http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-m-eger/economic-survival-in-the-_b_871575.html
This article called "Closing the Digital Divide" discusses how cyber
education might be the only way to assist under educated countries. It
also mentions how the world needs to gain the support of global
corporations and governments in order to help educate the world all at
once. This will eliminate the divide between countries that lack
technology and those that do not.
My thoughts on this are that it is a great idea in practice. However,
once other countries are educated, my concern is that the digital
divide will never officially go away. There will be more and more new
technologies out there as long as people keep creating them. The under
educated countries will always lag behind because they will not be
able to afford the new technologies. Also it takes time for these
technologies to filter down. Therefore, I think there will always be a
digital divide or maybe more of digital gap.
I think that global corporations and organizations should help support the cause to educate the world. This could be a very difficult task. It is one of those things where you must get everyone on the same page working for the same cause. I think it is possible if everyone has the same goal.
Do you think that corporations should be required to participate in helping close the digital divide?
Do you think that the digital divide will ever be closed?
I think it would be great if large corporations could help to spread technology and education. They have more monetary resources that could help to extend education to other countries. Companies often receive tax breaks for donations and certain types of charitable work. I would be neat if somehow the work or money they offer to help get technology to other countries (or even communities in the US) could be a write-off of some sort. It is always easier to get help when there is a "what's in it for me" reward. Plus some guidelines (kinda like grants) could help ensure that the money or people's time is being used for its intended purposes.
ReplyDeleteAs you point out Marlene, there are new technologies emerging each day. I highly doubt that the "digital divide" will ever completely disappear. Just as it would be wonderful to eliminate hunger and abject poverty, there are just too many people and not enough resources. However, some assistance from corporations could definitely help bridge the gaps.
I would like also to say that digital divide is not only issue of “under educated countries”. Although the United States is recognized as a leading high-technology country, there are many studies, indicating the existence of a digital divide from various perspectives here. I see the poverty rate increasing as one of the reasons. The report on information collected in the 2010 and earlier Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplements (CPS ASEC) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, states: “The official poverty rate in 2009 was 14.3 percent—up from 13.2 percent in 2008. This was the second statistically significant annual increase in the poverty rate since 2004” (Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009).
ReplyDeleteI see how “cyber education” could help “closing the digital divide” but I think that the first step suppose to be fighting the poverty. The next one should be promoting digital literacy. I strongly agree with Teddy Wayne, who after analyzing the study by Pew Research Center (The Better-Off Online) made an observation that “Digital Divide Is a Matter of Income”.
I also agree that corporations should be required to participate and help the process of closing the digital divide. However, I don’t see filling the digital gap in near future.
Here are the links to the articles that I’ve mentioned:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p60-238.pdf (Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009)
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1809/internet-usage-higher-income-americans (The Better-Off Online)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/business/media/13drill.html (Digital Divide Is a Matter of Income)
I think efforts like Curriki http://www.curriki.org/ will be very important tools in helping provide education to children in remote or economically disadvantages places in the world. Inexpensive computers/iPad-like devices that can access the internet wirelessly will become even cheaper to provide in Third World countries. I know that much of the world does not have access to high speed internet, but this will continue to change. At this website you can see that only 11% of Africa has internet access, but that rate has increased over 2,000 percent in the last decade and it will continue to increase. http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if that were to work, but I agree with you that I don't think there will ever be a full cure to the digital divide. I think that companies should have to provide help closing the digital divide, and even if they may lag behind, it will still be more beneficial to those countries and people than where they are now. But I don't think they will ever catch up to the places where the technology is being created.
ReplyDeleteTechnology has been getting cheaper and cheaper the more the world has come to utilize it. Now you can get on a $50 cell phone what you could only get on a several hundred dollar machine many years ago. Even if access is never truly equal now is a great time to help people get a foot in the door.
ReplyDeleteIt is a good plan in theory, but each under educated country is different, and to try to educate them all at once to attain a common goal would be virtually impossible. (No pun intended) I do not think that corporations should be required to help close the digital divide, but I think they should be aware of it in order to establish global goals. With these goals, they may be helping to close the divide. I do not think the digital divide will ever completely close. The human race would have to be robots to have complete knowledge and access to everything.
ReplyDelete