Digital Equity and the Digital Divide
Things like the Digital Divide and Digital Equity are both very important terms and ideas that we need to work towards as a society. The digital divide can be explained as “the disparity that exists among individuals and communities around the world with varying degrees of access to digitally mediated information and communication technologies” (Pazurek & Feyissa, 2015). Also, the digital divide is the ability for these communities and societies to be able to benefit from the technology they miss out on. Digital equity is described as “all individuals and communities have the information technology capacity needed for full participation in our society, democracy and economy” (digitalInclusion.org). Digital equity is necessary for things like cultural participation, employment, lifelong learning, and access to essential services. The way that I would explain these two issues in my own words is that they are about the disparity and discrepancy between certain groups, cultures and societies that lack the accessibility to technology and online activity and deal with many negative factors because of it.
These terms are very similar in the way that they essentially combat the same issues and problems. There are minor differences, however, they mostly can go together. These issues are incredibly important in our world today. Especially in a time like now, where we have been primarily online for everything for the entire last year. This divide has continued to get bigger and bigger. Education is one of the biggest reasons this divide and inequity is such a problem today. With all education being primarily online throughout this past year this issue has gotten worse and worse. With limited access to technology and online recourses countless amounts of children and families have missed out on so many opportunities due to this divide. Thankfully, problems like this are being constantly worked on and just a few months ago federal lawmakers passed a $94 billion dollar bill for digital equity. This bill is to help many people and families across the country with technology and high speed internet. Here is the article where you can see much more in depth what this bill will help.
Limited digital technology access, knowledge, or skills could have some of the biggest impacts on ones ability to actively participate and engage in todays world. Our world is increasingly mediated by digital technology. In terms of much simpler things like staying connected with friends, family, and news or current events having limited access to technology drastically hinders your ability to do very basic things like keeping in touch with family. Next, entertainment is also taken away. Many people spend hours a day on social media and other online tools for enjoyment. The biggest impact on someones ability to actively participate and engage would be through education and jobs or careers. It is incredibly hard to receive a good education no matter how old you may be. Education even in the lowest levels utilizes many forms of technology and requires some sort of knowledge or ability and access. The higher the education the more dependent they are on digital technology. With limited access to things like technology and internet high school would have been very difficult. Having limited access in college would be almost impossible. Especially due to covid-19. Lastly, job positions no matter the level require you to be somewhat fluent with digital technology as well as having some sort of consistent access to it. Just like education the higher the position the more dependent it is on this digital technology access. This is something that has become incredibly important in our modern lives. That is why it is so important for digital equity to keep being pushed for so that the divide may become much smaller.
