Childhood Education

ISSN: 0009-4056 (Print) 2162-0725 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uced20

Focus on Technology: Alleviating the Digital Divide

in the United States

Jennifer H. Osborne & Hani Morgan

To cite this article: Jennifer H. Osborne & Hani Morgan (2016) Focus on Technology:
Alleviating the Digital Divide in the United States, Childhood Education, 92:3, 254-256, DOI:
10.1080/00094056.2016.1180931

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2016.1180931

Published online: 25 Apr 2016.

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Focus on Technology
Alleviating the Digital Divide in the United States
by Jennifer H. Osborne and Hani Morgan
Jennifer H. Osborne is Assistant Professor, and Hani Morgan is Associate Professor,
Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education,
University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
T echnology can enhance learning in various
ways. Well-designed multimodal e-books,
for example, help children improve in reading
comprehension, as the sound, animation, and
images usually included in these electronic books
allow students to perceive content in various
formats (Morgan, 2013). The National Council
of Teachers of Mathematics (2015) indicates that
effective use of technology stimulates students’
interests and increases their proficiency in
mathematics. Computers can be implemented
both for enhancing factual knowledge and
developing higher-level thinking skills (Morgan &
VanLengen, 2005).
Unfortunately, technology is not evenly
distributed among all groups of people.
Additionally, in the United States, teachers in
low-income districts tend to incorporate digital
resources in a less than optimal manner than those
in wealthier areas (Reinhart, Thomas, & Toriskie,
2011). In previous years, disadvantaged students
had fewer technological resources at home,
leading them to be less skillful in using such
resources (Morgan & VanLengen, 2005; Ritzhaupt,
Liu, Dawson, & Barron 2013). Today, they are
more likely to have inferior digital tools than more
privileged students. This article describes different
types of inequalities disadvantaged students
may experience involving access to and use of
technology. We also offer strategies for reducing
the digital divide.
254 \ Childhood Education
Hani Morgan, Editor
The Digital Divide
The term “digital divide” initially referred to the
fewer opportunities disadvantaged individuals
had to access technological resources. Today,
however, researchers often refer to that problem
as the “first-level digital divide” (Campos-
Castillo, 2015). While older studies show that
less privileged students were less likely to have
access to computers and the Internet, current
research shows that this problem has decreased
considerably. A recent study, for example,
indicated that almost all children under the age
of 4 in a low-income community had access to
computers, tablets, and smart phones (Nierenberg,
2015).
The digital divide has indeed narrowed as a
result of efforts beginning in the 1990s to increase
computer tool access in poor households (Richtel,
2012). These efforts continued in the 21st century
as the Obama administration worked to expand
Internet availability to rural and low-income
areas. The Obama administration also launched
the ConnectED initiative, a plan designed to put
high-speed broadband in all American schools by
2017 (NBC News, 2014).
Unfortunately, students from low-socioeconomic
households tend to use technology too often
for entertainment, hindering their chances of
developing the skills needed to enhance their
future careers. The divide involving differences
in technology use between disadvantaged and
privileged youth is sometimes referred to as the
“second-level digital divide” (Reinhart et al.,
2011).
The Second-Level Digital Divide
Students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds
are using technology much more frequently than
their more privileged counterparts for playing
games, watching videos, and communicating
on social networking sites, activities that many
educators feel are not enriching students’ use of
time (Richtel, 2012). Additionally, teachers in low-
income districts tend to apply technology less
often for developing critical-thinking skills than
those teaching in wealthier areas (Reinhart et al.,
2011).
Teachers in such schools also lack the technology
facilitators found in schools with lower numbers
of disadvantaged students and usually integrate
digital resources for less challenging activities,
such as developing basic skills (Reinhart et al.,
2011). For example, a study on computer use
among 3rd-graders in schools in Ohio found that
students in affluent suburban schools worked
with technology in more sophisticated ways than
students at other locations (Wood & Howlee,
2012).
Alleviating the Digital Divide
Different methods need to be applied to narrow the
varying types of inequalities involving digital tools.
Instead of including technology to develop lower-
level skills, schools serving disadvantaged students
need to incorporate interventions for at-risk
students that lead them to improve academically
while offering scaffolding and support. Mark
Warschauer (2011) offers examples of programs
that can be integrated into the curriculum for this
purpose.
Instead of including technology to
develop lower-level skills, schools
serving disadvantaged students need
to incorporate interventions for at-risk
students that lead them to achieve.
Some of these programs involve netbooks,
computers smaller in size and lower in cost
than a typical laptop. The lower cost of these
computers can be especially advantageous for
schools with budget issues. One of the programs
that achieved outstanding results occurred in East
Elementary School in Littleton, Colorado, a school
with a sizeable number of low-income students.
East Elementary incorporated netbooks in their
literacy program, a program that emphasized
authentic writing for a real audience. The teachers
received one week of training about how to
integrate computer hardware and software into
instruction. The students worked on the netbooks
to draft, edit, and share their writing. At times,
teachers asked individual students to write with
the computer connected to a projector in order
to have a class discussion about their writing.
The program also included the use of blogs and
Skype discussions with authors. Students working
with the netbooks scored higher on the statewide
writing test when compared to those enrolled in
the same grade the year prior to the start of the
program, leading the district to gain national
recognition for its success (Warschauer, 2011).
Reducing the digital divide will also require
less privileged youth to have better digital tools
at home. Although low-income families now have
more access to technology than in previous years,
they usually use inferior, cheaper forms of digital
resources, lowering their chances of enhancing
their education and quality of life (Crawford,
2011). This problem is linked directly to the high
level of income inequality in the United States.
Unfortunately, the United States has one of the
largest income gaps between its wealthy and poor
citizens of any industrialized country in the world
(Berliner, 2013). To alleviate this problem, better
social policies toward the poor need to be created.
May/June 2016 / 255
Some of the recommendations David Berliner
(2013) makes to better support citizens in need
include replacing the minimum wage with a fair
wage and raising taxes on profitable corporations
that pay little or no tax.
Conclusion
Different types of inequalities involving
technology remain a problem in U.S. schools
and society today. Although more low-income
families have access to the Internet than in the
past, many can only afford inferior connections
through phone lines or cheaper computers such
as wireless smartphones (Crawford, 2011). In
2012, The New York Times reported that although
65% of Americans had broadband at home, only
40% of households earning less than $20,000
could afford it (Richtel, 2012). Various tasks easily
done through a larger computer with a wired
connection are extremely difficult to accomplish
via a smartphone. For example, typing a resume
or taking an online course is not feasible on a
smartphone.
A second type of digital divide involves
differences in the way technology is applied.
Studies show that while less privileged students
may have access to computers and the Internet at
school, their teachers are less likely to incorporate
it as well as teachers working with wealthier
students (Reinhart et al., 2011; Wood & Howlee,
2012). Disadvantaged students also tend to
operate digital resources out of school in ways
that will likely interfere with their academic
development.
Alleviating the first-level digital divide
involves creating more social policies that would
reduce the income gap between the wealthy
and the poor in the United States. To reduce the
second-level digital divide, schools serving less
privileged students can implement research-based
intervention programs designed to integrate
technology to ameliorate the critical-thinking
skills of their students, thereby helping them
gain more of the skills needed for future success.
Private companies such as Best Buy and Microsoft
have financially supported efforts to send digital
literacy trainers to organizations such as the
Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored
People, and the League of United Latin American
Citizens to enhance computer use (Richtel, 2012).
More companies can participate in such work
in the future. These strategies will create more
opportunities for disadvantaged youth to improve
their lives through technology.
256 \ Childhood Education
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