Adapt to Experience

The hope for a level playing field on the Internet, that "everyone" would take advantage of the Internet to improve their knowledge, skills and literacy, isn't what's happening.  Fifteen years ago the struggle was to get people in front of an Internet connected machine.  That achieved, very little happened.  In the last 6 years the struggle was to get "broadband into every home:, and we've pretty much done that in New Zealand.  Net result, very little, people still don't use their connections.  

This is not an New Zealand problem.  Prof. Catherine Middleton in Canada discovered the same thing.  Don Cameron, working in rural Australia has similar findings.  

So what's wrong here?  Partly it's just transition time, it takes a long time for people to change their habits of thought and action.  So, in one sense there's nothing wrong except the expectation that the technology itself would make a difference.  It won't.  What people choose to DO, has to change.  

There are personal reasons why people should want to be more active online.  We all need to be seen as "modern people", up with the play, capable and interested, skilled and involved in the community.  People can see if you are active online or not.  They will make decisions about you, your skill levels and your behaviour because of what they see.  

Nobody is expecting everyone to develop amazing technical skills.  What people need to learn is simple, easy to do, and self reinforcing.  But it does require new understanding.  There is an easy way to begin this sort of activity.  Join some online social networks.  Other people will help you learn the skills you need to know more about.