Tina L. Brewer
Issue # 8
Digital DivideDue 12/8/08“
We cannot assume that our schools will naturally drift toward using technology effectively. Wemust commit ourselves to staying the course and making the changes necessary to reach our goals of educating every child. These are ambitious goals, but they are goals worthy of a great nation such as ours. Together, we can use technology to ensure that no child is left behind.”
President George W. Bush
Background Information
Higher education institutions are expecting incoming students to be familiar with technology and companies of the 21
st
century are looking for employees thatare technologically savvy. Therefore we must make certain that our students arereceiving training early on that will prepare them to become competitive in theworkforce and contributing members of society. The concern here is than how dowe effectively integrate technology into our curriculums and lesson plans, whennot everyone has equal access to technology (computers, Internet, DVD players,etc).The issue of the digital divide is not only economical but it is demographicaland racial as well. Data from the U.S. Census in the
A
Nation Online
(2004)report tells us that 143 million Americans, or roughly 54% of the population usethe Internet. The data also tells us that the rate of growth of Internet usage in theUnited States is currently 2 million new Internet users per month, with Internetuse continuing to increase across income, education, age, race, ethnicity, andgender lines. Therefore it can be concluded that the gap has increased in recentyears. Comparable differences can be found amid populations with limited formal
education – Hispanics (31.8%) and African Americans (39.8 %) lag behind whites(59.9 %) in Internet access at home, suggesting serious ethnic and racial divides.According to National Center for Education Statistics (2000):
o
Students living within city limits – 11 students per 1 computer
o
Students living in rural areas – 7 students per 1 computer
o
Students attending schools located in impoverished areas – 16 studentsper 1 computer
o
Students attending schools in less impoverished areas – 7 student per 1computer
o
Overall average in 1999 was 9 students per 1 computer It is accurate to say that the U.S has made improvements, but a closer look atthe data in
A Nation Online
reveals that considerable work remains to bridge thedigital divide. With 54 percent of Americans online, the current Administrationsees "A Nation Online" as proof that a targeted national commitment to bridgingthe divide is no longer necessary. Along with a 17 percent decrease ineducational technology funding from FY 2001, the TOP and CTC programs havebeen slated for termination in 2003. The rationale is that Americans are gainingaccess to computers at an acceptable pace and as a result the role of government can be curtailed.Therefore when it comes to gaining better access, many groups of people aresimply unable to do so because the resources are just not there. Research tellsus that current and future workers will need to be able to learn new skills,because technology will be the common bond among many jobs in our society.Our development as a national influence has depended largely on thecapabilities of our workers. Our schools cannot fail our students by not preparingthem for the usage of technology; for some there may not be another opportunity!
Inequity of access to technology today becomes tomorrow's continuing societalfailure.
Scenario
Joshua has taken a job at an inner city middle school in Kentucky; hepreviously worked at St. Martha’s elementary school in Ohio before relocating.Joshua is the new science teacher at Johnsonville Middle School and has allsorts of neat ideas to incorporate technology into his lesson plans (as he hasdone so often at his previous school). The Kentucky school district was justrecently removed from semester warning, has limited monies but has beenmaking academic improvements consistently. The district has hired 3 highlyqualified teachers (including Joshua) to add to the staff at Johnsonville middle.Joshua has noticed that the students’ access to technology (computers,Internet, flash drives, DVD players) is very limited in the school. He has spokenwith other teachers in the school, but they do not feel technology is as importantas Joshua believes it to be. Many of the teachers accept as true that computerscannot replace good teachers. However, Joshua is new to the school, justcompleted his degree and has all sorts of new and innovative ideas he would liketo use with his students.This type of environment is one that Joshua is unaccustomed to. Hebegins to feel alone and outnumbered but then he remembers why he wanted toteach in the first place – to prepare students for their futures! With that he sitsdown and reflects on past teaching experience at St. Martha’s: how he handled
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Digital Divide - Issue8
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