The Digital Divide

The global digital divide is a real problem. There are many organizations and projects that are working toward ending this global problem. One such organization is Close the Gap, which works globally to match refurbished computers donated by corporations and organizations with people who need them, but can’t afford to buy them.1

Close the Gap partners with local effort such as Ecole Superieure Polytechnique Kaya in Burkina Faso. The goal of ESPK is to help train technicians and engineers in developing countries in Africa by providing computer access and training to those who cannot afford it.2 It is a small organization with only 72 computers, but it is through grassroots efforts like ESPK that global change can occur.2

There are many organizations working the bridge the digital divide here in the U.S. Engineers, scientists, and mathematicians donate their time to help with the middle school STEM programs offered through the organization: Citizen Schools. STEM majors require students to be technologically savvy, so Citizen schools provides training computer skills and makes tech equipment available.3 By quipping low-income middle school student with skills in technology, opportunities and careers will be open to them that would not have been otherwise.3

References.

1. Close the Gap. 2014. Who We Are. Retrieved from http://close-the-gap.org/

2. Close the Gap. 2014. Ecole Superieure Polytechnique Kaya. Retrieved from http://close-the-gap.org/projects/project-overview/ecole-superieure-polytechnique-kaya-espk/

3. Citizen Schools. Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Education. Retrieved from http://www.citizenschools.org/about/education-reform/stem/

How Smartphone Apps are Changing Things for the Visually Impaired

Smartphone technology is opening up so many possibilities for visually impaired people. There are now many smartphone applications available that help make life easier and more enjoyable for these people. I am going to touch on a few of these apps and their importance jobs.

Apple is responsible for developing the screen-reader app VoiceOver. This app helps visually impaired people by changing the way the iPhone is operated. Instead of precise taps and clicks, users can swipe around the screen and have it described audibly, and can flick from app to app with ease.1 Android makes a similar application called Talk Back.  

The KNFB Reader for iPhone allows users to snap photos of print and reads it out loud.2 This app also can translate the print into Braille when hooked up to a refreshable Braille display.2 Similarly LookTel Money Reader uses the camera to identify the denominations of paper money.1 Blio, a Google app, uses KNFB Reading technology to read books out loud.1

There are several exciting apps and devices in development to help the visually impaired. One of them is being made by the South Korean startup company, Dot, and consists of a device that is strapped to the wrist and uses magnets to translate smartphone text into a braille.3 There has also been talk about the development of a Braille smartphone.4

References:

1. Blass, Eileen. USA Today. 2013. Screen Readers for Blind Make Smartphones Easy to Use. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/06/02/smartphone-accessibility-for-the-blind/2373611/

2. Reuters. 2014. New Smartphone App Gives 'Sight' to the Blind. In: Voice of America. Retrieved from http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-new-app-gives-sight-to-the-blind/2458313.html

3. Greenberg A (2015) This New Watch Lets Blind People Read Real-Time Smartphone Data in Braille. In: Time. Retrieved from http://time.com/3983375/smartwatch-blind-dot-braille/. 2015

4. Strauss, Karsten. 2013. Breakthrough Braille Smartphones For The Blind. In: Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2013/04/24/breakthrough-braille-smartphones-for-the-blind/

It Wasn’t Fair

In 2012 Lindsey Stone posted a photo on her personal Facebook page, and it ended up costing her her job. The photo was taken while she was in Washington D.C. for business and was visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Her co-worker took the photo as Lindsey stood in front of a sign reading: ‘Silence and Respect.’ Lindsey was holding one hand next to her mouth as if she was yelling while she gave the middle finger with her other hand.2

Shortly after posting the photo, thousands of people reacted in outrage at the alleged insult against U.S. veterans. People started to write on her employer’s Facebook page, and a petition circled the internet calling for her to be fired. Lindsey and her co-worker responded with an apology, “It was meant merely as a visual pun, intending to depict the exact opposite of what the sign said, and had absolutely nothing to do with the location it was taken or the people represented there. We never meant to cause any harm or disrespect to anyone.”2 Unfortunately for Lindsey and her co-worker, her employer listened to the public outcry and fired them.1

In my opinion this is an example of worst aspect of the social media era. While I think the photo was in poor taste, it was not a fireable offense. The problem is that there will always be masses of people that enjoy seeing the downfall of others. These people should not be the ruling authority in the life-altering matters of others they have never met. Everyone makes mistakes, and as more people spend more time interacting online, these mistakes are permanently documented. Yes, I believe we should all think very carefully about everything we post online, but a misstep should not end in crucifixion.

References:

1. Barrie, J. (2015, March 9). This woman's life was destroyed after she posted one dumb photo on Facebook. Retrieved August 17, 2015, from http://www.businessinsider.com/lindsey-stone--so-youve-been-publicly-shamed?r=UK&IR=T

2. CBS Boston. (2012, November 20). Facebook Photo Of Plymouth Woman At Tomb Of The Unknowns Sparks Outrage. Retrieved August 17, 2015 from http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/11/20/facebook-photo-of-plymouth-woman-at-tomb-of-the-unknowns-sparks-outrage/

Social Media and the Arab Spring

Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, and Syria all experienced political uprisings in the spring of 2011, a period that became known as The Arab Spring. This revolutionary event has also been called “The Blogger’s Revolution,” because of the reported role that social media and the internet had in triggering and propagating it.

Philip N. Howard from University of Washington led an in depth study that analysed millions of tweets, Facebook statuses, blog posts, viral Youtube videos and other online sources that may have influenced the political events. His team was able to show through keyword tracking the correlation between online expression and revolutionary activity. “We find that conversations about liberty, democracy, and revolution on blogs and on Twitter often immediately preceded mass protests,”1 said Howard. The resignation of Ben Ali, president of Tunisia, occurred after a spike in criticism in the blogosphere. ‘Revolution’ then dominated online posts, which resulted in a rally of 100,000 people that ended up ousting the remainder of Ben Ali’s administration. All government efforts to control online content was quickly circumvented by the young, tech-savvy populations.

“Technologies have helped people interested in democracy build extensive networks, create social capital, and organize political action,”1 said Howard. “Technology may not have created the desire for political freedom, but it is a tool democracy advocates have used to their advantage.”1

References:

Philip N. Howard, Aiden Duffy, Deen Freelon, Muzammil Hussain, Will Mari, Marwa Mazaid. 2011. University of Washington. Opening Closed Regimes, What Was the Role of Social Media During the Arab Spring? Retrieved from: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2595096

A Class Divided

I recently watched a video on PBS called ‘A Class Divided’ for my diversity class. In 1970, third-grade teacher, Jane Elliott, conducted a televised experiment with her students. This experiment showed how discrimination can quickly affect the behavior of both the discriminators and the discriminatees. She accomplished this by dividing the all-white rural Ohioan class based on their eye-color. She told them that blue-eyed people were better than brown-eyed people and that they should be restricted and treated differently. She made the brown-eyed children wear collars to clearly mark them as the inferior ‘brown-eyes.’ The following day she told them that she had lied and that brown-eyed people were really better and switched the collars to the ‘blue-eyes’.

For me, the most interesting and surprising thing about the broadcast was how quickly the children’s behavior changed based on the new prejudices. “I watched what had been marvelous, cooperative, wonderful, thoughtful children turn into nasty, vicious, discriminating, little third-graders in a space of fifteen minutes,” Elliott recounted. Many of the blue-eyed children began to bully and taunt the brown-eyed children. One of the boys being taunted punched his former friend in the gut. A look of helpless anxiety and dissatisfaction came over the children wearing the collars. Their academic scores dropped dramatically on the day they wore the collars.

I feel a little bothered by this video, because the children being observed actually went through a harrowing emotional experience during the experiment. Despite this feeling, I think it actually had a positive effect on the children. The video included an interview of the third grade class fourteen years later, and each young adult testified to the experiment having a profoundly powerful positive impact on their lives. It helped them identify with minorities and all people who were different from them.  

The scene that will stick with me the longest will be the two boys discussing the punching incident and what led up to it. The brown-eyed boy admitted that punching the other boy didn’t make him feel any better. Elliot asked the blue eyed boy about the taunting, “Were you doing it for fun--to be funny, or were you doing it to be mean?” “Mean?” the boy responded with a guilty expression.

The video was very interesting to watch. I think the unique thing about it is that although the experiment seems ahead of its time, I don’t think it would be permitted in any American school today. Even Elliot admitted that it could be damaging for many children. Nevertheless, the ‘Blue-eyes, Brown-eyes Exercise,” was an informative, eye-opening experiment and taught us something important about human nature.

References:

A Class Divided; March 26, 1985; PBS; William Peters; Charlie Cobb;

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/etc/view.html

A Global Village

When Marshall McLuhan called our social world, a ‘global village,’ he was making a point about how our world today has been shrunk as a result of the communication age. International interactions online are a daily occurrence, and the people of the world are constantly connecting and collaborating.

Thomas Friedman made an almost identical point during his talk about his book, The World is Flat, at MIT. He said that we are currently in the 3rd era of globalization, characterized by individuals and small groups globalizing. “It’s shrinking the world from size small to size tiny, and flattening the global economic playing field at the same time.” More players are allowed on the economic scene as a result of communication technology.

The implications of living in a global village are transforming the social world. As diversity grows in the business scene, more accommodations are being made for people of different languages, cultural and religious backgrounds. As Bucher states in Diversity Consciousness, we can’t pretend that differences don’t exist. We have to learn to be sensitive to other cultures and realize that people from different backgrounds or cultures may not think the same way about everything as we do.  As the global village brings people together, there is hope that it will encourage understanding.

References:

Bucher, Richard D., Diversity Consciousness, Opening our Minds to People, Cultures, and Opportunities, Fourth Edition, 2013

Friedman, Thomas L., “The World is Flat”, 2005, retrieved from http://video.mit.edu/watch/the-world-is-flat-9145/

2050 U.S. Demographics and Me

How will US demographics be different in 2050 than they are in the present? The textbook, Diversity Consciousness, sites demographers’ predictions that the percentage of people identifying themselves as multiracial will increase significantly. Interracial couples are becoming more common and accepted in society. Projected demographics show an increase in all minorities, women and older and disabled people in the U.S. workforce. These predictions all lead to one conclusion: the U.S. is becoming more diverse.

How will a more diverse country affect me personally? I am a white female, and in 2050, I will be 63 years old. I have recently become more aware of white privilege and the advantages I have received by just being born into a white family. I hope that as my children and grandchildren grow up in a more diverse country, opportunities become more available to minorities. Due to the rising number of interracial couples, it is quite possible that I could have a grandchild of mixed race and would come to a very personal understanding of the challenges facing a multiracial child.

I think it is natural, but not necessarily good, for many people to prefer to be around people who are similar to themselves, and to resist change as they grow older. I hope that I can be patient and understanding to all types of people as an older woman. Fortunately, I have close friends from several different races, and live in an area that is very diverse. I hope that in 2050, I will continue to make the effort to try to understand people who are different from me and adapt as I encounter all types of people.

References:

Bucher, Richard D., Diversity Consciousness, Opening our Minds to People, Cultures, and Opportunities, Fourth Edition, 2013