Cross-Cultural Comparison

Based on the attached annotated bibliography, compose a 2-3 page double-spaced paper comparing how different contemporary societies have been shaped by technology. The paper should identify the contemporary social issue that has been influenced by technology and compare and contrast how the United States compares to at least one (1) other culture or society on this issue.

 

This assignment should address:    

• Analyze the impact of the changing technological context on relationships and social lives to enhance learning, communication, decision-making, and privacy.
• Compare the choices and decisions that different contemporary societies face concerning technological development, technological equity, economics, and the environment.

Paper will be graded according to the following criteria:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Component	Criteria	Points Earned
Statement of the contemporary social issue	5 points: issue is clearly and concisely stated 3 points: Issue is evident, but could be more clearly stated 1 points: Issue is unclear, poorly stated
Supportive evidence	5: Statement is clearly written and well supported by research 3: Statement is somewhat supported by research 1: Statement is not supported by research
Cross-cultural comparison	5: Excellent comparison and contrast between US culture and at least one other culture 4: Good comparison and contrast between US culture and at least one other culture 3: Fair comparison and contrast between US culture and at least one other culture; OR good comparison or contrast between cultures, but not both 2: Fair comparison or contrast between cultures, but not both 1: Poor comparison or contrast between cultures
Style	5: Well-written, few or no errors in composition or mechanics 3: Mostly well-written, few to several errors in composition or mechanics that do not significantly detract from the paper 1: Serious errors in composition or mechanics that significantly detract from the paper
APA Format	2: Correctly follows APA format 1: Follows APA format with some errors 0: Does not follow APA format
TOTAL SCORE	/22

 

November

2

3, 2013

2

Applied Final Project – Part 1: Annotated Bibliography

BEHS 103: Technology in Contemporary Society

WORKSHEET

Social Issue or Topic: The Digital Divide

Step 1: Bibliographic List: List your scholarly articles (minimum 3) in correct APA format.

1.

Making sense of innovations: A comparison of personal computers and mobile phones

· Ozge, D. (2013) Making sense of innovations: A comparison of personal computers and mobile phones. Media & Society.146-1666

2. Race and Racism in Internet Studies: A review and Critique

· Jessie D. (2012)

Race and racism in Internet Studies: A review and critique

. Media & Society.

5 695-719

3.

The digital divide shifts to differences in usage

·

Jan, A. (2013). The digital divide shifts to differences in usage. Media & Society.10-11

Step 2: Indicate where you obtained each of your articles. Google Scholar?

UMUC Library

Database? Other search?

UMUC Library

Article	Search Tool
Making sense of innovations: A comparison of personal computers and mobile phones		UMUC Library
Race and racism in Internet Studies: A review and critique	UMUC Library
The digital divide shifts to differences in usage

Step 3: Select three (3) of your articles and present Annotations for each of these three articles.

Article 1: Annotation for Article about Innovations:

Ozge, D. (2013) Making sense of innovations: A comparison of personal computers and mobile phones. Media & Society.146-1666

According to the article, the perception of people towards technology is different and therefore it is not easy for one to really classify whether two people can mean the same thing when they say digital divide for example when one society talks about the perception, the meaning could be different from one another person means. For there to be uniformity in perception, there has to be a policy which can provide a uniform ground for ICT to operate. The author of the article brings out the various roles that policy can play in the development of ICT especially when it comes to innovation. The relevance of this article to the digital divide is policies actually determine the level of ICT use within a given society, the article talks about the various elements of technology like phones and computers and how they apply in the digital world.

Article 2: Annotation for Article about race and racism in Internet studies:

Jessie D. (2012) Race and racism in Internet Studies: A review and critique. Media & Society.
5 695-719

The article addresses the various issues that arise due to social differences of societies which can include culture. Being an social and media writer the author of the articles brings out issues that encourage and determine how technology is used based on such issues like race. The article brings in the relevance of digital divide by focusing on how people of different races use technology mostly the internet. The articles about how people of different races of the world access internet as compared to others. Race plays in when it comes to accessing technology because different races are located in different places which mean that there is a possibility of such to happen along the level of development for the nations where they come from.

When it comes to the digital divide, a person who comes from a certain society could be advantaged for the simple reason that they come from a certain society as defined by race.

Article 3: Annotation for Article about the digital divide:

Jan, A. (2013). The digital divide shifts to differences in usage. Media & Society.10-11

According to the article, there are many issues that cause the digital divide or the gaps that exist when it comes to the use of technology. The author brings out these issues in order to help the reader to understand that some of the factors can look to be irrelevant. Being a technology oriented writer he examines the various aspects that shift the paradigms when it comes to using technology among societies. This article is very relevant to the topic because it gives first hand information that relate to the digital divide. The main points that stick out in the article are the factors that lead to digital divide and possible explanations concerning the same. Some of the things that are mentioned the article actually relate to the choices and decisions to use technology as limited by the listed factors like age, sex etc.