Redefining the Digital Divide: Beyond Access to Computers and the Internet

This study critiqued the notion that a binary "digital divide" between high and low resource schools describes accurately the technology disparity in U.S society. In this study, we surveyed teachers from six southern California schools. Five of the schools were low resource schools and one school, chosen for comparative purposes, was characterized as a high resource school. We found that high resource school teachers had significantly more physical access to computers and the Internet (C&I), more frequent use of C&I, more creative uses of C&I for instruction, communicated by email more often with students, and engaged more frequently in professional activities such on on-line communication with other teachers. The study lent modest support to previous researchers (Natriello, 2001; Warschauer, 2003a, 2003b, 2003c; Wenglinksy, 1998) who claimed that high resource students are more likely to use C&I for more experimental and creative uses than students from low resource schools. In addition the findings contribute to a broader definition of the "digital divide" that includes social consequences including the impact of social networks and wider use of technology to improve instruction.