Importance of Bridging the Digital Divide

2662 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The impact of the internet on children

Children today are not born with an umbilical cord, but a computer cord. Kids aren’t the way they use to be. How many times have you caught yourself thinking or saying this? Theories today believe that children form these generations are actually different, meaning their brains are different from when we were children. What can we do about it, or should we do anything at all? This paper will examine children today and the difference between the generations. Secondly, due to the difference in generations, the importance of maintaining social interaction, critical thinking and problem solving skills, which, are just as important as technical fluencies for the 21st century. In order to maintain the “humanity” skills, I will discuss the importance of Daily Physical Activity (DPA). Furthermore, the paper will also examine the importance of building a bridge between the digital divide. It is necessary to examine the educational system and the digital divide. Children are engulfed in a digital world and have different experiences and environment. How do we build a bridge between the technical fluencies and the humanity skills necessary to be successful in the 21st century?

Digital Residents are they really different?

Mark Prensky (2001) has coined the phrase Digital Natives versus Digital Immigrants. To put it simply, Digital Natives (DN) have always had the new technology (cell phones, video games, digital music, computers) while Digital Immigrants (DI) have come into these things later on in life and have had to learn “it” above and beyond the old ways they had of doing things. Is there a difference? Children today are born into a digital world and use technology from a young age. The Digital Natives/Learner finds technol...

... middle of paper ...

...talKids.pdf

Ministry of Education, Education. (2005). Daily physical activity (ISBN: 0-7794-8884-9).

Ontario: Queen's Printer of Ontario.

Pink, D. (2010). Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us. Proceedings of the

RSA animation, www.youtube.com

Prensky, M. (2008). The role of technology. Educational Technology, Nov-Dec.

Prensky, M. (2008). Turing on the lights. Educational Leadership, 65(6)

Prensky, Marc. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants, part ii. On the Horizon, 9(6),

Prensky, Marc. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5),

Robinson, K.(2010). Changing education paradigm, [Web]. Retrieved from

http://sirkenrobinson.com/skr/watch

Small, G, & Vorgan, g. (2008). ibrain: surviving the technological alteration of the

modern mind. New York: Collins Living.

Show More
Related

  • Digital Natives and Immigrants: What Brain Research Tells Us' by Nancy K. Herther

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    'Digital Natives and Immigrants: What Brain Research Tells Us' is an organized, rhetorical piece by Nancy K. Hethers, explaining the reasons and rationale behind the great divide of Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants, and sheds light over the effective cognitive development that takes place as a result of stimulating experiences in the light of Neuroscientic evidence and research. The underlying purpose of this article is to shed light over the fact that the brain adapts itself to the challenges and situations that it comes across, and that the brains of the Digital Natives are not more effectively equipped than the brains of the Digital Immigrants. The individuals termed as Digital Immigrants have also proved that they have adequate adaptive abilities to counter the challenges of today as effectively as Digital Natives can. The author addresses the general public as audience, while delivering an insightful research over the workings of the brain, and specifically seeks to refute the arguments of claimants, who believe that Digital Natives are born with specially equipped brains, and the Digital Immigrants stand no chance at competing with them at cognitive levels.

    Read More

  • Digital Immigrants, Digital Natives: Myth or Reality?

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    The terms digital immigrants, digital natives were firstly introduced by Marc Prensky through a series of articles in 2001. By using students and teachers relationship as illustration, this U.S technologist discusses on how the p...

    Read More

  • Interactive Society and Instant Gratification

    695 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most people acknowledge that the advancement of technology has negatively impacted our social interactions because it detaches us from what is happening around us, obstructs communication, and spreads the concept of hurting teens learning ability must be able to utilize technology while not allowing it to effect social interactions, particularly for those who are easily influenced during our young years. Our world must learn to embrace technology without allowing it to negatively impact the creation of functional adults in society.

    Read More

  • Essay On Disappearance Of Childhood

    2698 Words  | 6 Pages

    Tapscott, D. (1998). Growing Up Digital: The rise of the net generation. New York, NY: Mc-Graw Hill Companies Inc. .

    Read More

  • Are Smartphones Destroying A Generation Summary

    1379 Words  | 3 Pages

    The technological progress has radically altered the lifestyle of people, making the latest generation stand out from the rest by the developed dependency on the devices. Nowadays teenagers spend all of their days with a smartphone, going to sleep and waking up scrolling the newsfeed. Smartphones have become an inseparable part of the social interaction, forcing children to alienate from the surrounding offline world. Jean Twenge in the article “Have smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” examines the peculiarities of the so-called iGen generation. The report highlights the behavioral and cognitive differences between generations, including contrasts of attitudes, perceptions, and desires.

    Read More

  • Media Influences on Childhood Obesity

    1279 Words  | 3 Pages

    Times have changed and due to this new technological era that we live in, children are spoiled with various types as well as numerous electronic devices. Although these advances are rewarding, they are detrimental to the youth. From xbox to television watching children spend more time trapped in their house, t...

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Digital Divide

    1191 Words  | 3 Pages

    Around the world approximately 429 million people are connected to the Internet. Forty-one percent of those 429 individuals reside in North America. While 429 million may seem like a large statistic, the number only accounts for 6 percent of the global population. Hence, numbers like 429 million reflect the digital divide; which is a gap between those that are able to sustain and comprehend technology use and those who are not able to. The disparity of the digital divide is the driving force behind underdeveloped nations, digital illiteracy, and an under-prepared workforce and must be bridged in order to allow the world to move forward on equal footing.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On The Digital Divide

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    The digital divide, how can we fix it? The digital divide is the gulf between those who have ready access to computers and the Internet, and those who do not. This may sound like an easy fix, just give everyone a computer with internet on it! But, it isn’t just that simply. Just because everyone is provided with a computer, does that mean they know how to run it? Someone who has never used the internet before, would they be able to jump right on the computer and use it? There isn’t just as easy fix for the digital divide, it would be a long process with many steps.

    Read More

  • The Overuse of Technology Within Education

    1603 Words  | 4 Pages

    Our world is changing gradually bringing these changes into people’s daily life styles; consequently, a person’s potential to embrace these challenges and revolutionize with them has become an important factor to analyze people’s way to prepare themselves for the future. According to Gilbert Valdez, educational technology, especially computers and computer-related peripherals, have grown tremendously and have permeated all areas of our lives. It is incomprehensible that anyone today would argue that banks, hospitals, or any industry should use less technology. Most young people cannot understand arguments that schools should limit technology use. For them, use of the Internet, for example, plays a major role in their relationships with their friends, their families, and their schools. Teens and their parents generally think that use of the Internet enhances the social life and academic work of teenagers. Nonetheless, not all people has the possibility of changing towards a technological society due to the lack of personal progress through technology, and the misunderstanding of this tool is leading future professionals to become technologically dependant; in other words to rely only on technology without considering the possible consequences that it might have on future professionals development and their educational background. The overuse of educational technology has been growing over the recent years due to the emergent technological developments around the world; however, it can be solved by searching for a new balance between the uses of technology within education.

    Read More

  • Digital Divide And Its Effect On Students Of Low Socioeconomic Groups

    463 Words  | 1 Pages

    Abstract This literature review focuses on the digital divide and its effects on students of low socioeconomic groups; specifically how the availability of technology and learning outcomes impact students of lower socioeconomic groups. The digital divide is commonly referred to as the gap between people who do and people who do not have access to new forms of information technology, such as computers and phones. The impact the digital divide has had on the world has typically been referred to in terms of demographics and geography or region. Students from low-income and minority families are the most impacted by the digital divide.

    Read More

  • The Negative Impact Of Technology On Children

    813 Words  | 2 Pages

    There has been a long lasting debate in the resent years on whether or not technology has a positive or negative impact on today’s kids. As the years move on, the negative effects have begun to outnumber the positive. The generations previous spent their childhood making forts, fishing, and using their imaginations, contrary to today’s generations who spend their free time texting, playing video games, and watching videos. Damaging effects such as decreases in school performances, addiction to electronics, and lack of brain development have all been linked to the electronic media stimulation. In order to prevent the future generation from following in the current generations footsteps, one must full comprehend just how much technology impacts

    Read More

  • The Impact Of Social Software

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    Technology is changing how we think and act at younger ages. The term “technology” doesn’t only mean manufacturing processes and equipment necessary for production, it also defines a social space and could be a social problem which makes a real impact on social reality. Different types of social software affect a variety of aspects and have both positive and negative impacts. It's important to be aware of how a digitally-driven life is changing our education, sense of self, relationships, social interaction, consumerism, and ways of doing business around the world.

    Read More

  • Negative Effects of Technology

    2086 Words  | 5 Pages

    Technology is one of life’s most impressive and incredible phenomena’s. The main reason being the shockingly high degree to which our society uses technology in our everyday lives. It occupies every single realm, affecting people both positively and negatively. There are so many different forms of technology but the two most often used are cell phones, and the internet/computers in general. Today’s younger generation was raised alongside technological development. Kids now a days learn how to operate computers and cell phones at a very early age, whether it be through their own technological possessions, a friend’s, or their parents. They grow up knowing how easily accessible technology is, and the endless amount of ways in which it can be used. This paper will be largely focused on the effects of technology on the younger generation because your childhood is when these effects have the largest impact. I am very aware of the subject because I am the younger generation. Aside from major effects on study and communication skills, there also exist the media’s effects on teen’s self-esteem and mental health. Maybe more importantly, there is our world’s growing problem of over priced and unnecessary consumerism. Over time, our society has created a very unhealthy form of reliance and dependency on technology as a whole. People essentially live through their devices. Cell phones are always with people making it nearly impossible to not be able to reach someone at anytime, day or night. In 2011, there were 2.4 trillion text messages sent, and 28,641 cell phone towers were added across the US. 1 We use our phones and Internet for directions, communication, information, self-diagnosis, games, movies, music, schoolwork, work, photos, shoppi...

    Read More

  • Is Technology Making Us Dumb?

    1448 Words  | 3 Pages

    There used to be a time where students would have the responsibility of learning the material at hand by using their memories instead of depending on technology. Now, calculators do all the hard math problems, spell check takes care of grammar, and books are becoming fossils because who needs a book for research when you can have a siri? Kids used to be outside everyday playing sports or riding bikes, but now their eyes are attached to their video games, while their butts are glued to the couch. And don`t forget that in order to get a date people actually had to talk to each other face to face instead of relying on internet dating services or apps like Tinder. It`s hard to believe isn`t it? Society has become so dependent on technology that it wouldn`t know how to function without it. So the question at hand is, is smarter technology making us dumber? In this paper, the three perspectives being observed are how technology is depriving society of the ability to be mentally independent, how it is making people incapable to have a physical relationship with each other, and how people are being pushed into having an unhealthy lifestyle because of it.

    Read More

  • Education and the Digital Divide

    2435 Words  | 5 Pages

    Closing the digital divide involves many components, starting with the education program and teachers. While schools are integrating new technologies into their programs, teachers are supposed to keep up with the latest technologies and use them in their curriculum to teach students. According to a U.S. Department of Education Report (1999), only 24 percent of new teachers felt sufficiently prepared to integrate technology into the curriculum they were using (Brogan, 2000). The problem is, many teachers did not grow up with computers and are not receiving the training they need to operate them (Brogan, 2000). Starting work as early as 7 a.m. and leaving school as late as 5 p.m. to go home and do even more work, leaves teachers lacking the time to learn new technological skills. Many schools offer training programs for teachers. For example, the Palm Beach County, Florida school district teaches Web basics for teachers at middle schools and magnet schools (Brogan, 2000). This is a great idea because it is giving teachers the opportunity to learn about technology and it is showing that the school district is interested in helping its employees become better at what they do.

    Read More

More about Importance of Bridging the Digital Divide

Open Document