LEARNING A LIVING

In 1997, at the peak of the dotcom frenzy, the Bay Area Video Coalition — the largest nonprofit media arts center in the U.S. — established MediaLink, a new media training and job placement program for San Francisco's low-income residents. Under director Paige Ramey, MediaLink not only encouraged computer literacy, but also helped fill jobs within a local high-tech industry desperate for Web-qualified workers. Five years later, most dotcoms are bust, but MediaLink pushes forward. We talked to Ramey about the ongoing fight to bridge the technological gap.

On the digital divide: The demise of the digital divide is a complete fallacy. We recently started working with teachers on the technology skills they need to bring into the classroom, and most teachers barely know how to use e-mail. It's through no fault of their own — they're sorely underpaid, and their professional development classes are very poor. But if teachers don't have computer skills, then I doubt kids from low-income backgrounds have the right access to computers, either.

On getting Americans online: There continues to be a lack of information and outreach to people who don't use computers. They think computers are only for wealthy and middle-class people, or that they're toys. It would be most efficient and effective if the corporate sector, the government and nonprofits all contributed.

On improving e-learning: You need visual stimulation — not bells and whistles with no meaning, but animation that is instructive and entertaining at the same time. It's also useful to encourage students to talk with one another. Human interaction is still a really important part of learning. I would never hope to see computers taking over the role of teaching humans.

On what's next: The new media romance has definitely ended. I used to hear people say, “If I knew new media, my life would be perfect.” They didn't realize that only one in a million actually became millionaires. Now that the myth is over, there's a great deal of insecurity across the board. People already in jobs are nervous, and others wonder what the benefits of learning are. The main thing is to encourage people to look around and notice how digital technology is used all around them. Someone still has to make Web pages or create and maintain a database, but we need to be really frank that they're not going to make some extraordinary salary. It's important to encourage them to be objective.

DOSSIER PAIGE RAMEY

Occupation: Director of product development for the Bay Area Video Coalition

Place of residence: San Francisco

Hobbies: Collage, hiking, dogs, yoga

Current reading: “Fingersmith” by Sarah Waters; “Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames” by Thich Hhat Hanh

Favorite Web site: None, “but I go to Google a lot.”

Next project: “We're putting a lot of our courseware onto DVD and looking at how we could deliver it through an online portal. I'm also working on a DVD about the preservation of video art.”