The Digital Divide: Minor Split or Iron Curtain?

The Digital Divide is often thought of as a split between those who have access to technology and those who do not. However, this is not an adequate definition. Access to technologies such as computers and the Internet are becoming more and more easily accessable. Schools and libraries have computers available for use, and the price of personal computers is much lower than it used to be. So how is it we are still plagued by this Digital Divide?

The answer is that many people who have access to ICTs do not know how to make effective use of them; that is, they are not e-ready. According to Michael Gurstein (2003), e-readiness is

...a measurable indicator linked to potential effectiveness of the implementation of ICTs systems at a national or regional level and specifically in the context of responding to the perceived crisis of the ‘DD’

Organizations and governments realize that the Digital Divide is not a matter of access, and that the people who will be receiving a new ICT need to be trained or otherwise prepared if the ICT is to be effective.

How could an effective use strategy be implemented? The goal of such an implementation would be to encourage people to become active users of the ICT; not just active consumers of content, but also active producers of content. To do this, the people would need to be provided with a reliable way to access the ICT. Computers, as well as some form of Internet access, must be made available. Training in the use of the ICT must be provided prior to its use. At least a basic understanding of the ICT is necessary, because if the user cannot use it he may become frustrated and any later use of the ICT will be an ordeal. Regular use of the ICT is important to increase proficiency. Once the user is proficient with the ICT, he then has valuable knowledge and insights he can apply to any other ICTs he may use.

This is an important concept: ICTs are inherently similar because computer systems are designed to be similar. Aditionally, most operating systems provide developers with certain guidelines detailing how to make their application fit in properly with the OS. Save should always be under the File menu. In Windows, Alt-F should always open the File menu. In Mac OS, Quit shoud always be the last entry under the application's menu — and it should always use the key combination ⌘Q. Many users do not understand this and treat each ICT as a separate problem to solve, forgetting (or ignoring) everything they already know, right down to standard symbols (a floppy generally means save, a folder generally means open) and standard controls (drop down lists and tabs). Effective use becomes much easier to achieve if the user already has a grasp of how to use the ICT. The user knows what to expect, and he can figure out what to do if he encounters something he did not expect, be it a new dialog or a new error message.

In his 2002 article "Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide", Mark Warschauer proposes his own plan, which he calls "Technology for Social Inclusion". He argues that the Digital Divide is similar to the Literacy Divide that occured when writing was first introduced. He says that if we want to fight the Digital Divide, we must fight computer illeteracy — it is not enough to just provide technology and basic training because people do not know how to use the training. This makes sense. As with any (reletively) new technology, computer illeteracy is quite widespread. Unfortunately, it is also taken for granted. There is no surprise when someone says that he dislikes computers because he doesn't know how to use one. Imagine the awkwardness if someone said that he hates books because he never learned to read. Govenments do not just thow books at people and expect them to learn to read — they send them to school. Why is it not the same with computers?

It is not as hard as it should be to find examples of computer illeteracy in the real world. In my high school color photography class, we spent most of the semester creating projects in Photoshop (because the art department did not get enough funding for more than one actual film shoot per semster — but that is a topic for another day). While we had done a little with Photoshop in black and white photography the previous year, there was never any real instruction on how to use Photoshop. I had used programs like it before and I applied my knowledge of them as discussed above, so I had no problems. However, most of the class had no idea how to use Photoshop effectively. The teacher was always surprised at and a little frustrated with the classes lack-luster attitude in the computer lab. Some students became frustrated themselves and came to strongly dislike Photoshop. It all came down to their computer illeteracy; they did not know how to use a computer properly and they were not taught. If they had been taught how to use a computer properly, not just Photoshop but the OS in general, I doubt there would have been so many problems and the projects would probably have been better across the board.

Ignorance and illiteracy in anything is undesireable. However, as computers become more and more important, computer illiteracy becomes more and more limiting. People are expected to know how to effectively use a computer, but they are never taught. Obviously the blame cannot be entirely on society. Perhaps the computer illiterate should attempt to teach themselves. All too often they become frustrated and defensive and say they hate computers in general. This is unacceptable; it is like a child saying he hates books because he has difficulty reading. In both cases, it is up to both society and the illeterate to work together to wipe out illiteracy.

Works Cited

Gurstein, Michael. "Effective use: A community informatics strategy beyond the Digital Divide". First Monday. 11 Nov 2003. 5 Feb 2007. <http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_12/gurstein/>

Stoecker, Randy. "Is Community Informatics good for communities?". The Journal of Community Informatics, Vol 1, No 3. 2005. 5 Feb 2007. <http://www.ci-journal.net/index.php/ciej/article/view/183/129>

Warschauer, Mark. "Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide". First Monday. 14 Jun 2002. 5 Feb 2007. <http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue7_7/warschauer/>