Week 12
The Digital Divide
The digital divide is a term relating to the disparity between people who do and don't have physical access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as well as the education, resources and even predisposition to be able to effectively embrace these technologies. This divide can be because of differences in "gender, income, race" and, most commonly, "location". Thus, it can be a "global divide", where the discrepancy in technology penetration is visible between nations of differing economic or political standing, or "social", which applies to a divide within different groups in a single nation. (Rice, 2002)
This digital divide also applies to videogames, and bridging that may close the gap for other technology as well. David T. Gordon believes that "students who play computer games tend to be more comfortable with the technology and more adept at using it."(2008), so once people on the disadvantaged side of the divide gain access to videogames, they can use them to become more familiar with all forms of emerging technology. In a way, videogames are a very sensible new medium to try and introduce worldwide, as The Playpower Foundation proves that older games/consoles are cheap and equally as entertaining and educational as the newest examples.(2010)
Video available here:
In terms of bridging a 'global' divide for videogames, one often overlooked issue is that games made in the western world usually depict characters that reflect their local culture. The Playpower Foundation and others have addressed this, and made games more appealing to the locals they distribute to by building upon their own traditions, myths and even physical appearance. They contextualised their learning experiences so children and adults could apply their lessons to their everyday experiences.
When it comes to a 'social' divide within a nation, there are many demographics that seem to be missing out on the technological luxuries that we take for granted, even in developed countries like the U.S.A, U.K. and even Australia. One of these demographics is citizens living in rural areas. There has been quite a bit of hype lately over the infinite possibilities that a booming mobile technology market can bring to worldwide connectivity. It is only reasonable to believe that videogames could ride that wave of success and take advantage of this new way to distribute content and teach those who are only familiar with mobile technology (as that's all they have available due to location) more effectively than other mediums, as mobile and offline games (that don't take up precious bandwidth) are already extremely popular, even with people who hardly consider themselves 'gamers'.
What hype you say? The Economist(2009) has been investigating the effects of mobile phones on developing countries' GDPs, and have some solid statistics that show real potential for the mobile market,
"In 2000 the developing countries accounted for around one-quarter of the world’s 700m or so mobile phones. By the beginning of 2009 their share had grown to three-quarters of a total which by then had risen to over 4 billion [see chart above]."(2009)
The Playpower Foundation are extremely enthusiastic about the potential of mobile games for education, stating as seen in the above video,
"Mobile phones and netbooks will eventually become radically affordable as well. Those devices already pre-load games like solitaire and snake, but what if they also came pre-loaded with learning games to teach math, programming and language skills?"(2010)
This growth has shown similar success for rural parts of developed countries as well, for example the rollout of the 3G network in Australia, reaching people who previously lived in remote internet "black spots". Interactive Australia 2009 commented on the extreme importance that mobile technology had on the videogame market, even going so far as to say, "Today, the popularity of family games and mobile hand-held devices have jointly fuelled the expansion of the video game market" and even bridge the divide a little by "introducing games to a wider audience demographic."(Brand, Borchard, & Holmes, 2009, p.56)
So, if the hype proves justified, we could have found a solid formula for bridging the digital divide for those without economic stability around the world, and those without the same broadband or educational capabilities at home. All it takes is education through play, and mobile distribution, and it's possible to reach people who not only never imagined themselves playing videogames, but never saw themselves breaking from their social confines due to the skills learned from playing them.
Bibliography
Brand, J., Borchard, J., & Holmes, K. (2009). Interactive Australia 2009. Bond Univeristy: The Centre For New Media Research.
Playpower Foundation. (2010, May 7). Playpower: An Introduction. Retrieved December 1, 2010, from Playpower: http://playpower.org/
Rice, R. (2002). Primary Issues in Internet Use: Access, Civic and Community Involvement, and Social Interaction and Expression. In L. L. Livingstone, Handbook of New Media (pp. 105-129). London: Sage.
Special Reports. (2009, September 4). Mobile marvels. Retrieved December 1, 2010, from The Economist: http://www.economist.com/node/14483896