Bridging the Digital Divide in Public Schools

Abstract

Most American public schools and the communities that fund them are finding it increasingly difficult to keep pace with the new wave of technology. Unfortunately, the “digital divide” between the “haves” and the “have nots” is widening. While some well-financed suburban schools have installed “wireless” computers and have trained teachers to use the new technologies, poorer urban and rural schools are lagging behind with outdated computers and insufficient Internet access. This gap has serious negative consequences for the future of the next generation. Those students from urban and rural working class families, largely racial and ethnic minorities, will be unable to compete with their wealthier, better educated, and more technologically advanced peers in the global marketplace. The purpose of this comparative analysis is to discover the causes of this “digital divide” between public schools and to recommend solutions to the inequities in students' access to technological innovations.