Lesson 2How to ensure inclusive project management
- Notion 8 - Project practices that promote the inclusion of users with learning disorders
- Notion 9 - Project practices that promote the inclusion of users with socioeconomic difficulties
- Notion 10 - Project practices that promote inclusion of users with hearing impairments
- Notion 11 - Project practices that promote the inclusion of users with visual impairments
- Notion 12 - Project practices that promote the inclusion of users with physical impairments
- Notion 13 - Project practices that promote the inclusion of users who don't speak the country's native language, have low literacy and/or have a lack of digital skills
- Notion 14 - Review of the main concepts
Notion 9
Project practices that promote the inclusion of users with socioeconomic difficulties
Target skills
Being socioeconomically disadvantaged means living in less favourable social and economic circumstances than others in the same society. For example, socioeconomic disadvantage can include low income, living in a deprived area, and less favourable environmental circumstances.
Socioeconomic status can impact all aspects of an individual’s life, including his/her ability to access and find online information. Being socioeconomically disadvantaged can limit an individual’s access to resources and participation in society.
How can users with socioeconomic disadvantages be included?
As much research has shown a link between digital exclusion and socioeconomic disadvantage, digital inclusion is often viewed as a way to improve socioeconomic status. Social equality in the digital environment refers to the ability of individuals to develop and maintain social relationships online that contribute to their overall comfort and security. As technology use becomes more prevalent amongst people in developed countries, technology is also becoming part of the ordinary lives of individuals experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage. Technology is used for various necessary everyday connections: applying for jobs; communicating with employers; accessing information about and applying for welfare payments, and creating and maintaining connections with friends and family.
Different organisations are attempting to implement projects to overcome this socioeconomic gap among individuals in the digital sphere.
- ConnectHomeUSA is a project that brings computers, connections and digital literacy training to people living in subsidised housing (for further information, see https://connecthomeusa.org/)
- GiveInternet is developing a project to raise money to give underserved students laptops, Internet connections, and digital training.
- Comcast Internet Essentials provides low-cost Internet connections for eligible low-income families.
- Sprint, with its 1Million Project Foundation, is projecting to give one million high schoolers a wireless internet connection and computing device (http://www.1millionproject.org/).
Because the educational digital divide has a profound effect on students’ overall growth and well-being, many organisations are exploring ways to face the problem locally. Although many technological solutions can have a positive impact on the educational digital divide, the following two can be particularly helpful for inclusivity:
- Enhancing connectivity: projects in this arena address imbalances in internet access and strive to provide community-based universal WI-FI to improve educational opportunities for students.
- Working with families: for communities where universal Wi-Fi is not an option, projects can focus on upgrading public access through facilities such as libraries and community centres. The community may also work with organisations to help them overcome challenges with access to technology (for more guidance, see: https://www.close-the-gap.org/)