Thomas Yoachim

Teac. 259

Professor A. Wassenmiller

Digital Divide 2.0 paper

Oct. 8 2009

Tale of 2.0 Divides

Here in the year 2009 technology is everything, between Internet, email, social

messaging services, and Microsoft office: but this is just a few things that are probably found on

your cell phone alone. The “digital divide” that has been set forth to the population has almost

completely been laid to rest. There are national statistics out that state that by 2002 99% of our

schools had Internet access. ( H o a r, 2 0 0 6) Wit h these kinds of st atisti cs how are we

even trying to con sid er that there is a divi de of any sort in America’s societ y

today? This i s where soci ety now reformat s things and has creat ed their newest

concern, the digit al divide 2.0. Wi th a lit tle underst anding of this theory and

how it really does affect us now and in the future, we can all take a step in th e

right, the digital, direction.

In the past we have only examined things in a very small per spective. We

have only look ed at who has these things, how many househol ds have access to

a computer, or how many Ameri can famili es have access to the Internet. Whil e

these stati stics might all give us an id ea o f who has what, we take it for granted

that all of these peopl e are using these thi ngs, and usi ng them to their full

extent. Thi s issue is where the digi tal divide, and the new digit al divide 2.0

idea hav e complet ely di fferent ideology behind them. The digi tal divide only
views these issues of the avail ability and the accessibility of these modern day

items. Wi th the digit al divide 2.0 they take a persp ectiv e on the digital div ide

that is compl etely n e w. The 2.0 perspecti ve displ ays the concerns that some

people have no w, with not do people have access, but do they have access at

home or available to them easily at any point do they need it. If they do not

have thi s access will they know how to use that access and keep up with people

who do have the access, and are they u sin g it to the fullest extent that is

availab le, when they are given thi s access.

This new concern will only g et worse wit h time. The digital di vide 2.0 is

still a huge concern wit h facts that are out there that stat e, as of April 2009 only

66% of adults have high-speed Internet access in their homes. ( Wassenmiller,

2009) This i s not just on e specific demographic, this spans the entire Am erican

soci et y. This i s what has many people concerned. Thi s st atisti c is about the

adults in our societ y, however what is true for what adults have, is generally

closely correlat ed with wh at the children of this soci ety have. This poses as our

current dilemma. With the children in our society not being abl e to access these

things when they need it, it makes it nearl y impossible for teachers to assign

homework with th ese types of tools as necessities. This leads us into a rut that

almost complet ely takes away one of teachers’ options to use thi s new

technolo gy that makes th eir jobs much easier.

Wit h this probl em only becoming more and more apparent and

seriou s as tim e goes b y, thi s is a major pr oblem as we go further into the future.

Wit h techn ology maki ng leap s and bounds as we press further into time, thi s
makes it harder and harder for the children that are without the access to catch

up to the children that do have it. Until we someh ow find a way to so lve or at

least minim ize thi s problem, this wil l cont inue to grow more and more, placi ng

the less fortunat e children at a definite di sadv antag e to the other chil dren that

have these modern day royalti es.

 Sources Cited

H o a r, J . ( 2 00 6, J un e 1 5) . Th e D ig i ta l D i vi d e 2. 0. C B S N ew s, R e t ri e v ed f ro m

ht tp : / / w w w. cb s n ew s. co m / s to r i es/ 2 00 6/ 0 6/ 0 9/ g e nt e c h/ m a i n1 6 99 0 23 . sh tm l ?t a

g = c o n t en tM a in ; c o n t e nt Bo d y

Wassenmiller, A. M. (2009, Fall). Digital Divide 2.0