Digital Divide [Hardcover]

David Bolt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2000

Parallels a series Bolt produced for the San Francisco station of the Public Broadcasting Service beginning in 1997. Arguing that technology plays a role in widening economic and social divisions, he examines the forces at work in its split along racial and gender lines, and its effect on the future of American employment and education. He has interviewed educators, government officials, and technology professionals. Every new technology brings with it a host of social and ethical challenges. One of the more recent of those challenges to join the fray is the digital divide, a statistical rift by gender, race and income in the use of new-economy tools like e-mail and the Web. This gap, many argue, will result in some excelling in the workplace and others getting left out in the cold, locking in forever an age-old divide between haves and have-nots. It also has become the cause du jour at the White House, with Bill Clinton and Al Gore promising to mend the rift through means traditionally favored by both the government and the Internet community: a massive infusion of cash, here in the form of computers for public schools and libraries. In Digital Divide: Computers and Our Children's Future, David Bolt and Ray Crawford are quick to point out that a presidential promise to wire every school does little to address the real issue. Mere access is not enough. If you're going to give schools computers, you also need to provide them with ongoing technical support, upgrades and - the toughest part - training for teachers, not only in how to use the computers, but also in how to usefully integrate the technology into a meaningful curriculum.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Every new technology brings with it a host of social and ethical challenges. One of the more recent of those challenges to join the fray is the digital divide, a statistical rift by gender, race and income in the use of new-economy tools like e-mail and the Web. This gap, many argue, will result in some excelling in the workplace and others getting left out in the cold, locking in forever an age-old divide between haves and have-nots. It also has become the cause du jour at the White House, with Bill Clinton and Al Gore promising to mend the rift through means traditionally favored by both the government and the Internet community: a massive infusion of cash, here in the form of computers for public schools and libraries.

In Digital Divide: Computers and Our Children's Future, David Bolt and Ray Crawford are quick to point out that a presidential promise to wire every school does little to address the real issue. Mere access is not enough. If you're going to give schools computers, you also need to provide them with ongoing technical support, upgrades and - the toughest part - training for teachers, not only in how to use the computers, but also in how to usefully integrate the technology into a meaningful curriculum.

Digital Divide was written as a partner to a television series that Bolt created and produced for PBS in 1997. The book is at its strongest in documenting the reality of the divide with clear statistics and compelling stories. The poorer school districts, where minorities are usually the majority, don't have the access to technology that the wealthier districts have. Nor, for a host of reasons, is in-home technology as readily available. And in coed classrooms at all socioeconomic levels, girls are deferring to boys in seeking out and exploring new technology.

The authors offer theories as to the origins of these phenomena, but where specific solutions are craved, few are given. A fundamental discussion focuses around how to use the promised onslaught of computers in the schools. Will there be one computer per school? Class? Student? Do we integrate the computers with the current curricula so they become an enhancement of the pencil and paper and an annex to the library, or do we use them to train students in the tools of the technology trade, foregoing traditional education in the humanities? Both of these approaches require immense resources and an overhaul of the American education system, and neither the resources nor the overhaul appears to be in the picture for many years to come.

Bolt and Crawford provide a glimmer of hope by highlighting organizations (mostly nonprofit) that are aggressively addressing the divide. For poor neighborhoods, there are organizations like Plugged In, an East Palo Alto, Calif., computer resource center that offers an after-school program, as well as computer access and training for older students and adults - if they agree to use their new skills to give back to the community. And in an attempt to close the technogender gap, there's SmartGrrls, which provides educational content for girls in math and science and introduces female role models in technology.

Along with detailed statistics about the people on both sides of the gap, Digital Divide concludes by providing a list of resources, including organizations and a small group of experts devoted to researching and bridging the divide. While the list is in no way comprehensive, it's a useful starting point for anyone interested in learning more about the divide and how some organizations address the issue. It also underscores the authors' case that truly bridging the digital divide is an extensive long-term project dependent on the dedication of people on every side of it. -- From The Industry Standard

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: TV Books (April 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575000865
• ISBN-13: 978-1575000862
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,555,957 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Digital Divide delivers, April 28, 2000

By 

Anne M. Perry "Writer" (Franklin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Digital Divide (Hardcover)

Digital Divide presents statistics and additional information which verify many of our own subjective observations of students with varied access to computer technology and trained teachers. In spite of reports that most schools are now connected to the Internet, many public school students do not have adequate time to explore and appropriately evaluate information resources on the Internet. Most public schools are doing the best they can with the resources they have to provide equity to all students; additional funding from public and private sources provides needed assistance. Digital Divide presents substantial evidence that ALL students need access to current technology and Internet connectivity, as well as to up-to-date teachers who have on-going technology training. We will use the information it provides to enhance our technology training and use efforts.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Digital divide: a global issue, October 23, 2001

By 

Y. Zhu (Honolulu, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Digital Divide (Hardcover)

The term of Digital divide is originally emphasized by the TV series which were first developed for PBS in 1997 by David Bolt, a documentary film producer, who is also one of the author of this book. Three years later when the book of Digital divide came after the TV series, the term is already familiar by folks and further is discussed academically.

Did authors bring readers more fresh air for this hot term?

In this book, the problem of Digital divide is defined as that digital technology (computers and the Internet) is playing a role in widening social gaps throughout our society, particularly among young people. As mentioned in the beginning of this book, digital technology is the issues of access and content, the aspects of quantitative and qualitative. This book tries to examine the gaps digital technology brings up throughout American society in terms of four components: education, employment, race, and gender, which come into four sections of this book.

Authors first examine the three educational essences of the digital divide in this information age: access to technology is not equally available to all students, is not handled equally by all educators, and is not equally useful to everyone in education. In detail, educational gaps may be leaded by students' social-economic background; educator's perspectives ranging from the technophilic to the technophobic; improper allocation of funds for computer-related technology, the difference between adult assumption and child's internal motivation of using computer, and etc.

Digital technology also changes the nature of employment. Living in the information age, your career prospects will be worrisome if you are not one of the digiteriati (P53). Although I think authors exacerbate the importance of accessing to technology, the necessary of education is emphasized again in this chapter, because education and employment have been intimately entwined more than ever. Meanwhile, to success in the new economy, learning is not only a means to an end, but an end itself.

The gender gap is more influence by gender stereotypes such as women may be at a technological disadvantage, which also lead to other gender inequities in employment opportunities. However, statement that women "run a greater risk of being shut out of the digital future" is over-exaggerated.

The race divide is confirmed by many statistic studies. In general, African-American and Latino have less computers and Internet access than European-American. The reasons are not only lack of content online that is of interest to African-American and Latino, but also historical experience.

This book also provides different approaches to the solutions. Authors highlight the importance of organizations like Plugged In, an East Palo Alto, Calif., to offer Internet-based program, computer access and training for bridging the gaps. Overall, authors concluded in last chapter that two-sided agreement is required to cross those gaps: from the educational establishment, the government, and corporate; and from individuals, who take responsibility for motivating and apply themselves to get an education.

This book was written under the background of American culture, economy and policies. Digital Divide, however, is not only a domestic issue but also an international one. Digital gaps in education, employment, race and gender already become worldwide issues. Educational divide is widen between developed countries and developing countries, between cities and rural areas, and between rich and poor. Worldwide employment is reshuffled by working at any corner of this world, race and gender gaps are emphasized by educational, social, economic and political issues.

For example, in China, statistics shows that 38% of urban Chinese have telephones, and only 12.5% of rural Chinese can access telephone, the gap of Internet access is much wider. The latest Semiannual Survey Report on the Development of China's Internet released by CNNIC on July 2001 indicated that the 61.3 % of Internet users are male and 38.7% of them female, 37.5% of internet users are high school education or under, and 62.5% of them have college education or above.

Apparently, the solutions which work in this book cannot simply be transplanted to the other environments. Under the worldwide perspective, digital divide become a very complex problem which manifests in different ways in different social background, the solutions must be based on an understanding of local needs and conditions, and integrating technology into society in an effective and sustainable way.

This book does bring readers to think of some issues which are really valuable to our society. However, authors did not go further beneath the surface of those issues, which makes this book more like a collection of information gathered from TV series other than a work generated from thinking.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed., May 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Digital Divide (Hardcover)

The topic of the digital divide is a vastly important one today but the authors of this book get bogged down in apparently slavishly following their television program that the book is based on and neglect to address the broader social implications. These pages read like sound bytes. Surprisingly short in length, poorly written, littered with empty buzzwords, the text focuses, for instance, on the difficult bureaucratic problems bringing the Internet to school systems, but amazingly seems to overlook the joys and encouragement that many teachers and parents have experienced when kids are awakened to the wonderful uses of the computer. To harp on the lack of training of school teachers in this field is not what I was looking for in this book. I hope a competent, exciting author tackles this difficult subject soon in a broader, more evenhanded way.