The Digital Divide Tori Lind, Robby Ebner , Ann Husfeldt, and Amanda Ziegler

1. The Digital Divide Tori Lind, Robby Ebner, Ann Husfeldt, and Amanda Ziegler • Introduction • The digital divide can be an impact on the lives of many; however, this divide is most common in schools and low-income areas. According to “The Digital Divide: Where We Are,” the digital divide is a gap between those individuals and communities that have, and do not have, access to the information technologies that are transforming our lives. Over the years, this definition has grown. According to “The Digital Divide 2.0,” the digital divide has referred to the disparity in technological access due to factors such as economics, race, and geography. Essentially, in simpler terms, the digital divide is an equipment and affordability issue among the entire globe. • Method • We created a survey of ten questions to answer our research questions: • 1. Is the Digital Divide gap closing, or is it the access to poor technology masking the underlying problem; technology education? • 2. Is the digital divide based on minorities or socioeconomic status? • We created our survey with Monkey Survey. Our survey included two true/false, four multiple choice, two yes/no, and two open ended questions. We also created a small paragraph in the survey that explained the Digital divide in more detail for those who were unfamiliar with the issue. Once the survey was created we e-mailed our survey to random group of people filled with people of different ages and backgrounds. • Survey Questions: • True or False: The gap between the Digital Divide is closing. • True or False: The group most effected by the Digital Divide is the minorities. • During grade school you were allowed access to a computer ______ times a week. • a. 1-2 times a week • b. 3-4 times a week • c. 5 times during the week • 4. Did your school have access to laptops? Yes or No • Did the technology you used during school prepare you for the real world? • Do you feel that you had enough instruction about technology to prepare you for life after high school? • Were you taught the proper way to research sources for academic purposes throughout school? Yes or No • 8. Computer classes in your school were available to… • a. All students • b. Gifted students • c. Low-achieving students • d. Minorities • e. Other • 9. Besides school, where else did you have access to technological devices? • a. Home • b. Library • c. Friends/relatives’ House • d. All the above • e. None of the above • 10. How diverse was the school you attended? • a. 0-9% • b. 10-49% • c. 50-69% • d. 70-100% Findings According to the data from question 4, a majority of schools do not have access to laptops. Of the 21 responses, only 14.3% of them had access to a laptop in high school. The other 85.7% of students had no access at all to laptops. According to the data we found from question 10 our survey results were skewed. We didn’t have an even sample of diverse schools compared to schools with little diversity. This could have effected the rest of our data as well. According to the information we found from question 3 we found that most students had access to computers 2-3 times a week. Conclusion From our research we have found that the digital divide 2.0 is closing slightly but the access to modern technology is still an issue. Also because of our slightly skewed data, most information was taken from students who experienced little diversity in school. The Digital Divide continues to be an issue in the United States and throughout the world. By conducting further research, especially in the education field we can assure all students are given the equal opportunity to learn the technology skill needed to strive in our society today. References Hoar, J. (2006, June 15). The Digital Divide 2.0 CBS News, 1-4. Marriot, M. (2006, March 31). Digital Divide closing as Blacks Turn to Internet. Retrieved January 27, 2010, from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/us/31divide.html?_r=2&pagewanted=print Schneider, D. (2002, July 1). The Digital Divide: Where We Are. Retrieved January 27, 2010, from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-divide-where-we-are-today?page=1