Only a few years ago, the world was a place of technological ignorance. People did not know how the computer worked - or how many people went in to making every hardware and software component work just right. They knew that the box with a screen and square box next to it did what they needed it to do - and they didn't care how it did it.
Today, things have changed a little. We live in a sphere of different technological knowledge levels. Older generations may still think of the little box with a screen as a mystery - whereas younger generations grew up with it around and know exactly how it works. As Elizabeth Losh discusses, this has proved both to be a very useful phenomenon, and also an extremely daunting one.
Careers, educational experiences, and entire lives are revolving around technology now. With the internet in particular, we do not know what is credible and what isn't anymore. I have found through various discussions that the primary reason for this is accessibility. A 10-year-old can write a blog about the desert and someone across the world could believe it's a reporter from National Geographic - they wouldn't know the difference.
This shift to new forms of media and information is not something that is avoidable either. As Losh discusses, if you want to succeed in the workplace today, you have to be up to speed when it comes to the digital age. It used to be that academic intelligence would guarantee wealth - now it is how well you can operate a computer or smartphone. That same 10-year-old with a blog could be better at navigating a tablet than someone with a doctorate degree and 30 years experience in the field.
There are many factors that relate to technological access-age, economics, education, region, culture, etc.-which influence whether or not people develop digital literacy and fluency. I find it interesting how many people are still unable to be online, but that it is a pre-requisite for many job types.
ReplyDeleteI also wonder about the relationship between digital fluency and perceived intelligence. Being able to navigate technology is another skill set that is important, but does it displace ones that people who are not of a technological generation have?
I remember studying internet statistics in digital media. If I remember correctly only about 34% of the population has access to the internet. I wonder if this is a widely known statistic? I don't think so; I think we have a false idea that the entire world is on the internet.
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