Browsing by Subject "Digital divide"
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Item Bottom-up technology transmission within families : how children influence their parents in the adoption and use of digital media(2012-12) Correa, Teresa; Gil de Zúñiga, Homero; Straubhaar, Joseph D.This dissertation investigated the bottom-up technology transmission process in a country with varied levels of technology diffusion, such as Chile. In particular, I explored how children act as technology brokers within their families by influencing their parents' adoption of and learning about digital media, so as to include older generations in the digital environment. In order to do this, I measured to what extent this process occurs, I proposed a typology of factors that intervene in the process and analyzed the outcomes variables related to the phenomenon. Methodologically, I used a mixed-methods research approach by combining in-depth interviews with a self-administered paper-and-pencil survey taken by dyads of one parent and one child. I analyzed 28 interviews involving one 12 to 18-year-old child and one parent or legal guardian (14 dyads) stratified by socioeconomic background, age, and gender. In addition, I conducted the parent-child survey among school-aged children and their parents in three schools, stratified by socioeconomic status. One class per cohort from 7th to 11th grades was randomly surveyed. In total, 381 students and 251 parents completed the surveys. The analyses showed that bottom-up technology transmission occurs at some degree for all the technologies investigated in this study. However, children's influence should not be overstated because they play only one part among a number of factors involved in the digital inclusion of older generations. It also established a typology of factors related to the process at different levels, including structural influences, family structure, strategies employed by youth, and psychological dispositions of parents. Specifically, the analyses consistently found that this process was more likely to occur among people from a lower socioeconomic status. Also, the transmission was associated with more fluid parent-child interactions and occurred among parents who perceived the technology to be useful. Regarding the outcome variables, it demonstrated that this phenomenon is linked, although weakly, to greater levels of perceived competence among parents and higher esteem among young people. Finally, it suggested that bottom-up technology transmission is associated with the reduction of some socioeconomic gaps in digital media use.Item A digital truce line between South and North Korea? : an analysis of North Koreans' digital access, media use, and adaptation(2015-08) Min, Bumgi; Strover, Sharon; Straubhaar, JosephThe number of North Korean refugees moving to South Korea as exiles has gradually increased over the past few decades. Therefore, North Korean refugees' adaptation to South Korean society is perceived as one of the most significant issues in South Korea. Instead of using face-to-face communication, North Korean refugees tend to use diverse media channels such as newspapers, television, and Internet to learn about South Korea's value system, social norms, and even how to form relationships. In other words, media has played a crucial role in North Korean refugees' adaptation. Based on this social phenomenon, this paper provides not only the current status of digital access and literacy among North Korean refugees but also the relationship between North Korean refugees' media use and their adaptation by using social trust, social capital, and political participation. This paper takes a quantitative approach as well as a qualitative approach. For a quantitative approach, this study employs a survey of 43 North Korean refugees. Qualitatively, this study conducted in-depth interviews with a total of 12 North Korean refugees. In terms of digital access, both statistical results and interview findings demonstrate that North Korean refugees' digital access is high. However, the refugees' digital literacy and media use are divided according to their occupation and age. Not only do the statistical results but also the interview findings show that digital media plays a significant role in North Korean refugees' social trust and social networking. However, the quantitative findings as well as the qualitative findings do not explain the relationship between digital media and political participation. The results of this research will have significant implications on current telecommunication policies for narrowing the digital divide between South Korean and North Korean refugees.Item Engaging voices or talking to air? A study of alternative and community radio audience in the digital era(2014-05) Guo, Lei, active 21st century; Chyi, Hsiang Iris, 1971-; De Uriarte, Mercedes LynnIn November 2012, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the implementation of the Local Community Radio Act of 2010, which marks the largest expansion of community radio stations in U.S. history. The act responds to the decade-long community radio movement in which many civilian groups advocated that community radio—an “old-fashioned” yet affordable public medium—still plays a significant role in fostering the expression of diverse voices and citizen participation in this digital era. Despite the successful advocacy effort in the policy-making arena, the real impact of community radio remains a question. Who listens to and participates in community radio? Does the connection between community radio and community exist? This dissertation investigates audience interaction and participation in the U.S. community radio sector, seeking to empirically and theoretically advance audience research in community radio and alternative media in general. Methodologically, this dissertation is based on case studies from two community radio stations KOOP and KPFT in Texas through multiple methods including 5-year ethnographic fieldwork, in-depth interviews with 70 individuals including staff, programmers and listeners, a web-based listener survey with 131 respondents, and a textual analysis of producer-audience communication platforms such as blogs and social networking sites. The results demonstrate the limitations of audience interaction and participation caused by resource constraints and community radio programmers’ tendency to speak with themselves. Therefore, I recommend that community radio broadcasters should consider developing systemic approaches to evaluate and facilitate audience participation, which requires an understanding that the value of community engagement lies beyond audience size or the amount of listener donations. This dissertation concludes that community radio remains relevant in this digital era. This affordable and accessible form of alternative media to some extent bridges a digital divide. The medium also facilitates the development of a genuine relationship between radio programmers and listeners, thus the formation of virtual and real communities. These are the very elements that make meaningful dialogues possible in any communication environment.Item "The have-less" : Austin public computing centers after the BTOP(2015-05) Popiel, Pawel M.; Strover, Sharon; Flamm, KennethIn 2009, the U.S. government launched the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) as part of a larger effort to jumpstart the economy following the 2008 financial crash. Part of the program's substantial budget was invested in public computing centers (PCCs) in an effort to expand broadband access and provide computer training, particularly to underserved communities. Like many other PCCs, Austin Free-Net, a nonprofit committed to fighting the digital divide and one of the BTOP recipients, used the funds towards substantial expansion of its services by establishing new labs, adding computers to existing ones, and providing a host of training classes. In 2013, the BTOP funding ended, raising the question of the sustainability of the expansion it fostered. This study examines a subset of Austin-based PCCs, established or operated by Austin Free-Net, following the BTOP, in order to contribute to a broader understanding of policy opportunities and limitations towards PCCs in addressing the digital divide. Its approach is two-fold. First, it attempts to shed light on the PCCs’ role in this effort, by examining how the services they offer promote digital inclusion and what challenges the staff face in carrying out this mission. Second, it examines the impact of the end of BTOP funding on the sample PCCs, particularly on organizational components crucial to their ability to continue to provide their services. This analysis addresses challenges related to both the BTOP's end as well as internal operations. The findings reveal that PCCs are fundamentally limited in what they can achieve to bridge the digital divide, although this does not negate the important, and often necessary role they play, particularly for underserved communities. Moreover, while the substantial BTOP funding fostered expansion of access and training, its end posed significant sustainability problems for the PCCs. The presence of certain environmental factors, including financial support from and goal alignment with the City of Austin and other funding entities, buffered Austin Free-Net against some of this impact, raising the question of the fate of PCCs without such support. The analysis culminates in a discussion of the findings and their broader policy implications.Item Homework Gaps and connectivity canyons : education, broadband, and the shattered myth of the network society(2020-05) Schrubbe, Alexis Dettlaff; Strover, Sharon; Straubhaar, Joseph; Watkins, S. Craig; Rhinesmith, ColinThe Homework Gap phenomenon in the United States is a subsection of the Digital Divide that describes the condition of children who face difficulty completing digital homework when the school day ends. The Homework Gap is a major barrier to academic success and contributes to social reproduction in American educational systems. This dissertation examined telecommunications and educational public policies that contribute to technology adoption in US education. The study also explored how parents and caretakers perceive and manage connectivity because the onus falls on parents to provide broadband and technology access for their child or children because of school. The study utilizes a constructivist grounded theory qualitative research design that incorporates individual interviews and focus group meetings with an n = 47 for focus group interviews and n = 29 for one-on-one semi-structured interviews utilizing a convenience sample in eleven cities across the US. The target population consisted of parents with school-aged children, but also included educational stakeholders and policymakers. This dissertation finds that the shift to ubiquitous digital school curriculum in the United States is out of sync with the diffusion of network technology and computing devices, namely broadband Internet, to American homes. Access deficits are intensified by the social, cultural, and digital capital reserves in families with school-aged children. The results of the research identify critical factors that construct a Connectivity Imaginary – that being, the idealized state of connectivity- where students are least likely to experience the Homework Gap. The implications of this study identify that technology has the power to exacerbate social reproduction in the techno-normative school environment. Highly connected, tech savvy families that were supported by social, cultural, and digital capital economies were empowered to support robust Connectivity Imaginaries. Parents lacking robust Connectivity Imaginaries in the study reflected that the normalization of technological systems frequently left them feeling alienated in their roles as participants in their children’s educations and undermined their authority as caretakers. The results illuminate the intricacy of interrelated educational, social, and technological factors rising out of the normalization of school techno-systems and complicate understandings of the origins and phenomenon of the Homework Gap.Item Internet use and the role of the public library in ethnic communities : a comparative case study in New York City(2017-08-10) Wang, Yang (M.A. in Radio-Television-Film); Strover, SharonThe internet has grown rapidly with the global development of information communication technologies. But it also creates a digital divide in disadvantaged communities such as those found in ethnic minority neighborhoods. Historically, public libraries provide open and free access to information, and they have long been a critical resource to ethnic communities. More recently, they have become more than a community center, expanding into becoming a technology hub, especially for internet use. Public libraries could play a positive role in enhancing low-income ethnic communities’ internet use and narrowing the digital divide. This research explores library roles in countering the digital divides for ethnic communities in New York; it specifically (1) identifies differences in internet usage between Chinese and Hispanic immigrant patrons of public libraries in New York City; (2) examines the role of the public library as a local agency for promoting ethnic communities’ internet use and narrowing of the digital divide. Accordingly, this research focuses on two ethnic groups, Chinese and Hispanic, in New York City’s three boroughs of Manhattan, Bronx and Staten Island, who patronize the local branch of their public library. Based on the findings from this sample, race in and of itself did not play a significant role for either utilization or individuals’ capability of using the internet. However, these different ethnic communities demonstrated unique internet-use characteristics and patterns that together may outline how ethnic communities approach libraries and therefore, in turn, how libraries might remediate digital inequities. Age, education, and the number of internet users at home influenced internet use patterns for these two ethnic communities. Additionally, this research, through measurements on both Internet utilization and capability scales, reaffirms that the public library is a positive agent in promoting internet use among ethnic communities. Finally, this project offers libraries specific, micro-level policy suggestions based on the internet-use patterns of these two ethnic communities to better meet local needs, especially for those frontline librarians or staff working with patrons. It also intends to serve as a model for studying other ethnic groups and areas while raising the library’s visibility regarding not only internet use but also acculturation via the bonds formed among ethnic communities.Item Knowing your neighbors : an analysis of the social media app “Nextdoor” and human interaction(2019-05) Patton, Emma Ann; Wegmann, Jake; Mueller, ElizabethThe advent of technological advancement in the past decade has radically changed the way people communicate with one another, even those who live next door to us. The online application, Nextdoor, aims to provide a digital space for neighbors to get to know one another, and my study explores the effects of a geographically-based social network on the St. John’s neighborhood in Austin, Texas. Using demographic analysis, the racial and ethnic makeup of the geographic neighborhood was compared to that of the online participants. Posts on the Nextdoor app were analyzed and coded for the themes in their content, and a survey was distributed digitally to the Nextdoor community members to obtain rich qualitative data. My study shows evidence for a racial disparity between the geographic and online community and a fairly monetized community with the most salient theme being for sale and free. Ultimately, my study elaborates the great connectedness available to Nextdoor community members as well as the disconnectedness and division that social media can produce.Item “Liberation technology?” : Toward an understanding of the re-appropriation of social media for emancipatory uses among alternative media projects in El Salvador(2014-05) Harlow, Summer Dawn; Johnson, Thomas J., 1960-; de Uriarte, Mercedes LynnThis 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.Item Paisy : a mobile banking experience for Indians with limited digital literacy(2019-05-09) Joglekar, Bhargavi Mahesh; Gorman, CarmaWhile India is aiming to rapidly transform from a cash-only to a cashless and digital economy, people with low digital literacy, especially middle-aged adults in India who matured in the pre-smartphone period, find it difficult to switch to digital payments and digital banking. Although banks and private companies have created mobile payment solutions to enable cashless banking, these solutions seem to be designed only for digital natives, i.e., the young and digitally literate population. These solutions do not address the needs of novice digital users having limited digital literacy. I have therefore designed a mobile banking experience intended to empower middle-aged Indian adults with limited digital literacy to use mobile banking independently and confidently.Item Pursuing development with educational technology standards : complicating narratives of ICTs in the classroom(2012-12) Custard, Holly Ann; Wilkins, Karin Gwinn, 1962-; Strover, Sharon; Straubhaar, Joseph; Kumar, Shanti; Angel, RonaldThis 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.Item Technology outreach programs : their impact on middle-school students and their families from underserved communities(2011-05) Narayan, Ravishankar; Hughes, Joan E.; Resta, Paul; Foster, Kevin; Svinicki, Marilla; Northcutt, NorvellThe goal of this study is to provide a better understanding of the impact of outreach programs designed to impart technology skills to middle-school students from underserved communities, on both participants and their families. An outreach program, called Hi-Tec CompNow, was chosen for this study. This program was conducted as an after-school program for middle-school students from underserved communities in central Texas wherein participants learn computer hardware and software skills during a ten-week period. The study utilized (a) an interpretive analysis of the data generated from a questionnaire administered at the beginning and end of the program to obtain participants‟ computer beliefs, (b) program observations recorded by the researcher during program sessions, and (c) interviews conducted by the researcher with participants and their families after program completion. Results of the study showed that the majority of participants experienced some increase in their CSE beliefs at the end of the program, but the changes were not statistically significant. The study further illustrated that participants interviewed by the researcher expressed increased confidence in computers, spent more time on home computers, and were able to resolve computer issues in their homes. Parents were pleased with the program as well and generally expressed increased confidence in their children‟s computer skills. The study identified some of the program attributes which seemed to have led to enhanced CSE beliefs in most participants. These included hands-on experiences and teacher demonstrations of computer skills. In addition, the study found that student encouragement through family support and commitment had a positive impact on participants‟ CSE beliefs, while negative family input had a negative impact. Lack of culturally-responsive learning content, participants‟ lack of use of the dial-up Internet service provided cost-free for a year, and perceptions that the computers provided by the program were outdated and thus not fully functional were factors which seemed to have undermined the program‟s impact on digital equity. Additionally, the program provided software which focused on document creation, spreadsheet-based analysis, and presentations. However, the study also revealed that most participants utilized home computers for more “recreational” purposes, e.g. playing games, and playing and/or editing music, games, and videos. The study suggests that well-intentioned outreach programs such as Hi-Tec CompNow are making laudable efforts to bridge the digital divide. However, they need to reinvent themselves to ensure underserved populations do not get left behind in a digital world that has moved beyond the desktop computer. To enhance the digital literacy of the underserved, digital equity programs must provide opportunities to build their skills in multimedia, mobile media and online participation in addition to fostering access to newer computers of good quality with high-speed and wireless Internet.