Sociedad del conocimiento y entorno digital

Abstract

The existence and extension of the digital environment has made possible the broad distribution of computer equipment, allowing greater access to information than ever before in human history. Although the consequences of this phenomenon have been analysed and the possible undesirable effects of ‘digital divides’ caused by different levels of access to the information society due to socio-economic reasons identified, there has been little study of what the digital environment supposes for the construction of knowledge and the development of the knowledge society. Although the digital environment is a powerful means of accessing information, it does not necessarily increase the possibilities of constructing knowledge and human development. This may lead to a new risk of the ‘digital divide’, tied to the growing inequality in the abilities of those who have mastered the basic capabilities and strategies needed to build knowledge, and those who are merely passive users of the information that can be accessed through the digital environment. This work explores issues related to individual differences in the capabilities needed to use the digital environment to access and construct valid knowledge, and defends that prior domain knowledge, mediate the processes involved in building knowledge from the information that all individuals access through the digital environment, defining their social role as an individual capable of participating in the development of the knowledge society.