The Digital Divide In The United States

According to Mary H, digital divide is not only the gap between people who have access to technology and those who do not, it is also the inequality in the kind of access. Though most Americans access the technology, the difference in the quality of access remains. Yet the Constitution guarantees the equality of opportunity, the digital divide subsists in the USA because there is economic disparity among people. Therefore, some social class does not earn the advantages of technology and the gap between upper class and lower class will grow up.

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

The digital divide is defined by the interaction between people and computers. Assumptions are made on a daily basis that everyone has equal access to computers, the Internet and the most upgraded technology and software. This assumption is not true; the digital divide speaks to the fact that not everyone has the same access. The sociological perspective known as conflict best represents the digital divide. Conflict is molded by the competition that society generates through individuals and groups in an effort to determine how power will be distributed. Clearly, if all people do not have the same access to technology due to social status there will be conflict in defining what is fair regarding education, employment and even social status.

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

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

To begin with, one important thing I have learned through this experience is that there is a digital divide that exists within our society. There is a group of people who are the technology ‘haves’, and these people have laptops, iPhone and access to technology. On the other hand,

Two people walk down the street side by side, each looking down into his hands attentively. Both occasionally sneak glances upwards, so as not to run into anyone. They walk in silence until it is time for them to go their separate ways; they then mutter hasty goodbyes, and turn to face their pixelated companions once more. A seemingly morbid depiction, perhaps, but one that is increasingly more representative of our modern reality. In the PBS Frontline interview 'Digital Demands, ' Sherry Turkle, MIT professor and researcher, examines this new trend. Her sage advice to youth: tread carefully on the Data Highway, for its overages are far costlier than estimated. Turkle 's thesis: a lack of precise deliberation in the use of technology

I will examine two of the most prominent methods for improving access: universal early childhood education and equivalency/second chance programs for adults. One of the other prominent methods is improving access through information and communication technologies (ICTs). This is a popular idea as remote areas often lack formal and non-formal literacy programs. In these situations, education through technology like television, radio, and the internet is believed to be able to play an important role in improving access. However, recent research has shown that ICTs should not be the sole means of literacy learning as many countries lack the necessary infrastructure and would be better off funding schools and teachers.

The United States and India are very similar and different in various areas of life. These subsections describe their similarities and differences in a concise fashion. The Social aspect of both India and the United States refers to the societies within these two nations. Indian society is much more traditional, conservative, and religious.

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

When girls were only allowed to pick subjects based on whether or not it would make them a ‘good wife’ or when classes were chosen based on race, people spoke up. They said things like “to educate girls is to reduce poverty.” It was considered unacceptable to have such inequalities in society and yet we are now faced with another issue involving the inequality of education and no one is saying a word. In the developed world we are becoming increasingly reliant on the internet, a spectacular tool for education, forgetting about those without access. We have developed it into a tool that can educate a generation of children. People say that “education is the key to success”, so why are we creating resources exclusively available online when 59.6% of the population do not have internet access? With the knowledge available, the internet has truly become the school without teachers. Yet in the poorer countries it has become the school with students as people cannot afford to access the internet. Although the internet would become less costly in the long run, it is not being seen as a good alternative to what we have now. When we have a cheaper alternative to school, why are we not endorsing the internet as an instrument to better our lives? It is a tool that can educate people in so many things it should become a priority to make the internet inclusive and used by

In the United States and in the world, there is a digital divide related to knowledge and access to electronic resources. The personal pursuit of knowledge, career advancement, and the inequalities that some people encounter as it relates to electronic resources is what has been labeled the digital divide. To better understand the digital divide, a person must first understand the correlation between lifelong learners, adult education, and the digital divide. In the United States the thirst for knowledge is at an all-time high and many people may ask the question why?

Professor Cathleen A. Norris and Professor Elliot Soloway write positive information about the benefits of the Internet in education. They say that, wealthy or not, the internet provides our youth with an unequivocal access to knowledge and unmatched ability to communicate. Specifically, Norris and Soloway argue that, “ For a youth living below the poverty line in Detroit, an Internet-connected smartphone is arguably the most empowering opportunity in that child's life” (qtd. in Greenblatt). While they point out the positive benefit of connectivity and access to information, they also touch on the need for a guiding hand. Norris and Soloway go on to say how education will only improve with this tool, “ Within five years every child in every

Imagine a world where geographic separation does not inhibit the social or economic mobility of people. A place where cement roads are obsolete and unnecessary and the information super highway is the only road you need to know how to navigate. Information technology becomes the glue and nails that binds our (global) society together. Development becomes a matter of installing fiber-optic wiring, cellular towers and satellite launching. World Bank projects change from road building to wire laying. Now imagine a world where there is no electricity, telephones, computers, roads or other mediums of transportation other than legs and feet. Communication exists on a face-to-face level and nothing more. An individuals’

I have also learned that there is something called a "Digital Divide" that pertains to the different relative access to online information and applications available to different populations,