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Monday, 11 November 2013

digital divide

The term digital divide was coined in the late 1990s amid growing concern that groups such as minorities, the elderly, and rural residents were not becoming computer liter-ate and connecting to the Internet at the same rate as the young, educated, and relatively affluent.

Nearly a decade later this perception of a chasm has diminished somewhat. According to the Pew Internet & American Life project, as of 2006 about two-thirds (70 per-cent) of American adults were using the Internet, and the number has continued to increase, though more slowly (there is evidence of a “hard core” unconnected popula-tion). Groups that lagged in Internet usage included Ameri-cans 65 years or older (35 percent), African Americans (58 percent), and persons without at least a high school educa-tion (36 percent).
The digital divide is more severe if one looks at the world as a whole (see developing nations and comput-ing). Rapidly industrializing nations such as China and India are seeing considerable increases in the number of people with some form of computer and Internet access, though the numbers are still small in relation to the total population. In severely underdeveloped countries (such as many in Africa), connectivity may be improved by the “One Laptop per Child” project, which has designed a prototype computer designed to cost less than $100.

Broadband Use

Not all Internet access is equal. High-speed connections (see broadband, cable modem, and dsl) encourage fre-quent Internet use throughout the day, and make it feasible to access and share rich media (images, videos, podcasts, and so on). According to the Pew Internet & American Life project, 47 percent of all adult Americans had a broadband Internet connection at home as of 2007. The rate of broad-band adoption continues to lag for rural residents (31 per-cent) and African Americans (40 percent).

However, the broadband adoption rate for African Americans has been increasing rapidly (it was only 14 per-cent in early 2005). There are a number of factors that cor-relate with the likelihood that a person or community will have access to the Web. People in lower-income brackets are less likely to own PCs. Phone service may be less reli-able (particularly in rural areas), and Internet access may require expensive toll charges. While schools and public libraries can offer an alternative venue for Internet access, inner-city schools have tended to lag behind in connecting to the Internet and in the ratio of networked computers to students. (The Net Day activities in the mid-1990s first pub-licized and sought to ameliorate this problem.)

Internet access also correlates to education. While per-sons lacking a college education are likely to be poorer than college graduates, they are also less likely to be working in jobs that include regular computer access. A deficiency in basic reading and keyboard skills can also serve as a barrier to participation in the online world (see also com-puter literacy). People over age 50 are also less likely to be online. They are more likely to have spent their career in noncomputerized jobs and may feel that they cannot master the new technology.
Targeted attempts to close the digital divide through providing more Internet access through schools and librar-ies are likely to continue to be successful. The marketplace itself is perhaps making the biggest contribution, since the price of an Internet-capable PC with a basic dial-up connec-tion is now around $400 plus about $10/month.

Improvement in the teaching of general literacy as well as technical skills in the K-12 schools is necessary if the next generation is to be able to participate fully and equally in the online world.

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