The Digital Divide: Who it Affects Most (Reader's Response)

As a child, one of my favorite cartoons to watch was Inspector Gadget. I can still remember watching it every day after school, imagining how amazing it would be to have Penny's computer-book and her other devices. This is the “technology” I grew up with: the television, telephone, and radio. Several years later, I worked on a computer for the first time. During my freshman year of high school, I took an information technology class. Soon after, I graduated from high school having learned the basics of this new technology. Around the year 2004, I bought my first laptop and monthly subscription to AOL. I’ll always remember the squeaky high-pitched sound it made as I dialed up the Internet and waited several minutes for webpages and files to download. It was not until 2007 that Apple announced the release of the iPhone with the slogan, "This is only the beginning.” I remember telling my wife that I needed to buy that phone. A week later, I ordered my first generation iPhone. For me, that was the moment I first possessed the digital world at my fingertips.

We now have tremendous access to all of this technology. It has become a part of our daily life. We use digital media in our homes, work, businesses, government, schools and, basically, in everything we do. Education is embracing this technology to teach new and old generations of students, but not everyone has the access and skills necessary to use this technology. There are those who have and those who have not. This is known as the “digital divide.” Throughout this essay, the term “digital inequality” will also be used to describe the digital divide and its dimensions. This inequality creates problems for students and educators in regard to academic performance and the interaction between both groups in the classroom. As a returning student to the University of Akron, I have done an exhaustive amount of research on digital inequality, its different dimensions, and factors contributing to such a divide. I have noticed the increased amount of technology used nowadays in the classroom, which was not the case just a few years ago. These studies and experiences have allowed me to present and discuss arguments about the digital divide among college students and its impact on academic performance.

The purpose of this essay is to explore the digital divide among college students and its impact on academic performance. Firstly, this essay is going to discuss the dimensions associated with digital inequality: access, digital literacy, intensity of use, and purpose of use. We will also discuss the influence these dimensions possess with respect to academic performance. Secondly, this paper will examine research from a credible article on the existence of a racial digital divide among college students. Lastly, this paper will explore the digital divide that exists among educators and how it affects the interaction between teachers and students. It will also look at what administrators and educators are doing to reach their digital natives students. After presenting the above-mentioned steps, my goal is for the reader to have acquired a better understanding of the digital divide and its impact on the academic performance of today’s students. Ultimately, if students are in a structured environment, with support from the educational institution, the digital divide among students will dissipate. There may be, however, a remaining digital divide between educators and students if the educators do not intentionally seek out ways to incorporate technology into their classes.

In the first article, Jonatan Castaño–Muñoz presents his findings as they relate to the digital divide and then goes on to propose that other dimensions should be studied such as access, digital literacy, intensity of use, and purpose of use. Focusing on access to infrastructure, Castaño–Muñoz writes, “University students in developed countries, in general, do not have major differences with respect to connection” (45). In other words, virtually all students have access to the Internet through the universities’ infrastructure. According to the author, the way to increase digital literacy is to study a degree that incorporates computers skills. According to Castaño–Muñoz, “Engineering students have most skills and humanities students the least” (46). To summarize, more time on the Internet leads to digital literacy skills improvement. Another dimension is intensity of use. Here, he explains the two characteristics for intensity of use of the Internet, one being the age of the student and the second being the level of education. In his last dimension, which is purpose of use, he concludes that most students use the Internet for others activities (entertainment, communication, social media etc.) unrelated to student needs. He adds to this the relationship between Internet use and academic performance, “The strategy for academic use of the Internet which most clearly increases academic performance is to follow the teaching-learning methodology of the university” (Castaño–Muñoz 49). Now, with this in mind, it is up to the educational institutions to encourage and support advances in digital literacy for all students.

The purpose of the second article is to examine and to determine whether a digital divide in Internet usage exists among university students. After analyzing the data, the authors found, “Among residential college freshmen with assured Internet access, few differences exist in the odds of using the Internet in the main ways that college students in particular use the Internet (i.e., e-mail, IM, and surfing the web)” (Colten and Jelenewicz 501). Colten and Jelenewicz conclude, “Once college students begin using the Internet for various activities, digital divide aspects related to race and Internet experience play minimal roles in the amount of time students spend doing each activity” (501). With this statement, the authors are suggesting that when students have a structured environment (university), where Internet access is at their fingertips, “The digital divide seems to dissipate in many of the traditional ways that we think about the digital divide” (Colten and Jelenewicz 504). The authors’ findings show us that if the students are in a proper technological environment, they have the option to excel in academics.

Colten and Jelenewicz’s conclusion suggests that digital divide dissipates among residential students, but Prensky explores the topic from a different prospective, the teacher-student digital divide. In his article, Prensky explains, “Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach” (1). According to the author, students have not only changed in their appearance but also in the way they think and process information. Today’s generation is the first one that has grown up surrounded by technology and is using it. Since they are a new generation of students, Prensky refers to them as “Digital Natives.” He states, “Our students today are all ‘native speakers’ of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet” (1). Educators have a new generation of digital students that somehow they have to teach. So, what happens to the rest of the people who did not grow up with this technology but adopted it somewhere along the line? In his article, he refers to such people as digital immigrants. He explains that, as with any other immigrant, this kind of digital immigrant will have an accent. They search for information somewhere else first and then the web last. For the digital natives, school often feels like a foreigner is teaching them. On the other hand, digital immigrants do not believe that their students can effectively learn with all the “distraction” around them. According to Prensky, “Today’s teachers have to learn to communicate in the language and style of their students” (3). This means that educators need to change their content and methodology if they want to educate the digital natives. According to Sun and Metros, “Technology, if used appropriately, can increase teaching and learning efficiency and improve the quality of the curriculum” (155). If digital immigrant educators want to reach their students and see them succeed, they will have to change, but for this change to occur, administrators will need to support them.

These articles dissect the complex and extensive issues that arise with the incorporation of Information Technology into the classroom. Educational institutions must provide the students with the technological support necessary and incorporate the use of these technologies in the academic coursework to reduce the digital literacy gap among students. The author Castaño-Muñoz agrees with my claim. In his article, he states, “Our data show how the most effective way of increasing Internet skills is to study a degree where the syllabus incorporates computer skills” (46). This shows that educational institutions need to encourage the use of these technologies in the classroom and assist students in acquiring advanced digital literacy. I strongly believe that digital inequality among college students will start to dissipate only when the students have a structured environment where the educational institution they are a part of supports them. The authors Colten and Jelenewicz seem to agree as they state, “These results suggest that if you bring people together in structured environments (such as at a university) where individuals have assured access, the digital divide seems to dissipate” (504). Only if the students have a structured environment with access is it possible for the digital divide to dissipate among college students. With respect to digital inequality, from the point of view of the relationship and interaction between educators and students, I believe the possibility of a digital divide exists, specifically, if the educators are not willing to change some of their methodologies. This is supported by Prensky as he writes, “First, our methodology. Today’s teachers have to learn to communicate in the language and style of their students” (4). He goes on to say, “We need to invent Digital Native methodologies for all subjects, at all levels, using our students to guide us” (Prensky 6). Not only does Prensky agree with my claim that educators need to change methodologies if they desire to reach their digital native students, but Castaño-Muñoz also concludes in his research that change needs to occur.

While my research has shown that college students are affected in some direct or indirect way by the digital divide and that this impacts their academic performance, some people believe that the digital divide among college students is disappearing. In the article, “A Disappearing Digital Divide Among College Students?” by Colten and Jelenewicz, the authors state, “As many schools now offer Internet connections in residence halls and across campus, access is free and easy for many college students” (498). With all this technology and access, the writers ask, how can the digital divide still exist? According to Colten and Jelenewicz, “Minority students who may not have had a computer or access to a computer and the Internet prior to college receive support that enables them to keep up” (504). The authors suggest that the students are equipped with the necessary tools to succeed in college since universities provide computers and free access to the Internet. The authors also suggest that if you provide the students with a structured environment (like a university) where the students have total access, “the digital divide seems to dissipate” (Colten and Jelenewicz 504). In other words, if the educational institutions provide the students with the necessary technology, infrastructure, and access, the digital divide will “dissipate” among college students.

Fortunately, educational institutions are making an effort to end the digital divide among college students. Many universities provide infrastructure and free Internet access to all students, but not all students own a computer, so the free access becomes meaningless. The students can check out a computer for a few hours from the library, but how is that going to help students who need to do most of their academic work online? Even if the students have their own computer and free access, we cannot forget about the different factors that play an important role in digital inequality such as race, gender, age, socioeconomic status, and digital literacy, which ultimately affect students’ academic performance. Some people believe that the digital divide will dissipate with a few simple actions, but digital inequality goes beyond that. The groups of individuals at a disadvantage need more than just access and infrastructure. They need support from their educational institutions and help with digital literacy. The responsibility lies with the educational institutions to ensure an equal opportunity environment for all students.

We know that the digital divide exists among college students and that it is a complex issue with many different factors contributing to it. Since we know these factors, as a society, we should be working toward reducing this gap among students. Also, in addition to helping the older generation of digital immigrants with infrastructure and support, we should also be looking toward the next generation of digital natives and ensuring they have equal access and support for technology. We need to make sure they are learning how to use the Internet for academic purposes. I believe more research needs to be conducted to find out if the digital divide still exists among older, digital immigrant, college students. This group of students was not specifically studied in any of the research presented in this essay.

Like anything in life, “With great power comes great responsibility” (Spider-Man). We can say the same about technology. Our responsibility is to ensure that, despite the student’s race, gender, and socioeconomic status, everyone is granted the same availability to infrastructure and access to Information Technology. The educational institutions can accomplish this by providing the structured environment and support the students need. Also, the educational administrators need to help teachers incorporate information technologies into their teaching methodologies to reach this new kind of digital student. Educators need the support from educational administrators to use these new technologies for both teachers and students to have the best digital experience possible. Our goal, as a society, should be to work toward eliminating digital inequality for everyone.

Works Cited

Castaño-Muñoz, Jonatan. “Digital Inequality Among University Students in Developed Countries and its Relation to Academic Performance. (English).” RUSC: Revista de Universidad y Sociedad Del Conocimiento 7.1 (2010): 43-52. Web. 23 Jul 2015.

Colten, Sheila R., and Shameeka M. Jelenewicz. “A Disappearing Digital Divide Among College Students? Peeling Away the Layers of the Digital Divide (English).” Social Science Computer Review 24.4 (2006): 497-506. Web. 23 Jul 2015.

Prensky, Marc. “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” On the Horizon 9.5 (2001): 1-6. Web. 23 Jul 2015.

Spider-Man. Dir. Sam Raimi. Columbia Pictures, 2002. DVD.

Sun, Jerry Chih-Yuan, and Susan E. Metros. “The Digital Divide and Its Impact on Academic Performance.” Online Submission, US-China Education Review A.2 (2011): 153-161. ERIC. Web. 23 Jul 2015.