The following is a post I just made to our project page for a project I am leading called “Digital Literacy for ALL Learners, funded by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity through their Eliminate the Digital Divide program. We are working at five public computing centers to teach basic computer and digital literacy skills… Continue reading Labor Day and Digital Literacy for ALL Learners
A few resources for ethical electronic consumerism: EPEAT® is the definitive global registry for greener electronics – a resource developed through the collaborative effort of business, advocacy, govermental, and academic interests. Greenpeace guide to greener electronics – Especially focused on environmental impacts of electronics Ethical Consumer, the UK’s leading alternative consumer organisation – A United Kingdom-based organization that looks… Continue reading Ethical Electronic Consumerism
Computer Pods, a photo by ACU Library on Flickr. ACU Library Photo Caption: Computer pods are the central feature of our social learning floor. The design is custom created to support group work. Tables are in a boomerang shape clustered around a central pillar with four computers. The pillar is furred out to create a… Continue reading Computer Pods
In the Boston Review article “Can Technology End Poverty?“, Kentaro Toyama provides a strong case that technology is not additive but multiplicative. As such, in cases where there is limited economic, educational, and social capacity its impact upon individuals and communities will be more limited than in those cases where there is already significant capacity. … Continue reading Technology as magnifier
Yesterday I traveled with students in the summer course Community Informatics Studio to Chicago to look at three public computing facilities. The Mac lab at the Puerto Rican Cultural Center is a more traditional looking lab with eight to ten computers lined up on either side of a table in the center of the room. … Continue reading Equipping Computer Labs vs. Equipping Collaborative Spaces
