Topical Seminar on Digital Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups Held on April 11
18.04.2023
New topical seminar was held on April 11. The event invited the participants to ponder on the complex issue of digital inclusion. More specifically, the conversation led by Dr. Panayiota Tsatsou (University of Leicester) and Dr. Daniel Lapin (Lomonosov MSU) dwelt on the challenges and opportunities that vulnerable groups are confronted with.
Dr. Panayiota Tsatsou gave an extensive summary of the ongoing project that explores digitalization-related barriers and benefits faced by ethnic minorities, elderly people and people with disabilities. Social Lab project provides space for interaction among digital inclusion experts, third sector actors, policy bodies, and members of vulnerable groups. The participants engage in the process of mutual learning through focus group discussions, role-plays, and questionnaires. Theoretically Social Lab goes beyond the common focus of the existing intersectionality studies and is enriched with a series of concepts from Foucault’s social theory. Driven by the ultimate aim to devise scalable initiatives in the field, the project measures people’s engagement with technologies using five parameters of context, motivations, modalities, intensities, and consequences.
Dr. Daniel Lapin expanded the angle of the problem by linking it to media education, as he shared his thoughts on digital inclusion of teenagers. Critical perception, analytical thinking and creative reproduction of information as key skills developed by media education also come to the fore in the realm of digital divide, since they determine the benefits generated by users. Major challenges in this regard include lack of academic disciplines tailored to the teenagers and crisis of expertise in the field, digital natives’ scepticism and reluctance to receive information-related education, as well as imbalance in teacher-parent-child relationship. According to Dr. Lapin, the latter can be counterweighed through transforming classic vertical hierarchy into horizontal collaboration between the three parties.
Big thanks to the speakers for their comprehensive approaches, and, as usual, to all the participants for the lively discussion that followed the presentations!
New topical seminar was held on April 11. The event invited the participants to ponder on the complex issue of digital inclusion. More specifically, the conversation led by Dr. Panayiota Tsatsou (University of Leicester) and Dr. Daniel Lapin (Lomonosov MSU) dwelt on the challenges and opportunities that vulnerable groups are confronted with.Dr. Panayiota Tsatsou gave an extensive summary of the ongoing project that explores digitalization-related barriers and benefits faced by ethnic minorities, elderly people and people with disabilities. Social Lab project provides space for interaction among digital inclusion experts, third sector actors, policy bodies, and members of vulnerable groups. The participants engage in the process of mutual learning through focus group discussions, role-plays, and questionnaires. Theoretically Social Lab goes beyond the common focus of the existing intersectionality studies and is enriched with a series of concepts from Foucault’s social theory. Driven by the ultimate aim to devise scalable initiatives in the field, the project measures people’s engagement with technologies using five parameters of context, motivations, modalities, intensities, and consequences.
Dr. Daniel Lapin expanded the angle of the problem by linking it to media education, as he shared his thoughts on digital inclusion of teenagers. Critical perception, analytical thinking and creative reproduction of information as key skills developed by media education also come to the fore in the realm of digital divide, since they determine the benefits generated by users. Major challenges in this regard include lack of academic disciplines tailored to the teenagers and crisis of expertise in the field, digital natives’ scepticism and reluctance to receive information-related education, as well as imbalance in teacher-parent-child relationship. According to Dr. Lapin, the latter can be counterweighed through transforming classic vertical hierarchy into horizontal collaboration between the three parties.
Big thanks to the speakers for their comprehensive approaches, and, as usual, to all the participants for the lively discussion that followed the presentations!