Digital Divide

Discussion of the digital divide has traditionally focused on access to technology and digital spaces, the idea being that once students at an inner-city school, for example, have access to hardware or are pointed in the direction of the Twitter-verse, the gap will rapidly close.

This collection of news stories and interviews with digital media experts and scholars reflects on a more complicated reality, showing how in many ways, and despite its great promise, the digital world is still privileging the privileged. Although schools might have technological resources, for example, teachers do not necessarily have the expertise to use those resources. And although students might be fluent in using the technology, they do not necessarily have the digital literacies, or the needed support, to use it in productive ways. Spotlight also looks at the gender gap in STEM fields and persistent obstacles to building a truly participatory culture.