digital technology is viewed as one of the influential concepts in our evolving community, forming the basic structure of our global society as we advance into the information age. It is this concept of the advances in information computer technology that introduces the term ‘digital divide’, with it’s universal relevance it is capable of transcending all cultural and geographical borders, thus transforming it into a notion with extreme significance and increasing importance in the recent years.
This essay will explore this idea of digital divide itself in depth, first illustrating the ever-changing conceptual meaning of the term, by looking at the different interpretations of the term and the evolution of its meaning over time. Then I will form a discussion evaluating the geographical factors that influence the distribution of digital technology and the formation of digital divides within communities. Lastly I will illustrate the detrimental cultural and educational consequences of divides within society, mostly pertaining to its impact of one’s integration into society.
Similar to how information and technology had been altered over time, so has the meaning of the digital divide. Initially the idea was conceived by many theorists as a single aspect, perceived by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration(1999) as the ability to utilise and understand the new age technological tools efficiently and effectively and in 2001, Companies suggested that the digital divide was defined as no more than the disparity of access between the latest forms of technology between different communities within society. Light (2001) effectively highlights the main understandings pertaining to the digital divide as “disparity between various groups in the areas of computer and Internet use”, “differences between information-haves and have-nots” and “disparities in computer ownership and computer usage”.
The Essay on Digital Divide Technology Society Internet
... in low-income neighborhoods. I believe the digital divide will fade over time. Technology will adapt to society not the other way around. The ... our own destiny. Technology has produced the information age. Now it is up to all of us to build an information society." We must ... Cell phones, computers, and plasma televisions are all taking us forward. But is this not a wellness for our society? First, we ...
Though Light identifies the components of the digital divide it wasn’t perfectly understood until Otani (2010) proposed the dichotomous view of the digital divide, cohesively interpreting the idea using the foundations laid by the opinions before. This identified the digital divide as a combination of unequal access to digital and network resources including Internet, and the opportunities presented to communities to learn and develop skills using information and communication technologies.
The intrinsic nature of the relationship between technology and society is easily noticed, but here are various debates assessing the future of these advances in an attempt to further societies knowledge and bridge the gaps within the globe not only socially but economically, educationally and it has many conceivable health benefits. The establishment of the internet in the last century, has revolutionised the way we function in the world, delivering us into a new era of efficiency and effectively by connecting us effortlessly and providing us with a gateway to further knowledge and development.
It is this rapid positive shift in progress, that makes the idea of a digital divide all the more daunting, as it threatens the future of class structure, disparity of knowledge and significant shifts in economic capabilities, which have dangerous effects in the longevity of societies. The first vital step in remedying a divide is to identify its distribution and severity in regards to each particular community it’s prevalent in, in order to identify the appropriate course of action.
The Essay on Digital Television Technology
Technology development has made a great change, digitization of TV signals leads to a huge increase of more channels available, specially on terrestrial, satellite, interactive TV and other convergence of various media such as broadcasting, publishing and computers. They are all forms of multimedia development of high-definition wide-screen TV. Such kind of great developments are leading to ...
These digitals divide as an ever-growing concept, with digital exclusion specifically have the ability to rapidly exacerbate the forms of disadvantage faced by both individuals and communities (Bogue, 2008).
This disparity can be conceptually rationalised in comparison to the universal “virus” known as globalisation, where it works on a demographic and monetary basis utilising Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” mentality where the developed countries that are capable of using the rapid growth in ICT to reap it’s economic benefits, social inclusion and the continuously improving technologies that will further exclude those who are already left behind. (The Economist, 2012: 3)
According to Hargittai (2002) divides occur at three levels: the global divide (developed and lesser developed nations), social divide (within the population) and a democratic divide (those who choose to use and do not use technologies).
The main component of the digital divide in terms of demographics is related to the monetary value and resources prevalent to specific societies on an international scale. Keniston (2004) states “ the information age has so far touched only a tiny minority of the world’s population. If we define household access to the World Wide Web as a criterion for joining the Information Age, less than 5 percent of the World’s population of 6 billion had gained access by the year 2002”.
The idea of digital divide has expanded in a domestic scale, is highlighted through a study conducted in Limerick city, Ireland, a town where there are substantial wealth gaps prevalent, which directly correlate with the considerable fluctuation of varying understanding of technological knowledge with those living in lower income housing, testing on the lower end of the spectrum.
The study showed that whilst Ireland overall boasts a high development in many facets of growth including technology almost half (49.1%) of those living in disadvantaged communities did not use computers, compared to only one in ten (11.1%) respondents living in non disadvantaged areas of Limerick City. Just under a third (31.1%) of respondents had Internet access, compared to 94.4% of people in non-disadvantaged areas of the city. These figures are very significant if one takes into account that the Internet connection levels in the disadvantaged areas of Limerick city were 50% lower than national levels.
The Term Paper on Digital Technologies Essay Temp
‘Will the challenges emerging with digital knowledge contexts, for which digital literacy is being deployed, open new horizons for the human art of thinking and creating knowledge?’ (Belisle 2006, p.55). Reference: Harvard Style Knowledge can be interpreted in different ways where one scholar defines knowledge as a learnt education another interprets knowledge as intelligence. Knowledge is ...
There is a definite pattern of polarisation between affluent areas and neighbourhoods where clustered forms of disadvantage are in evidence (Bogue, 2008).
Maluchnik purposes the divide and reinforces the social class system, lower social classes are at higher risk of being digitally excluded and thus are unable to keep up with the digitally included which makes the lower social class more distinct from upper classes and thus “cementing” the social class system.
The last main contributor towards digital divide is that of the democratic divide, the individual choice of certain communities to subvert the common technological advancements prevalent throughout their society, due to personal or cultural reasons, all stemming from habit patterns and fear to change.
We currently exist in a society with older people who represent a growing proportion of the world’s population. In the coming decades its is estimated that a fifth of our global population will be over 60 years old and as such a strong focus must be made on the struggle involved with the transition of our older society with the new technology that is being invented. This is due mainly to the fact that the older population may not have the financial means, skills and understanding and in most case they have no desire or need to utilise these new technologies.
Damodaran & Olphert (2012) explore this further in their study that they conducted, concluding that older people in most countries are less likely to be Internet users than younger people. This is consolidated through surveys that show that while 80% or more of the total population in Britain regularly use the Internet, this drops to fewer than 40% among people aged 50 and above. This is further amplified in European countries that are not as developed as Britain where for example in Spain, where 67% of the total populations are Internet users; older users represent just 12%.
In addition to this overwhelming contribution towards the digital divide another personal factor influencing a large proportion of the digital divide is that of cultural influences. There comes and ethical impasse that comes into place when concerning movements like technology advancements, whether traditional cultures should be left in isolation so their customs and value systems remain undisturbed. This can be a strong deciding factors in many cultures, where even though when given the opportunity to acquire these ICT advances, some cultures may perceive them as antithetical to the lifestyle and foundation that they have built their livelihood and culture on and thus opt to reject the change.
The Term Paper on Technology Divide Among Minorities
... to new technologies to grow even wider. Work Cited Henderson, Wade. Turning The Digital Divide Into Digital Opportunity. web ... 22 percent of the Silicon Valley area population, but only 4 percent of employees are ... Internet revolution could create an even more divided society, which could bring enormous consequences and create ... I could sharpen my knowledge acquired in class but at the same time did not ...
In addition to the personal decision, some cultures don’t have the option of selecting the digital path, as language can serve as a major barrier as many ICT resources are mainly in English, many developing countries either don’t speak English as their native language or know English at all.
Tiene (2002) argues this case, in some remote and isolated societies the potential affect of intense digital advances may have detrimental effects on the overall potency of their lifestyle, especially if the technology gap is too severe and if proper training and information isn’t provided with it. This can cause chaos as the shaken system will be reeling with unusable information and wasted resources.
As shown above there are many factors, which lead to, formation and expansion of a digital divide our current era. What are more detrimental are the social, economic and career-based inequality issues, formed within the lifestyle and future of the minority/developing communities within a society, as a result of this divide. This digital divide could be accounted for by any of the reasons explained above but they all result in the significant knowledge gap that is present between them and other counterparts who have the resources and ability to change with the rest of the world.
As touched on earlier, Fox, Johnson & Rosser (2006) explain that the divide is more than an issue of access to technology, it is also an issue of the effective and efficient use of these technologies and the empowerment gained by the societal classes that can afford to obtain these technologies and consequently become proficiently skilled at using them.
So without these resources, each individual is being neglected the opportunity to understand each one’s integration into their societies, lowering their awareness and leaving them unprepared for the future, resulting in them slipping further behind and unapparent in society.
The Term Paper on The Digital Divide Controversy: Nothing but Hot Air.
It seems only yesterday that computers were luxury items. Today, nearly everyone views them as a necessity of life. This changing viewpoint towards technology is creating battle lines in governmental and private agencies everywhere. Research indicates a serious problem, called the “digital divide,” runs rampant among the American population. Some studies even predict doom and gloom will befall us ...
These elements are so important to the prosperity of communities, that some developed countries such as the UK attempt to move up the ranks of digital awareness by not only providing basic access and understanding to their nation, but Eynon (2009) identified several technology based initiatives to enhance the levels of knowledge and applicable skills in ICT. They enhance the availability of computer and internet access in adolescent homes, schools, community halls as well as establishing UK Online Centres. Although these programs create a better platform for the development of children’s acquaintance with technology that will prove beneficial to them in future endeavors concerning performance in studies, work environment and social lives, it also creates a wider gap in the digital divide.
This presents fundamental equality and ethical issues as to how much advantage is too much advantage with the digital divide growing developing countries that are attempting to reach a stable level of understanding that will allow them to for sustainable lifestyles are under constant strain and pressure to adapt even further. This is mirrored on the domestic scale where destitute and even barely struggling communities who have never had the funds and ‘privilege’ to purchase such technological devices and keep up with the skill level, being further divided from those who have always had the option.
Study conducted by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) called “Falling Through the Net” consolidates this concept. The study presents a comprehensive understanding about the prevalent characteristics of the information society, whilst highlighting the inequalities of access caused by the quality of education, income and race. This report (NTIA, 1999) exposed the substantial differences in computer use and in 1994-1998 about differences in computer usage between White and Black American households (39.2%) and White between Hispanic American (42.6%).
This shows the Blacks and Hispanic are left behind and one of the reasons reflected in the study was that the computer is considered a luxury to own. This already demonstrates socio-economic division in the country and by looking at developed and developing nations in general, the pattern also exists.
The Research paper on Culture Technology A Case Study
Culture & Technology: A Case Study We live in a time where information is only a mouse-click away for a large portion of the country and the world. Up until ten years ago, people had to go to their local library or purchase an expensive encyclopedia set for their home just to obtain information. Now, information is free and easily accessible from the home. Why pay five hundred dollars for an ...
This emphasises the various characterisations of the digital divide within the domestic framework as a pollutant towards the older population, the disabled, lower earning households, those living in remote locations and ethnic minorities. This ideal combined with the fact that the influence of technology has had an increasing affect on the service, job and economic market, as shown by the increasing impact ICT has had on Finland’s GDP has tripled in comparison to electricity in the 1900s.
So as I have addressed in this essay, technology does form the platform for almost every component of our society influencing decisions in all facets of life, i.e economics, communication, health, jobs and opportunities, regardless of external factors allowing it to surpass geographic and cultural borders and effect the world as one connected system.
Thus we can establish that this ever-growing digital divide is a significant problem, where certain classes in society are not able to reap the benefits of the rapid advancements in technology and it’s powerful integration in our societies. Therefore these obstacles must be overcome regarding the distribution of these technologies and the training required to use them, in an attempt to allow everyone to improve with the technology and have an equal chance.