The Digital Divide and K-12 Student Computer Use

10.28945/2926 ◽  
2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
James N. Morgan ◽  
Craig A. VanLengen
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Computer Use ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Substantial Impact ◽  
Limited Basis ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The Impact

The divide between those who have computer and Internet access and those who do not appears to be narrowing, however overall statistics may be misleading. Measures of computer availability in schools often include cases where computers are only available for administration or are available only on a very limited basis (Gootman, 2004). Access to a computer and the Internet outside of school helps to reinforce student learning and emphasize the importance of using technology. Recent U.S. statistics indicate that ethnic background and other demographic characteristics still have substantial impact on the availability and use of computers by students outside of the classroom. This paper examines recent census data to determine the impact of the household on student computer use outside of the classroom. Encouragingly, the findings of this study suggest that use of a computer at school substantially increases the chance that a student will use a computer outside of class. Additionally, this study suggests that computer use outside of the classroom is positively and significantly impacted by being in a household with adults who either use a computer at work or work in an industry where computers are extensively used.

scholarly journals The Digital Divide And Job Stability During The Great Recession

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 191
Author(s):  
Sumati Srinivas
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Computer Use ◽  
Job Loss ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Policy Objective ◽  
The Great Recession

Researchers and policy makers have identified the existence of a Digital Divide in the United States, between those who have access to the internet and technology in general, and those who do not. Most research into the relationship between the access to technology and labor market outcomes has revolved around on-the-job computer use and the extent to which it determines wages. Using a nationally representative dataset, this study looks instead at access to the internet at home prior to the Great Recession, and examines whether this is significantly related to job loss during the Great Recession. The results of this analysis indicate that internet access prior was a stronger predictor of job loss during the Great Recession than on-the-job computer use. With recent data that internet access levels in the United States may have plateaued for certain sections of the population, this finding has broad implications for both workers and employers, and lends urgency to the policy objective of expanding internet access.

Overcoming the Digital Divide

2011 ◽  
pp. 1578-1584
Author(s):  
Al P. Mizell ◽  
Cecil Sugarman
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Senior Citizens ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Income Levels ◽  
Information Tracking ◽  
Education And Employment ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The U.S

We all know that technology has become a dominant force in today’s society for people of all ages. However, certain elements of society have less access to technology than others. In the literature, discussions and research on these discrepancies tend to focus on factors such as gender, sex, socioeconomic status, race, education, and employment. Occasionally, age is taken into consideration. In reviewing online articles related to the digital divide, it appears that there are many more articles, reports, and projects that focus on factors other than age. Few looked at the impact of the digital divide on senior citizens. One article, “The Internet and Older Adults” (U.S. Administration on Aging, 2004), reports that: Senior citizens comprise 13% of the U.S. population, but just 4% of the U.S. Internet population. Since their numbers are so small, there has not been much research about what these ‘wired seniors’ are doing online and how they feel about the Internet. It turns out that seniors who have Internet access benefit greatly from the resources available online—communicating with family, researching health information, tracking their investments—all from the comfort of their home or senior center. (paragraph 2) The term “digital divide” is often heard and freely used, but what is it? It has been defined by Carvin (2000) as: “…the gap between those people and communities with access to information technology and those without it. Yet, the fact is there are many divides, characterized by community, ethnic, economic, and age groups.” He goes on to add that “households earning incomes over $75,000 are over 20 times more likely to have home Internet access than those at the lowest income levels” (Carvin, 2000, paragraph 1).

scholarly journals Impact of the Digital Divide on Computer Use and Internet Access on the Poor in Nigeria

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omolara Tayo ◽  
Randall Thompson ◽  
Elizabeth Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Computer Use ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
Local Government Area ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Ogun State ◽  
Information And Communication

<p>We recruited 20 community members in Ido Local Government Area, Oyo state and Yewa Local Government Area, Ogun state in Nigeria to explore experiences and perceptions of Internet access and computer use. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using open-ended questions to collect qualitative data regarding accessibility of information and communication technology. Twenty low-income community members volunteered to participate in the study. The results centered around affordability of computers and Internet access, exposure to information on the Internet, increasing access to the Internet, training on computer use, benefits for job searching, and networking. The results indicated the lack of Internet access, affordability of computers and Internet usage, poverty, lack of computer skills, and poor infrastructures were contributors to the digital divide.</p>

Internet Incidence on SME’s Sales

2014 ◽  
pp. 175-190
Author(s):  
María Verónica Alderete
Keyword(s):  
Logit Model ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Internet Adoption ◽  
Adoption Decision ◽  
The Public ◽  
Binary Logit Model ◽  
Dichotomous Variable ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Matching Techniques

The purpose of this paper is to determine how much is the “bonus” or “prize” to the sales per worker of Internet-using firms compared to not Internet-using firms. The authors employ some matching techniques based on an Argentinean database. The authors first present a binary logit model, in which the dependent variable is a dichotomous variable equal to 1 if the firm adopted Internet and 0 otherwise, to evaluate the factors that influence a firm’s probability of adopting Internet. A propensity score matching (PSM) model is then used to assess the impact of using Internet on the sales per worker. The authors find statically significant differences in the sales average between firms that are similar in many dimensions such as location, size, and sales market except for the Internet adoption decision. By probing that Internet access improves SME’s sales, the chapter is validating the Public Sector ICT modernization programs for SME. The contribution of this paper consists of using a well known technique as PSM to analyze a recent field of research which is the contribution of Internet adoption to the firm’s sales per worker.

Publicly Available Computers

Cyber Crime ◽  
2013 ◽  
pp. 1220-1244
Author(s):  
A.D. Rensel ◽  
J.M Abbas ◽  
H.R. Rao
Keyword(s):  
Full Range ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
The Internet ◽  
User Characteristics ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Access Barrier ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Use Of The Internet ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Public Environment

Businesses and governments continue to expand the use of the internet to access and provide a wide range services to consumers. This change in service delivery presents a potential access barrier for people who do not have access to the internet available in their homes. Publicly available computers attempt to bridge this gap; however, it is not clear if people are willing to use computers in these environments to engage in the full range of web-based activities, particularly online transactions. We expand Triandis’ modified TRA model to consider user characteristics and the impact of the physical and virtual environment on public transactional use of websites. Results indicate that people are sensitive to the physical environment surrounding the computer and that Internet self-efficacy supports public transactional use while individual need for privacy deters transactional use in a public environment. In addition, people without personal internet access do complete transactions at other non-public locations and that completing transactions from non-public locations is a strong determinant of public transactional use.

scholarly journals Investigating the impact of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) to help improve reading comprehension in low performing urban elementary schools

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 1571-1584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Vega ◽  
James Stanfield ◽  
Sugata Mitra
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Elementary Schools ◽  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
Fourth Grade ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Computer Supported Collaborative Learning ◽  
Urban Elementary Schools ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In the United States, literacy rates vary between socio-economic groups, and this reading gap is also a common feature in the education systems of OECD member states. To help address this reading gap previous research has identified a number of teaching strategies that have a positive impact on student learning outcomes, including the use of peer collaboration and complex texts. However, the contribution of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning to help address the reading gap for students attending low performing urban elementary schools has, to date, received much less attention and little is known about the ability of young students with access to the Internet to read complex texts in groups and how this impacts on individual reading comprehension scores. This study therefore examines the impact of combining the use of complex texts, collaborative learning and access to the internet on the reading comprehension scores of 58 fourth-grade students (ages 10-11). The students met once a week for an hour over six consecutive weeks and read under the following three conditions: eighth grade level texts independently, eighth grade level texts in groups with internet access and fourth grade level texts in groups with internet access. Our findings demonstrate that groups of young students with access to the internet are capable of reading complex texts with minimal teacher intervention. We also believe that this approach has the potential to help students develop both their offline and online reading comprehension skills.

Global Digital Divide, Global Justice, Cultures, and Epistemology

2011 ◽  
pp. 37-50
Author(s):  
Soraj Hongladarom
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Social Epistemology ◽  
Global Justice ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Social Good ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Digital Divide

The problem of global digital divide, namely disparity in Internet access and use among the various regions of the world, is a growing concern. Even though, according to some reports, the gap is getting narrower, this does not mean that the problem is disappearing, because the problem does not just consist in getting more people to become “wired,” so to speak. This chapter investigates the various relationships among the global digital divide, global justice, cultures and epistemology. Very briefly stated, not getting access to the Internet constitutes an injustice because the access is a social good that can lead to various other goods. Furthermore, as information technology is a second-order technology, one that operates on meaning bearing symbols, access to the technology is very much an issue of social epistemology, an attempt to find out the optimal way to distribute knowledge across the social and cultural domains.

Roots of Tomorrow's Digital Divide: Documenting Computer Use and Internet Access in China's Elementary Schools Today

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 61-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yihua Yang ◽  
Xiao Hu ◽  
Qinghe Qu ◽  
Fang Lai ◽  
Yaojiang Shi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Schools ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Computer Use ◽  
Internet Access

Determinants of Digital Divide in Africa and Policy Implications

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-79
Author(s):  
Stephen Kwamena Aikins
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
The Internet ◽  
International Telecommunication Union ◽  
International Telecommunication

This article investigates the reasons most African households are not using the internet and discusses the policy implications for bridging the digital divide. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) reports that at the end of 2014, only 7 percent of households in LDCs, most of whom are in Africa, had Internet access. This study analyses data from the ITU database and other sources to identify the determinants of the digital divide in Africa. Results show that peculiar challenges such as affordability and digital literacy do influence the percentage of African households who do not use the internet.

``Town Hall" Meetings for the Masses or ``Social Clubs" for the Motivated? - A Study of Citizens' Discussions on the Internet

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Strandberg
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Discussion Boards ◽  
Reinforcement Theory ◽  
Social Clubs ◽  
Mobilization Theory ◽  
New Form ◽  
The Masses

The growth of the Internet during the last decade has resulted in much scholarly attention. Supporters of the optimistic mobilization-theory argue that cyber politics and cyber discussions are comparable and sometimes even superior to traditional politics. Moreover this new form of politics has the potential of mobilizing new citizens into the realm of politics. Critics, however, argue from a reinforcement perspective that the effects of cyber politics are utterly limited. Even in a utopia with the digital divide in Internet access abolished, reinforcement proponents argue that politics on the internet still only appeals to the politically "converted" citizens. In this study I focus on six Finnish electronic discussion boards. The main question asked is whether these electronic debates display traits of either the mobilization or the reinforcement theory. Is cyber politics mobilizing the masses or do the discussions resemble social clubs for the motivated?

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