot also be attained. Though the Internet is technically complex and not user-friendly like radio and television, its adoption is also influenced by the support of family and peers when money is not a barrier. So, the study of technodispositions is very important. In that case, combination of qualitative interviews and surveys can be a useful research strategy for analyzing the impact of technodispositions on the Internet use. Analysis of technodispositions can help us to know the economic, cultural and psychological dimensions of media access as they are interrelated.
The “HomeNetToo” project in Michigan has also found that social networking and personal relationships in real life have an impact on the Internet use. Single African American women with low income of the “HomeNetToo” project had weak social tie. When they were given the Internet access, they hardly used e-mail for communication. They mainly used the Internet for information and entertainment purposes. Once again, the relevance of the uses and gratifications theory of media is evident in the Internet studies. The project found that the level of the Internet is lower among the minorities though they mostly believe that the Internet has utilities for searching jobs and doing good results in schools. Again the issue of group culture or the culture of a social category, in other words the technodispositions, appears as the deciding factor in the use of Internet. The “HomeNetToo” project included the individuals who did not have higher level of social connectivity. Most of them were in a situation like social isolation, which actually affects their level of trust and confidence on anything. So, it is expected that that those Internet users do have fear and confusion around the complex structures of computer and the Internet.
Unlike the psychological dimension studies of media access, the cultural dimension studies applied ethnographic and conversational interviews and monitoring techniques alongwith the survey to deeply analyze the social and cultural factors of the Internet use. Survey results can help us to see the trend of the Internet use. At the same time, conversational interviews and monitoring of the Internet use can adequately explain that usage trend. Incorporation of qualitative research method in the Internet studies has revealed that the Internet use is nothing straightforward. Even people with high social connectivity may not always depend on the Internet as their contacts or their heavy use of the Internet may make them susceptible of the credibility of web sources and privacy on the web. The in-depth interview method, applied in the “HomeNetToo” project, had come up with this finding which has rather pushed us to rethink about a positive relationship between the internet use and high cognitive level or higher level of social connectivity. So, it is not wise to generalize any observation on the basis of few facts; instead, the in-depth analytical techniques can show that the Internet use is different and has different effects in case of different individuals even within a community or a social category.
#
Studies on psychological and socio-cultural dimensions of media access have identified that technological complexity, cognitive capacity, economic status, cultural orientation and individual characters can affect the adoption of the Internet. The result sections of the studies demonstrated that psychological factors like personality, cognition, emotion and the level of affective arousal of the Internet users are intertwined with social and cultural orientations of individuals. Bucy and Newhagen, however, presented the studies in two separate sections. We also noticed a tendency to generalize the findings. For example, researchers of a study commented, “the Income and education cannot explain race differences in Internet use” (p. 156). By making such comment, the authors avoided the poor socio-economic realities of minorities. The observation may true to some extent in the US (between European Americans and African Americans), but lacks validity at global level. Poor economic condition affects the level of education, and the level of education can affect the adoption of technology. The culture of poverty and racial minorities is different from the culture of privileged classes of any society. So, disparate groups in a society, with different socio-cultural orientations, use new technology with different level of expectations. In this context, I found the discussion on technodispositions and technocapital is important as the concepts are integrated with cultural, psychological and economic factors of media access.
Technodispositions are the manifestation of the values of a community or a social group, which actually determine the nature of the use of technological applications. In the context of media access research, the analysis of technodispositions of lower class and minorities can help us to know the level of technocapital, which refers to “certain competencies and resources to negotiate within the technofield” (p. 115). But technocapital is the product of technodispositions. Vivian Rojas and his colleagues commented, “Techno-competencies, the acquired skills for and knowledge about ICTs, are shaped by the interplay between technocapital on one hand and the other forms of capital (social, cultural, social, symbolic) on the other” (p. 115). In-depth interviews of the study on the "HomeNetToo" project found that poor economic condition prevents the poorest teens from developing positive technodispositions, which means positive attitude to the Internet. In that case, technocapital cannot also be attained. Though the Internet is technically complex and not user-friendly like radio and television, its adoption is also influenced by the support of family and peers when money is not a barrier. So, the study of technodispositions is very important. In that case, combination of qualitative interviews and surveys can be a useful research strategy for analyzing the impact of technodispositions on the Internet use. Analysis of technodispositions can help us to know the economic, cultural and psychological dimensions of media access as they are interrelated.
The “HomeNetToo” project in Michigan has also found that social networking and personal relationships in real life have an impact on the Internet use. Single African American women with low income of the “HomeNetToo” project had weak social tie. When they were given the Internet access, they hardly used e-mail for communication. They mainly used the Internet for information and entertainment purposes. Once again, the relevance of the uses and gratifications theory of media is evident in the Internet studies. The project found that the level of the Internet is lower among the minorities though they mostly believe that the Internet has utilities for searching jobs and doing good results in schools. Again the issue of group culture or the culture of a social category, in other words the technodispositions, appears as the deciding factor in the use of Internet. The “HomeNetToo” project included the individuals who did not have higher level of social connectivity. Most of them were in a situation like social isolation, which actually affects their level of trust and confidence on anything. So, it is expected that that those Internet users do have fear and confusion around the complex structures of computer and the Internet.
Unlike the psychological dimension studies of media access, the cultural dimension studies applied ethnographic and conversational interviews and monitoring techniques alongwith the survey to deeply analyze the social and cultural factors of the Internet use. Survey results can help us to see the trend of the Internet use. At the same time, conversational interviews and monitoring of the Internet use can adequately explain that usage trend. Incorporation of qualitative research method in the Internet studies has revealed that the Internet use is nothing straightforward. Even people with high social connectivity may not always depend on the Internet as their contacts or their heavy use of the Internet may make them susceptible of the credibility of web sources and privacy on the web. The in-depth interview method, applied in the “HomeNetToo” project, had come up with this finding which has rather pushed us to rethink about a positive relationship between the internet use and high cognitive level or higher level of social connectivity. So, it is not wise to generalize any observation on the basis of few facts; instead, the in-depth analytical techniques can show that the Internet use is different and has different effects in case of different individuals even within a community or a social category.
#
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Thought paper 2: "Critical Perspectives in New Media"
By, Masudul K. Biswas
Scholars in the field of new media were initially working on the issues related to the influence of technology on culture. It is true that the use of the Internet as a mass communication medium has created online culture and online community. But people use the Internet in different social and cultural contexts. The Internet or the computer cannot be adopted automatically. As we discussed in last class from Bucy and Newhagen’s book “Media Access,” access to the Internet-based media also requires cognitive skills apart from the physical access. Similarly, culture and individual orientation of users are also important for the faster adoption of computer which makes the function of Internet possible. That is why, the critical thinking in new media has started to identify that culture can also influence technology.
Cultural considerations are important when we think about the adoption of any technology from the principle of universal usability. If the Internet is considered as the foundation of the global information society, the use of the technology should not only be meant for the privilege class of the society. The design elements of computer (e.g. desktop metaphors) and the structure of the Internet network need to be put in the way that people with different educational and socio-cultural backgrounds can easily adopt and use the technology, and can bring diversity in cultural production. That is why Christian Sandvig mentioned about the “techno-socio-legal convergence” in policymaking process for the infrastructural design of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and Beth E. Kolko placed emphasis on the cultural context of the Internet adoption. I think these thoughts, more appropriate at policy level, are the beginning of correcting the Internet system for the cause of the freedom of expression, cultural diversity, and easy access which the technology is meant to offer.
As the Internet is the domain of cultural production, it is important to have participation of users with diverse socio-cultural backgrounds. The Internet design is important for ensuring easy access to it. There are two approaches toward the solution for better Internet access – multicasting approach, channeling information through multiple streams, and content caching which involves employing a third party to store and copy information traffic. The multicasting approach, which remains as experimental on Internet Protocol system, can be more user-friendly compared to content caching which is expensive and involves proprietary. Interestingly, the expensive option was systematically popularized so that the capitalized users can increasingly produce popular web contents. On the other hand, the lack of “legal nondiscrimination” requirement allows the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to divert or block the content they do not like. It seems to me another form of political economy active within new media system which we are used to see in mass media industry.
In such context, Sandvig referred to “techno-socio-legal convergence” for the development of “infrastructural cultural policy” which allows the participation of public-interest advocates, represent the voiceless and economically powerless, in the development of communication system network. It is true that only the perception of engineers or technical persons, who design the communication system, got priorities. It is a positive step that the convergence concept will allow the scholars and legal experts to put forward the public-interest and legal concerns about the use of the Internet. But this convergence concept has neglected one important group in the communication system development. Who funds the communication system development process? So the involvement of the government, the service providers and content producers in the convergence concept are also important as it will create interaction between these stakeholders and public-interest advocates so that funds are rightly directed toward the network research projects for making the Internet affordable and culturally diverse. Without the involvement of fund-generating groups, the proposed “techno-socio-legal convergence” runs the risk of only producing recommendations without proper implementations.
Structural design issue of the communication system of the Internet not only needs to consider the affordability issues of the users but also the cultural factors for its successful and faster adoption. I would like to quote an observation of Beth E. Kolko, drawn from the case study on the Internet adoption in Central Asia, “narrow cultural channel that currently informs technology development can be broadened to include diverse cultural perspectives.” Technical people, who develop the communication system for the Internet, think in the light of their own cultural perspectives. From the beginning, the diffusion process of the Internet or computer technology followed the “top-down” approach. When the technology offers the promise of universal usability, its structure should not be an obstacle for different users. “Filing-cabinet” type of desktop interface metaphors may be sensible for consumers in the US market, but may not be meaningful for vast majority of users in other countries, and even within an immigrant community in the US. Our previous class reading on media access gave us an example of fear about the adoption of computer technology among Hispanic youth. Such fear goes very much with the level of complexity of the design of a technology. Neighborhood structure in Uzbek society has an influence in information dissemination process where even mass media outlets like the newspapers, televisions, and radio are not regarded as credible sources of information. In such cultural context, more aligned with the Eastern values, it is really a challenging to introduce the Internet as an information medium with the West like interface metaphors or design elements. But the ICT structure for the Internet is flexible. This flexibility of the Internet structure has led the scholars to rethink about the design as “culturally coded act.” In the context of Uzbekistan, the design elements in ICT network need to be developed in the way that reflects connection with offline world.
At the end, I would like to recognize the role of qualitative research methods, discourse analysis, ethnographic analysis, and interviews with participants that helped these scholars to come up with such critical thoughts about the structural issues of the Internet. Everybody was talking about digital divide. But such type of critical thoughts has led us to think that the digital divide issue is not anything straight-forward. This divide does also have socio-cultural, structural and political dimensions apart from the economic concerns.
Scholars in the field of new media were initially working on the issues related to the influence of technology on culture. It is true that the use of the Internet as a mass communication medium has created online culture and online community. But people use the Internet in different social and cultural contexts. The Internet or the computer cannot be adopted automatically. As we discussed in last class from Bucy and Newhagen’s book “Media Access,” access to the Internet-based media also requires cognitive skills apart from the physical access. Similarly, culture and individual orientation of users are also important for the faster adoption of computer which makes the function of Internet possible. That is why, the critical thinking in new media has started to identify that culture can also influence technology.
Cultural considerations are important when we think about the adoption of any technology from the principle of universal usability. If the Internet is considered as the foundation of the global information society, the use of the technology should not only be meant for the privilege class of the society. The design elements of computer (e.g. desktop metaphors) and the structure of the Internet network need to be put in the way that people with different educational and socio-cultural backgrounds can easily adopt and use the technology, and can bring diversity in cultural production. That is why Christian Sandvig mentioned about the “techno-socio-legal convergence” in policymaking process for the infrastructural design of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and Beth E. Kolko placed emphasis on the cultural context of the Internet adoption. I think these thoughts, more appropriate at policy level, are the beginning of correcting the Internet system for the cause of the freedom of expression, cultural diversity, and easy access which the technology is meant to offer.
As the Internet is the domain of cultural production, it is important to have participation of users with diverse socio-cultural backgrounds. The Internet design is important for ensuring easy access to it. There are two approaches toward the solution for better Internet access – multicasting approach, channeling information through multiple streams, and content caching which involves employing a third party to store and copy information traffic. The multicasting approach, which remains as experimental on Internet Protocol system, can be more user-friendly compared to content caching which is expensive and involves proprietary. Interestingly, the expensive option was systematically popularized so that the capitalized users can increasingly produce popular web contents. On the other hand, the lack of “legal nondiscrimination” requirement allows the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to divert or block the content they do not like. It seems to me another form of political economy active within new media system which we are used to see in mass media industry.
In such context, Sandvig referred to “techno-socio-legal convergence” for the development of “infrastructural cultural policy” which allows the participation of public-interest advocates, represent the voiceless and economically powerless, in the development of communication system network. It is true that only the perception of engineers or technical persons, who design the communication system, got priorities. It is a positive step that the convergence concept will allow the scholars and legal experts to put forward the public-interest and legal concerns about the use of the Internet. But this convergence concept has neglected one important group in the communication system development. Who funds the communication system development process? So the involvement of the government, the service providers and content producers in the convergence concept are also important as it will create interaction between these stakeholders and public-interest advocates so that funds are rightly directed toward the network research projects for making the Internet affordable and culturally diverse. Without the involvement of fund-generating groups, the proposed “techno-socio-legal convergence” runs the risk of only producing recommendations without proper implementations.
Structural design issue of the communication system of the Internet not only needs to consider the affordability issues of the users but also the cultural factors for its successful and faster adoption. I would like to quote an observation of Beth E. Kolko, drawn from the case study on the Internet adoption in Central Asia, “narrow cultural channel that currently informs technology development can be broadened to include diverse cultural perspectives.” Technical people, who develop the communication system for the Internet, think in the light of their own cultural perspectives. From the beginning, the diffusion process of the Internet or computer technology followed the “top-down” approach. When the technology offers the promise of universal usability, its structure should not be an obstacle for different users. “Filing-cabinet” type of desktop interface metaphors may be sensible for consumers in the US market, but may not be meaningful for vast majority of users in other countries, and even within an immigrant community in the US. Our previous class reading on media access gave us an example of fear about the adoption of computer technology among Hispanic youth. Such fear goes very much with the level of complexity of the design of a technology. Neighborhood structure in Uzbek society has an influence in information dissemination process where even mass media outlets like the newspapers, televisions, and radio are not regarded as credible sources of information. In such cultural context, more aligned with the Eastern values, it is really a challenging to introduce the Internet as an information medium with the West like interface metaphors or design elements. But the ICT structure for the Internet is flexible. This flexibility of the Internet structure has led the scholars to rethink about the design as “culturally coded act.” In the context of Uzbekistan, the design elements in ICT network need to be developed in the way that reflects connection with offline world.
At the end, I would like to recognize the role of qualitative research methods, discourse analysis, ethnographic analysis, and interviews with participants that helped these scholars to come up with such critical thoughts about the structural issues of the Internet. Everybody was talking about digital divide. But such type of critical thoughts has led us to think that the digital divide issue is not anything straight-forward. This divide does also have socio-cultural, structural and political dimensions apart from the economic concerns.