Digital divide | |
 | |
|
The term digital divide refers to the gap between those people with effective access to digital and information technology and those without access to it. It includes the imbalances in physical access to technology as well as the imbalances in resources and skills needed to effectively participate as a digital citizen. In other words, it’s the unequal access by some members of the society to information and communications technology, and the unequal acquisition of related skills. Groups often discussed in the context of a digital divide include socioeconomic (rich/poor), racial (majority/minority), generational (young/old) or geographical (urban/rural). The term global digital divide refers to differences in technology access between countries. [Site] Digital Divide.org - Home
Origins of the termThe term initially referred to gaps in ownership of computers between groups.Carrie Bickner, Down By Law. Retrieved on 22 November 2007 The term came into regular usage in the mid-1990s. President of the United States Bill Clinton and his Vice President Al Gore used the term in a 1996 speech in Knoxville,Clinton Presidential Center, Remarks by President and VP in Knoxville TN though the term had appeared in several news articles and political speeches as early as 1995.Kate Williams, What is the digital divide?, working paper, University of Michigan, 2001 Larry Irving, a former United States head of the National Telecommunications Infrastructure Administration (NTIA) at the Department of Commerce, Assistant Secretary of Commerce and technology adviser to the Clinton Administration, noted that a series of NTIA surveys (1995), (1998), (1999), and (2000) were “catalysts for the popularity, ubiquity, and redefinition” of the term, and he used the term in a series of later reports. Since the start of the George W. Bush Administration, the NTIA reports (2002) (2004) have tended to focus less on gaps and divides and more on the steady growth of broadband access, especially amongst groups formerly believed to be on the wrong side of the digital divide.[News] The great digital divide
Current usageThere are various definitions of the term "digital divide". Bharat Mehra defines it simply as “the troubling gap between those who use computers and the internet and those who do not”.Mehra et al, 2004, p.782[Image] The term initially referred to gaps in the ownership of, or regular access to, a computer. As Internet access came to be seen as a central aspect of computing, the term's usage shifted to encompass gaps in not just computers but also access to the Internet. Recently, some have used the term to refer to gaps in broadband network access.Compaine, The Digital Divide, Preface, p. xi-xvi The term can mean not only unequal access to computer hardware, but also inequalities between groups of people in the ability to use information technology fully.Anthony G. Wilhelm, Digital Nation: Towards an inclusive information society, MIT Press, 2004, ISBN 0262232383, p.133-134 [Video] Bridging the digital divide Due to the range of criteria which can be used to assess the imbalance, and the lack of detailed data on some aspects of technology usage, the exact nature of the digital divide is both contextual and debatable. Criteria often used to distinguish between the 'haves' and the 'have nots' of the digital divide tend to focus on access to hardware, access to the internet, and details relating to both categories. Some scholars fear that these discussions might be discouraging the creation of Internet content that addresses the needs of minority groups that make up the "have nots," as they are portrayed to be technophobic charity cases that lack the desire to adopt new technologies on their own.Young, 2001 p.1 [Auction] NEW Bridging the Digital Divide: Innovation Systems ... The discussion on digital divide often are tied with other concepts. Lisa Servon argued in 2002 that the digital divide "is a symptom of a larger and more complex problem -- the problem of persistent poverty and inequality".Lisa Servon, 2002, p.2 As described by Mehra (2004), the four major components that contribute to digital divide are “socioeconomic status, with income, educational level, and race among other factors associated with technological attainment”. [Post] Closing the Digital Divide: Getting Cheap and Free Computers Recognition of digital divide as an immense problem has led scholars, policy makers, and the public to understand the “potential of the internet to improve everyday life for those on the margins of society and to achieve greater social equity and empowerment”. [Book] Toward Digital Equity: Bridging the Divide in Education Allyn & Bacon
Digital divide and educationOne area of significant focus was school computer access; in the 1990s, rich schools were much more likely to provide their students with regular computer access. In the late 1990s, rich schools were much more likely to have internet access. In the context of schools, which have consistently been involved in the discussion of the divide, current formulations of the divide focus more on how (and whether) computers are used by students, and less on whether there are computers or internet connections.[Site] Archived--ED Technology Digital Divide The E-rate program (officially the Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Fund), authorized in 1996 and implemented in 1997, directly addressed the technology gap between rich and poor schools by allocating money from telecommunications taxes to poor schools without technology resources. Though the program faced criticism and controversy in its methods of disbursement, it did provide over 100,000 schools with additional computing resources, and internet connectivity. [News] Elephants crossing the fence of digital divide! Recently, discussions of a digital divide in school access have broadened to include technology related skills and training in addition to basic access to computers and internet access. [Image] Technology offers a unique opportunity to extend learning support beyond the classroom, something that has been difficult to do until now. “The variety of functions that the internet can serve for the individual user makes it “unprecedentedly malleable” to the user’s current needs and purposes”.Bargh & McKenna, 2001, p. 577 [Video] DIGITAL ORGASM - moog eruption
Global digital divideAnother key dimension of the digital divide is the global digital divide, reflecting existing economic divisions in the world. This global digital divide widens the gap in economic divisions around the world. Countries with a wide availability of internet access can advance the economics of that country on a local and global scale. In today's society, jobs and education are directly related to the internet. In countries where the internet and other technologies are not accessible, education is suffering, and uneducated people cannot compete in the global economy. This leads to poor countries suffering greater economic downfall and richer countries advancing their education and economy. However, when dealing with the global aspect of digital divide there are several factors that lead to digital divide. For example, country of residence, ethnicity, gender, age, educational attainment, and income levels are all factors of the global aspects of digital divide.Cheung, 2004 In addition, a survey shows that in 15 Western European countries females, manual workers, elderly, and the less educated have less internet access than males, professional, the young, and the well educated”.Cheung, 2004, p.63 The digital divide is a term used to refer to the gap between people who have access to the internet and those that do not. It can also refer to the skills people have – the divide between peoples who are at ease using technology to access and analyse information and those who are not.[Auction] NEW The Digital Divide in Africa - Hagen, Emlyn
Digital divide worldwide
[Post] Elephants crossing the fence of digital divide!
[Book] Technology and Social Inclusion: Rethinking the Digital Divide The MIT Press
[Site] Digital Divide Network
Digital divide, e-democracy and e-governanceThe theoretical concepts of e-democracy are still in early development, but many scholars agree that blogs (web logs), wikis and mailing lists may have significant effects in broadening the way democracy operates.See various papers collected in Peter Shane, Democracy Online: The Prospects for Political Renewal Through the Internet, Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0415948657 There is, as yet, no consensus among scholars about the possible outcomes of this revolution; it has so far shown promise in improving electoral administration and reducing fraud and disenfranchisement; particularly positive has been the reception of e-government services related to online delivery of government services, with portals (such as United States USA.gov in English and GobiernoUSA.gov in Spanish) used as intermediaries between the government and the citizen, replacing the need for people to queue in traditional offices.Kieron O'Hara, David Stevens, Inequality.com, 2006, Oneworld, ISBN 1851684506, p.300-301[News] Bridging the digital divide: young people's perspectives on taking action One of the main problems associated with the digital divide as applied to a liberal democracy is the capacity to participate in the new public space, the cyberspace - as in the extreme case, exclusively computer-based democratic participation (deliberation forums, online voting, etc) could mean that no access meant no vote. Therefore, there is a risk that some social groups - those without adequate access to or knowledge of IT - will be under-represented (or others over-represented) in the policy formation processes and this would be incompatible with the equality principles of democracy. [Image] Proponents of the open content, free software, and open access social movements believe that these movements help equalize access to digital tools and information. [Video] AmiciAmici.com Chiama ERASMUS - #3-1
Overcoming the digital divideProjects like One Laptop per Child and 50x15 offer a partial solution to the global digital divide; these projects tend to rely heavily upon open standards and free open source software. The OLPC XO-1 is an inexpensive laptop computer intended to be distributed to children in developing countries around the world, BBC NEWS | Technology | Portables to power PC industry to provide them with access to knowledge. Programmer and free software advocate Richard Stallman has highlighted the importance of free software among groups concerned with the digital divide such as the World Summit on the Information Society.Stallman, 2006 speech transcript[Auction] NEW Bridging the Digital Divide - Servon, Lisa J. Organizations such as Geekcorps, EduVision Eduvision as organization addressing digital divide and Inveneo Inveneo as organization addressing digital divide also help to overcome the digital divide. They often do so through the use of education systems that draw on information technology. The technology they employ often includes low-cost laptops/subnotebooks, handhelds (eg Simputer, E-slate, ...), tablet PCs, Mini-ITX PCs Geekcorps using Mini-ITX PCs and low-cost WiFi-extending technology as cantennas and WokFis Geekcorps Mali using cantennas . In addition, other information technology material usable in the classroom can also be made diy to lower expenses. This includes projectors, ... [http://www.instructables.com/id/LCD-Overhead-Projector/ DIY lcd projector DIY lcd and lightbulb projectors [Post] Bridging the digital divide: young people's perspectives on taking ... In Digital Nation, Anthony G. Wilhelm calls on politicians to develop a national ICT agenda. Yet another solution is to try to better understand the lifestyle of a minority or marginalized community.Mehra et al, 2004 (page needed) In doing this, researchers can figure out “what is meaningful to them and marginalized users and how they use (or do not use) different forms of the internet for meeting their objectives”.Mehra et al, 2004, p.799 Furthermore, “a need for a re-examination of questions based on traditional ways of looking at people, their social dynamics, and their interactions with technology”. However, researchers still tend to “set a ‘method’ for studying the impact of internet use or assuming a golden rule for application that will function in all situations will not work”.Mehra et al, 2004, p.797 Additionally, “One strategy is to transfer goal-setting, decision making, and choice-determining processes into the hands of the disadvantaged users in order that they ‘fit’ internet into their daily lives in ways that they themselves consider to be meaningful”.Mehra et al, 2004, p.787 [Site] Digital Divide International cooperation between governments have begun, aiming at dealing with the global digital divide. For example, in an attempt to bridge this digital divide, an agreement between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Egyptian government emerged. The USAID funded state-of-the-art equipment for Egyptian education, their brilliance of knowledge in using such equipment caused such equipment to increase in use throughout the years. Now, Egyptian society is more computer literate and knowledgeable about computers than they used to be. Nonetheless it's a sign of progress that such attempts at bridging the digital divide are seriously being made. Mark Warschauer, "Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide" Additional participants in such endeavors include the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development and the Digital alliance Foundation. Global Alliance for ICT and Development Digital Alliance Foundation: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Education for All (EFA) [News] Palm Beach County signs digital deal with Delray Beach The United Nations is aiming to raise awareness of the divide by way of the World Information Society Day which takes place yearly on May 17. 17 May - World Information Society Day. From portal.unesco.org. Retrieved on 23 November 2007] [Image]
CriticismThe existence of a digital divide is not universally recognized. Compaine (2001) argues it is a perceived gap. Technology gaps are relatively transient; hence the digital divide should soon disappear in any case. The knowledge of computers will become less important as they get smarter and easier to use. In the future people will not need high-tech skills to access the Internet and participate in e-commerce or e-democracy. Thus Compaine argues that a digital divide "is not the issue to expend substantial amounts or funds nor political capital".[Video] 17 - Orso TV [Auction] NEW The Race Related Digital Divide - A Comparison B... [Post] Bridging the Digital Divide [Site] The Digital Divide or the Digital Connection [News] Obama ace: digital divide and conquer [Image] [Video] Processo ai Templari al castello di Bardi (Parma) 2008 [Auction] Bridging the Digital Divide: Technology, Community, and [Post] Blog Action Day 2008 - Digital Divide [Book] From Digital Divide to Digital Opportunity ScarecrowEducation [Site] The Digital Divide Network [News] NComputing to close digital divide in AP [Image] [Video] Obama in Second Life [Auction] NEW Digital Divide: An Equation Needing a Solution -... [Post] Bridging the Digital Divide to Combat Poverty [Book] Bridging the Digital Divide: Technology, Community, and Public Policy Wiley-Blackwell [Site] The Digital Divide: Where We Are Today | Edutopia [News] The Tech Lab: Hakan Eriksson [Image] [Video] AGE a project for rural reach for a greener world [Post] Closing the Digital Divide: 5 Ways to Get Free Internet Access [Book] The Digital Divide: Facing a Crisis or Creating a Myth? (MIT Press Sourcebooks) The MIT Press [Site] MediaShift . Digging Deeper::Your Guide to the Digital Divide | PBS [News] Faster forward [Image] [Video] The Annual Event-Part 2 [Post] Closing the Digital Divide: 5 Ways to Get Free Internet Access [Book] Gender and Computers: Understanding the Digital Divide Lawrence Erlbaum [News] New book looks at technology's impact on brain [Image] [Video] The Annual Event [Post] Apple Updates Products, But Doesn't Shrink Digital Divide [News] How important is a president's online aptitude? [Image] [Video] AmeriCorps "Digital Divide" [Post] The Mawney School helps to bridge the Digital Divide | |
