DIGITAL DIVIDE AND ACCESS TO INTERNET

Information Communication Technology (ICT) has become an integral part of Israelis’ everyday life. However, there is a big gap between its extensive use by the general public and its use by pupils and instructors within schools. The computers at schools are old and incompatible with the demands of 21st century technology. Consequently, some of the skills pupils’ acquire at school and the knowledge they possess do not match those required for effective functioning in a technologically oriented society. Some of these skills are communication and information literacy, thinking and problem solving, cooperation and team work, independent learning, flexibility and adaptation. In order to equip pupils with these skills and to prepare them for 21st century technological demands, there is a need to introduce state-of-the-art technology. Technology is perceived not only as a means for improving pupils’ academic performance, but also as a tool for bridging the digital gap between those who can afford to acquire them and those who cannot. Thus, two major decisions have been made by the Ministry of Education and it involved the replacement of the obsolete computers with newer ones, and the second - the distribution of tablets to pupils from a low socio-economic background. The rationale for this recommendation was that all pupils need to have similar starting points in order to be able to advance and compete in society.