This assignment started out by learning a definition of the digital divide. Following this, I read a few brief articles and watched a video on the topic, describing what factors play into the divide, and why it is important. After this, we had to meet with our chat group for an hour, and summarize what we learned, what we were most and least surprised by, what are the benefits and barriers to having high speed internet at home and in the classroom, and brainstorming three ideas to bridge the digital divide.
The first article was a Time article by Karl Vick. It described that a quarter of the nation is without broadband, that low income families are highly effected, and that the divide separates further the rich and the poor in school and in life.
The second thing to read was a 2017 Education SuperHighway report. It described that more and more students and teachers are getting connected to the internet each year, but that 11.6 million students still lack access.
The third was a Pew Research Center article, citing many facts about access to the internet, based on factors of race and income level. Some main takeaways were that black and hispanic students were much less likely to have access to the internet, as well as low income students. Those lacking access to the internet often cannot finish all of their homework, or have to go to a public library to finish their work.
We then watched a video that dictated the power of the “Homework Gap”. It showcased a competition between 2 groups of students, which started off with neither group having access to outside sources, and they performed similarly. However, at some point, they gave one group access to the internet, and one group access to some books. The computer group ended up heavily outscoring the book group. It showcased that those with computer access were more likely to succeed.
For my chat group, our chat today started off by summarizing what we learned from the assigned articles and video. Our main points included that the digital divide is based on multiple things, such as geography and income level, that the gap impacts education, 11.6 million students are affected by this gap, that it is so much easier for students to succeed if they have access to the internet, and that black and hispanic children are more prone to lacking internet than white or asian children.
We then moved on to discussing what surprised us most and what surprised us least. Seraph was surprised that 1 in 4 low-income teens don’t have access to computer at home, and Erin and I were just surprised that such a huge number of students and people don’t have access to the internet. We thought that in such an internet-driven society, the number would be smaller.
In terms of what we were not surprised about, Erin said she was not surprised that that this goes hand in hand with income disparities and lack of resources, It did not surprise me that more and more students are getting connected to the internet each year, and Seraph concurred with our ideas.
For the benefits to K-12 students having access to high-speed Internet in their schools and in their homes, we mentioned that kids can complete their homework and a much more vast group of class activities, can access information quickly, and therefore get more learning done in a quicker period of time. You can also learn from peers online rather than having to meet in person.
For barriers to K-12 students having access to high-speed Internet in their schools and in their homes, we mentioned household income, race, geography, and possibly religion. There are definitely more in general, but those were the main ones referenced in the articles.
Our first creative idea for bridging the digital divide was to have a certain program for charity, so people can donate money or the big companies like AT&T could help providing the access. The resources needed for this would be essentially monetary donations, and/or computers and tablets. These resources would come from big companies as well as from any other donations from other people.
Our second idea was something Erin had heard of before, called Google Fiber. This consists of setting up city-wide internet in a bunch of different places. So, one of our resources to bridge the divide could be free-city wide internet, and it could come from companies like google.
Our final idea was for the local government to help to invest money to build libraries or public computer labs for people to access. For this example, the resources needed would mostly be money, and the resources would come from local government, as mentioned.
After these ideas, we discussed which roles each group member would complete, and concluded the chat for the day.
Reflecting on this assignment, I thought it was meaningful, because I did not previously know very much about the digital divide. I had heard about it before, but did not know how big of an issue it was, and how many people it affected. It is effecting millions of Americans and can lead to differences in achievement. So, I am glad I am more educated on the issue now, and I will try to monitor it while hoping for improvement with each passing year.
Additionally, this assignment showcased once again how race and income level can be big factors in life. Low income levels can lead children to be provided with less opportunities to learn and experience valuable lessons, and race is associated with prejudice and discrimination, which also limits opportunities. It is sad to see how these factors can impact so many aspects of life, but valuable to learn about it, so we can try to change that in the future.
I really liked the video and how they chose to showcase the problem. They did it in a way that was so easy to understand, and it was quite powerful. The students on the book time seemed so demoralized when they kept getting answers wrong while the computer group got them right, which showcases how students may feel when they are unable to finish homework and assignments due to a lack of internet access.
Also, in the chat, I liked that we got to come up with creative ideas that are possible ways to solve the digital divide problem. This allowed us to synthesize our knowledge of the issue and incorporate our own thoughts into finding solutions. This allowed me to think critically and work my mind in a different way rather than just listing off facts of what has already happened!
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