RESOUR> [NetGold] COMPUTER: DIGITAL DIVIDE : ARTICLE: Mind the Gap: The Digital Divide as the Civil Rights Issue of the New Millennium

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Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 19:35:11 -0400 (EDT)
From: David P. Dillard <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: NetGold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: NetGold <NetGold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [NetGold] COMPUTER: DIGITAL DIVIDE : ARTICLE: Mind the Gap: The
    Digital Divide as the Civil Rights Issue of the New Millennium

COMPUTER: DIGITAL DIVIDE : ARTICLE: Mind the Gap: The Digital Divide as
the Civil Rights Issue of the New Millennium

Mind the Gap: The Digital Divide as the Civil Rights Issue of the New
Millennium
by Andy Carvin
Senior Associate  The Benton Foundation  Washington, DC
MultiMedia Schools  January/February 2000
<http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan00/carvin.htm>

The digital divide is one of the most important civil rights issues facing
our modern information economy.

The digital divide may seem like an intangible concept to some, but
studies have begun to articulate it in no uncertain terms. Consider these
statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce:

Households earning incomes over $75,000 are over 20 times more likely to
have home Internet access than those at the lowest income levels.

Only 6.6 percent of people with an elementary school education or less use
the Internet.

In rural areas, those with college degrees are 11 times more likely to
have a home computer and 26 times more likely to have home Internet access
than those with an elementary school education.

People with college degrees or higher are 10 times more likely to have
Internet access at work as persons with only some high school education.

<snip>

The digital divide is about content. The value of the Internet can be
directly correlated to the value of its content. If all you can find
online is shopping, Pokmon trading clubs, and porn, you could make a
pretty good argument that its not very important to give people access to
the Internet. As anyone whos used it knows, the Internet can offer a
wealth of opportunities for learning and personal enhancement, but weve
only scratched the surface in terms of its potential. As more
underprivileged and disenfranchised communities gain access, the Internet
itself must provide the right tools so people are able to take advantage
of and use it for more varied purposes, more learning styles, more
languages and cultures. The Internet may feel like a diverse place, but
when compared with the wealth of diversity and knowledge amongst humanity
in the real world, its still pretty weak. Until the Net contains content
that has true value to all of its potential users it will remain a place
for the elite.

-----------------------------------------------------

These pertinent comments are continued by discussion under these headings:

The digital divide is about literacy.

The digital divide is about pedagogy.

The digital divide is about community.

This article concludes with this statement:

"The digital divide is real, and it will only get worse if we ignore it.
Click here to change the world."

Communications to the author may be addressed to Andy Carvin, The Benton
Foundation, 1800 K St. NW, Second Floor, Washington DC, 20006; phone:
202-454-5627; e-mail: andy@xxxxxxxx

The full article may be read at the URL above.

-----------------------------------------------------

Would it come as a major surprise to anyone that the author of this
article is also the moderator of the DigitalDivide discussion group?

Digital Divide Network

"Interested in learning more about the digital divide and efforts to
combat it? Visit the

Digital Divide Network
<http://DigitalDivideNetwork.org>

developed by the Benton Foundation in conjunction with the AOL Foundation
and the National Urban League."

Archives of DIGITALDIVIDE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The DIGITALDIVIDE discussion group
<http://owa.benton.org/archives/digitaldivide.html>


Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
jwne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NetGold/>
<http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/ringleaders/davidd.html>
<http://www.kovacs.com/medref-l/medref-l.html>

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