Ten years ago the Digital Divide was a term that described a growing gap in access to modern technology. In the years since that gap has been filled by a ubiquitous presence of mobile devices and public wireless access points. Despite this prevelance and easy access, most users understanding of the technology their weilding is fairly shallow. In our weekly readings it was demonstrated to us that even though technology is orders of magnitude more effective than before (faster, easier to use, cheaper, etc) it is not always something that caregivers and role models are aware of.
Given that the divide is now competency and literacy based in addition to just concerns about stable internet access and the availability of devices that are conducive to interacting with writing and learning (laptops/desktops). I think the question is a fair one and I think it might have as much to do with what teachers and parents know about technology as it does what the student does. I have seen my children pick up and use technology at a very early age, I'm convinced a large factor in that is familiarity. They see my wife and I using our Surface Pro 4's, our iPad Air 2's, our PlayStation, my new Galaxy S6, etc. It's natural to them in a way that it never was for us and certainly wasn't for my parents.
Kyle,
ReplyDeleteThanks for you post. I'm curious about your answer to your question. What do you think are the determining factors between tech literate and not?
I think (just a hypothesis) that the main contributing factors are probably parent education, income, and amount of tech usage in the home. I have no proof but it would make for a fascinating study!
DeleteKyle - I'd think at least a few determining factors of highly and non-computer literate homes would be money, access to the internet and parents knowledge.
ReplyDeleteCertainly, financial would play a role since the kids would need access more than a cell phone. At least a desktop and/or laptop and possibly tablets.
Whether or not the family had a good, reliable high speed internet access would also play a huge role. I know with a storm that went through we were out for a day or so during this class and then it was slow for a day until they finished all the repairs. Those were not fun days on the internet!! I was blessed to be able to use my phone hotspot to make up for it.
Finally, I think if the parents are into technology, the kids get that way too when they are younger. Eventually, they get older like my kids and I ask them to show me, but they don't always have the patience to do that. Usually, my daughter just grabs my phone or whatever and just does what I'm trying to get it to do.
I know before this module, I still saw the divide in the "old way". I'm now much more aware of all the new aspects of the digital divide.
Angelina