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Computers as Barrier
to or Vehicle for Equity
Response to “Computer Access Equity”
Marianne LaFrance and Anne Meyer
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Factors Affecting Equity of Access to Computers
- 2.1 Availability of Information Technology
- 2.2 Appropriateness of Fit Between Technology and User
- 2.3 Social Context of Computing
- 2.4 Summary of Factors Affecting Access
- 3. Computing Equity in the Context of Education
- 3.1 Computers as Prerequisite for Education
- 3.2 Computers as Access Devices
- 3.2.1 AIDS Videodisc with HyperCard Software
- 3.2.2 Speech Synthesis for Reluctant Writers
- 3.2.3 Eskimo children’s multimedia stories
- 3.3 Implications for Equity
- 4. Conclusions
- 5. References
Walter Maner considers whether a case might be made for
a basic right, one of access to information technologies. The issue arises,
because as Maner himself notes, current statistics document broad inequities
in availability of technology access. For example, females, people of
color, disabled individuals, and people living at the lower end of the
socioeconomic ladder are typically denied access to the benefits of computing.
While Maner concedes that there is “no basic right to computer access
for all people,” nevertheless he argues that justice requires that
persons who can raise themselves to parity with others should be able
to access the computer resources that would enable them to do so. While
we concur with this call for greater social justice, we believe that the
analysis leading to it failed to fully consider whether current inequities
are “systemic.” In addition, we argue that the focus on the
access that people deserve tended to obscure the considerable role that
computers can play in both creating and reducing societal inequities.
Our aim is thus to redress these oversights. First, we look
more closely at how inequities in computer access come about. Specifically,
we examine three systemic factors that contribute to differential access.
In adopting the metaphor of a “biased social lottery” to characterize
access inequities, Maner has perhaps unwittingly minimized the social
factors that create and maintain inequities. In other words, we contend
that his perspective results in insufficient attention being given to
the social system surrounding information technology that depicts some
people as more computer worthy than others and hence more deserving than
others.
Next, we explore distribution of computer resources in a particular context,
specifically public education. Education provides a rich and central context
within which to examine equity issues. It is not only that computers are
available in some educational settings and not in others or even that
they are changing the very nature of what it might mean to receive an
education but in addition, it is the case that computer technology is
providing the wherewithal to alter some inequities previously believed
to be intractable. We provide a number of examples of such use and argue
that they represent reason to re-frame the issue of what a just allocation
might be.
Go to: 2. Factors Affecting Equity of Access to Computers
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