One’s level of education is a common predictor of their adoption of information technology, evidenced in the following studies:
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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report Understanding the Digital Divide [1] measured PC and Internet access by education level in the Netherlands in 1999, reporting large differences between tertiary educated people and those at the lowest education levels with respect to PC penetration and internet access. Educational attainment and income level were strongly related; however, at the same income levels, those who have received higher education are more likely to have higher rates of success with ICT’s. Wilson (2004, p.307) agrees, stating that greater access is most associated with greater income and education and is also positively associated with urban residence, demonstrating the interplay between the dimensions of the digital divide. Nie and Erbring’s 2000 report: Internet and Society asserted that ‘by far the most important factors facilitating or inhibiting Internet access are education and age.’ Respondents with a college education had rates of Internet access well over 40%, compared to the least educated group, with 22% (in Compaine, 2001, p.270).
Apart from cost, other reasons for such low penetration amongst the less-educated segments of the population include literacy and content barriers. Carvin (2000) believes the digital divide is caused by more than merely a lack of access to IT. Literacy (basic, functional, technological and informational) and content (locally significant and easy to understand and navigate) issues have eventuated because the content needs and skill levels of underservered communities are not being taken into account by Internet content producers. Carvin believes that the content of most web-sites is text heavy, and written for people with higher levels of education, which is unappealing to the less-educated. He advocates the use of library and school Internet enabled computers to improve the IT skills of community members, who can then create content relevant to the needs of their community.
Mossberger, Tobert and Stansbury (2003, p.124) stress the importance of adequate education for participation in the[2] 'new economy.’ Basic literacy skills such as reading, the ability to locate information, to evaluate its appropriateness, and to use it to solve problems are required in order to capitalise on the full potential of information technology. Servon (2002, p.33) reports that ‘over time, connectivity rates across different levels of educational attainment have soared for all education levels, but a significant gap continues to persist.’ Just some of the drivers of this increase include: network externalities associated with email and chat; improved ease of use; decreases in the cost of access; the integration of the Internet into traditional media programs (such as Channel Nine’s merger with Microsoft to create [3]ninemsn, and Channel Ten’s online contestant appeal for The Biggest Loser [4]); and the advent of technologies such as Macintosh’s IPod [5](requiring the downloading of music sourced online).
Information technology has had a significant impact on the market for labour. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that by 2010, the fastest growing occupations will include software engineers, computer support specialists, desktop publishers and database, network and systems administrators (in Mossberger, Tolbert and Stansbury, 2003, p.63). In the new economy, workplaces have become increasingly computerised. Technology skills are now a prerequisite for most jobs, a lack of access to technology for those with limited education could render their skills obsolete. Baker and Coleman (in Castells, 2000, p.251) assert that ‘exclusion from the internet and computer networks is one of the most damaging forms of exclusion in our economy and in our culture.’ The re-training of workers whose jobs have become obsolete in the new economy is essential. The computer skills gained will allow them to command higher wages and contribute to the economic advancement of their nation, preventing the social and economic problems unemployment creates.
Carvin, A (2000) Beyond Access: Understanding the Digital Divide [Keynote conference address] NYU Third Act Conference, May 19, 2000.
Castells, M. (2004) The Network Society: a cross cultural perspective, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited p.319 ISBN 1843765055
Compaine, B.M. (2001) ‘Declare the War Won’ in The Digital Divide: Facing a Crisis or Creating a Myth? Cambridge: MIT Press, pp. 270, 320, 324-325. ISBN 0262531933
Mossberger, K., Tolbert, C.J., and Stansbury, M. (2003) Virtual Inequality: Beyond the Digital Divide, Washington: Georgetown University Press, pp. 16, 63, 124, 220.
ISBN 0878409998
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ‘Understanding the Digital Divide' (2002) Available: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/38/57/1888451.pdf Retrieved 20/10/05
Servon, L. (2002) Bridging the Digital Divide: Technology, Community and Public Policy, Melbourne: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 8, 33-34. ISBN 0631232427
Wilson, E.J. III (2004) The Information Revolution and Developing Countries, Cambridge: MIT Press, p.307. ISBN 0262232308
