Ethics

The term digital divide has various definitions. According to Bharat Mehra it is the gap between the internet and computer users and the ones who does not. A more detailed definition of the digital divide defines it as the gap between people who have access to information and digital technology versus those who have a very limited or no access at all to it. Digital divide includes both physical and abstract aspects of imbalances in access to technology it covers the inequality in physical access to technology and the inequality in skills and resources required for an individual to be a digital citizen. In other words, it is the disparity between some citizens and others in gaining access to information and communication technology and acquiring the associated skills. The digital divide can be categorized based on income, gender, racial and ethnic groups and by location.

The term digital divide was initially used to highlight the gap in the ownership of PCs between groups, as at that time the ownership was more in certain ethnic groups as compared to others. However, as Internet access became a fundamental part of using the computer, the terms usage broadened to cover gaps in access to computers AND the Internet. Although the term had been used in several political speeches and news articles since 1995, its regular usage started in the mid-1990s. In 1996, President of the United States, Bill Clinton, and his Vice President, Al Gore, used the term in their speech in Knoxville, Tennessee. Larry Irving, head of the National Telecommunications Infrastructure Administration (NTIA) at the Department of Commerce of United States, during Bill Clintons regime, used the term in a series of reports. Today, the term has close relations to the knowledge divide because lack of technology leads to lack of important knowledge.

A range of criteria can be used to analyze the digital divide. Mostly, the criteria used to differentiate between the haves and the have nots of the digital divide focus on access to hardware and the Internet plus aspects relating to both. However this variance in the methods of assessing digital divide and the lack of proper data on technology usage makes it difficult to determine the exact nature of the digital divide. Thus the nature of digital divide is debatable and contextual.  Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient are the conventional measurements of imbalances and inequality used to describe the digital divide. In the Lorenz curve, a 45-degree diagonal line represents the perfect equality of Internet usage globally and has a Gini coefficient of zero. Perfect inequality has a Gini coefficient of one.

With the progress of time and increasing trend of globalization, the concept of digital divide has been linked with other concepts. According to Mehra, there are four major components that are the main cause of the digital divide as these factors are closely associated with technological attainment socioeconomic status, income, educational level and race.

The impact of digital divide can be seen on the education sector by concentrating on the schools which have computer access. Rich schools were able to provide computer usage to their students which in turn make them more probable to enjoy internet access.

In the schooling sector the major discussion of the digital divide often comes to the point that it does not matter whether there are computers or internet connections available in the school but it matters the most on how the students are using the computers and making the use of internet connections. Some afterschool courses and libraries have acted as an important training and access point for the less able kids who are not able to use the technology.

Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Fund was approved by the United States in 1996 and was put into operation in the year 1997. This program directly addresses the gap of technology in the different classes of schools. It makes the funds available from the taxes and gives monetary and technological recourses to the less able schools. This program is also known as E-Rate (Mossberger, Tolbert and Stansbury).

The program had been a success as it successfully increased the number of classrooms which have internet access from 14 to 95 in a period of 9 years.

Currently the debate of technology gap or digital divide has widened to consist of technological training and skills as well as to the simple access to computer or internet.

To expand the learning support outside the classroom, technology offers many unique opportunities, which was something very difficult to do so until now. The internet can provide a verity of tasks for the user which makes it malleable to the users purposes and needs.

But just by providing technology to the schools will not narrow the digital divide among the people if the teachers of the school are not been trained efficiently and they are not being able to master the technology effectively then they certainly cannot increase the student learning. Proper training facilities should be provided to the schools in order to increase the learning of the students (Mossberger, Tolbert and Stansbury). Specifically speaking training facilities not only to students but also teachers would be a very bold step towards reducing the Digital Divide. It is important to realize the increasing usage of Internet and the rapid changes in technology as human progress is fast paced. Its important to keep up with the pace and make sure that technological reach is the maximum throughout people.

Education cannot be used as the only tool to close the technological gap and will not completely close the digital gap between the students of different SES backgrounds. It is important to identify and realize more methods to reduce the technological gap that has been created. It is highly probable that in the future more efficient and effective ways of reducing this gape are formulated.