FACTORS WHICH CREATE DIGITAL DIVIDE

FACTORS WHICH CREATE DIGITAL DIVIDE

Definition: - Several reasons have been cited as causes of the digital divide. The ‘digital divide’ now implies inequalities in access to the Internet, extent of  use, knowledge of search strategies, quality of technical connections and social support, ability to evaluate the quality of information, and diversity of uses.

            There could be find a lot of factors which create the digital factor. Among all these some of the important factors are named below.

1.      Technological

2.      Economic

3.      Geographical

4.      Social

5.      Age

6.      Gender

7.      Education

8.      Ethnicity

9.      Literacy 

10. Lack of motivation.

These factors are the creators of digital divide in our life. Some of the factors are briefly discussed below.

Fig: Any age people can use internet.

Age- It seems to be that young people feel more comfortable

 with the new technology and are able to benefit from it more 

than older people. Older people are less likely to have a 

computer and are less likely to be interested in using the 

Internet.

Fig: Any age people can use internet..

 Education- In order to benefit from the digital technology people must know how to use it. ICT has become a major subject taught in most schools but many adults did not have the opportunity to learn how to use computers when they were in school.

Fig: Difference between digital educations.

   

Literacy- Literacy skills are important for people to read web pages. Those unable to read well will not benefit from information on the Internet - they may only use computers to play games.

           

Fig: Children are getting education facilities

Technological- Technology is constantly improving, updating older systems and advancing them. Older systems are now becoming outdated, due to the advances in the technology, and are being replaced with systems that run faster and work more efficiently. The divide in this case happens because there are two groups of people created by these advances in technology; those can afford and wish to make use of the new developments and those who do not.

Fig: Digital divide of latest technology

Economic- Money, or the lack of it, is one of the factors which create the digital divide. Many people simply cannot gain access to ICT in the way that it is available to others due to the price of it. In countries such as Africa, people are poorer. Therefore, they can’t afford to gain access to ICT sources such as a computer with the internet. This creates a divide between the people who can afford to reap the benefits of the new technology, and those who cannot afford.

Fig: Use of technology in commerce.

Lack of motivation- Lack of motivation is another factor creating the digital divide. This can be caused be many things. A major contributor to this is a lack of ICT knowledge and skills. People may not use computers because they are not interested or they may not see any good reason to. Some people have a fear of using computers. These people are called 'technophobes'. Their fear is usually due to poor ICT skills.

                      

                                                 Fig: Some motive diagrams for technology. 

These are all the current factors which create the digital divide.

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