Understanding the Digital Divide

Digital Divide

• The digital divide refers to the gap between those with internet access and those without.
• Those unable to afford internet access are most affected.
• The digital divide has three main causes: lack of access due to unaffordability, and lack of knowledge on how to use/benefit from technology.
• The digital divide can be reduced through lower internet costs, laws ensuring internet access in public places, NGO/LGU forums about technology benefits, and government provision of computers to schools.

Drivers of the Digital Divide

• There are several causes that influence efforts to access the internet.

Gender Divide

• A 2013 report showed a striking internet gender gap, particularly in developing countries:
  • Mobile connectivity spreads unequally, with women lagging behind.
  • Men in low-income countries are 90% more likely to own a cellphone.
  • This translates to 184 million women without cellphone access.
  • 1.2 billion women in low/middle-income nations lack internet access despite owning mobile phones.

Social Divide

• Shared interests lead to social connections through internet access.
• Examples include Twitter and Facebook.
• Internet use has intensified social stratification
• Non-connected groups are marginalized because they lack the benefits of the internet

Universal Access Divide

• People with physical limitations often face disadvantages in accessing the internet.
• They may have the skills but lack access to suitable hardware and software.
• Lack of digital literacy skills, poor education, and inadequate broadband infrastructure contribute to this divide.

Cyber Issues: Addiction

• Distinguishing between addiction and dependence is difficult.
• Addiction is characterized by a compulsive urge to use digital gadgets, interfering with life and responsibilities.
• Phone, social media, and internet addiction are considered separate types of digital addiction.
• Phone addiction is a dependency syndrome impacting daily lives through excessive smartphone use.
  • Therapist Paul Hokemeyer states it stems from underlying behavioral health and personality issues like depression and anxiety.
• Social media addiction involves spending excessive time on platforms like Facebook and documenting every aspect of life.
  • There is no formal medical recognition of the addiction, but it can decrease satisfaction and happiness
• Internet addiction is an impulse control disorder, making it difficult to differentiate between the virtual world and reality.
  • Sufferers spend excessive time online
  • This may result in overspending through online gambling and gaming.
• Digital addiction defined by ineptitude to control the need to use devices often leading to a feeling of perturbation when away from a device.
  • Teenagers and non-working people are primarily affected through specific games (e.g., Pokémon Go)
• Ways to prevent digital addiction:
  • Set time limits for computer and smartphone use.
  • Make copies of needed information
  • Immerse oneself in outside activities (sports, hiking, adventure).
  • Spend time with friends and plan family nights.
  • Limit technology usage to only when necessary.
  • Set aside smartphones, laptops, and computers.

Cyberbullying

• Cyberbullying is threatening, harassing, or intimidating someone through digital devices, social media, and the internet.
• Teenagers are more prone to commit cyberbullying.
• 42% of teenagers with technology access have been cyberbullied.
• 69% of teens with a computer or smartphone are active on social media with 80% reporting being cyberbullied.
• Simple messages, status posts, or name-calling can cause stress, depression, and even death.
• Ways to prevent cyberbullying:
  • Think positive.
  • Talk to a trusted person or an elder.
  • Save evidence of cyberbullying.
  • Think before posting.
  • Set privacy controls on accounts.
  • Log out of accounts on public computers.
  • Do not be a bystander, take action, and support the bullied friend.

Text Information and Media

• Text conveys information or ideas in written, printed, or on-screen form.
• Media text refers to written, audio, and video outcomes of media production.
• Examples of printed text:
  • Books
  • Newspapers
  • Magazines
  • Flyers
  • Posters
  • Brochures
• Examples of digital text displayed on-screen:
  • Online news and articles
  • Online posters
  • Digital books
  • Digital posters

Advantages of Text

• Written language and symbols are significant in communication.
• Text reduces the need to remember information.
• It provides a record that helps people organize information and data.

Limitations of Text

• Text lacks qualities of speech, such as tone, rhythm, pace, and repetition.
• Limited vocabulary or poor word choice can hinder communication.

Visual Information and Media

• Visual media and information include materials, programs, applications, and technologies used to aid learning through visual images.
• Visual media types include the following:
  • Photography
  • Infographics
  • Videos
  • Data visualization
  • Comic strips/cartoons
  • Maps

Advantages of Visuals

• People are more likely to remember information when presented visually (Picture Superiority Effect).
• People use visuals for entertainment (e.g., YouTube, Netflix).

Limitations of Visuals

• Exposure to violence, drug use, and unhealthy content.
• Health may be affected, such as weight problems and social isolation.

Audio Information and Media

• Audio communication uses recordings and sound to transfer information.
• A radio broadcast is a live or recorded audio transmitted through radio waves, requiring licensing from the National Telecommunication Commission.
• The Golden Age of Radio was in the 1930s and 1940s in the Philippines, due to the popularity of radio dramas.
• Music has been part of people's lives and is defined as sound that conveys emotion and is used for entertainment and ritual.
• Sound recording is the process of making a record of sound.
• Sound clips/effects replicate or artificially produce sounds to generate effects in dramatic presentations, enhancing the illusion of reality.
• Audio podcasts blend iPod and Broadcast, are available online like blogs, and can be downloaded to computers or devices.

Advantages of Audio

• Readily available and can be shared/replicated easily.
• They are less expensive than videos and can stimulate the listener's imagination.

Limitations of Audio

• Audio media needs a specific device or application to be played.
• Once distributed, recordings are hard to modify.
• Audio materials require people to actively listen and lack visual presentation.

Motion Information and Media

• Motion Media enhances filmmaking and video production through animation and visual effects
• Motion Media is a discipline that applies graphic design principles to filmmaking and video production
• Types of Motion Media:
  • Animations include the following:
    • Celluloid Animation: artists draw many images on paper and photograph them frame by frame.
    • 2D Animation
    • 3D Animation
    • Motion Graphics
    • Stop Motion: Animated by using clay, puppets, cut outs, silhouettes, action figures etc
  • Video Formats/Codecs:
    • Motion media uses large resources
    • Codecs compress and decompress video files.
    • (e.g. H.26N series, Quicktime, DivX, MPG, MP4).
  • According to purpose:
    • Educational
    • Entertainment
    • Advertising

Advantages of Multmedia

• It uses sight, combines audio or text, and can get the attention of viewers.
• It is accessible and can be watched over and over, aiding in skill learning.
• It is usable in distance learning and webinars.

Limitations of Motion Media

• Motion media cannot be paused when being watched commercially.
• The costs needed to produce and distribute motion media are more costly
• Motion media needs skills like filming and editing.

Manipulative Information and Media

• Consumers can not engage with traditional media in a way that consumers can with interactive/ manipulated media.
• Platforms of Interactive Media:
  • Social Media: a type of electronic communication
  • Mobile and Web Apps and Sites: software developed for multiple purposes
  • Video Games: Example such as multiple online role-playing games
  • Virtual Reality: a simulation where people an interact by using special electronic equipment.

Advantages of Interactive Media

• Interactive media allows connection from different parts of the world.

Limitations of Interactive Media

• Interactive media can create the following issues:
  • False information
  • Identity theft
  • Cyberbullying
  • Computer/internet addiction

Multimedia Information and Media

• Multimedia combines media for education or entertainment by integrating text, sound, video, or graphics.
• Multimedia combines two or more:
  • Text
  • Audio
  • Images
  • Video
  • Interactivity

Uses of multimedia

• Entertainment and Fine Arts
• Educational Purposes
• Engineering, Mathematical and Scientific Research
• Presentation
• Business and Commerce

Advantages of Multimedia

• Appeals to all types of audiences and is more engaging.

Limitations of Multimedia

• Produiction is costly, time concuming and needs multiple technologies,

Text Information and Media

• Visual text is mediated through film, video, advertising, gaming, and the internet
• Important elements: color, line, format, light, texture and shape
• Typeface pertains to the representation or style of a text
• Design Principles and Elements: -Emphasis: Gives content that creator is wanting to serve as focal point -Appropiatness: How well text aligns with intended purpose
  • Proximity: How near or far are text elements
  • Alignment: The text position of the page
  • Organization: Conscious effort to organize different text elements on page
  • Repetition: Consistency of elements

Visual Information and Media

• Visual Message Design: Design that will gain the users attention
• Visual Elements and Principles:
  • Line: A form capable of generating texture.
  • Shape: Shapes have two dimensions.
  • Value: Light and dark on an image.
  • Texture: Way a surface is perceived
  • Color: Color may be warm, cool or neutral colors.
  • Form: Very similar to shape.
• Visual Design Principles:
  • Line : A form capable of generating texture
  • Harmony :Harmonious layers
  • Unity: Achieved by balance and harmony
  • Opposition: The use of contrasting elements

Audio Information and Media

• Hearing: Involuntary and natural when you are not hearing impaired.
• Listening: Active and requires thoughtful attention
  • Tape Recorder: Magnetic tape on which sound can be recorded
  • Compact Disc/ CD: Portable storage that can record or replay
  • Flash Drive: Easy to use on a computer with USB port.
• Principles of Sound Design:
  • Mixing : Combination balance
  • Pace: Time Control
  • Transitions: The method in which you move from one object to another
  • Stereo Imaging : The use of left and right channels
  • Dialogue: Speech or voice over
  • Sound effects : Any sound other than music or dialogue
  • Music : Vocal or instrumental
  • Silence: Absense of sound

Motion Information and Media:

• Design principle and elements -Speed: Gives tone of movement -Direction : Movements from one direction to another -Motion Path: Direction that the object will take -Timing: Can be measured in seconds, minutes, or hours.
• Video Production phases:
  • Pre-production: Planning phase
  • Production: filming phase
  • Post Production; Editing phase

Design Principle/Elements for Manipulative/Interactive Media

• Designed to facilitate discussions about the elements of text, audio, visual and motion media.

Forms of Multimedia

• It includes creative forms such an museums, theatre and electronic portfolios
• Electronic Portfolio: An electronic compilation to illustrate learning over time.
• Digital Museums are a systematially organised assembly of all digitized artifacts.
• Digital Theatre: A live performance where performers share a physical space with the audience
• Living Museum: An institution that reconstructs historical settings

Authenticity of online content.

• Consider credibility factors, especially relevance and trustworthiness.
• Dimensions of critical evaluation:
  • Relevance: Importance of information concerning a need.
  • Accuracy: The extend of which an alternative source provides factual/verifiable details.
  • Bias: Author's position or slant shaping the information
  • Reliability: Trustworthiness based on publishing information