Crossing the Digital Divide

As an educator, I am concerned about what many now see as a digital divide between the digital-haves and the digital have-nots. Sociological factors like level of education, income, the region of the US and globally, along with other factors like culture and gender, are identified as contributing to this phenomenon.

Yet, it is possible to see the influence of emerging technologies in much that we do, but it is even more disconcerting when one considers William Gibson’s statement, “The future arrived; it just wasn't equally distributed.” For me, the future has arrived, but I am among the digital-haves. With that I awareness, it is possible then to begin the process of crossing the digital divide.

As an educator, I am a strong believer in opportunity and the need to enable people to achieve their dreams. It becomes imperative then to seek ways to expose people to existing and emerging technologies. But, exposure is not enough; it is also necessary to take some of the magic and mystery out of emerging technologies. Yes, there are some really cool things out there, but it is not essential that people know why something works in order for them to work effectively with something new. Teaching people how to grow and adapt to emerging technologies will help them cross the digital divide for themselves. Encouraging people to continue their educations and try new things will also increase the likelihood that the digital gap will diminish over time.

Reference:
http://www.i-policy.org/2010/11/socio-economic-factors-continue-to-impact-digital-divide-in-the-us-new-report.html