Digital Divide Essay

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THE DIGITAL DIVIDE: DEFINITIONS, MEASUREMENT, AND POLICY ISSUES by Roger G. Noll, Dina Older-Aguilar, Gregory Rosston and Richard R. Ross Digital divide is the latest evocative term that refers to differences in access to and uses of information technology that are correlated with income, race and ethnicity, gender, age, place of residence, and other measures of socioeconomic status. According to the Department of Commerce, some people “have the most powerful computers, the best telephone service and fastest Internet service, as well as a wealth of content and training relevant to their lives.... [A]nother group of people ... don’t have access to the newest and best computers, the most reliable telephone service or the fastest or most convenient Internet services. The difference between these two groups is ... the Digital Divide.”i The purpose of this essay is to provide a brief introduction to the concept of the digital divide. This essay will broadly outline the nature of the digital divide and the policy issues surrounding it, and will review the facts and research findings on three main themes: the magnitude of the gap in access to and usage of information technology (IT); IT usage patterns, especially among disadvantaged groups; and IT uses in eleme ntary and secondary education. I. Describing the Digital Divide As is apparent from the definition put forth by the Department of Commerce, the digital divide refers to many aspects of information technology, and so can not easily and simply be explaine d and measured. Nevertheless, a few generalizations stand at the core of the concept, and have shaped the policy debate. In part the digital divide is about differential access to hardware. In this sense, the digital divide is a simple extension of the century-old goal of “universal service” in ordinary telephones, which refers to the notion that telephone service

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