Saturday, September 25, 2010

Creating the Digital Divide

Quote directly from Wikipedia:
The digital divide refers to the gap between people with effective access to digital and information technology, and those with very limited or no access at all. It includes the imbalance both in physical access to technology and the resources and skills needed to effectively participate as a digital citizen. knowledge divide, both reflecting the access of various social groupings to information and knowledge, typically gender, income, race, and by location.


"Digital Divide" was first used to describe the gap, the difference in terms of accessibility to technology. I think it started off as a comparison between countries where technology - in terms of availability and accessibility to computing devices; and it's more often than not, between developed and developing countries.

Lots of effort have been put in to narrow the digital divide - philanthropic organisations and even technology companies to come up with solutions for countries that face issues like electricity so that children are not deprived from access to technology and the world wide web.

On the other hand, today, digital divide no longer just refers to the provision and accessibility of the devices or internet, it's looking at how technology is deployed and how it is used!

Indeed, I think we are now at a juncture - to widen or to narrow the "digital divide".
At least 2 things to look into, in terms of addressing to today's "digital divide" - How we use technology, in particular, our learners; and What devices are we using?

To remain ahead of the rest... I guess, one has no choice, but to create the "digital divide"...

No comments: