Even with those programs, there still exists a divide in consistent access to computers. The Common Sense Media Institute found that only 48% of students in low-income families have access to computers and the internet while 91% of students in higher-income families boast that same access. Additionally, with the proliferation of smart phones and the BYOD or BYOT movements in education, the "App Gap" has become a concern as there is a definite differential in the number of high income families with smart phones versus low income families with smart phones (Common Sense Media 2011). This divide can be cut even more by school-based programs to provide technology resources to students. Media centers can host technology-access hours before or after school for students. Schools can apply for public or private grants to build technology lending programs that allow students to check out laptops or tablets. While such programs are often difficult to maintain and police, they provide that important access to students who need it.
While the old gap still exists, a new concern has emerged and that is a gap between the uses of the internet. The new digital divide is characterized by differential usage of digital technologies, but differential access still remains an indicator of student success with the use of technology. Students with greater access have been found to be more likely to use a variety of internet resource and become proficient at the use of those resources (Barron 2010, pg. 186). These broad-based users become more likely to teach others, and thus more likely to understand for themselves.
Many students do not use the vast majority of the internet resources that are available to them. In fact, the Common Sense Media Institute found that the majority of young children report that watching television is their most common media activity (2011). Barron, Walter, Martin, and Schatz found that fewer than 20% of students surveyed had advanced experience with more than one of 16 collaborative tools that were included in a survey (2010).
This differential in the use seems to me to be a wasted opportunity. In my own experience, when I have taught students to use collaborative and creative web tools for classroom projects, and I have displayed excitement about them, the students have used those technologies on their own. My students have reported to me, and shared with me, that they have used online tools like ToonDoo to create online comic strips about characters of their own creation, Animoto to make short, silly videos of their own, Youtube to watch videos about all manner of topics, Flickr to explore, post, and share photos, and Edmodo to interact with their classmates and other students around the world. These students were inspired to use these tools based on their brief interactions in the classroom and their own curiosity and creativity. By simply introducing students to tools, they will be more likely to use more of them, and they will be more likely to seek out ways to access the internet and technology.
As a further extension of the digital divide, Hohlfield, Ritzhaupt, and Barron (2010) found that many schools use their Information and Communications Technology tools to reach students and their parents. However, many parents and students still do not have consistent access to computers and the internet. In Georgia, one of the indicators of success on a school's performance review is the degree to which parents are involved in the workings of the school. Transitioning from the use of one-way communication pathways like school website and passive blogs to more true two-way Web 2.0 technologies like Edmodo and Wikis can allow for more involvement of parents with their students' teachers and their students' educations. While the digital divide also exists for parents, many schools allow parents to utilize many of the same technology resources that are available students through the media center and through outreach programs. Schools could even take the extra step of coordinating seminars to teach parents about the programs and opportunities that exist to acquire technology resources, computers and internet access, in their homes and the ways to use those resources. Furthermore, teaching parents about some of the same creative and collaborative Web 2.0 resources, through messages, blog posts, webinars or seminars, might encourage them to spread those tools to their children. This would serve the dual purpose of introducing the student to a variety of tools and building the connection between students, parents, teachers and schools.
Resources
Barron, B., Walter, S.E., Martin, C.K., & Schatz, C. (2010). Predictors of creative computing participation and profiles of experience in two silicon valley middle schools. Computers and Education 54 (2010), 178-189. doi: 10.1016/j/compedu.2009.07.017
Common Sense Media Institute (2011). Zero to eight: Children's media use in America. San Francisco, CA: Ridenout, V.
Hohlfield, T.N., Ritzhaupt, A.D., Barron, A.E. (2010). Connecting schools, community and family with ICT: Four-year trends related to school level and SES of public schools in Florida. Computers and Education 55 (2010), 391-405. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.20