Unfortunately,
the digital divide has been around for more than a decade within the United
States’ educational system. It continues to affect thousands of students and
schools throughout the country. However, many administrators, other educational
professionals, and also the government, are beginning to attempt solutions in
order to fix this terrible problem. While some of these solutions appear to
have some definite positives attributed with them, there are also some
solutions where some negatives have crept into the picture. In other words,
some of the proposed solutions have not been perfect, but they are beginning to
put us in the right direction in order to overcome this divide. Some of the
potential solutions that are in effect right now are the government is
intervening in the high speed internet market, the mobile web, the Amendment in
the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and better school access. These solutions
are currently the most popular among many officials at this time. However,
there is not clear evidence as to how well some of these solutions are working
currently.
One solution that has been around
the longest is the Amendment in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. This was
actually what the government planned on using once technology was implemented
within classrooms. The purpose of this Amendment was to give libraries and
elementary and secondary schools access to modern telecommunications services
at discount prices. The idea behind selling the services at discount prices was
to allow even the poorest schools to buy some technological devices for their
students. The government believed that schools should be given subsidies so
that people of all backgrounds, especially children, have access to the tools
of information technology. However, this solution over time has actually
contributed to the problem of the digital divide. While the government planned
on providing the technology at discounted prices, this still creates is
creating a problem among the different schools. The wealthier schools would
still be able to purchase more resources than the poorer schools. Therefore,
the students that are forced to attend the poorer schools will have less access
to technology than the students that are fortunate enough to attend the
wealthier schools. While this solution seemed like a good idea at the time, it
seems like over time it actually contributed to the initial problem.
Another solution that could be a
possibility in attempting to solve the digital divide problem is to have
fiber-optic networks that will be inexpensive, standardized, ubiquitous, and
equally fast for uploading and downloading for all students and their families.
This is a solution that is beginning to get some attention due to the fact that
there are other countries that are implementing this same solution in order to
reverse the problem that the digital divide has created in their own countries.
Some of the more developed countries that have attempted to do this are Sweden
and Japan. However, there are also less developed countries, like Portugal and
Russia, are also implementing this change. The idea behind this solution is
that the government would intervene in the high speed internet markets in order
to produce lower subscription charges for their customers. Therefore, if the
subscription charges for the internet were lower, then more people should be
able to afford it. If more people had access to high-speed internet at home,
this could possibly reduce the gap that divides the people who have access to
technology at home and those that do not. However, in order to make this
potential solution possible, they would need to replace the standard telephone
connections with the state-of-the-art fiber optic connections. This would
further reduce the costs of the internet to users, while at the same time
improving access speeds. Overall, this solution would be able to solve part of
the digital divide because one reason for the divide is household income. Initially
too many people were unable to afford the services that go along with
technology, but if the internet was at a reduced cost, more people should be
able to afford it. This is definitely a good start to a solution in order to
attempt to solve the digital divide problem.
One “solution” that has come about
unintentionally is the use of the mobile web by many students. It has been said
that the “mobile web use has grown among groups that have traditionally lagged
behind in Web access, it has been cited as evidence that the distinction
between the digital haves and have-nots is eroding” (Brustein). This is because
the mobile web would provide some web access to the poorer population.
According to one study, many more African Americans and
Hispanics continue to
be more likely to own and use cellphones than whites, and for a greater range
of activities, including the mobile web. However, overall, Americans in general
are accessing the internet on a mobile device in increasing numbers. This is
lessening the gap between the people with technology at home and those that do
not, but there are other problems that are associated with the mobile web. The
most prominent one being that what is available through this type of web has
very limited access. In other words, it is relevant to online access, but it is
still providing challenges to many people. Just because they have access on
their phone, doesn’t mean that they have the full access that is available by
having a computer. Using the mobile web has helped provide some access to
technology and the internet, but it definitely isn’t the solution to the
problem at this point.
The last solution that will be
discussed here is about what the schools can do in order to fix the problem
that the digital divide has created. Two authors of an article titled,
“Roadblocks on the Information Highway,” believe that the solution to the
digital divide is that schools need to be able to provide more access to their
students. One way that they discuss is for schools to have the ability to allow
access to school computer labs during the evenings, weekends, and summers. If
students were able to have greater access to these things at their schools,
then they wouldn’t have to worry about finding access in other places in order
to finish their assignments. By having this technology so readily available to
them, students would be able to complete their assignments easier and will also
be able to simply gain more experience by exploring the technology. The authors
also believe that schools need to be able to provide more opportunities to use
the technology to its fullest capacity. In other words, school districts need
to teach students strategic ways to use the computer. Computers and other
technology shouldn’t just be used within the classroom because it can be used.
It needs to have a purpose. The only bad thing about this solution is that in
order for the school to implement these things, it would need more funding. In
order for the school to be able to do things like having computer labs, it
would need some funding in order to staff the area, provide electricity, etc.
All of the solutions that were named
and discussed above have potential to be able to fix the problem that the
digital divide has created. Some of the solutions above are fixing some of the
worst problems associated with the digital divide, such as the household income
problem. However, all of these solutions
seem to also contribute to the original problem, or are causing new ones. For
example, in the case of the Amendment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, it
is contributing to the fact that wealthy schools can afford more technology
than the poorer schools. This is a very big problem when discussing the digital
divide as the students in the poorer school districts tends to have less access
to technology than the students that attend the wealthier school districts.
While the solutions that are coming out today do have some promise in fixing
this terrible problem, more solutions will always appear that may be bigger and
better ideas than the ones that are here today. We will just have to wait and
see which solution will eventually fix the digital divide problem.
Citations:
Brustein, J. (2010, July 7). Mobile Web Use and the Digital Divide. New York Times. Retrieved from http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/increased-mobile-web-use-and-the-digital-divide/ Crawford, S. (2011, December 3). The New Digital Divide. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/opinion/sunday/internet-access-and-the-new-divide.html?pagewanted=all
CONCLUSIONS:
Recently, there have
been reports that the digital divide is no longer as big of a problem as it has
been in the last decade. In fact, “The term digital divide emerged to describe
technology’s haves and have-nots. It inspired many efforts to get the latest
computing tools into the hands of all Americans, particularly low-income
families” (Richtel). The efforts that many officials have put into attempting
to fix the divide have indeed begun to shrink the divide. However, these
efforts have created a side effect that was not intended. They are calling this
side effect the ‘Time-Wasting Gap.’ They are saying that “as the access to devices
has spread, children in poorer families are spending considerably more time
than children from more well-off families using their television and gadgets to
watch shows and videos, play games and connect on social networking sites”
(Ritchel). Therefore, one of the solutions that many people thought would be
the solution to the digital divide is actually in fact causing more problems
for the poorer students. However, I believe that this problem could have been
avoided had the school districts decided on a different approach.
In my opinion, the digital divide
could have been avoided had the schools decided to not let technology dominate
the entire curriculum. Today, the schools rely on technology too much, which
transcends to the students needing technology to do their assignments and
homework. This is where many students run into trouble should they not have
technology at home that they can use in order to finish what they have been
assigned. This is why schools need to create a curriculum where there is an
equal balance of technology use and non-technology use. If there was a
curriculum similar to one described, students from all backgrounds would be
able to be successful in school in some way. There would be assignments that
could cater to every student within the classroom. Unfortunately though, today
technology is too important to the educational system within the United States.
The digital divide is a problem today, but hopefully one day it will be solved
and every student will be able to have the same education no matter what their
background is.
Citations:
Richtel, M. (2012, May 29). Wasting Time is New Divide in Digital Era. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/us/new-digital-divide-seen-in-wasting-time-online.html?_r=0
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