RETHINKING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN EDUCATION

Digital Divide can be divided as those inequalities, both economical and social, in the access, meaningful use or impact of information and communication technologies (Wei & Hindman, 2011). When it comes to education, the digital divide seems more evident. On the one hand there are schools where the learning experience is enhanced by the use of new technologies and on the other hand there are schools with no internet access.

This paper analyzes the concept of digital divide by presenting examples of educational projects based on new technologies and policies that have taken place in order to bridge the digital divide. Each of the described projects was designed in an attempt to improve students’ education through new technologies, but it ran into unexpected difficulties and as a result it did not have the anticipated success.

But learning from someone’s mistakes is crucial for developing a better model of digital inclusion that might work in the future. Warschauer (2002) is making a comparison between the digital divide and the literacy gap. Sixteen years later, it can be argued that the literacy gap has been gaped to an extent and that the new literacy gap is the digital divide.

In this paper we will give an extensive analysis of the digital divide, we will bring examples of previous projects that tried to close the gap between those that have access and those who do not and we will suggest ways of handling the problems. Moreover, we will try to investigate if indeed the Digital Divide is the new Literacy Divide.

References:
[1] Warschauer, M. (2002). Reconceptualizing the digital divide. First monday, 7(7).
[2] Wei, L., & Hindman, D. B. (2011). Does the digital divide matter more? Comparing the effects of new media and old media use on the education-based knowledge gap. Mass Communication and Society, 14(2), 216-235.