297 - Understanding the Digital Divide: Empowering voices of stakeholders through evaluation

Abstract Information: As technology availability and use has become more pervasive over the last few decades, researchers and policymakers have studied what is commonly referred to as the “Digital Divide,” and have often compared technology access in rural and urban communities. Many assume that the digital divide is a binary distinction: the “haves” vs. the “have-nots.” This view of the digital divide is simplistic and gives the illusion that fixing it will be easy: simply give rural residents a computer and internet access, and the divide will disappear. This session, “Understanding the ‘Digital Divide’: Empowering voices of stakeholders through evaluation,” will describe findings of a study funded by a not-for-profit organization that was designed to provide rural families in four states with computers, with the goal of increasing computer access in high-poverty communities in four states, thereby helping reduce the digital divide in these communities. The session will center the voices of parents and community members to highlight the difficulties of overcoming the Digital Divide in these rural communities. Specifically, we investigated families’ level of awareness about and access to technology; their attitudes toward using technology; how frequently they use technology and for what purpose; and benefits and challenges associated with using technology. Unlike many other studies that rely exclusively on surveys, we conducted both surveys and in-depth interviews with parents, teachers, and administrators, which provided us with rich stories of the communities that we studied and the cultural aspects that influence participants’ beliefs about technology, and how these beliefs influence technology use. Findings indicate that if parents in rural communities have technological access but limited skills, or have skills but lack trust in the technology, it is likely that they will not use these powerful tools for learning, creating, or communicating. Their children—even those who use technology in school—will be impacted. For example, parents will be less likely to communicate with teachers about their children’s progress if teachers rely on email to share information. Students assigned homework that requires internet access will be at a disadvantage. Children who are struggling won’t be able to access valuable educational applications that offer opportunities for remediation—and parents won’t necessarily know which applications are valuable for helping their children, and which ones are a waste of time. Youth may fall behind their more-connected peers in learning how to effectively navigate and use technology, ultimately making it harder for them to compete in the 21st century workforce. The session illustrates the importance of collecting rich, qualitative data that captures the lived experiences of the proposed beneficiaries of the program.