What is the digital divide & digital inequality?

Do they affect you?

Where are they present?

In this presentation, all of these questions will be answered.

The Digital Divide is a term that is often simply defined as "The haves & the have not's in the digital world" (Eszter, p. 2)

Basically, do you have access to digital technology or do you not?

While Digital Inequality goes further to analyze HOW people are using the medium. (Eszter, p. 9)

In other words, do you have the ability, access, knowledge & capability of accessing varied, informational material online or do you not?

Digital inequality & digital divide are both NOT concepts that "don't affect me". People all over the world are affected.

"I have internet & I know how to use it!"

Great, but...

"4.3 billion people are still not online, and 90 per cent of them live in the developing world." (Measuring the Information Society, 2014)

When even one person doesn't have the tools (digital divide) or the know how (digital inequality) we are all affected.

After all, knowledge is power and not having the knowledge of even one person, limits us as a society.

Even worse, this is affecting our future.

How?

Digital divide and digital inequality is in our schools. affecting the students, our future.

How do I know?

I found it in my school.

At the District where I am employed every school is has wireless internet and are each in the process of updating their technology.

This is being done in waves.

This means, many schools currently have 10+ IPAD's in all classrooms & many do not.

Those who don't, have 5 desktop computers per classroom.

Interestingly enough, those who are in the first waves are affluent schools, those who are in the last waves, are not.

Currently, there are 4 building lead teachers in every building that attend regular meetings specifically toward technology.

These teachers were to bring back information learned at conferences in quick meetings. However, the amount of information quickly overwhelmed teachers.

At my school, those meetings stopped and teachers were encouraged to "do what they can with technology" which meant, do what you know.

Student's access to technology was in their teacher's hands (& abilities).

Therefore, some students in my building were regularly exposed to using technology in innovative ways to communicate & share ideas while others only used computers to practice typing, all year long.

Many of the students at the building where I teach have their own personal mobile devices, IPAD's, and/or laptops of their own.

Yet, we are not taking advantage of this invaluable resource. The District has not implemented district-wide training's on how to implement these resources. Therefore, the educators don't know how to use these tools effectively.

Time is money and in this case, time is knowledge. The longer it takes, the further behind our educators and students fall.

In order for a district this large to solve these problems, the following must occur:

-Develop a fair process to determine the order in which schools receive updated technology.

-Have mandated, short, readily applicable, (possibly even electronically delivered) training's as to not overwhelm teachers.

-Move quicker & smarter. This may mean hiring experts or paying stipends to current competent teachers, to create a larger technology department.

The digital divide and digital inequality is not something we as a society can expect others to fix.

Ethically, it is our responsibility as educational technologists to do our best to diminish these concepts.

The example problems given are not aligned with the AECT Code of Ethics.

Specifically, Section 1-3 that guarantees equality in program participation.

Section 1-5 that states having a sound method of selecting and providing materials.

and

Section 3-4 4. that states that an attempt be made to increase & share professional knowledge

It is also the job of the districts who hire these educational technologists to educate their employees on the AECT code of ethics & help them follow it.

Those of us in educational technology can promote awareness and take on leadership roles within our employments, to help create connections between the digital divide and lessen the digital inequalities we have in our classrooms.

Thus, ensuring a better connected world in the future where knowledge is truly shared.

Bibliography:

AECT Code of Professional Ethics: http://www.aect.org/About/Ethics.asp

International Telecommunication Union (2014). Measuring the Information Society 2014. Geneva: ITU. Retrieved July 14, 2015 from http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/publications/mis2014/MIS20...

The Digital Divide and What To Do About It - Eszter Hargittai. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.eszter.com/research/pubs/hargittai-digitaldivide.pdf