<!--[if !mso]> <object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id=ieooui></object><mce:style><! st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } -->   Purpose/Aim: The goal of this thesis is to examine access and knowledge computers and the Internet among the senior-year students of Anacostia High School. Do the students of this facility have the same opportunity as the residents from better socioeconomical backgrounds or are they being excluded from the technology? Material/Method: To approach the thesis goal I have used a quantitative method. More specifically, a questionnaire was handed out to the senior year students at Anacostia High School. Main results: The study has shown that most of the students of Anacostia had in some way access to computers and Internet. Most of the students asked had the access of computer and Internet at home. Few of the students whom lacked computer and/or Internet access at home could access it from somewhere else. The study also showed that the High School of Anacostia had Internet access and computers. Even so, the students felt they didn’t have physical access to Internet and computers from school, because the demand was too big and the supply not enough. Therefore most of the student did not have the opportunity to use the computers and Internet at school.

Uppsala universitet The aim of this master’s thesis is to investigate, through text analysis, the role of copyright in development, with particular interest of how the concepts knowledge and access to knowledge are used in Access to Knowledge Draft Treaty and WIPO Development Agenda. The definition of the concept knowledge, as it is used in copyright, is based in a Western historical and philosophical context and therefore excludes knowledge created in another type of society. The consequences of this exclusion have effects on development. Further it is stated that knowledge according to the global copyright scheme will be reduced to a commodity, which will have consequences not only in societies in the global South. The difficulties in achieving access to knowledge in the global copyright regime are investigated. The flexibilities contained in the Berne Convention and the TRIPS Agreement are limited in scope and difficult to maintain. Exclusion from access to knowledge affects development and deepens inequalities both within countries and globally.

This essay is about publishing on the Internet and aims to understand the differences between publishing information on the webpage Wikipedia (Swedish version) in contrast to other information pages on the Internet, for example blog, discussion pages, homepages etcetera. The study is based upon an article which described that 90% of the information publishers at Wikipedia belongs to a small elite of white, western, well educated men between the age of thirty to thirtythree. This study examines why people who does not belong to this heteronormativity publish information in other Internet places but not at Wikipedia.Wikipedia is an open source site, where anyone can publish and are even encouraged to do so and is often described as an utopian dream of the digital democracy, so why don´t people express themselves on Wikipedia? The method is based on two discussion groups, which are compared and analyzed. The study is based upon theoretical competence within feminist theory and conceptions such as intersectionality, heteronormativity and digital divide as well as theories about digital devices and social order. The analyses concluded that Wikipedias structure restrains people from contributing with information on the site, that is understand to be associated with true and objective information and prestige. It is also compared to the printed encyclopedia which also strengthens this understanding. And when people publish information in other coherences it is based upon their own understanding, and this requirement for true and objective information at Wikipedia hinder many.

La letteratura sul digital divide ha fatto negli ultimi anni importanti passi in avanti: una velocità, quella dell’evoluzione del concetto di divario digitale, sorprendente, se si pensa che il termine nasce poco più di dieci anni fa (DiMaggio et al. 2004). Ancora più interessante è la duttilità del termine, che si è trasformato in un vero e proprio discorso, quasi in termini foucaultiani, assorbito da governi, istituzioni, associazioni, aziende. La flessibilità del termine sembrerebbe avere svuotato il concetto stesso di digital divide: se da una parte la letteratura e la riflessione accademica si sta progressivamente allontanando dal termine (Warschauer, 2003), dall’altra l’azione politica l’ha fatto proprio, perdendo sempre più aderenza col dibattito teorico in corso (van Dijk 2005; Barzilai-Nahon 2006). L’ambiguità del termine digital divide pone seri problemi circa la definizione della issue: alcuni studiosi (Compaine 2001) hanno definito il digital divide come un problema di semplice diffusione tecnologica. Tale impostazione, ampiamente superata dalla letterature accademica, è stata invece convintamente adottata dagli strategy makers istituzionale e politici, con effetti spesso contraddittori e discutibili sulle modalità di diffusione e adozione delle ICT tra la popolazione. E’ come se di fronte all’evoluzione del dibattito accademico, i soggetti pubblici non abbiano avuto la capacità (e la volontà politica) di far contestualmente evolvere le politiche adottate verso un avvicinamento al tema del divario di competenze. Al contrario, le strategie degli attori pubblici (privati e istituzionali) sembrano in alcuni casi essere ancora legate a interpretazioni, valori culturali, miti, retoriche tipiche della nascita dell’era digitale (Mosco 2004). In particolare, le istituzioni sono impegnate in un continuo processo interpretativo sul ruolo delle tecnologie (della comunicazione) nella società: ciò che sembra emergere dall’analisi dei principali documenti prodotti dalle istituzioni europee e statunitensi sul digital divide e sullo sviluppo della Società dell’Informazione, è la costruzione di un’ideologia di stampo diffusionista e determinista, all’interno della quale le tecnologie digitali (con Internet in testa) sono in grado di determinare una cesura storica e hanno la capacità di offrire alla società delle opportunità di sviluppo rivoluzionarie. Nonostante tale processo di costruzione narrativa delle opportunità sociali delle ICT, le concrete politiche di riduzione del divario digitale sembrano seguire un’altra strada (Milner 2006). La ricerca, dopo una panoramica sull’evoluzione del concetto di digital divide (Iannone 2007), affronta la più recente letteratura sul tema delle disuguaglianze digitali (Newholm et al. 2008; Sartori 2006; DiMaggio et al 2004), inserendola nella più ampia riflessione sulle disuguaglianze economiche e sociali del mondo contemporaneo (Gallino 2000; Milanovic 2007) e relazionandola con un’overview delle strategie e politiche pubbliche e private di riduzione del divario numerico, in particolare nell’Unione Europa e negli Stati Uniti. L’obiettivo finale del paper è dunque evidenziare il pericoloso scollamento tra l’essenza delle disuguaglianze digitali (la cui comprensione è possibile solo se inserita in una più ampia riflessioni sulle disuguaglianza societarie) e la loro discorsivizzazione, rappresentazione e messa in forma operata dai soggetti e dalle istituzioni che si sono assunti la responsabilità di messa a punto delle strategie di superamento del divario digitale (Carlo 2008). La tesi è che, nel processo di discorsivizzazione del digital divide, i soggetti pubblici abbiano costruito un apparato retorico in grado di offrire una rappresentazione del problema lontana dalla reale natura del fenomeno: il digital divide ha assorbito retoriche e miti del ciberspazio e della società contemporanea, trasformando tali miti in un’azione politica in molti casi inadeguata, inefficacia, fuori obiettivo (Colombo – Carlo 2006a). Sembra di essere di fronte in alcuni casi a una vera e propria azione mistificatoria: si discorsivizzano azioni politiche di riduzione del digital divide legate a un auspicato processo di sviluppo sociale e culturale (determinato dalle ICT) per perseguire, in verità, obiettivi di carattere puramente economico. Forse solo attraverso un’azione di disvelamento di tale mistificazione, è possibile riconoscere le vere politiche di riduzione del divario digitale che sono tali solo se inserite in una più ampia riflessione (e azione) attorno alla crescita delle disuguaglianze nella società globale, informatizzata, in rete (Colombo – Carlo 2006b). Il rischio è che tali azioni, altrimenti, siano semplicemente legate a dimensioni economicistiche di efficienza e di crescita, pericolosamente controproducenti per lo sviluppo di società più giuste (Feenberg 2002; van Dijk 2006). / In the recent years, the literature about digital divide makes an important breakthrough: the evolution of concept of digital divide it has been very quick, in particular if is related with the relative youthfulness of the term, that born only ten years ago (DiMaggio et al. 2004). Even more interesting is the “pliability” of the term: it’s seem to be transformed in a kind of discourse, near in Foucault’s concept, premise by governments, institutions, associations, companies. The flexibility of the term seems has transform (near empty out) the concept of digital divide: if on the one hand the academic reflections are gradually moving away from the term (making more complex the concept, Warschauer, 2003), on the other hand the political action still “use” the term, without understand the theoretical debate in progress and the changing of meaning of the concept (van Dijk, 2005; Barzilai-Nahon, 2006). Maybe only through an action of “unmasking” of this kind of mystification could be possible to recognize the true (or, the more efficient, useful, comprehensive) policies of reduction of the digital divide. Only if this policies are combined with a broader reflections (and actions) about the rising of inequality in the global, digital, network society, the effect of these measures of government will be visible. The risk is that these measures, without a deeply consideration about the morphology, characteristic, structurally unequal of contemporary society, are linking only with economic dimension of efficiency and development. This kind of “use” of digital divide term in a frame of economical policy could be very dangerous and counterproductive for the improvement of more equitable societies (Feenberg 2002, van Dijk, 2006). This paper, after a overview about the evolution of the concept of digital divide (Iannone, 2007) , face the most recent literature about digital inequality (DiMaggio, P., Hargittai, E., Celeste, C., and Shafer, S. 2004): on one side it frames the literature of digital divide in a broader reflection about economic and social inequality in the contemporary world (Gallino 2000; Milanovic 2007), on the other side it wants to related this literature with an overview of policy and strategy public and private for the reduction of digital divide, in particular in EU and USA (Milner, 2006). The aim of the paper is to stress the dangerous separation between the essence of digital inequalities and their discoursivization, representation and “shaping” made by the subjects that have taken the responsibility or have the role to manage and ideate strategies for fall digital divide.

The purpose of this study was two fold: (1) to examine how the distribution of resources within and outside an Enhanced Language Training Program (ELT) affected a group of newcomers’ access to Internet literacy development; and (2) to discuss ensuing pedagogical and curricular implications for the ELT Program. The relationship between the distribution of resources and a group of newcomers’ access to Internet literacy development was studied through a hybrid of two frameworks: van Dijk’s (2005) digital divide and Warschauer’s (2004) social inclusion. The key findings were that the distribution of resources affected access four ways: (1) resources affected multiple types of access, (2) the effect of resource distribution on access was both cumulative and successive, (3) distribution of resources could either facilitate or impede access, and (4) Internet literacy development could potentially increase or decrease the resources. The findings resulted in implications for the ELT program and teaching.

The purpose of this study is to discuss how journalists think about the interaction with the audience in social media and the fact that it can make the traditional audience feel excluded. The study shows how journalists on P4 Kalmar is experiencing audience interaction in social media and describes how aware the journalists are about the digital divide. The results show that all of our interviewed journalists think that the interaction with the audience through social media works well and that there is awareness among journalists about the digital divide. The results also show that many of the interviewed journalists had not reflected on that parts of the audience can feel excluded by the interaction taking place in social media, but some of them could understand if parts of the audience felt that way. We consider our study as part of a research field on journalist’s interactivity with the audience through different types of media, but also as source of inspiration for future research on how the digital media becomes one with the community.

The purpose of this study was two fold: (1) to examine how the distribution of resources within and outside an Enhanced Language Training Program (ELT) affected a group of newcomers’ access to Internet literacy development; and (2) to discuss ensuing pedagogical and curricular implications for the ELT Program. The relationship between the distribution of resources and a group of newcomers’ access to Internet literacy development was studied through a hybrid of two frameworks: van Dijk’s (2005) digital divide and Warschauer’s (2004) social inclusion. The key findings were that the distribution of resources affected access four ways: (1) resources affected multiple types of access, (2) the effect of resource distribution on access was both cumulative and successive, (3) distribution of resources could either facilitate or impede access, and (4) Internet literacy development could potentially increase or decrease the resources. The findings resulted in implications for the ELT program and teaching.

Title from title page of PDF (University of Missouri--St. Louis, viewed February 22, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-95).

This dissertation examines stakeholder narratives that surround Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education, as well as the gap that exists between this narrative and effective widespread integration of ICTs in the classroom. Popular narratives surrounding ICTs in education often position ICTs as positive and inevitable and as a development strategy that benefits individuals, nations, and the global marketplace. However, ICTs are not equally distributed or enjoyed within or among nations. Technologies, information, and social development efforts are not neutral but are socially constructed and motivated by specific actors trying to achieve certain outcomes. This research, anchored in theories of ICTs in education, globalization, development communication, digital divide, and production of culture, provides a critical perspective to better understand who contributes to the production of the education technology culture and what social development gains are possible through the implementation of such efforts. One major factor contributing to the narrative of ICTs in education is the widespread adoption of education technology standards. This case study examines the stakeholder culture that produces those standards and contributes to the education technology narratives. Through interview and historical organization document analysis, I examine the processes followed to establish the National Education Technology Standards (NETS); the stakeholders that contribute to and operate within a culture of instructional technology that informs the development of technology standards; and how the production of culture surrounding instructional technology standards has been realized internationally. I argue that there is a disconnect between the production of instructional technology culture and the realities facing poor schools and poor nations. Despite the development and widespread adoption of educational technology standards, significant educational gains have largely gone unrealized. While I do not dispute the importance of establishing a minimum set of expectations for ICTs in education, I assert that the focus on standards distracts from more challenging conversations concerning inequities among schools and the deep socioeconomic divisions that continue to reinforce the digital divide and the overall inability to provide equitable opportunities for students. / text

This dissertation explores whether and how alternative media in El Salvador incorporated information communication technologies (ICTs) for social change, and whether incorporating said technologies changed citizen participation not only in the media process itself, but also in a broader discursive sphere as well as civic and political life. Within the context of a digitally divided region, this project employed ethnographic methods—including in-depth interviews, participant-observation, and a content analysis—to interrogate the perceived potential value of ICTs in alternative media for contesting power, contributing to social change, and opening spaces for citizen participation in technology and through technology. This research is merely a beginning stage in learning how digital communication tools influence alternative media practices, and what that means for participation, mobilization and empowerment. This study contributes to burgeoning literature focused on communication for social change and technologies by adding an international focus, and by furthering our understanding of under what circumstances alternative media can (or cannot) employ new technologies in liberating ways, especially in a region where use of and access to these technologies is far from universal. Ultimately this dissertation advances existing literature with two main contributions: extending our understanding of the digital divide to include inequalities of social media and whether it is used in liberating or frivolous ways, and including technology use—whether liberating or not¬—as a fundamental approach to the study of alternative media. / text