The Digital Divide
Is Education Slipping Through the 'Net?
By James Zakrison
Introduction
A challenge for the Multimedia industry in the future in North America, will
be to try to bridge the technological rift that has developed within the institution
of education. Although the interactive delivery of educational material has
many positives, access to these methods varies. In our schools, there is a
gap between the technology haves and the technology have-nots. Society is
confronting a socio-economic transformation with the convergence of historically
separate communication industries into one communications industry, Multimedia.
Ironically, the increased ability to communicate interactively may only further
isolate elite schools from their poorer cousins.
Educating via Multimedia
Delivering educational content through an interactive media is becoming a
preferred method of teaching. The U.S. Department of Energy, in 1995, released
a study (A Study of Advanced Training Technology: Emerging Answers to Tough
Questions) that reported, "...multimedia provides the individual user with
multisensory delivery, promotes self expression and active learning, encourages
cooperative learning and communication skills, and reinforces motivation."
The Inequitable Distribution of Information Technologies
How can we distinguish if an educational institution is poised to take advantage
of the interactive delivery of learning resources, or not? The Internet is
the primary delivery system of interactive educational material. Access to
the Internet is, as a result, a reliable marker of a school's ability to provide
instructive content interactively. The Urban University and Neighborhood Network
(UUNN) concluded from an analysis that, "Those who lack access to the Internet...will
lose out in an increasingly competitive environment."
In the U.S., educational access to the Internet is split along racial and economic lines. A report by the Educational Testing Service (Computers and Classrooms: The Status of Technology in U.S. Schools) found that schools, which have a minority body of students of greater than 90%, have a student-to-computer ratio of 17 to 1 versus the national average of 10 to 1. In 1996, the U.S. Department of Education released a study (Getting America's Students Ready for the Twenty-First Century) that found that 62% of schools in high-income areas had access to the Internet versus 31% of schools in low-income areas.
Government and Corporate Initiatives
The U.S. government recognizes the importance of an interactive education.
President Bill Clinton, said in his 1996 State of the Union speech, "In our
schools, every classroom in America must be connected to the information superhighway,
with computers and good software, and well-trained teachers. We are working
with the telecommunications industry, educators and parents to connect 20
percent of California's classrooms this spring, and every classroom and every
library in the entire U.S. by the year 2000. I ask Congress to support this
educational technology initiative so that we can make sure this national partnership
succeeds."
The statistics, for Internet access in the U.S. schools, seem very heartening. However, the U.S. Department of Education found that while nearly all schools will be connected to the Internet by 2000, only 14% of the actual classrooms had access to the Internet (fall 1997). Accessibility, on an individual student basis, is key to closing the educational technology gap.
In Canada, the Department of Industry initiated a program called Computers for Schools. Federal and provincial agencies, as well as private organizations and companies are participating in this program. The aim of this project is to place 250,000 computers within Canadian schools by March 31, 2001. Currently some 161,291 computers have already been supplied to our schools. The Alberta government has budgeted $105,000,000 in educational funding relating to technology integration for 1996 to 2001. TELUS, an Internet service provider established TELUS World Learning, a $7.2 million program that offers free Internet access to all eligible schools in Alberta. The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, in Calgary, is currently undergoing a massive reconstruction of its facilities. By September 2001, a new, 80,000 square foot, Information Technology Centre of Applied Technology will open. Industry, government and SAIT are sponsoring this $25 million project. It will support virtual learning and distance learning.
Conclusion
Multimedia as an educational tool is effective. Access to this medium differs
from school to school in North America. Various governments and organizations
across the continent have tried to address this inequity. It remains to be
seen if Multimedia will bridge the gap in education between those that have
access to virtual learning, and those who do not.
Sources
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fttn99/methodology.html http://metalab.unc.edu/wpercy/education.future.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/OP/html/edtech/html/edtech.html http://www.sait.ab.ca/support/marketin/pdf/building99.pdf
http://www.benton.org/Library/Low-Income/one.html http://ednet.edc.gov.ab.ca/cfs/program.asp
http://www.2learn.ca/mapset/about/alliance.html