According to Pazurek & Feyissa, “The digital divide generally describes the disparity that exists among individuals and communities around the world with varying degrees of access to digitally mediated information and communication technologies (ICTs) and ability to benefit from digital resources.” (Pazurek and Feyissa, 2015) Summed up, this term basically describes the gap between those who are able to use technology and find information digitally and those who are not. Much of the time this gap is due to differences in financial situations to go along with not having the same opportunities as others. On the other hand, digital equity is when everyone does actually have the same access and ability to use these technologies in a society. A good thing to do when faced with digital divide in order to achieve equity is by “creating, developing and fostering knowledge societies in order to decrease the existing divides” (Radovanovic, 2011)
In the article above, Adie Tomer and Lara Fishbane talk about how in today’s society, the issue of digital divide is very prevalent and provides some suggestions as to how to overcome that obstacle. When it comes to what Digital Equity offices would do to help, Tomer and Fishbane state that “Digital equity offices would aim to address these structural barriers and ensure the digital economy reaches all local households.” (Tomer and Fishbane, 2020) These terms relate well to each other because the only way to overcome the current digital divide that exists is to stress the importance of digital equity, and how much easier so many people’s lives will get because of it. It’s especially important in today’s world due to the fact that some people are so far ahead of others in a digital sense, it could cause the others to be left behind and it wouldn’t have even been their fault sadly. That’s why it’s important to help those that don’t have the same access and opportunities to not get left behind and help them get on the same level as everyone else.
According to this article written by Kristen Blagg and Grace Luetmer, “Students without internet or computer access are already behind academically.” (Blagg and Luetmer, 2020) This article talks about how even before the pandemic caused all education to move into an online form, that there was still a chunk of students who would lag behind their classmates because of their limited technology access. If that’s the case, imagine how much worse that could have gotten over the past year here. My mom happens to work in a school, and she’s told me multiple times over the past year that students who come from a situation where technology access is limited have had a lot of trouble with school compared to those who don’t. Another example that I can think of from my experience in online college is that international students have had to be in class at a completely different time compared to the rest of us due to different time zones, sometimes even in the middle of the night.
