Access to
computers and the Internet and the ability to effectively use this technology
are becoming increasingly important for full participation in America’s
economic, political and social life. People are using the Internet to find
lower prices for goods and services, work from home or start their own
business, acquire new skills using distance learning, and make better
informed decisions about their healthcare needs. The ability to use
technology is becoming increasingly important in the workplace, and jobs in
the rapidly growing information technology sector pay almost 80 percent more
than the average private sector wage.
Technology,
used creatively, can also make a big difference in the way teachers teach and
students learn. In some classrooms, teachers are using the Internet to keep
up with the latest developments in their field, exchange lesson plans with
their colleagues, and communicate more frequently with parents. Students are
able to log on to the Library of Congress to download primary documents for a
history paper, explore the universe with an Internet-connected telescope used
by professional astronomers, and engage in more active "learning by
doing." Students are also creating powerful Internet-based learning
resources that can be used by other students -- such as award-winning Web
sites on endangered species, the biology of sleep, human perception of sound,
and an exploration of the American judicial system.
Access to
computers and the Internet has exploded during the Clinton-Gore
Administration. Unfortunately, there is strong evidence of a "digital
divide" -- a gap between those individuals and communities that have
access to these Information Age tools and those who don’t. In some instances,
this divide is actually widening. A July 1999 report from the Department of
Commerce, based on December 1998 Census Department data, revealed that:
Better educated
Americans more likely to be connected. Between 1997 and 1998, the
technology divide between those at the highest and lowest education levels
increased 25%. In 1998, those with a college degree are more than eight
times likely to have a computer at home and nearly sixteen
times as likely to have home Internet access as those with an elementary
school education.
The gap between
high- and low-income Americans is increasing. In the last year, the
divide between those at the highest and lowest income levels grew 29%.
Households with incomes of $75,000 or higher are more than twenty
times more likely to have access to the Internet than those at the
lowest income levels, and more than nine times as likely to have a
computer at home.
Whites more
likely to be connected than African-Americans or Hispanics. The digital
divide is also persistent and growing along racial and ethnic lines. Whites
are more likely to have access to the Internet from home than
African-Americans or Hispanics have from any location.
African-American and Hispanic households are roughly two-fifths as
likely to have home Internet access as white households. The gaps between
white and Hispanic households, and between white and African-American
households, are now more than six percentage points larger than they were in
1994. However, for incomes of $75,000 and higher, the divide between whites
and African-Americans has narrowed considerably in the last year.
Rural areas
less likely to be connected than urban users. Regardless of income
level, those living in rural areas are lagging behind in computer ownership
and Internet access. At some income levels, those in urban areas are 50% more
likely to have Internet access than those earning the same income in rural
areas. Low income households in rural areas are the least connected, with
connectivity rates in the singles digits for both computers and Internet
access.
In addition,
data from the National Center for Education Statistics reveals a “digital
divide” in our nation’s schools. As of the fall of 1998, 39 percent of
classrooms of poor schools were connected to the Internet, as compared to 62
percent for wealthier schools.
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