The Digital Divide and Education
One key factor of the digital divide is the lack of real technological education. Many school systems do not teach basic computer skills or offer adequate access to a computer, and the children never understand the benefits of a computer or utilize the chances they have. Though computer access and internet users rises every year, the divide grows as well as young, wealthy children in cities and suburbs continue to have more and more technological advantages. People with a college degree actually are actually ten times more likely to have Internet access and a computer at work than people with a high school education, and the percentage gap of Internet use among the least and the most educated continues to grow. Telecommunication facilities are also more available for wealthier communities and are more attractive for developing companies to invest. As a result, poverty in less fortunate neighborhoods make it less appealing for companies to finance the facilities, only aggravating the digital divide. There are thousands and thousands of adults that have missed out on the computer era, and schools need to emphasize the Internet and other computer resources to help the new generation of Americans close the gap and share all the advantages of technology. New and improved technology is produced every quarter, and technology is becoming more and more important to society and employment. President Bill Clinton believed that fixing the digital divide "is the greatest opportunity the U.S. has ever had to lift its people out of poverty and ignorance." There are many programs that go directly into the schools to help educate students and teach the benefits of computers such as the Community Technology Center, the AT&T Learning Network, and PowerUp. However, there are still some critics that believe the opportunity is there, but the students are afraid to utilize it. This article in Business Week points out that a high school in New York City the teacher constantly encourages his students to take advantage of the high speed internet connection available in the classroom, but only a handful of the students utilize the access because they are intimidated or uninterested. While more and more students may have some access to computers in their schools, they are still not educated enough to be comfortable with the technology and the computers must be introduced into the school curriculum so that students understand the benefits and are taught enough to effectively use the opportunity. Many families do not have a home computer, making schools their only access point. Yet with educational resources determined by the local tax base, a divide is growing between schools that can afford to install and maintain technology and those that cannot. Once computers are in the schools, are they being effectively integrated into the curriculum? Are the teachers receiving adequate training? Are all students encouraged to participate or are some students being left out?
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