Abstract:

In recent days, technology has boomed beyond imagination and infiltrated every aspect of our lives, from medicine to engineering, education, business, and much more. Despite this technology boom, there is still a barrier between those with access to adequate technology devices, tools, and resources and those without, creating the digital divide phenomena. Despite some improvements, the digital divide has considerably increased after the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting learner access from marginalized populations in the U.S. and the hardest-to-reach regions across the globe. According to the World Economic Forum, nearly 2.9 billion individuals still suffer from the digital divide (World Economic Forum, 2022). The imperative limits individuals' participation in the new knowledge economy and the social gains attributed to digital access. Consequently, this will lead to fewer work opportunities, high poverty, learning loss, and narrow lifestyle perspectives. This paper examines how to challenge the digital divide and suggests a call to action to promote diversity and social justice in digital technologies. Additionally, drawing on existing literature reviews and technology initiatives, we propose who should be involved in cross-system collaborative efforts to achieve social change and equity in technology for all.

Keywords:

Fair representation, social mobility, reflexive pedagogy, digital infrastructure.