Toward social and cultural resonance with technology: case studies from the Creating Community Connections Project

Abstract

This paper shares the case studies of two individuals in their efforts to achieve sociocultural resonance with technology. Both individuals are participants in the Creating Community Connections (C3) Project, an ongoing effort at a predominantly African-American, low- to moderate-income housing development in Roxbury, MA, since 1999. As part of this project, MIT researchers worked with residents to establish a technological infrastructure by offering every family a new computer, software, and high-speed Internet connection, along with comprehensive course and a web-based community building system. The project combined these elements in an effort to achieve a social and cultural resonance that integrated both community technology and community building by leveraging indigenous assets instead of perceived needs.