Digital Divide, Digital Learning, and Equal Access

What is Access?

When computer and Internet use spread in the 1990s, the initial concern of researchers and policymakers was to ensure that persons had computers available to them. Access at this time was seen as the possession of physical hardware (i.e., whether a person owned a computer or not). Given this, the first set of studies in the mid to late 1990s on the digital divide was done by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and focused on computer ownership and usage. However, as ownership and usage became more pervasive (in 1993, 22.9% of American households had a computer compared to 61.8% of households in 2007), it soon became apparent that ownership was too narrow a view of access, because if individuals did not know what to do with hardware, their possession of a computer would be for naught. Researchers then shifted their focus from computer ownership to skills; however, this position was also challenged because skills exist on a continuum ranging from basic word processing to highly advanced technological manipulation—there is no simple divide between the “haves” and “have nots.” For example, a student who can use her library's newly updated computers and software and has been taught at that institution how to use different high-tech programs is in a different situation from that of a student who has to drive 15 minutes to the local library where she can use a public computer with limited programs for 30 minutes. Therefore, when considering access, educators have to think about quality (what kind of hardware and software are available), quantity (how much time a person can spend with the technology), activity (what the person is doing with the technology that is available), skills (what exactly can a person do with the technology), and support (persons to provide help when problems arise). These aspects, particularly activity and skills, are often referred to in research as the second-level digital divide.

Technology (Non)Use in Schools

As technology became more ubiquitous, education leaders and policymakers saw it as imperative to help students attain technological skills that would assist them in their future. The immediate need for developing these skills could be seen in policy such as California's 1997 Digital High School Education Technology Grant Program, which gave one billion dollars over 4 years [Page 645]to make access to computers and the Internet available in California's high schools. At the time, it was thought that giving students computers and the Internet would be enough. However, research on the second-level digital divide in education, particularly the disparate technology experiences among students from different gender, racial, and socioeconomic groups, has shown otherwise. Family income influenced the skills that students developed, with low-income students tending to use available technology for low-level and remedial work, while wealthier students used technology for research and presentation purposes. In addition, research has also shown that females and students of color were more likely to be put in low-level computer courses, and even when they gained admittance to advanced classes, these students frequently reported that their experiences were less than positive and that they felt ill prepared and unwelcome. A generation of girls and students of color are now experiencing computer phobia—anxiety related to computer use. This can be seen not only in everyday computing but also in the composition of computer science classes, where minorities and women are underrepresented.

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