Digital Divide

The digital divide is the term that is used to describe the difference between people who know how to use or have access to computers and the internet, and those who do not. There are multiple aspects to the digital divide. In class we discussed that the divide is made up of two main parts, Techno-Literacy and Cultural Literacy. Techno Literacy is that the user knows how to use the program and understands its purpose or function. Cultural Literacy is understanding how the different groups or individuals use this technology and how they represent themselves. In “Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide,” by Mark Warschauer, he goes into great detail on what the cultural differences are in different parts of the world. Warschauer gives an example where a computer system that was connected to the internet was put into one of the poorest slums in Delhi and how the children came over and taught themselves how to use the computer system. Although they were able to figure out how to use the computers, they brought up new issues for the children and their parents that they had not ever encountered before. Warschauer says, “Some parents even complained that the kiosk was harmful to their children. As one parent stated, ‘My son used to be doing very well in school, he used to concentrate

on his homework, but now he spends all his free time playing computer games at the kiosk and his schoolwork is suffering.’ In short, parents and the community came to realize that "minimally invasive education" was, in practice, minimally effective education (Warschauer 1).”

There are many different metaphors or examples to help us under what exactly is the digital divide. On very common one is when a Mac user is trying to switch over to a Windows system, or vice versa. I do not think that this the best example

of the digital divide because even though that these are two completely different systems, both are complex computer networks and I believe that it is easier to learn any type of computer when you already have knowledge of a different system. I think that a better example of representing the digital divide today is the changes in television. It used to be, and in a lot of places still is, that watching television was just having a TV and a controller and scrolling through the channels until the viewer found something that they wanted to watch. Now, however, there has been so much more added to it and so many different ways it can be viewed it has become quite complex to use a TV system to its fullest potential. With the addition of DVR you can record anything on TV automatically and you can even program the DVR

to record every single episode of a show that you can watch back later. Also the addition on internet TV a viewer can basically go online to sites like Netflix or Hulu and watch any show that they want to. To me, switching from basic cable to a high performance DVR would be a more complex transition then switching from a Mac to a PC.

Works Cited:

Warschauer, Mark. "Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide." First Monday 7.7 (2002): 1. Web. 2 Sep 2010. .