Last night I read Digital Equity: New Findings from the early childhood longitudinal study. It was written by Sharon Judge, Kathleen Puckett and Burcu Cabuk. I also continued reading the Barber book.

Last night I was wiped and I did not do anything but relax.

Last night I read another article and began reading my new book. The article was titled New Image of Computing. The study was published by the WGBH Educational Foundation and the Association for Computing Machinery. In this study, researchers looked at the attitudes of students toward careers in computing. One of the things they found was that Hispanic and African American males were very interested in these fields, however they do not see this interest translate into academia or the workplace. I found this to be very interesting. There was indeed a difference in the attitudes with respect to gender. The question was asked why the enthusiasm does not translate? Perhaps that is a way to look at this question. What is the difference? What happens to young Black and Hispanic males after high school that results in their absence in the computing fields in academia or the workplace? I also began reading The Information Society and the Black Community by John T. Barber and Alice A. Trait. The best thing about this book is that it provides me with a wealth of references as well as introduced a theoretical framework.

Does the Information Age promise egalitarianism and democracy, or will it simply reinforce long-standing social and economic inequalities? This collection of essays analyzes the emerging role of African-Americans in post-industrial society from a variety of communications research perspectives. Accepting W.J. Wilson's theory of a socially and economically isolated African-American underclass, Barber and Tait ask the logical question: what next? The Information Society and the Black Community is a critical examination of the prospects and pitfalls of a historically disadvantaged group in a period of rapid technological advances and economic growth. Adopting Frank Websters theory of the Information Society as a framework for organization and development, the book is divided into five sections that look at technological, economic, occupational, spatial, and cultural aspects of the relationship between the African-American community and the Information Society. Part One analyzes data on African-American use of information technology, and examines how the new flow of information might effect African-American social and cultural images. Part Two focuses on African-American participation in the ownership and control of information industries. Part Three treats professional training and employment patterns affecting African-Americans in the Information Age. Part Four centers around the potential uses of information technology in solving social, political, and economic problems. Part Five addresses the growing connections of the African-American community to Africa and the rest of the world via information technology.

Last night I read From Origins to Implications Key aspects in the debate over the digital divide. It was written by Jeffrey James

I was not able to get anything done last night as I was involved in a traffic accident. By the time I arrive at my hotel I was wiped out. Tonight I should be able to read a couple of articles.

Last night I read the article "Blacks in Computer Science" by Theresa Sullivan Barger and Eric Addison. Here is a link. It was printed in the National Society of Black Engineers Journal.

Tonight I read an article by Paul C. Gorski. The article was titled:

Multicultural Education and Technology Insisting on Digital Equity: Reframing the Dominant Discourse on Multicultural Education and Technology. I learned a lot. I also learned that Margaret had written in her article and communicated to me via emails was not far from what is being discussed today regarding this issue.


When reviewing the references I noticed a reference to the John T. Barber books that I am reading:

Gandy, O. (2001). African Americans and privacy: Understanding the Black perspective in the
emerging policy debate. In J. Barber & A. Tait (Eds.), The information society and the
Black community (pp. 59-73). Wesport, CT: Praeger.


I also noted a reference from Warschauer. We used one of his books in a class with Linda. I enjoyed his work a great deal and I had already dug it out to use as part of my research:

Warschauer, M. (2003). Technology and social inclusion: Rethinking the digital divide.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

I think I will re-read this article on Thursday and continue reading more articles as I continue to steep myself in the literature.

Last night I read the article Dr. Riel sent me on the digital divide that she wrote in 2002. I learned who some of the players were at that time and what the thinking was. The article is titled: School Change with Technology: Crossing the Digital Divide. I also spent some time familiarizing myself with Papers. The mac software that I will use to organize my reading. Lastly, I spent a few minutes continuing my reading from The Black Digital Elite by John T. Barber.

Last night I did not do any writing after hearing from Dr. Riel. I am not sure now if I should write or read. Today, I am reading the paper she passed on to me that she wrote on the digital divide. Once I hear back from her I will decide what to do tonight. If I do not hear from her I will read over her email and make a decision of how to work tonight.

I was given an idea to perhaps speak my first chapter. Talk it and then transcribe it. I will think about this some tonight and I will also read the paper on the digital divide that Margaret sent to me.

black men in prison,
not finishing their education,
jobs going to immigrants,
shorter life expectancy
analogy to drilling for domestic oil instead of importing foreign oil.

http://www.blackvoices.com/blogs/2009/05/26/your-money-with-dr-boyce-barack-obama-and-black-unemployment/


http://www.elecvillage.com/BITSummit-0303.html