- 1. Pondering the Digital Divide Across the Globe Hiller A.
Spires, Ph.D.Professor & Senior Research FellowNorth Carolina
State University October 24, 2012World View Global Education
Symposium
2. A Question for YouWhat are the implications of nothaving
access to the Internet in 2012? Personally? Professionally? 3.
Overview of Internet Usage What is the Digital Divide? How Are NC
Students &Teachers Affected? 4. Checking the FactsWhich country
has the highest internet usage?a) Chinab) U.S.c) Icelandd) Finland
5. Checking the FactsWhich country has the highest internet
usage?a) Chinab) U.S.c) UK 6. Checking the FactsWhich age group in
the U.S has the highest internetusage?a) 12 - 17b) 18 - 29c) 30 -
49d) 50 64e) 65 + 7.
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htmhttp://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
8. Top 15 Countries Country Name 2007 20082009 2010 2011 Iceland
88.90 89.07 92.14 95.63 96.62 Norway87.17 90.77 92.18 93.27 93.45
Netherlands 86.14 87.73 89.79 90.71 92.13 Sweden82.13 90.17 91.12
90.01 90.88 Luxembourg78.22 81.92 87.28 90.71 90.70 Denmark 85.15
85.08 86.87 88.76 89.98 Finland 80.81 83.72 82.53 86.91 89.33
Bermuda 74.93 82.89 83.77 85.13 88.85 Qatar 37.00 44.30 53.10 81.60
86.20 New Zealand 69.83 72.18 79.83 83.01 86.18 Liechtenstein 65.08
70.00 75.00 80.00 85.00 Germany 75.39 78.35 79.49 82.53 83.44
Switzerland 76.90 78.43 80.01 82.17 82.99 Canada73.31 76.72 80.17
80.04 82.68 Antigua and Barbuda 70.06 75.03 74.20 80.00 82.00 World
20.58 23.19 25.74 29.52 32.77The World Bank
:http://data.worldbank.org 9. U.S., China, & the UK2011
Internet users (per 100 people) 38 out of 100 people in China were
internetusers 78 out of 100 people in the U.S. were internetusers
81 out of 100 people in the UK were internetusers 10. Internet
Adoption by Age in the US 11. Non-Internet Users in the US 12.
Rural AmericaRural America lags behind the rest of thecountry in
Internet usage, making ruralschools an important center of
connectivityin the communities. In 2010, 57 percent ofrural
households had broadband Internetaccess, compared to 72 percent in
urbanareas.U.S. Department of Commerce, 2011 13. How Does NC Rank?
According to the US Department ofCommerce, NC ranked 36 out of 50
forComputer and Internet Use in 2010. 64% in urban NC use
broadbandinternet 58% in rural NC use broadband internet 14. What
is the Digital Divide? 15. A Summary of DividesAccording to the
Economic IntelligenceUnit (2012), the following is the summaryof
divides found around the world Ability Access Age Broadband Content
Culture Education Gender Income Language Location Measurement
Mobile Skills Usage 16. Digital Divides Access and Connectivity
Competencies and Skills 17. Why is it important to bridge the gap?
According to the Information Communications Technologies (ICT) and
the 50x15 Initiative, there are 4 important elements: Economic
equality Social Mobility Democracy Economic Growth (Internet World
Stats, 2012) 18. Russia 19. China 20. Germany 21. Brazil 22. Second
Digital Divide The digital divide in education goes beyond theissue
of access to technology. A second digitaldivide separates those
with the competenciesand skills to benefit from computer use
fromthose without. (Trucano, 2010) Second digital divide lies at
the core of theeducational challenge faced by many countriestoday
(Trucano, 2010). 23. Second Digital DividePolicy decisions must
take into consideration the necessaryinvestment in training and
support as well. Like education ingeneral, it is not enough to give
people a book, we also haveto teach them how to read for them to
gain any use from it.It is not enough to wire all communities and
declare thateveryone now has equal access to the Internet. They may
stillcontinue to lack effective access in that they may not knowhow
to extract information for their needs from the materialavailable
on the Web.Although providing Internet access may help alleviate
someproblems of the digital divide, a second-level digital
divideremains when it comes to peoples ability to effectively
usethe medium. (Hargittai, n.d.). 24. How Are NC Students
&Teachers Affected? 25. Having Our Say: Middle Grade Student
Perceptionsof School, Technologies, and Academic EngagementResults
from a study conducted with 4,000 NC middle grade studentsStudents
demonstrate an increased passion for &reliance on technologies
for entertainment &communication.In many cases, out of school
technology use hadlapped in school technology use, even in ruraland
underserved schools.Students demonstrated a sophisticated knowledge
about what they want to do in school and whatactivities interested
them.Spires, Lee, Turner, & Johnson, 2008 26. Voice of the
Digital Native 27. Having Our Say: US & Chinese Teachers
PerceptionsSpires, Morris & Zhang, 2012 28. Meixun Zheng 29.
Digital Literacies & Learning 30. Proposed definition of
digital literacy practices 31. Reading is becoming more complex!
32. NCs 7 Economic Regions 33. Participants# of Teachers
SurveyTotal Participants 452 Gender Males 74 Females378% of
Teachers EthnicityAmerican Indian1%Asian1%African American
7%Caucasian 88% Hispanic1%Other2%EducationBachelors
Degree62%Masters Degree 37%Doctoral Degree1%Years Teaching Less
than 5 years21% 5-9 years27%10-20 years 33% More than 20 years 19%
34. Survey ResultsLoTi LevelFrequency (Percent)0 Non-Use 13 (2.9%)1
Awareness 41 (9.1%)2 Exploration 131 (29.0%)3 Infusion146 (32.3%)4a
Integration (Mechanical) 69 (15.3%)4b Integration (Routine)37
(8.3%)5 Expansion 15 (3.3%)6 Refinement 0 (0%) 35. Focus Group
Session Results(1) Todays students need 21st century skills
(e.g.,problem solving, collaboration, critical
thinking,creativity). They dont read it. They find a picture and
read the caption. If it is not quick or flashing they cant find it.
They need to know how to read, how to find it on the internet and
know if it is valuable or not.(2) Teachers roles are changing.
Sometimes students learn better from their peers. Todays teachers
need to be willing to work outside of their comfort zone and to be
open to learning from their students. 36. Focus Group Session
Results(3) We need technology and professional development inorder
to be technology savvy. Once a school buys a program, we are
required to learn the program on our own. It would be more helpful
if the content was presented when the technology was introduced.(4)
We have challenges implementing digital technologyin the
classroom.We have used students cell phones for Google
searches,takingpictures and even as a stopwatch (we dont even
havestopwatches in school). 37. Research Summary 12% of NC teachers
fully integrated digital tools andresources in a learner-centered
approach (levels 4b 6), placing an emphasis on student action
andhigher-level thinking. There appears to be a disconnect between
whatteachers believe to be the most important schoolpriority and
the level of support they are receiving. Technology is evolving at
a fast pace; schoolinfrastructure and teacher capacity are lagging.
38. ScalingDigitalizationTook over 50years for theelectrification
of America 39. What Can You Do To Affect theDigital Divide at Your
School? 40. New Literacies CollaborativeJoin newlit.org 41. Thank
you!Let me hear from [email protected] 42. References
Hargittai (n.d.). Second digital divide: Differences in peoples
online skills. Retrieved
fromhttp://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue7_4/hargittai Hitch, C.
(n.d.). Improving your technology utilization: A quick review can
help you determine whether your school ismaking the most of its
technology budget. Retrieved from
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/638?ref=search James, E. (2000).
Learning to bridge the digital divide: Computers alone are not
enough to join the e-economy. Digitalliteracy is too essential too.
Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. Internet World
Stats (2012). The digital divide, ITC and the 50x15 Initiative.
Lenhart, A. (2012). Digital divides and bridges: Technology use
among youth. Pew Research Center. Retrieved
fromhttp://www.slideshare.net/PewInternet/digital-divides-and-bridges-technology-use-among-youth
Spires, H., Bartlett, M., & Garry, A. (2012). Digital
Literacies and Learning: Designing a Path Forward. White
paperfunded by the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation:
NCSU Spires, H., Lee, J., Turner, K., & Johnson, J. (2008).
Having our say: Middle grades students perspectives on
school,technologies, and academic engagement. Journal of Research
in Technology in Education. 40 (4), 497-515. Spires, H., Morris,
G., & Zhang, J. (2012). New literacies and emerging
technologies: Perspectives from middle gradeteachers in the US and
China. Research in Middle Level Education, 35(10), 1-11. The
Economist Intelligence Unit Limited (2012). Smart policies to close
the digital divide: Best practices from aroundthe world. Retrieved
from
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un-dpadm/unpan049753.pdf
Trucano, M. (2010). The Second Digital Divide. Retrieved from
http://blogs.worldbank.org/edutech/the-second-digital-divide U.S.
Department of Commerce. (2011). Exploring the digital nation:
Computer and Internet use at home. Retrieved
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World Bank (2012) Zickuhr, K., & Smith, S. (2012) Digital
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