Research Journal 5: The Digital Divide

"Beyond the 'digital divide': internet diffusion and inequality in Australia.

According to the above article, advocates of the 'digital divide' thesis contend that the Internet further advantages already privileged groups within society, whilst further marginalising already disadvantaged categories. On the opposite side of the debate, critics of the 'digital divide' thesis believe that the Internet levels the playing field, promoting social inclusion and egalitarianism.

The article examines the statistics on internet use between groups defined by gender, age, income and education, and finds that although the "divide" between genders and even between age groups is quickly narrowing, the divide between individuals of varying incomes increased between 1990 and 2000. Admittedly, statistics on internet use from ten years ago are already "old news", and the researchers predict that as the high-end income brackets become saturated with internet use and the low-end catch up, the gap will narrow markedly. However it is the time in which the gap persists that is the concern - inevitably the gap WILL close, but the effect of the gap on people in the "have not" side of the divide can be substantial. In this sense, the article upholds the "digital divide" thesis: that there IS a difference in internet accessibility and use between social groups, and that this difference affects their lifestyles and opportunities in tangible and important ways.

The above article was published in 2006; and in four years there has obviously been a marked increase in internet use across the board. However I think the concept of the "digital divide" is changing shape now. No longer solely about who has access and who does not, the importance of the divide in education is now more exclusively linked to funding and school infrastructure. Particularly in this era of national assessment, the "haves" and "have nots" are becoming the schools and classes with varying ICT access, rather than the individuals. That is to say, that the "divide" has become the difference between the quality of education delivered in a large school with an IWB in every classroom, wireless broadband throughout and a laptop for every student, and a small, poorly funded school which relies on traditional, non-technological methods of teaching.

Willis, Suzanne and Tranter, Bruce. Beyond the 'digital divide': internet diffusion and inequality in Australia. [online]. Journal of Sociology, v.42, no.1, Mar 2006: (43)-59. Availability: ISSN: 1440-7833. [cited 12 Mar 10].