A World Divided by Those Who Can Afford Technology and Those Who Cannot

Today, we are so accustomed and dependent on technology to communicate and inform our world (Bentley, 2014). According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (2017) Australia has a population of 24.7 million people, only 14.2 million of those people have access to the internet. That means that over ten million people in Australia, a young but well-developed country don’t have access to the internet. Nicholas Negroponte created a non for profit initiative called one laptop per child, in hope to continue to minimise the digital divide, this initiative has now rolled out in Ethiopia, Mongolia, Peru, Mexico, Rwanda and more. Technology is such a big part of our education system so what happens when some of our students don’t have access to basic

The term “digital divide” was coined to define this growing gap between the people who do not have access to modern technology (more specifically the poor, rural, elderly, and handicapped) and the people who do (wealthy, middle class, and those living in urban/suburban areas). In urban areas especially, a common assumption made is that everyone has access to this modern technology. People see technology all around them and assume it is integrated into everyone’s life. Because of the simplicity technology offers, it has become the engine behind economics, politics, and communication. In rural areas, most people know the potential of modern technology, but don’t have the resources to achieve it. “It has been observed that households earning incomes over $75,000 are 20 times more likely to have home internet access than those at lowest income levels and 10 times more likely to have a

In contrast, the only barrier that teachers and students face when it comes to technology is accessibility. In certain areas and social classes, students do not have access to technology, mainly internet access, at home. Which may limit the use of technological devices to a school setting. There are many programs in place to give students access to internet outside the classroom, and hopefully allow students access to educational tools to allow them a better education.

Since the launch of the Internet as a global communication network and the boom in communication technologies, our world has been overwhelmed by a new phenomenon – digital divide. It has gradually turned into a major, constantly growing world issue, threatening to further increase the gap between advanced and developing countries. Yet, is digital divide really an unprecedented occurrence or a natural and unavoidable trend? “Divide” is certainly a word whose meaning could be traced back to the mere dawn of human history. It goes even deeper – to human nature itself: to sex and racial differentiation, to unequal physical and mental powers, to different

This topic I became very interested in after learning more about it with the homework and reading we did. I learned that the Network Society is a social group created through the medium of "online" or other relations that are not made face to face. Network Society can have vast impacts on the economy and political and cultural influences. Unlike in person communication to where you are limited by space and chance of seeing the right person, there are no special limitations on the network. The digital divide, although shrinking in many areas, is still an important issue that separates the world. With the increased reliance on the internet, people without access to it fall behind socially and possibly economically. The digital divide is eased with public digital infrastructure such as free computer usage at Libraries but it can still put certain populations at a severe disadvantage than those with internet access. With digital text books, online quizzes and online grades via canvas, it would be quite impossible to attend this college without adequate access to technology, which some still do not have. Technology has developed into a near necessity for many people in America and especially for every student enrolled in the University of Washington Tacoma. Another part of this Network Society is the governments integration into the society and their attempt to stay more relevant with the times

This report will examine how changes in technology are affected by society, in turn, how the society that produced this technology is impacted by this creation. The paper will specifically address the impact of personal computers, cell phones, and the internet on society, and how these technological advancements relate to the three major sociological perspectives; equilibrium model, digital divide, and cultural lag.

One detrimental consequence of the technological society we live in is the development of new power struggles that reveal themselves in the digital divide. In the dawning of the technological age that has brought us into a globalized

Due to the convenience of the internet, students are complacent in the “short-cut” society, the internet has created an environment for students that leads to laziness which can affect the amount of learning that is actually completed with effort, which can determine how future societies function. With the availability of having the internet in the palm of your hand it makes searching for anything effortless. Kids are using the internet as a shortcut to lessen the workload, the internet is “consuming” kids and teachers that they feel it is okay to do everything with the internet, and the internet is only giving a little sliver of the whole story while cutting out many of the major details. So with the ability to access the internet almost effortlessly

And it is these impacts of change that people need be watchful of. With any amount of change there is the possibility that it will either have a negative, positive, or neutral affect. Those whose lives have been negatively impacted by technology use the argument that technology is to blame for the loss of human connection. While those whose lives have been positively impacted by technology argue that technology has improved their communication with others, especially for those who are unable to have face-to-face conversation. But for those whose lives have been neutrally by technology, have little interaction with technology, causing them to have little to no opinion on technology. This is where the problem lies. Technology has caused a social divide. Though technology has become more accessible it is still very expensive, there is still a social divide. As technology advances, and continues to better people’s lives there are some who are unable to afford the newer technology. People who are part of the upper class, are allowed the latest form of technology, that seems to only benefit them, while others in the lower class are using older and slower technology. The largest disadvantage of this can be seen in the education system. Children who grew up in lower income school district, did have an education with newest technology. Their lack of access to advance technology can prohibited them from learning the newer technological skills that are economy

While there might be more downsides to the internet there are some people that want to believe that it is very beneficial to society. She explains how the intern et has given schools the ability to broaden their curriculum to a wider spectrum. Teachers in classrooms K-12 use the internet as a research or reference tool for their assignments and other coursework. She done a study that has shown that internet use can increase success in the classroom. Online classes and internet use in the classroom has been proven to broaden students’ ability to be more social and technically incline. Her studies have also shown that it gets the students more interested in school work by making it more fun for them. “Students who have more self-confidence with the internet have better success in online classes and have higher grades than others who feel uncomfortable with the internet” (119). While the internet isn’t always good it has helped kids think more outside the box (Ronsisvalle and Watkins

Since its introduction on a public scale in the 1990s, the internet has been associated with many changes in social experience. Many aspects of social life such as education, work, commerce and even personal relationships have changed through the internet. However, researchers have found that, at least in the early years, access to the internet is shaped according to gender, class, ethnicity and education. During the 1990s the typical information technology user was a white, male, professional with a background in IT. This bias in internet access was named the ‘digital divide’ to point out the implied social inequalities. It was said that the internet was

Having access to this technology offers many advantages that have simply become a way of living. Having access to the world's largest database of information, being able to contact people from miles away in a matter of seconds, and being able to know what's going on in countries all over the world are advantages people with access to technology have other those who don't. The problem that arises with this is that exactly— the divide between those with technology and those without. The gap between those in upper and lower classes and those with and without technology are not only correlated, but the latter has a direct influence over the

Although digital technology is wide spread, that does not mean all people have access to technology or the internet. Use and access to technology can differ greatly from place to place and person to person, due to computers age, connection speed, internet access, cost, usage, geographic location, culture, religion and social economic status; this is called the digital divide. When sending homework home, such as research, computer work and assignments this can be a real issue for teachers. To minimise the effect of these issues, teachers must make allowances and determine whether information can be gathered by students from other sources, such as books, be provided to take home or create work base on classroom learning materials.

Rouse (2014) defined the “digital divide” as a term that describe an inequity between people who have accessibility to information and communication technology and those who don’t or have limited access. Digital divide occurs where there are differences between:

Just exactly what is “Digital Divide?” The digital divide refers to the fact that certain parts of the population have significantly better opportunities to benefit from the new economy than other parts of the population. When we discuss the usage of “computing devices”, the internet and the World Wide Web, we do not think about the individuals who lack any of these devices technology has provided the majority of population for everyday use. There is a considerable gap in the number of individuals able to access the internet and gather information, pay bills, socialize, conduct banking needs, and purchases. These are basic functions people use every day that others cannot.