Digital Divide and Women: Knowledge I've Gained

MY THOUGHTS ON THE DIGITAL DIVIDE ASSIGNMENT:
I feel that from this assignment there is a bigger digital divide between men and women than I realized. The   digital divide between countries is of great significance, with the women in the US being behind the men and the women in poorer countries being significantly behind men. I feel that from my reports I have learned that men use social networking sites such as twitter to express themselves more, while women use it to follow celebs and latest trends. There is a website where women can access a forum and receive online support for breast cancer. In lesser countries women's divide is accounting for an digital backwardness, which in turn is making the countries economically poorer.

ANALYSIS ABOUT CLASSMATES DIGITAL DIVIDE REVIEWS:
I wanted to research other classmates reports on a different subject of the digital divide. I liked the articles that Anjali found on digital divide in minority groups. I found it interesting that blacks were more apt to using their phone's to access the web, whereas whites were more apt to use their computers. The article form the USA Today finds that blacks are being challenged more, not less by access to technology. For example, some things that may be easier to do on a computer such as filling out a job application. I found this article to be informative and was interesting to see how much the internet effects everyday life, especially when they say that people who do not have access to the internet miss out on about 65% of opportunities in life.
I decided to use evaluate Hannah's assignment, since she did hers on Digital Divide and Disabilities. Going through her assignment page I realize that there are some very useful links here and I decided to click on the regular google one about the Accessible Society. The first paragraph of the article caught my eye when it said that people with disabilities are 1/4 as likely as non disabled to use the internet. It's interesting because the internet can make things more accessible to people who are disabled. I agree with the article and think that if we can make the internet more accessible, it can help people with disabilities to be able to make life more accessible.

VIDEOS ON DIGITAL DIVIDE:
Here is an informative video I've found about a company that refurbishes computers to give to the community to help bridge the digital divide in Orange County, California. They bring refurbished computers to underprivileged school children, which they allow them to use in home and they also give the families training on how to use the computers. This is essential in helping the school children be able to keep up with the digital era and not fall behind.

As a response to Hannah's article about digital divide for people with disabilities I was curious as to what was being done to provide access to people with disabilities to help gain web access. This video on adapted technology being offered to the blind, and teaching them to be able to gain more internet accessibility is more of what I was looking for and offers useful information on what is being done to help bridge this gap.

Internet Usage Issues In Lebanon

In the interview with Nadine Moawad I was surprised to hear about the different obstacles in Lebanon that women face when trying to use the internet. I was shocked to hear that the internet access points such as coffee shops, were very male dominated and women could not use these spaces because they are not safe for them.

I find it interesting when she says that the government doesn't censor what they say online but they give them crappy internet connections, it shows that they really are censoring just not saying that they are. I also find it crazy that our standard internet connection speeds here would cost them 200$ per mo. over in Lebanon. It makes me realize how much we take for granted when considering the availability of technology in the United States.

I feel that if we can make the internet more accessible over different areas of the world they would be able to gain more accessibility with freedom of speech and the sexual rights movement. These countries would also be able to express their struggles they face with the internet usage sites not being accessible to women, and hopefully be able to make them more accessible by doing this. The internet usage issues are also resided to class where women who are in lower economic status would have to use the cafes to use the internet but aren't able to due to inaccessibility.

Internet usage: Becoming the New Norm?

In today's day and age internet usage is becoming almost a mandatory skill to have already acquired. I have grown up as the internet has expanded and grown, it first became popular when I was in elementary school. So essentially we were learning about the internet, while our teachers were also learning. I remember the days of dial up, and now how the internet is starting to become the "norm." We rely on it for everyday tasks, and have even expanded it to our mobile phones to be able to have it everywhere we go. In a simple sense the internet has made everything we've ever wanted to know at our fingertips, anywhere and anytime.

Children in this internet era are brought up to know the internet and how to use it at a very young age. It is very uncommon to see a child that is in grade school that doesn't know how to use the internet or what it is at least about. There is a difference in internet usage socioeconomic status and gender. With socioeconomic status we need to consider that younger children of lesser economic may not have internet access prior to entering school, so we need to be able to teach students on different levels based on their experience and previous knowledge, not on the assumption that everyone knows the basics and how to use it. In later teen years the gender differences begin to crop up in internet usage. With girls spending more time blogging and using social networking sites, girls also start to use the internet at a younger age and are thus more knowledgeable in internet usage than boys are.

I believe that schools need to be able to accommodate all levels of internet experience as well as taking into consideration the gender differences that are presented with internet usage. I'm curious to find out if anyone else out there has had experience with this issue of children being assumed to have a basic level of internet usage experience.

Socializing in a Social Media Era

After reading the article titled "Gender Differences in the Use of Facebook," it makes me think about what I used to do before I started dividing my time between school, social networking, and friends. Yes, facebook is a part of my usual daily routine, I would say I probably check this site and twitter about five times a day, if not more. I recently read a good blog on how college students can balance their time between social networking, school, and studying. From what I got out of it you need to sort out your priorities and create a good balance to better harmonize your life.

A few of the benefits that I have gained from social networking are being able to connect with old friends or family members that I get to see only a few times a year. I also use mine to share videos, thoughts, and to keep up to date with what is going on in everyone elses lives. I like to think of it as an online news spot for things that you find important. For example, I studied abroad in England for a semester and met locals while over there. I now can use my facebook to keep in touch with them and find out what is going on in their lives. Two of my friends from there are already pregnant and one is married, things I would have not been able to find out otherwise unless for this social networking site.

There is also the big issue of if social media is really a good way to interact with others vs. time spent interacting with someone face to face. Though social networking is nice to have to keep in touch with others, I believe that a good amount of time needs to be divided between spending time with others face to face vs over the internet. There are gender differences in facebook usage also, women are more likely then men to post photos and post comments. While men are more likely to post links and videos to their profiles. I find myself doing about both of these gender differences equally though. Also the fact that women are more likely than men to communicate with friends who live in a different country, comes into play when I think about my friends I have stayed in touch with from England. I wonder, what are some other users facebook habits? Do you agree or disagree with the standard gender differences?