I was recently forwarded an article entitled “The Absurdity of the Digital Divide.” In the piece, the author, John Dvorak, suggests that the digital divide is “specious,” perhaps cynically drummed up by the IT sector to sell more equipment.
Some day when I’ve retired to a seaside shanty (at the current rate the ice caps are melting, that might be in central Ohio), I imagine I’ll be hanging out at a pub by the beach with the other fishermen and scallywags, comparing stories of our lives. I envision one old guy on the bar stool next to me showing off a nasty scar by his elbow, claiming “I got this from a barracuda.” The guy on the other side of me will hold up a prosthetic arm and say, “I lost this to a great white shark.” And I’ll point to a hook-shaped line along the knuckles of my left hand and say, “This came from a vicious tangle with a seagull.”
BYOD, or “bring your own device,” is a topic of frequent discussion in the business realm; but BYOD programs are also gaining momentum in K-12 education. As the phrase implies, in a typical BYOD arrangement, students are permitted to bring electronic devices they already own to school for classroom use. However, the question then arises - what about the student who doesn’t have a personal electronic device? Or the child whose family owns a laptop, but it’s so outdated that it cannot keep pace with those of his or her peers?
Electronics – Can’t live without ‘em. Best not toss ‘em in the trash. But the story doesn’t end there. Growing awareness around e-waste is pricking the conscience of the conscientious, but “convenience” is still the mantra of the many – so says new research from Carlson MBA students.
You know, I always had disdain for the professors in high school and college who based part of their grade on whether or not you did your homework. It seemed like a way for them to look good without having to really validate the student’s knowledge of the material. I always felt homework was a means to an end. Shouldn’t I truly be scored on the end and not the means? (In case you haven’t inferred it, I was not a fan of homework.)
A few months ago, I came across an article in a community newspaper in which a local columnist offered homespun advice on computer maintenance. The topic of the column that particular week was advice on wiping data from a computer hard drive before the end-of-life machine was disposed.
May 5th is the official Connect the Dots Day aimed at bringing awareness to the acceleration and interconnectivity of severe weather events across the globe. But just as my colleague Barbara Scott says in her blog, “Every Day is Earth Day,” from my point of view, every needs to be connect the dots day when you consider sustainability. We need to connect the dots between energy and water and air and food, between climate and human behaviors, between heinous working conditions and our surfeit of waste.
E-waste may be among the fastest growing municipal waste streams in the United States, but according to our Earth Day Survey, there’s still good news to celebrate.
I like statistics. They always come through. Absolute truth is not easily obtained, but you can always count on statistics to help you gain insight. In our recent Earth Day survey, we asked respondents questions designed to measure their awareness around the issues associated with e-waste. The results were encouraging.
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