Week 2 - Digital Divide Context
In an article on the Digital Divide Brown describes the divide as differences in access to technology (level one) and the use of technology (level two). He points out that this divide tends to be between the wealthy and the poor, the old and the young, able-bodied and disabled, and urban vs rural communities. (Brown, 2020). Van de Verfhost et. al. point to the Covid-19 pandemic as a time when the pre-existing digital inequities were emphasized as some communities were much more prepared for the transition to online school than others (Van de Verfost et al, 2022). The school community where I teach is a low-income community where 80.4% of the students are socioeconomically disadvantaged (CA Department of Education, 2024). From my observation, most students and their families have cell phones, but many do not have computers at home other than the ones issued by the school. Pittsburg Unified School District has expanded student access to technology since the COVID-19 pandemic. Befor...
