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The Digital Divide: Historical Perspective

Kim ZalettaDeborah HigginsMatthew Chew

February 18, 2007

Presentation for UVM Course EDFS200 February 2007

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Topic: Legacy of Plessy Given Lenski's Assertion, "IT Literacy Increases Cultural Capacity"

Presentation for UVM Course EDFS200 February 2007

To make the interactive parts work, this presentation must be run as a slide show. Press F5, or click “View - Slide Show” or “Slide Show – View”.

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Investigating the Digital Divide

Impact of IT on Schooling

Government and the "Digital

Divide"

Access to Information Technology

IT Literacy Increases Cultural

Capacity

Click on a Topic to go to that slide

Aspects of the Digital

Divide

Conclusions

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Aspects of the “Digital Divide”? Back to Choices

Digital Divide refers to the gap between those who can make use of information technology and those who have obstacles

Some causes of the Digital DivideIT literacyAccess to information technologyGovernment policy (Plessy). Johnson (2002), pg. 147IT literacy increases cultural capacity. Lenski (2005), pg. 67.

Digital Divide also affects public schools The above topics are discussed in this presentation

Other causes of the Digital Divide are from our readings, but not further discussed here

Technological Aptitude Access to Technology Racial advantages or disadvantages Economic advantages or disadvantages

Digital Divide

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IT Literacy Increases Cultural Capacity Back to Choices

Information Technology (IT) literacy is familiarity with: Hardware (our focus is on using computers) Software (our focus is internet and databases)

Cultural Capacity includes success in … Performance in and Graduation from School Career opportunities Personal growth and networking Keeping current and satisfying personal interests

Technology is used to satisfy human needs and desires. (Click to see proof text, Lenski, (2005), page 63)

IT Literacy

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IT Literacy Increases Cultural Capacity - continued Back to Choices

Encouraging expansion of technology Rural businesses need technology to compete in global and urban markets

Businesses and education will fail without technology

Using technology for research -questionable sources

IT Literacy

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IT Literacy Increases Cultural Capacity - continued Back to Choices

Some Consequences of Technological Advance

Click to see proof text, Lenski (2005), page 67)

TechnologicalAdvance

Populationgrowth

Increased contactwith other societies

More positive attitudetoward change= Feedback

IT Literacy

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IT Literacy Increases Cultural Capacity - continued

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IT Literacy: improves productivity, leisure options, and our

remaining informed provides access to benefits of technology The Digital Divide

separates those with and without IT literacy

can use society to close the digital divide

Computers help us do more.

IT Literacy

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What experts say. . . Back to Choices

Lenski – Technology meets human desires and needs (pp.63) Change occurs in most stable societies (pp. 71) Technology plays an important role in society’s advances (pg. 72)

Johnson – Education promotes communication and accuracy in business (pg. 75)

Tannenbaum – “Educators and other interested citizens need to convince our governments of the importance and value of providing both training and education to help eliminate inequality.” (para. 30)

“The Web offers the potential to reach countless people who otherwise are effectively cut off from higher education and other sources of training.” (para. 28)

Click here for citation of Johnson source

Click here for citation of Tannenbaum source

IT Literacy

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Impact of IT on Schooling

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Studies show that computers at home can assist youth in reaching the goal of high school graduation.

“Click for citation of “Study: Digital Divide affects school success”, Kozol (1995)

Impact on Schooling

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Socialization of Student – Teacher Relationship

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Students are empowered as they rate professors (para. 14)

Students want to learn something important from their teacher (para. 31)

Impact of IT on Schooling - continued

Dilemmas on student-teacher relationship E-mail is easier on students – Time demand and stress from face to face

meetings removed but creates higher volume of work for teacher (para. 10)

Literature Search

is a Google search away (para. 30)

no longer waiting in line at library or publication access (para. 3)

easy to copy text verbatim and uncited (para. 14)

much of the available material is questionable (para. 14)

Click here for citation of Crawford source

Impact on Schooling

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Issues of Access to Information Technology- Habits and Traditions

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Current differences emerging from habits of social traditions and policies

Not all traditions are worth preservingNot all policies rectify inequalitiesGenerally accepted policies and habits contributing to lasting social conditionsPlessy gives a reminder of "separate but equal" institutional conditions

In spite of the law providing for citizen's to have rights to education, the social condition refusing to provide this to black citizens was supported by the law's interpretation that these were not citizens, and therefore did not have the right to this law's being enforced on their behalf. (pg. 146)When this was acknowledged, the law school for Negroes, to open in 1947, was given only 4 faculty whose offices were located at the Univ. of Texas law school, limited lirbrary inventory with no full time librarian, and the school lacked acredidiation. (pg. 148)

Access to IT

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Social Divisions and Intelligence

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Gordon states, "A society is organized to serve the needs of its

members," (pg. 22) People of privilege structure the social order to protect

themselves while presenting it as serving the good of the community (pg. 22)

Social divisions posed by authors reviewed by Gordon demonstrate their desire to “deliver a political message” (pg. 27)

No evidence exists that shows genetic differences reduce intelligence

Click here for citation of Gordon source

Access to IT

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Social Divisions and Intelligence...continued

Gordon reviewing Herrnstein and Murray’s book The Bell Curve:– finds many of the book’s issues troubling, questions how

Herrnstein and Murray can then use this distinction to classify individuals into groups and thus determine their intelligence “…I am unable to embrace the notion that ethnicity and race are appropriate indicators of group membership for purposes of studying intelligence,” (p.37).

– Gordon states “Individual variability in expression means that heredity is outcomes,” (p. 30)

– Blacks do not score as well on standardized tests as Whites do…low IQ is associated with low socioeconomic status, low educational achievement, low occupational status, low income, low-level family functioning, high crime and welfare dependency, and low levels of civility and citizenship,” (p. 24)

Click here for citation of Gordon source

Access to IT

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Kozol on Access

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Statistics for Motts Haven, Bronx are shocking (p.373): Population 100% minority - 2/3 Hispanic, 1/3 Black 7 out of 800 students do NOT qualify for free lunch Depression and asthma common, many cannot sleep Basic needs are not met 91% of babies born with AIDS are Black or Hispanic. Technology last thing on minds of residents - fight to survive Neighborhoods -deadliest blocks in deadliest precinct of city Division of races between 96th Street and 97th Street -below

96th Street and the impoverished above it and “No one in New York, in any case expects the racial isolation of these neighborhoods to lessen in the years ahead (p.375)

Click here for citation of Kozol source

Access to IT

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Garcia on Access

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Urban versus Rural Issues Garcia states "information and communication alone cannot sustain

development" (pg. 117). The challenge of the rural based business is to design technology

based networks to meet their needs (pg. 118). “…networks can be specifically designed to reinforce local strengths while

compensating for local weaknesses,” (p. 118). Mass media made more apparent the division between the rural and

urban markets (pg. 125). Utilizing the self-dependent, networking strengths of the rural

business field, sharing of information can assist the rural business in "reducing the time involved in product development and lead to higher quality products". (pg. 126)

Society replaces the use of humans in creating goods with computers and machines, where humans are still needed, these jobs are exported for inexpensive labor (pg. 137)

Click here for citation of Garcia source

Access to IT

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Government and the “Digital Divide”

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Necessity of Government Policy and Involvement

Required to reduce "Digital Divide" in Schools

Required to reduce differences Rural Versus Urban

How Government Policy Affects Schools Attempt toward equality Avoid racial inequality

(Click to see proof text, Johnson (2002), page 147)

Role of Government

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Government and the “Digital Divide” - continued

Effecting Change

Ideals represented through development of public schooling

Not all members of community will agree on nature of problems

Not all members of community will agree on means to improve conditions

Role of Government

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Government and the “Digital Divide” - continued

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Dilbert’s comments on the wrong type of policy makers.

Modern technology is complicated The wrong policy can quickly cause lots of little problems

Policy makers have to be responsive and knowledgeable

The rote management approach will not work here

Role of Government

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In Conclusion

IT literacy improves the quality of life and unifies through education

IT educational opportunities are not made available equally

Society has a responsibility to its citizens to meet its needs

Government, state and local

agencies have disparate

methods on a standardized

method to meet the needs

of those they govern

Conclusions

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Proof Text Back to Choices

Proof text references give the summary text (bullet text) and its supporting proof text, with abbreviated reference by name of author and date of publication. The “Sources” slide gives the full citation for the abbreviated reference.

Click here for full citations (Sources slides)

Slide Title: IT Literacy Increases  Cultural Capacity (Slide 5)”Technology is information about the ways in which resources of the environment may be used to satisfy human needs and desires.” Lenski (2005), pg. 63.

Slide Title: IT Literacy Increases  Cultural Capacity - continued (Slide 7) Figure caption: “Some components of technological advances”, Lenski (2005), pg. 67.

Slide Title: Government and the "Digital Divide“ - continued (Slide 17)“…common government of all shall not permit the seeds of race hate to be planted under the santion of law.” Johnson (2002), pg. 147.

Proof Text

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Source Materials Back to Choices

Crawford, M. (2005). “The Computerized Academy”, The New Atlantis, 9 (pp. 42-54).

Garcia, D. L. (2005). "Cooperative Networks and the Rural-Urban Divide". In Digital Formations: IT and New Architecture in the Global Realm (pp. 118-145).

Gordon, E. W. (1999). “Human Social Divisions and Human Intelligence: Putting Them in Their Place”. In Education and justice: A View from the Back of the Bus” (pp. 21-33). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Johnson, T. W. (2002). "Plessy & Beyond: Separate but Equal Doctrine". In Historical Documents in Education (pp. 143-147). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Jones-Kavalier, B. and Flannigan, S. (2006). Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21st Century. Educause Quarterly 29(2), (pg. 2).

Sources

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Source Materials (Cont’d)

Kozol, J. (1995). Amazing grace: The Lives of children and the conscience of a nation. [excerpt] Crown Publishers.

Lenski, G. (2005). “Determinants of the Characteristics of Individual Societies: The Independent Variables”. In Ecological-Evolultionary Theory: Principles and Applications (pp. 53-80).

Study:'Digital Divide' affects school success. (December 12, 2005) Retrieved February 5, 2007 from http://www.ucsc.edu

Tannenbaum, R. S. (2006). “Education or Training: Reflections of a Life in Computing.” Educause Review 34(1) (pp. 10-15).

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Sources