tech and society test 2

why study the digital divide?

• digital divide contributes to power imbalances and conflict between groups

• disparities include:

  • economic, educational, social, and essential

• basically asks: what are the social, economic, and cultural consequences for those not connected to the Internet?

what is the digital divide?

• differences between social groups in access to, use of, and empowerment by networked computers and other digital tools; and the differences in skill level and knowledge about digital artifacts

• levels: infrastructure, skills and production, and outcome

when did the digital divide gain prominence?

in a 1996 speech by US President Bill Clinton and US Vice President Al Gore → used term to emphasize social and technological chadllenges presented to America in the information age where a gap would emerge between the haves and have-notes

what is a peneration rate?

• the percentage of users of a tech in relation to non-adopters

• major differences found in access rates based on age, gender, education, rural/urban, single/dual parent household, ethnicity, and income

• early focus on access missed need to address issue of skill development and literacy

• as peneration rates rise, households that can least afford their own terminals will make up larger proportion of the “have-nots” (group left behind is increasingly made up of the most economically marginalized)

what is CANARIE?

• Canadian Advanced Network and Research for Industry and Education (CANARIE):

  • a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to closing the digital divide by promoting advanced digital infrastructure that supports researchers and innovators → foster a competitive, knowledge-based economy

  • ensures students, researchers, and educators in smaller/remote institutions have same high-speed access to data as those in metropolitan hubs

  • problem: infrastructure is not enough

how can we truly close the digital divide?

• programs targeting digital literacy (ex: Canada’s Digital Literacy Exchange Program DLEP)

• a holistic approach is required (access, skills training, economic opportunities)

what are the components of the digital divide?

access, skills, economic opportunity, democratic, and social media divide

access divide

• connection quality: differences in speed and stability

• device disparities: gaps in smartphone ownership, which are increasingly vital for vulnerable groups (ex: homeless people)

• geographical barriers: rural and remote areas face physical terrain challenges that hinder infrastructure setup

• marginalized communities: groups like Indigenous communities are disproportionately underserved

• the “First Mile” project: an initiative focusing on how policies and regulations can empower user communities (like the Katlodeeche First Nation) to build and sustain their own digital infrastructure (McMahon)

the skills divide

• the gap between people who have the necessary skills to use information and communication technology (ICT) and those who don’t

• digital literacy: knowledge of key internet terms, the practical ability to use technology (ex: evaluating “fake news,” misinformation, and disinformation)

• differences typically reflect broader social and economic inequalities (education, income)

• libraries and community centres offer access/services

economic opportunity divide

the unequal distribution of economic advantages provided by access to digital technologies (ex: finding a job, obtaining health information, taking an online course)

democratic divide

differences in political engagement of those who have access to the Internet and those who don’t (ex: researching political info, making donations, communicating with gov)

social media divide

• gap that exists in adopting social networking sites along demographic variables such as gender, income and education

• social capital - the resources, both actual and potential, available through a person’s social networks

• cultural capital - sum of intangible social assets that allow an individual to claim membership in specific social circles (Bourdieu)

what is the global digital divide?

• differences in access to the Internet and other digital tools among nations/regions

• more consideration for inequality between nations is needed (not just within Western nations)

• barriers include illiteracy, lack of infrastructure, cultural resistance

Old Order Mennonites

• resist tech and social change through social boundary maintenance

• purposeful avoidance of most advanced forms of tech to sustain a particular lifestyle and ensure cultural continuity

• over 20 different groups of Mennonites in Ontario alone

• literal interpretation of the bible → remain separate and distinct

what is social boundary maintenance?

• group activities used to maintain a particular way of life which separates group members from outsiders

• interactional boundary maintenance: elements of interactions that reinforce insiderness and symbolize difference from outsiders

• Old Order Mennonite examples:

  • in school, can’t learn about space travel, evolutions, dinosaurs or sex ed

  • austere clothing and outward appearance serves to maintain identity and separate them

  • unique language (Pennsylvania Dutch) → German dialect only understandable to them

what are interaction rules?

• can be official church rules or informal rules learned and reinforced with family/among friends

• ex: avoiding tech when around non-Mennonites

what are the Old Order Mennonites guarding against?

• avoidance of outsiders → threaten cultural continuity as they provide alternative perspectives

• goal is to sustain a “simple life” focused on church, family, and work

China’s move toward digitalization

• economic scale: the world’s second largest economy with massive ICT growth driven by a population over 1 billion

• strategic motivation: global high-tech leadership and maximizing economic expansion

• the “dual-policy” dilemma: promoting state-backed digitalization while heavily censoring info to protect the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) authority

critical perspectives of the digital divide

• core flaw: most research documents the divide/treats physical access as a cure-all, ignoring socio-economic inequalities

• the reality (Gurstein): the divide actually accelerates polarization, as wealthy leverage tech to get richer while the marginalized fall further behind

Video: Life off the Grid

• a 2-year journey visiting 200 people living disconnected from electric and gas utilities across every Canadian province and territory

• debunks the “bunkers and bullets” survivalist myth, showing ordinary people choosing renewable, self-reliant living for environmental or economic reasons

• reality: demands continuous, hands on labour, seasonal planning, and practical repair skills

what is the gamification of learning?

• an educational approach that applies game design elements to learning

  • ex: in schools - Duolingo and Khan Academy

  • benefits: dopamine, immediate feedback

  • problems: accessibility issues, distraction

what are deskilling, upskilling, and reskilling?

• deskilling: the elimination, reduction, or downgrading of skilled labour because of the introduction of tech within the workplace

• upskilling: teaching workers new/improved skills to keep pace with changes in job

• reskilling: teaching workers new skills to take on different roles

AI at work: who runs the office? [Video]

• AI primarily designed to improve human efficiency

• AI won’t directly replace jobs but rather workers who adapt and learn to use AI will replace those who don’t

• highlights that AI absorbs the “unthinking” or execution-based components of daily tasks, freeing up human workers to focus entirely on cognitive engagement and creative direction

what is Taylorism (or scientific management)?

• a system where work processes are systematically studied and standardized to maximize efficiency and reduce errors

• method: use time studies (human survelliance) to break manufacturing tasks into measurable elements, timing each step to eliminate waste and establish standard times

• core goal: to achieve mass production through efficiency and control

• impacts: led to deskilling, an extreme division of labour, and worker alienation/lost autonomy (created tensions between working and managerial class)

• by mid-20th century, it became stigmatized for dehumanization and neglect of social aspects

what is Fordism?

• an industrial system of mass production and mass consumption pioneered by Henry Ford

• method: relied on moving conveyor belt and a strict division of labour, allowing unskilled workers to remain stationary and repeat specialized tasks (technical control)

• goal: maximize production speed and volume to drastically lower unit costs → makes goods cheap and accessible

• upside: productivity soared while consumer prices plunged

• downside: workers faced extreme alienation, monotony, and reduced agency due to repetitive, mechanized labour

what did the Hawthrone Experiments prove?

proved social factors, group dynamics, and job satisfaction matter more to productivity than purely physical working conditions/financial incentives alone

what are networked organizations?

• core shift: ICTs transformed businesses from hierarchical (top-down power) to networked (decentralized communication and decision-making) structures

• key features:

  • paperless office: relies on digital documents and cloud storage for faster sharing/lower costs

  • virtual teams: employees collaborate globally across locations and time zones

  • mobile tech: allows workers to access networks and perform tasks from anywhere

• concerns: risk of worker burnout, employee surveillance, and pressure of constant accessibility

what is immaterial labour?

• a form of labour that creates products/services that aren’t tangible and readily observable such as knowledge or info

• forms:

  • labour that doesn’t entail manual labour (ex: white-collar workers - finance, law, IT)

  • activities and processes that are necessary to shape culture, fashion, tasks, consumer behaviours, and public opinion (ex: marketing, social media influencing, hospitality)

what are 3 core elements of a post-industrial society?

1. an increase in services over manufacturing

2. a dominance of science-based industries

3. the creation of a new social class → the technical or technocratic elites

what is the role of the prosumer?

• prosumer - merging of “producer” and “consumer”

• prosumption - consumers perform a significant role in the product’s design, development, and use

  • ex: IKEA furniture

what is produsage?

• movement toward user-led areas of development, content creation, and collaboration of tech and services

• ex: Wikipedia, modding and user-generated game content

what is monetization of social media activities?

• the process of converting online activities into money

• immaterial labour and produsage: user content creation is typically unpaid, but some users monetize this blended role of producing and consuming

• micro-celebrities and influencers: build a personal brand in a niche to generate income

• example: MrBeast - global mega-celebrity with 525 million subscribers and billions of views to generate $3 million USD per video

what is the sharing economy?

• platforms act as both open marketplace for selling goods, and matching service that connects labour opportunities with available workers (ex: Airbnb, Uber, eBay)

• experiencing exponential growth

what is gig work?

• paid tasks outsourced via online platforms to a flexible, available pool of qualified workers

• technological drivers: information and communication technologies (ICTs) enable remote crowdwork, highly flexible schedules, and casual, project-based contracts

• key downsides: leads to low-paid, precarious employment and underemployment, reflecting systematic issues in finding stable work

• systematic shifts: deconstructs traditional job tasks, disrupts legacy industries (ex: ride-sharing vs taxis), and weakens employer-worker relationships by removing standard worker rights and benefits

Sal Khan: How AI could save (not destroy) education

• Benjamin Bloom’s study: research showed that students with one-on-one personal tutoring performed 2 SDs better than students in a traditional classroom

• giving every child a human tutor is economically impossible, so Khan argues AI finally solves this, creating a “two sigma opportunity” to scale personalized instruction for everyone

• also helps teachers with lesson planning and explanations and administrative relief

what are makerspaces?

• a community meeting place providing workbenches, desk space, and specialized tools (woodworking, metalworking, electronics) for DIY creators

• access: typically requires a monthly membership fee

• the 3D printer impact:

  • pros - conveniently cuts down technological waste, empowers individuals to design, copy, and create custom physical objects from scratch

  • cons: sparks ethical and safety concerns by giving users the ability to manufacture potentially dangerous or illegal items (ex: untraceable guns)

what is gender and gender identity?

• gender: cultural ideas of masculinity/femininity and the sexual division of labour

  • “Gender operates on two levels: symbolically as cultural ideas and stereotypes of masculinity and femininity, and structurally as the sexual division of labour in institutions and organizations” (Scott, 2014)

• gender identity: personal experience of one’s gender, may not align with sex and exists along a spectrum of identities in-between or outside of male and female

  • ex: Two-Spirited individuals - Indigenous people possessing both mixed gender characteristics

what are the 3 key observations about gender and tech?

• technologies are treated as neutral objects → supposedly no specific gender/user in mind

• technologies are seen as impacting all sexes equally → without accounting for the fact that people’s bodies are different

• gender debates start after design is complete rather than encompassing all aspects of development, use, and implications

what is the women’s liberation view?

advocates that technology can liberate women by supporting fertility choices, easing the burden of household work (dishwashers, vacuums, washing machines), and creating alternative, flexible work environments suited for women

what is the women’s oppression view?

• women will be enslaved through technological advances, have fewer choices in general, and become more reliant on existing technologies

• opinion on birth control: overlooks negative consequences - the onus is typically on women to manage it, can cause significant side effects on health, and sometimes brought into use without women’s choice

what is reproductive technology?

• use of tech to assist human reproduction such as birth control, fetal monitoring, and infertility programs

• birth control is contested because it’s perceived as part of the overarching patriarchal structure, further enabling the male domination of women and their bodies

what is the women’s inclusion view?

moves away from simple deterministic perspectives and advocates that women need to be more integrated into the tech debate not only as users, but also as active participants and creators

what was Ann Oakley’s argument in The Sociology of Housework?

showed a shift in how industrial sociology views housework by arguing that it is also work, even if unpaid, and that it is repetitive and unfulfilling

what are the 3 characteristics of housework according to Wajcman?

• privatized - not visible or directly compensated, and has no final product celebrated by the community

• decentralized - no rules, facts, or deadlines, making it difficult to know when the work is complete

• labour intensive → requires significant physical effort and time

what did McGaw conclude about household technology?

found that substantial changes in household technology left the sex, hours, efficiency and status of household work essentially unaltered - only the time spent on various tasks shifted, not the total time on housework

what is the user-actor gender gap?

• refers to women being represented as users of technology, but not as engaged actors in the process of tool development

• masculinity associated with competency in machine use and repair (occasional) while femininity associated with being passive users of products

what is gender resegregation?

women are placed in positions perceived as more feminine, and the jobs that women occupy are also redefined as “women’s work”

what are cybertariats?

global class of workers performing repetitive, low-paid, digital and information-processing labour - often women, commonly working in the global South

what percentage of the computing workforce is women?

only 25% of the computing workforce is women, and only 16% of board members of Canadian public Internet and ICT corporations are women

what are the 3 explanations for women’s absence in IT jobs?

• gendered socialization refers to gender construction occurring early in socialization and in schools, often in hidden rather than overt ways, shaping career interests from a young age

• gendered roles/school departments - feeling in the minority in male-dominated fields may discourage females from applying

• toxic workplace environments

what is body erasure?

• neglect of body considerations in the design and use of tech, including a person’s body shape, ethnicity, and specific gender characteristics

• relevant because:

  • technology directly interacts and integrates with the body, often becoming closely entangled with it (McLuhan: we become our tools and our tools become us)

  • not all bodies are the same

  • technology doesn’t determine the body (body and technology exist in a 2-way relationship)

bicycle example regarding body erasure

• penny farthing bicycle problem for women:

  • danger and difficult, women couldn’t ride in skirts

• drop frame bicycle:

  • safer and more accessible

  • changed how women dressed (pants, practical undergarmets) and giving them more mobility and autonomy → leading to women’s suffrage movements

what does social media provide for people?

• virtual counterparts: online groups providing feelings of belonging and affiliation for those marginalized in everyday life, challenging the status quo representations

• care structures: digital spaces of organized care and concern, providing support networks

what hashtags have women used to promote social change?

cause-driven hashtags like #MeToo, #NoMoreStolenSistsers, and #MMIWG have been used predominantly by women to promote social change and injustice

what happened with crash test dummies regarding gender?

modelled on the male physique, meaning reduced safety standards for women → women are 73% more likely to be injured in a frontal car accident (only began changing in 2003)

what is the gender gap in mobile Internet usage in LMICs?

• 66% for women and 78% for men (stark difference from global North → no difference between men and women’s access, 98% own cellphones)

• women are 8% less likely to own a cellphone

• smartphone gender gap: narrowed by 15% in 2022 to 13% in 2023 → showing gradual progress in closing the digital divide

how did household cleanliness expectations rise?

combination of domestic science movement and germ theory increased expectations around cleanliness and tidiness, which quickly became representations of social status, happiness, and well-being

what is the significance of makerspaces?

libraries are changing to include more hands-on learning, and makerspaces are quickly becoming places that girls and boys can visit to pick up skills they might not get in the traditional classroom setting