Shaping the digital future...

For the past few weeks I have been getting my feet wet in this new course, New Media Literacy.  This is a bit of a departure from the adult ed courses that I have gotten used to taking in the virtual classroom.  A little esoteric, this new age of communication; something that I’ve only recently dabbled in with this blog and not much else.   But it’s interesting.  And exciting.  And a little mind-blowing. 

We read an article titled The Californian Ideology written by Richard Barbrook and Andy Cameron.  The article appeared in the January 1996 issue of Science as Culture and in it Barbrook and Cameron announced, “At the end of the twentieth century, the long predicted convergence of the media, computing, and telecommunications into hypermedia is finally happening.” 

This article launched a discussion focused on the question of whether or not we feel empowered by technology.  I posited that technology and specifically the hypermedia that Barbrook and Cameron speak about are not intrinsically empowering.  They are limited by two critical factors:  access and ability.  If I can’t access the new hypermedia or I simply do not have the ability to manipulate it, then it isn’t empowering.   In fact, my inability to access and utilize this new technology, to engage and participate in all that it has to offer, serves to isolate me from everyone who does and can.  And I think that Barbrook and Cameron agree with me: “The developers of hypermedia must reassert the possibility of rational and conscious control over the shape of the digital future...artist-engineers must construct a cyberspace that is inclusive and universal" (p. 68).

That quote got me  thinking of those “digital artisans” that I have become aware of during my short time in the virtual classroom. Those people who are taking hypermedia and molding and directing it in such a way to promote inclusivity and accessibility.  People like the folks behind gcflearnfree.org, that I’ve blogged about in the past.  They “provide quality, innovative online learning opportunities to anyone who wants to improve the technology, literacy and math skills needed to be successful in both work and life.”  Or Michelle Pacansky-Brock, an innovator in adult education, who, through her blog, Teaching without Walls, and other digital venues, freely shares her passion and expertise for utilizing the hypermedia “to cultivate warm, human-centered online learning experiences and prepare students to be mindful users of digital media”.   These are just a couple of examples of how the digital future can be shaped  to empower people.