Digital Divide/Digital Inequality



I may have approached this assignment in a different way, but I feel that the digital divide that my institution faces are created by themselves. The institution made a move to bridge that digital divide gap by providing iPad's in the cost of tuition. Initially, this seemed like a good idea but then they found that they spent more time troubleshooting the big issues than they did using the iPad in the classroom.

I saw that the first issue was that they did not install enough WiFi access points to cover all of the classrooms. What was happening was students were trying to load their e-text for class or engage in classroom web activities and there was sporadic connection. At one point, some classes were moving into the hallways (huddled under the access points) to complete simple classroom tasks.

The next issue, was that the internet became overwhelmed by usage and this was because the connection had to be routed from Boise to Pittsburg, PA and back. This not only slowed down the ability for the students to perform tasks but hindered the instructor's ability to show video's, access local powerpoint presentations and access local images that they use on a daily basis.

Finally, instructor's found themselves unable to help guide students through simple troubleshooting issues, like connecting to the internet or loading their e-text. These issues take away from valuable classroom learning and could all be avoided by implementation planning.

Even though each student had access to the device itself, the divide was that some of the students didn't really HAVE access. I see this as an institutional digital divide...one that could totally be prevented.




Please see my Voice Thread Presentation

or

the Google Doc Presentation


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