[DD] - “The Digital Divide Within: Creating a Level Playing Field for All Students” by Chris O’Neal – Edutopia (June 6, 2007)

“The Digital Divide Within: Creating a Level Playing Field for All Students” by Chris O’Neal – Edutopia (June 6, 2007)


I chose this article because it was from 2007 and I wanted to see what the issues were in 2007 and compare them to now (2012). It seems that we had/have the same issues – students who have access outside of the classroom and those who do not.

An interesting topic in this article though, is how schools are not allowing the students to access technology in meaningful ways inside of school. Many teachers do not feel comfortable with the technology and only use it as an “add-on” or reward for completing work. The students are not completing work using the technology. I think we still have this issue now. My principal is moving computers around next year – out of rooms where the teachers are not using them and into rooms where the teacher has expressed interest in implementing them in class.


The author of this article brought up a good issue of two similar students who are going to the same school, could progress through several grade levels together, yet each could receive drastically different exposure to technology use during their school careers. This different level of exposure is due to random teacher placement and teacher unwillingness to implement technology or unpreparedness. This is causing a double digital divide which means that not only are students not able to access technology outside of the classroom but also inside of the classroom. There is a digital inequity within schools and not just between them.