It's a great infographic. It talks all about how digital cultures are dividing single countries (in this case the US) along more than simple education, wealth, or race lines. Of course, there are these divides, and of course one could argue that as you go down the societal privilege line, if you are black or aboriginal, poor, and don't have a great education, then you are not going to have access to the Internet, the web, the net.But let's think about this. Digital communities are only one type of community. A fellow MOOCer showed us where he was learning this week (in a pub in Ireland - go +Jamie Simms and +Melody Polson!) and I have to admit I was waiting in the dentist's office for my appointment. The pub is probably as good an example as any to use as a metaphor for digital cultures and learning. Not everyone can get into a pub and stay there - you have to obey the rules (don't spit on the floor for example), you must have a reason to stay (someone interesting is singing, all your friends are there, beer), and you have to have the blessing of the pub owner (you have to be spending money). For generations people have been living and learning together in informal places such as pubs because they can learn from each other and they can collaborate to solve problems. In a pub you will learn and solve problems with people you know but it's also been my experience that you will learn from those you don't as well.
So back to digital cultures and learning. A digital culture is one more type of pub. People will congregate and problem solve (see kickstarter and other crowdsourcing locations), people will rally and add information to topics (see reddit and all the anonymous groups) and people will learn from each other and teach one another (hallelujiah YouTube and Vimeo!) The problem is, learning in a digital environment has a price, like a pub, and it isn't for everyone. A pub is good if you drink in public, if you like lots of people and potentially lots of noise, if you are the right age, economic status, race, religion... I could go on. A digital learning environment is a lot like that. It isn't a park. It isn't free and that's why it will never be a great equalizer like the ads we saw in class this week. (Did you notice the ultra anglo environments by the way in both commercials?)
I personally don't think you have to live or learn in a digital environment to get the most out of the world but I do think you have to have agency to make that choice on your own. If we are going to do one thing as a healthy privileged lot of educators, we need to work on helping those around us who don't have a choice to get in or who don't even know its an option to have that opportunity. #EDCMOOC
