Technology Equality?

This week we discussed online literacy and the digital divide. It is  commonly discussed that our generation of children have grown up with the Internet and technology so we are considered "digital natives". Many adults expect children to know everything when it comes to technology. We should be able to just pick up a new piece of technology and immediately know how to use it, right? Wrong. It appears that today's generation of children do know a lot about technology such as how to search on the Internet and use a smart phone, but is this true for all kids? No.

The digital divide that Danah Boyd discusses in her book, It's Complicated, is where there is unequal access to technology among students across the nation. Some students have their own smart phone, laptop, Kindle, or whatever that they use for hours every night while other students do not. The students that do not have technology at home are limited to using the Internet at school. It is an unfair and untrue assumption that all students have grown up with the Internet and are therefore digital natives. 

In my experiences in working in schools, I have definitely experienced the digital divide. I have worked in a school in a high socioeconomic neighborhood where all of the students in my class had their own iPad or laptop in the classroom as well as the latest technology at home. I have also worked in a school in a low socioeconomic setting where the students did not have a computer or phone in their house and needed direct instruction as to how to use the Internet. These students are not digital natives. It is important for educators to be aware of this digital divide when assigning homework and activities that require technology. Teachers need to make adaptations and accommodations for the students who do not have online access at home. I agree with Danah Boyd that there is a digital divide in our nation based on unequal student access to technology.