Access Enabled, Access Denied: Supporting Inclusive Practice with Digital Data

Access Enabled, Access Denied: Supporting Inclusive Practice with Digital Data

Sue Watling - University of Lincoln, UK

11th International Conference on Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations

University of the Western Cape

Capetown, South Africa

20th-22nd June 2011

Digital Landscapes

Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) Promise of ‘transformative change’ Widening opportunities Potential for inclusive education but equal

potential for exclusion Digital divides ‘complex and dynamic

phenomena’ (van Dijk 2003) Digital divides ‘replicated and reinforced by

social divides’ (Steyaert 2005)

Digital Data

Advantages 24/7 availabilityMobile TransferableFlexibleCustomisable

Potential for equity of access

Assistive Technology

Giesbert Nijhuis (Designer)

Web 1.0 to Web 2.0Read-only to interactivityConsumer to ProducerChanging digital toolbox User generated contentWe can all be digital authors…

Changing digital landscapes

MEE-Model

Retinitis PigmentosaorGlaucoma

Macular Degeneration

Diabetic Retinopathy

Cataracts

Vision impairment

Conclusion

Digital literacies

Three layers to digital exclusion Cost of access Training and support Inclusive digital practices

Promotion of digital literacies as both technical and social practices

The ‘social shaping’ of technology (Bjiker and Law 1992)

Watling, S. (2011) Digital Exclusion: coming out from behind closed doors. Disability and Society 26 (4) 491:495

Watling, S. (2011) Digital Exclusion: potential implications for social work education & practice. Journal of Social Work Education. 30 (1)

Watling, S. & Crawford, K.(2011) Digital Exclusion: implications for human services practitioners. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 28: 205:216

Contact: swatling@lincoln.ac.ukhttp://suewatling.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk

References

Bijker, W. & Law, J. (eds.) (1992) Shaping Technology/Building Society: studies in socio-technical change London: MIT Press.

Deal, M. (2007) Aversive disablism: subtle prejudice toward disabled people Disability & Society 22 (1) 93:107

Steyaert J. (2005) Web based higher education, the inclusion/exclusion paradox. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 23 (1/2) 67:78.

Van Dijk, J. & Hacker, K. (2003) The Digital Divide as a Complex and Dynamic Phenomenon. The Information Society 19, (4), 315:326