Untitled - socium.ge

The US community technology movement 329the Internet. Not all content-oriented CTCs do all three. Those CTCs thatactively foster the creation of new content believe that people should not bepassive consumers of information but rather actively shape the Internet byproducing content that reflects and represents their lives and communities.Content-oriented CTCs begin their work from the recognition that theInternet is not currently oriented to low-income communities and that thesecommunities face several content-related barriers. According to Chapman andRhodes (1997: 3):The Internet reflects the culture of its principal inhabitants – upper middle-classwhite males. Thus the global network is dominated by the culture, tastes, preoccupations,styles, and interests of the affluent. A network isn’t much good if you don’tknow anybody who has email, an online shopping mall holds little allure to someonelacking money or credit cards.Content-oriented CTCs focus on providing stimulating content about localissues and an opportunity for users to talk with one another. They connect residentsto resources and provoke discussion about issues that people care about(Shapiro, 1999: 5).A 2000 report distributed by the Children’s Partnership identifies foursignificant, content-related barriers that affect large numbers of Americans:lack of local information; literacy barriers; language barriers; and lack ofcultural diversity (Lazarus and Mora, 2000). Residents of low-income communities“seek ‘life information,’ . . . practical information about their localcommunity” (Lazarus and Mora, 2000: 19). Specifically, adult users wantedinformation about jobs and housing in their communities. Few sites provide thisinformation. Even when this information is available, researchers have foundthat it is often “still out of reach to users because it is so difficult to find.”At Project Compute, a volunteer-run CTC in Seattle, volunteers incorporatecomputers and information technology into their learning programs by teachingparticipants how to create content. As Anthony Williams, long-time volunteerand sponsor of Project Compute, stresses, “We don’t want people tobelieve that a computer is a computer. We really want people to believe that acomputer is a tool.” This philosophy manifests itself in Project Compute’s Life-Web Journalist Project, the first phase of which was completed in March 1999.As part of the initiative, Project Compute loaned twenty-five hand-heldcomputers equipped with Windows, an audio-recorder, and a digital camera toparticipants for a six-month period. Participants were to go out into thecommunity, capture stories of interest, and create an Internet website. In additionto helping participants hone their journalistic and computer skills, the Life-Web Project provides participants with the opportunity to tell their stories.Project Compute also offers various classes for school-age children, adults, andsenior citizens, and provides open-lab time for all community members.