Talking Talent

There is no doubt we have a digital divide in Australia.

While the number of Australians connected to the Internet grows each year and costs fall, the gap between the information-rich and information-poor is still palpable.

Those on higher incomes are leaving lower income earners behind.  Those in the city have almost unlimited access to information and the capacity to be plugged in to a global economy, while country people still suffer from the tyranny of distance.  Single parents, unemployed people and older Australians are also missing out.

And in today’s wired world information is power and this digital divide can mean a dramatic inequality of opportunity.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics Household Use of Information Technology (2005-06)  reveals that while the number of households with broadband Internet connection almost doubled (to 2.3 million households), and while the number of Australian households without access to home Internet has decreased by 20 per cent (from 2002 to 3.2 million households in 2005-2006), that’s still millions of households without home access to the Internet!

Tellingly, the ABS’ 2006 Children’s Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities survey indicated that of the 2.7 million children aged 5 to 14 years, 92 per cent used a computer and 65 per cent used the Internet at any site.

What about the other 35 per cent of children who don’t have regular access to the Internet?  Or the 8 per cent of children who aren’t using computers at all?

Those on the wrong side of this digital divide face being marginalised as the ‘net becomes an increasingly dominant feature of economic and personal life.  And for young people, this means more than being able to access MySpace and YouTube.

In the job market, for instance, the best opportunities can increasingly be found on the Web rather than via traditional sources.  As more and more companies, government services and community groups deliver their services via the Web, these disadvantages will intensify.

Broadband is a national priority - but more than that, we need to ensure that all Australians are connected to the information superhighway in the first place.

I wonder if the time-honoured ‘the dog ate my homework’ excuse is finally dead and buried as a new generation of kids blame the dog for eating their iPods?

Schools and universities are already waking up to the potential of the iPod as an educational tool, podcasting lectures, making audiobooks available for students and using iPods to record music lessons, for example.

In the foreseeable future, iPods will become essential pieces of equipment in every student’s digital backpack.

Instead of being seen as disruptive devices with no place in the classroom, iPods can be exciting educational and training tools.

In the future, the MP3 player will probably look more like a memory stick with a roll out screen, and have enough memory to carry not only a student’s lifetime of notes, but rich media references, assignments, presentations and portfolios – not to mention a vast personal library of songs, audiobooks, photos and movies.

iPods are emerging as a popular device at universities across the globe as lecturers realise their messages can reach the masses of students who skip classes, and students realise they can use what used to be ‘dead time’ (such as sitting on a bus) more productively.

And iPod learning need not be confined to traditional educational institutions.  Baby Boomers are downloading language lessons to brush up on their French and Italian before taking their grand tours through Europe, for example.

There is huge potential for students and educators alike if educational organisations harness this emerging technology.  Today’s students are already ‘digital natives’ and we must find ways to engage students in learning, ensure that their educational experiences are relevant to Australia’s prevailing knowledge economy and to their lives outside the classroom.