The Digital Queer Gap is a variation of the Digital Gender Gap, which refers to the differences and inequality in accessing and using digital technologies. It not only considers the differences between men and women, but the entire LGBTIQ+ community is considered. Some companies and organizations try to enhance access to the digital world for people from the LGBTIQ+ community and thereby reduce the DQG. The online presence of the LGBTIQ+ community on the Internet has great advantages, but also implies some difficulties.
What is it about?
The basic idea is to create a digital interactive whiteboard, where teachers would create pins, notes, pictures, video, etc. The content should be created with the help of a list of questions and topics. This list is provided by the DigitClue Team and can be found below.
The exercise should be done according to these steps:
- Research exercise for teachers (List of topics/questions):
- What does LGBTIQ+ mean?
- What does Digital Queer Gap mean?
- Where can you find material for this topic?
- Are there organisations in your town that are dealing with the topic of LGBTIQ+ and/or the Digital Queer Gap?
- What are the legal rights of the LGBTIQ+ community in your country?
- Where can you get help, if you are facing discrimination because of your belonging to the LGBTIQ+ community?
- How long do you have to travel to get support?
- Design a whiteboard using the App “Mural”:
3. Present it in the classroom:
The whiteboard should be presented in the classroom to the students. Definitions, notes, organisations, etc. should be explained and discussed. The aim is to be as creative as possible and make the topic as interactive as possible.
4. Discuss the topics/questions with the pupils:
After showing the students the whiteboard, they should discuss it. What do they think about it? Which opinion/attitude do they have? What would they put on the whiteboard? What do they already know?
5. Extend the whiteboard with the ideas/wishes/approaches from the pupils:
Work on the whiteboard together with the pupils and add their ideas/wishes and approaches about this topic. If it is possible the whiteboard should be shared and compared.
Try it out
Example of Digital Queer Gap designed with Mural:
Alternatives: Power Point
Tell your colleagues
After creating the whiteboard and extending it with the students, you can share your work with colleagues all over the world. For this you can share the whiteboard on the Digital Inclusion Map on the website of DigitClue. The D.I. Map is a map of the world, where users can share projects, materials, ideas, and comments on digital inclusion in their own country.
Thinking further
You now have thought and discussed about the Digital Queer Gap from your own perspective, as well as the ideas from the students. We invite you now to think further about this topic and collect some more insight into the Digital Queer Gap.
In the concept there is a focus on older members of the LGBTIQ+ community. It is strongly connected with the Digital Age Gap. What about the younger generation? Can you think about some reasons why younger members belonging to the LGBTIQ+ community are excluded from the digital world? What could be the reasons for differences between older and younger people? Do you have some ideas on how the gap could be reduced for both?