SX1009/SX1509 The Digital Society

Judith Masthoff, Computing Science

What is a Sixth Century course?

• Multi-disciplinary:this course is co-taught between Computer Science, Education & Sociology.

• Special way of teaching: we use problem-based learning

• Special way of assessment

What is the digital society?

What is the digital society?

• A society increasingly dependent on (networked) information and communication technology

• Significant changes on how people spend their time and relate to each other

Topics to be taught

• The growing Digital Divide• Interpersonal Relations in the Digital Society– The changing nature of interpersonal relationships in light

of social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, Flickr, MySpace) and new communication means (sms, online messaging)

– The culture and consequences of having a second life– Identity and impression management

Topics to be taught (2)• Rights in the Digital Society

– Freedom of expression and privacy: civil rights in a digital society– Ownership in a digital world (e.g. rights to music, Flickr photos,

YouTube videos)– Cyber-crime, cyber-terrorism and cyber-bullying– Security for the digital society– Information credibility and authority in a Web2.0 world (e.g.

Wikipedia)

• Impact of the Digital Society– How digital technology has changed the way we do business

(e.g. Amazon, e-Bay, ITunes) and the way the markets work– The potential of and issues in using digital technology for Health,

Education, Entertainment, Transport, Science and Governance– The environmental impacts of a digital society

Structure of the course

• Four blocks of three weeks• Each block has one lecture and

three 2-hour practicals• Each block has its own assessment• You need to attend the practicals to work on

the assessments• You also need to work in your own time

Topic 1: The Digital Divide

The big picture, without detail...

You need to find out the detail!

What is the Digital Divide?

The gap between people with good access to digital technology, and those with very limited or no access.

It includes the imbalance both in • physical access to technology • the resources, abilities and skills needed to

effectively use the technology

What is needed for physical access?

What skills/abilities are needed?

What kind of people lack access?

Types of digital divide

• Age divide

• Health divide

• Wealth divide (developing-developed / poor-rich )

• Rural-urban divide

Some facts about the digital divide in the UK

1 in 4adults in the UK have never used the internet

A third of households in the UK don’t have the internet

49% of people without access are in the lowest socio-economic groups (DE) 70% of people who live in social housing aren't online 80% of government interactions with the public take place with the bottom 25% of society, so failing to encourage everyone online keeps government costs high

[Martha Lane Fox, Digital Inclusion Champion]

39% of the people in UK without access are over 65

Some opinions on the digital divide

Peter Oakley, a.k.a YouTube’s geriatric1927Link to video (around 9 minutes)

Michael Hulme, Director of the Social Futures Observatory, Lancaster UniversityLink to video (watch first 3:30 minutes)

Videos from www.21stcenturychallenges.org

What is being done?

• Changes in law• Changes in government policy• Education• Investment in infrastructure / technology• Etc...

Assessment (1)• In the practical, you will be randomly assigned to a group

and to one of the following five topics:– Topic A. The digital divide in a particular Western European

country. You can choose from Italy, Switzerland and Belgium.– Topic B. The digital divide in a particular African country. You

can choose from Ghana, Morocco and Algeria.– Topic C. The digital divide in a particular area of the UK. You can

choose from Yorkshire (in England), Suffolk (in England) and the Highlands (in Scotland).

– Topic D. The digital divide in a particular UK city. You can choose from Liverpool, Birmingham, and Manchester.

– Topic E. The digital divide in a particular Eastern European country. You can choose from Azerbaijan, Hungary and Czech republic.

Assessment (2)

• As a group, investigate for your topic:– What is the current situation?– What needs to change?– What is already being attempted to change the

situation?– What further action would you propose?

• You need to hand-in a poster for your group with the results of your investigations.