Does Technology Create a Divide between the More and Less Fortunate?

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Does Technology Create a Divide Between the More and Less Fortunate?
Just like in the eighteenth century where industrial revolution changed society and made possible the existence of innovations, technology is changing the 21st century. Access to internet, computers and having the knowledge to use them has been paramount in all fields. Technology has become the mode of communication and a getaway to many innovations. However, access, availability and utilization of technology is limited to few individuals causing a digital divide. The divide is between the underprivileged or less fortunate in society who due to financial limitation cannot afford to use technology and the rich. Despite technology becoming affordable with increased internet access to many people, the technology gap between the more and less fortunate remains. Therefore, this paper looks at how technology causes the digital divide in the education sector and the possible solutions.
Factors Contributing to the Digital Divide
Access to technology is a challenge for the less fortunate students. In most instances, the technological gadgets and the internet are installed in high income earning societies whose demand and willingness to pay for the services is high. The less fortunate are unlikely to only access technology, but also know about its existence due to their disadvantaged nature of the economic and social level. Schools in the same regions also experience similar difficulties as they stem out of the society.
Income is another factor that tends to either influence or discourage one from becoming technologically endowed. Technology is an expensive venture. It requires equipment and additional charges for services like internet and computers. Low income earners have limited financial resources to spend on technology unlike the high-income earners. The 2012 Pew Report indicates that in households with less than $30,000 income a year, only 62% had access to internet, while more than 90% of households earning $50,000-$74,000 annually had internet access CITATION Liz16 \l 1033 (Soltan). Thus, poor neighborhoods lack the necessary infrastructure existing in affluent places. In this case, less fortunate students also have no access to the internet which the rich students have. The differences also limit the poor students’ knowledge and use of technology. Such aspects translate to the poor performances and discriminatory education where teachers require students to utilize technology in handling their research or coursework.
The level of education among the poor and the rich also varies greatly leading to a variation on their technology adoption rate. The more fortunate tend to have higher educational levels than the less fortunate. A parent with a Master's degree is likely to have a computer and internet and encourage the same in the child compared to a grade 7 drop out. Students from such households also face similar challenges making it difficult for teachers to use technological teaching aid in schools. Relatively, the use of technology by students also varies across the class divide. For instance, learning institutions in low-income regions apt to use computers for basic practice session. However, schools in afflue...