What Are The Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Digital Divide

Though there are some positive effects, the adverse impact of technology on education has been extraordinary. The technology community has worked hard to bring useful technology into our classrooms, all with good intentions to broaden our knowledge. With these good intentions also came about unwanted side effects such as distraction and disruption in the classroom. I can clearly remember many of my teachers yelling at us to put our cell phones, iPods, and iTouch phones away especially during lecture and exams. The yelling was not without just cause, students cheated with their devices along with updating their Facebook pages during class too.

The first benefit that technology has in the classroom is the ability for students and educators to have any information that they need at their fingertips. When trying to teach a concept teachers can refer their students to specific web searches, games, or other resources that can be found on the internet. In the same way though having instant gratification through being able to look up anything on the internet can affect the way that students learn. Instead of doing work on their own students have the ability to type problem into a search engine and it will likely give them the answer for their

With informational technology such as laptops, tablets, kindles, and iPads being more and more prominent in education like high school and college, it opens many doors to new possibilities of learning. Now it obviously has some negative outcomes like bullying and students being unable to acquire certain technology for school, but these negative situations all have solutions to make them positive. Informational technology lets students connect with teachers in new ways outside of just the classroom.

Evolution of concept of digital divide - According to Curtis Kularski [1] (p. 5) “the digital divide is composed of a skill gap and a gap of physical access to Information Technology (IT) and the two gaps often contribute to each other in circular causation. Without access to technology, it is difficult to develop technical skill and it is redundant to have access to technology without first having the skill to utilise it”. Kularski’s quote sums up the reiterative nature of the problem. More than two decades ago, apparent inequalities in Internet access gave rise to “concern that the new technology might exacerbate inequality rather than ameliorate it”, which resulted

It is most often referred to as the divide between “those with access to new technologies and those without” (Irving) or between “haves and have-nots”(Hecht) in terms of information technologies. However, using “access” to define digital divide is quite improper, since an opportunity to log on to the Web does not imply knowledge to use it efficiently. For example, situation in an underdeveloped country will not improve dramatically even if new technologies were artificially integrated in its economy, unless people have the proper skills to utilize them successfully. Likewise, the suitability of the second definition could also be questioned, as information should be measured in terms of quality, rather than of quantity, because specific information with exact economic value is what really matters in e-commerce (Foster 442-43). Probably the best way to characterize digital divide is as the growing social and economic disparities between the rich and the poor.

First, there’s the case where students aren’t able to afford a computer. This causes to affect their grades, school learning experience, and their mental health poorly. Most students have parents or guardians that constantly want them to get good grades and when that isn’t possible some students don’t take it very easily. Another thing is that it can hurt their grades because now in most schools their system relies greatly on computers. Teachers use computers for assigning homework, being able to research topics in class, and giving weekly assignments that are made to be done at home also. This can make a student become behind in

There are three causes of the Digital Divide. One of the three causes is an economic barrier. The cost for a year’s internet is about a hundred to a few thousand dollars, which is about the same amount as buying a computer. If there were many firms that provided internet, then there will be lower prices and higher efficiency. Since most companies are not competitive, the price of internet access is expensive. In North Korea and Cuba, Internet connection is only available in government controlled cafes, government offices, and universities. In other nations, internet users must have a special license. These factors limit the access of the internet and increases the Digital Divide globally (“Digital Divide” 3).

In a world where technology is being constantly innovated, there are some people who are bound to fall behind. Particularly because information and communication technologies have brought significant changes to improve countries across the globe politically, economically and socially and over the past few decades, there has been r in people’s reliance and use of the Internet. The gap between those who do and those who do not have access to the Internet is known as the digital divide. This is a major issue internationally because information and communication technology can empower and benefit society socially and economically to share facts and express their values, virtues and other opinions. Some countries that are greatly impacted by the

There are cons to all of the technology available when it comes to education. Becoming dependent on the internet when doing school work can result in laziness and lose their skill

Although there are many advantages of using Technology, there are also some risks that the students may encounter. Abusive use of Cell phones, Computers and the Internet may waste too much time because instead of studying they might just play games, chat with their friends, browse the web that is not related to their study points, another is that not all the information we got from the web is accurate, there are some information that are inaccurate or biased information since it can be edited by other and may give us wrong information.

Students are not harmed by their dependence on personal digital technology as it is found that their personal technology is very useful in class as computers are a necessity to complete most homework assignments, has videos and Google to help with homework or learning something, and they help track a child of a parent. In most classes, students are required to complete and turn in homework assignments online. Some students are also required to research and a topic and sometimes the most accurate as well as current data is found online. Microsoft Word and PowerPoint also helps students type up reports plus students can easily graduate from college online if they don't have the time to attend college. With videos on YouTube or the search engine

One reason technology harms student learning is by distracting the learner and those around them. A student can distract the people around him/her by opening other tabs while in the middle of a lesson. According to “Screen or Scribble?”, “The glut of laptops has brought a world of distractions to class; students can now get lost online with ease that would once have been considered unfathomable” (O’kane). This quote is explaining that laptops are distracting students because they can now get online easily during class.

The final result of using digital devices during school hours is not a good one. Students can cheat more easily, which means that they are not preparing for the future and society.

In today’s classrooms, laptops are becoming more and more prevalent. Their use has been fervently debated, with some teachers in support of allowing students unrestricted access to their laptops and some in support of banning them completely. With restrictions for classes such as mathematics or science, laptops should be allowed in other classroom settings because they allow students to take thorough notes and to jot down more of the lecture.

This method’s focus is on the evolution of policy change including the evolution of conflict. A digital divide is an inequality (social and economic) whose focus is the use of, impact of and access to communication and information technologies. There is a divide between individuals, households, businesses, countries and even geographic areas. Cultural lag refers to that culture that takes time to catch up with the technological innovations. In turn, this lag causes conflict between countries.