Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Digital Divide - Pedagogical Divide

Is There a Digital Divide or an Intellectual-Pedagogical One?

This post includes a number of wonderings . . .
For the past few days, there has been some controversy over a TED talk that included some commentary about classism. See the Time article Was Nick Hanauer's TED Talk on Income Inequality Too Rich for Rich People? for a synopsis.  The basic premise was that the talk was censored from public viewing due to it being offensive to the wealthy folks that pay to attend the TED conference.
I really love watching TED talks but this controversy got me thinking about intellectual elitism.  I cannot nor will ever be able to afford to go to a TED conference but I can watch them online.  I often ask, in group settings, if folks heard of TED.  Groups that contain higher education faculty and teachers, who are engaged in social networks, do know of TED talks.  My college students and friends, many who are of lower SES levels, have not.