Over the past few decades, the rapid growth of information and communication technology (ICT) has transformed modern society around the globe. However, while Developed countries have long since embraced and benefited from the integration of ICT’s such as the internet into their culture many developing countries are still struggling to follow in their footsteps. As a result they risk becoming left behind in the past while the rest of the world advances creating a gap referred to as the digital divide. As time continues on the divide gets wider and its presence becomes an increasingly vital issue for countries who fail to adapt to the growing digital world. However, in order to do this other issues must be addressed as well. There are several socio-cultural obstacles to the adoption and final acceptance of the internet in third world countries.
In order to simplify the definition of the digital divide it can be divided into two core categories, the access digital divide and the social digital divide (2). The access digital divide refers to the divide between those who do and don’t have physical access to computers or the internet. A wide variety of factors are used in correlation with this term including economic, geographical and technical. The social digital divide refers to the social or physiological factors that prevent someone from using the internet such as education, race, age, gender, and cultural differences. Although many third world countries have overcome the access divide, the social divide continues to prevent them from adopting the internet.
But why is integration of the internet important for third world countries?
When measuring the causes of the digital divide in third world countries demographics such as age, ...
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... lack the knowledge to use it. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNEA), “African countries experience the lowest literacy rates in the world.” Without the proper recourses for a proper education such as knowledgable teachers, updated materials, and learning materials student attending often receive a very poor quality of eduction. Many students choose to never even attend school because their time could be better spent helping out at home or they simply don’t see the point of going. Even the students who do attend are often done with their education while still in their teenage years. In developed countries the youth which make up almost half of the population and contain the greatest potential in pulling their country out of poverty continue to end up on the streets of rural areas plugged with illness, teen pregnancy, and little hope.
In his essay Mobile Phones, Digital Media and America’s Learning Divide, Professor S. Craig Watkins discusses the different ways that digital media affects the learning divide between middle and low-class students and also students of different races, ethnicities and cultures. Watkins’ purpose in writing this essay is to show how mobile phones are closing the learning divide as well as the digital divide. He uses facts and research that he has gathered as a member of the MacArthur Foundation’s research network on Connected Learning to back up his statements and improve his credibility as an author.
Bahira, s. (2014). the Manual for Measuring ICT Access and Use by Households and Individual.
"In the modern and technologically advanced times that we live in, access to the internet is a human right and necessity to the developed world. It often helps to promote sociopolitical awareness and understand the rights that we deserve as human beings.
The usage of the internet is growing faster than any other type of technology. In fact, statistics demonstrate that between 1993 and 1997, the numbers of internet hosts increased from 1 million to approximately 20 million (Zambia, 1999). Furthermore, by 2001 that figure grew exponentially to 120 million (Zambia, 1999). Now, there are almost 2 billions users that use the internet which represents a significant portion of the global population. These statistics alone demonstrate how the intensity of the internet can have a strong impact on economic development.
Social factors. There are ethical and religious factors as in some countries the use of internet is forbidden.
This generation was born during a period where the access to information is available at one fingertip and can access these with relative ease. Santiago, T (2015) described the millennials as immersed in the technological connectivity. Often businesses that sought to create restrictions or limits on internet usage will help to create and foster more tension. This attitude is the polar appositive for the baby boomers, who appreciates the value of the internet, does not find a compelling need to be always connected. This difference, which on the surface seems insignificant have become a source of conflict. Educating both groups of this can help in fostering a renewed attitude of acceptance and mutual
The internet is a useful tool for gathering information and aids in sending messages; however, people’s reliance on the internet causes indi...
What is “digital divide”, however? We measure it in terms of penetration of communication services, Internet connectivity, and technological development, but what could possibly be...
Ji, P., & Skoric, M. M. (2013). Gender and social resources: digital divides of social network sites and mobile phone use in Singapore. Chinese Journal of Communication, 6(2), 221-239. doi:10.1080/17544750.2013.785673
Imagine you are at the Super Bowl to cheer on your favorite team in competition. As they march onto the field you and everyone in attendance jump to their feet with a deafening roar. However, as your team lines up you notice that they are not wearing any equipment, not one piece. How would you expect to compete against the other team who has the necessary pads, shoes, and protective gear needed for this game? When we do not address the issue of digital divide in schools and districts we are doing this very same scenario with our children’s education. Gone are the days of factory workers replaced by researchers, computer programmers, and scientists. The jobs of the 21st century are going to require critical thinking and problem solving,
The issue of basic education in the world, especially in Africa has been in the spotlight, waiting impatiently to be solved. The UN, with its Millennium Development Goals, has cited education as one of its top priorities to be achieved by 2015. The African Union, with its Second Decade of Education, has emphasized the need for primary education in Africa to ensure gender equality and the enhancement of African cultural values. Sadly, in many African nations, especially those in Sub-Saharan Africa, adult literacy rates are well below 50%, and many youth lack the most basic and primal educational opportunities. The delegation of South Africa recognizes this urgent need of promotion of education in Africa.
The world stands today on the threshold of a Global Information Society. This position has been arrived at through the truly remarkable advances that have been made in recent years in the development of ICT as well as the construction and development of national and global information infrastructure. Through these developments it is now both technically and economically feasible to bring modern information and communications technologies to any part of the entire world. Equally as important, people around the world, including those in developing countries, are increasingly demanding access to the emerging global information network. Hence, communities in Mexico, for example, have installed personal computers and built microwave towers to communicate with the rest of the world, allowing school children to interact with other students all over the world and keeping farmers apprised of both local and world crop prices. Also, India launched a programme to link its biggest cities with a nationwide network that will facilitate the dissemination of government information and provide an infrastructure for commercial applicatio...
Cohen (2010) discusses that the elderly are left at a major disadvantage in the digital divide. Even though some use the internet to create profiles on social networks, interchange texts with friends or e-mail, there are many that still don’t. “’The issue of older Americans who don’t use the Int...
The following comment was written by an anonymous author in response to the digital divide that is so evident in our society today. “Power is necessarily unequal when one group knows what’s going on and the other group does not. And the powerless, lacking information as they do, almost necessarily function at the bottom of the economic and political pyramid of almost any society” (Racial divide,2010). Whether it is gender, racial, economic or disability related, our nation is segregated by the haves and the have-nots.
Change has always been for the better, but when it comes to change in technology; it’s not necessary that the change is going to be good. Technology has been advancing rapidly and is given more importance now than ever before. Every day, technology enhances our modern lifestyle. Although electronics allow us to connect and communicate our ideas with people, they also brainwash us into spending more time using our devices rather than spending quality time with friends and family. It may be hard to believe, but statics show us that almost sixty percent of teens that were surveyed said that they had a slight addiction to the internet and more than forty percent of teens are addicted to their phones. There is no doubt that the internet is very useful, keeping in mind all of its benefits, however its advantages are not the only things we need to focus on. Some of the negative effects internet is leading to are harming us online and in reality. The internet is negatively affecting major parts of our lives, such as affecting us online and in reality, internet becoming an addiction and lastly its negative effect on our culture and religion.