Running head: DIGITAL DIVIDE

Digital Divide
Robina Norman
EDU 352 Foundations of Educational Technology
Instructor Wetanah Lenardson
February 20, 2015

DIGITAL DIVIDE

Digital Divide
The issue that I chose to discuss was the digital divide. The reason that I chose this
particular topic is that since I live in a rural area and work at a public library, I am vastly aware
of how slow the Internet can be and those number of people who do not bother to have Internet
access at home due to the speed.
Digital divide is a theory that there is an unequal advantage for schools that have
adequate access to updated and speedy technology such as Internet, computers. According to a
2006 article, Doyle stated that basically all K-12 classrooms in the US have been wired for
Internet and that the digital divide is more in third world countries. (Doyle, 2006) Then
according to a 2011 article, Smith stated that Americans living in rural areas cannot get
broadband Internet service which leaves about 11 million Americans out of the technological
revolution. The 2011 article also stated that since Internet connectivity is so slow in some rural
areas that many of the residents do not bother to have Internet access and for those students
living in those households, it puts them at disadvantage. With no high speed Internet service in
the home, students are not able to follow up with online homework, videos or any other school
related activity that requires Internet service. (Smith, 2011) The Digital Divide is slowing
narrowing but there is still a divide with broadband speed.
Digital Divide is one of the disadvantages of educational technology. As a whole, all
students in the United States both in urban and rural areas have access to computers in school but
the Board band speed is not readily available to those students and schools in rural areas which
puts them at a disadvantage. Some solutions are to tell students to go to the public library but
unfortunately that is not a solution either since rural public libraries also face the disadvantage of
having access to Board band speed.

DIGITAL DIVIDE

For more information please check out the following web sites:
The State of the Digital Divide
The Digital Divide: Where We Are
Digital Divide

DIGITAL DIVIDE

References:
Dickard, N. & Schneider, D. (2002, July 1). The Digital Divide: Where We Are. Retrieved
February 12, 2015 from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-divide-where-we-are-today
American Library Assocation. (n.d.). Digital Divide. Retrieved February 12, 2015 from
http://www.ipl.org/div/digitaldivide/
Doyle, B. (2006). Crossing the digital divide. EContent, 29(7), 36. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/213815045?accountid=8547
Lee, R. (2013, November 4). The State of Digital Divides (video & slides) Retrieved February
12, 2015 from http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/11/05/the-state-of-digital-divides-videoslides/
Smith, P. (2011, May 09). The digital divide. New York Times Upfront, 143, 6-7. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/865654926?accountid=8547