More on the Digital Divide

In thinking about the Digital Divide (or the multiple divides suggested by Kelly) I consulted this reference source DigitalDivide.org and began by reading about what this organization sees as the fallacies to closing the divide. It is a really interesting list and according to the list fallacy number 5: "The key to closing the Digital Divide is investment in literacy and education." Arguing that attacking literacy may not be necessary to closing the divide. While it may not be necessary, does that mean that strategies to deal with the divide should bypass the importance of literacy (and especially now that technology skills could be considered a larger subset of what it means to be literate today?)

In terms of the 'truths' about closing the digital divide this organization seems to believe that closing the digital divide is about building a world economy and stopping terrorism. They claim it is the solution to growth in world markets.

I guess I have not thought at the digital divide on such a global level - I had been thinking about it in the State of Maine and how access and experiences might benefit all students - I guess it is time for me to think about situating these goals within the larger context to examine why I believe this is necessary and good. Reading this organizations materials is challenging the way I think about this issue.