Complicating Access: Digital Inequality and Adult Learning in a Public-Access Computing Space

Autor/inn/en	Smythe, Suzanne; Breshears, Sherry
Titel	Complicating Access: Digital Inequality and Adult Learning in a Public-Access Computing Space
Quelle	In: Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, 29 (2017) 1, S.67-81 (16 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0835-4944
Schlagwörter	Adult Learning; Internet; Policy Analysis; Ethnography; Adult Educators; Technological Literacy; Computer Literacy; Foreign Countries; Community Programs; Program Descriptions; Educational Policy; Canada + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Adulte education; Adult training; Erwachsenenbildung; Politikfeldanalyse; Ethnografie; Adult education teacher; Adult education; Teacher; Teachers; Adult educator; Erwachsenenbildner; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Technisches Wissen; Computerkenntnisse; Ausland; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Kanada
Abstract	Access is often defined in policies oriented to digital inclusion as the potential, if not the means, to access an Internet connection. Using a policy anthropology (Wedel & Feldman, 2005) approach that combines methods of critical policy analysis with an ethnography of adults' learning experiences in a public-access digital café, we argue that access is complicated, contingent, and precarious. We find that the actualities of digital learning among adults on the margins of access differ considerably from those of the "model users" imagined in leading digital policies, and we argue that more contextual foregrounding with respect to the nature of digital learning is therefore required among adult educators and policy makers. We conclude with recommendations for how digital policies might attend to the learning needs of those on the margins of access who will benefit most from affordable Internet and from appropriate, timely, and consistent digital learning opportunities. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Mount Saint Vincent University. e-mail: cjsaerceea@gmail.com; Web site: https://cjsae.library.dal.ca/index.php/cjsae
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01