The Digital Divide and Rural America

For my final project in this course I plan to create a wiki that can serve as a tool to sort out information about the digital divide for education students that want to research and investigate this topic. Looking over my previous posts, I have noticed that I have excluded the role of digital divide in rural settings as well as the role gender plays in the digital divide. This post will focus on the digital divide in rural settings.

An article titled “Digital Age is Slow to Arrive in Rural America” from the New York Times website explains the problem the digital divide presents in rural communities around America. This article investigates internet access and use in the town of Coffeeville in Clarke County, Alabama. The author of this article, Kim Severson, points out there is a severe lack of internet access in this community. Severson writes, “As the world embraces its digital age—two billion people now use the internet regularly—the line delineating two Americas has become more broadly drawn. There are those who have reliable, face access to the Internet, and those, like about half of the 27,867 people here in Clarke County, who do not” (Severson, 2011). In this passage, Severson points out the reality that even in 2011 many people lack access to speedy internet. Severson also implies this divide in access to the Internet has created “two Americas”; the America on one side of this digital division is more connected economically, politically, and academically. The America on the other side of the division, while certainly not necessarily less informed, has a much harder time connecting to information.

This article goes on to discuss the results of a report created by the Department of Commerce in February about broadband internet service. The results within the report reveal a lack of internet access in rural communities. Severson states that the Obama administration has placed an emphasis on “pushing America’s digital expansion” and has “given $7.2 billion in stimulus money toward the effort” (Severson, 2011). The presidential support digital expansion is receiving proves our nation’s executive branch feels more equality in digital access is beneficial for the country. With more access to technology, people within these rural communities can become more involved politically and economically.

Severson quotes a citizen, Sharon Jones, of Clarke County who explains that her lack of access to broadband internet makes certain tasks, like sending a simple email, difficult. Jones states, “It takes 10 times the effort to do what someone else can do in a matter of five minutes” (Severson, 2011). While Sharon Jones is a small business owner, students within this community face the same hardships. Without access to broadband internet, students receive and create less information than students with greater access. Jones says, “we are trying to pull ourselves into the 21st century…I don’t think the rest of the world understands there is a piece of the world here that is really challenged” (Severson, 2011). Jones’ comment here sums up the concern with the digital divide. Our country is rapidly developing and changing in terms of technological use but there are still rural communities like Coffeeville, and communities in other parts of the country, that have limited access to technology. With this limited access comes an undeniable detriment. Until there is a greater focus on finding ways to successfully help people with limited access not only gain access, but learn the necessary skills to take advantage of that access, the digital divide will remain a problem and concern. As more technology is introduced into these areas, proper education and instruction will be required to teach the younger generations to embrace this technology and sequentially help these rural communities benefit from being connected.

“Jonathan Little of Thomasville, Ala., only has dial-up internet at home, and frequently uses the library to connect”.
Photo by Megan Haller for the New York Times

Reference:
Severson, K. (2011, February). Digital age is slow to arrive in rural america. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/18/us/18broadband.html.

(Photo at top from http://warkscol.wordpress.com/2008/09/)

Conference on College Compostion and Communication Encourages the Elimination of the Digital Divide

http://www.codelatim.org/tag/teaching-with-technology

Part of overcoming the digital divide is preparing teachers to both instruct and assess assignments that are created digitally. In an earlier post, I included the way using tech talk can help students gain confidence with the digital world; in this post I will discuss other ways educational instruction can ensure teachers are preparing their students for the digital world of the future. The position statement by the Conference on College Composition and Communication reveals this committee’s stance on the digital environment within classrooms. A committee was appointed as part of the CCCC to develop a position statement “governing the teaching, learning, and assessing of writing in the digital environment” (CCCC, 2004). The prepared statement simultaneously emphasizes the importance of encouraging digital composition within the classroom while suggesting approaches for educators to include digital elements throughout their lesson designs. It is the educational system’s responsibility to actively engage in attempting to eliminate the digital divide. Students of every socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and culture need to be exposed to the necessary technology to allow them to enter college and the work force with technological competence and confidence.

The focus through the CCCC’s statement is digital composition and ways to both encourage and assess digital composition. While the focus of the article is on “digital composition”, the article discusses more general ways that the digital world can be included in the classroom, “digital composing can take many other forms as well. For example, such composing can mean participating in an online discussion through a listserv or bulletin board. It can refer to creating compositions in presentation software. It can refer to participating in chat rooms or creating webpages. It can mean creating a digital portfolio with audio and video files as well as scanned print writings. Most recently, it can mean composing on a class weblog or wiki” (CCCC, 2004). These few sentences from the report suggest ways technology can be involved in assignments and lesson plans in a variety of ways. The statement includes any form of written interaction online as a form of digital composition; therefore, even though this position statement seems to focus on one element of the digital world, composition, that classification includes a wide variety of techniques for using technology in the classroom.

This article states that courses that encourage students to compose digitally should, “introduce students to the epistemic (knowledge-constructing) characteristics of information technology…provide students with opportunities to apply digital technologies to solve substantial problems common to the academic, professional, and/or personal realm of their lives, Include much hands-on use of technologies, engage students in the critical evaluation of information…[and] prepare students to be reflective practitioners” (CCCC, 2004). These few lines of CCCC’s report really reiterate why instruction and assignments that utilize technology are important for students. Students learn how knowledge can be constructed and obtained through technology and they can learn how technology can benefit different realms of their lives, currently and in the future.

The article suggests those that implement instruction that focuses on writing programs need to “assure that all matriculated students have sufficient access to the requisite technology, thus bridging the ‘digital divide’ in the local context. Students who face special economic and cultural hurdles as well as those with disabilities will receive support necessary for them to succeed” (CCCC, 2004). If schools ensure that all students have access to the necessary technology to actively engage with new technologies, the digital divide will start to narrow.

The important element of narrowing the digital divide is making sure that the teachers are prepared to teach the necessary information to limit the divide. Schools need to “assure that faculty have ready access to diverse forms of technical and pedagogical professional development before and while they teach in digital environments. Such support should include regular and just-in-time workshops, courses, individual consolations, and Web resources” (CCCC, 2004). I like that this part of CCCC’s position statement acknowledges that instructors need frequently lessons on teaching technology. As technology changes, instructors need updated on technological advancements to instate current and up-to-date instruction about technology in their classrooms. Of course, schools with more funding will be able to be more informed and will be able to afford more workshops and courses for instructors, but schools with less funding can still place emphasis on the importance of instructors using free web sources to stay current on developing technology and using that technology in the classroom. The web also offers suggestions about certain lesson ideas that encourage students to utilize technology and compose digitally. If school boards and school systems encourage the instructors to use technology and have their students use technology, even low budget schools can help students gain a sense of comfort with technology that will help diminish the digital divide in our public school systems.

While the CCCC is an organization that focuses on the collegiate student, I believe the position statement they have created in regards to digital composition and the importance of encouraging technological advancement through education instruction can be applied to every grade level. Pedagogies throughout our public school system should be “working to keep learning at the center of the enterprise and to assure that students learn to use the technology, not just consume it” (CCCC, 2004). Last week I had a post about the way that “consuming” technology is not helping narrow the digital divide. To narrow the digital divide we want to teach students to actually engage with the technological world and use digital media as a means of expression, both personally and academically.

Reference:
CCCC: position statement on teaching, learning, and assessing writing in digital environments. (2004). Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/cccc/resources/postitions/digitalenvironments.