The Changing Landscape of the Digital Divide: Opportunities and Challenges for Teacher Education
Abstract: The World Summit on the Information Society (UNESCO, 2003) declared, "[the] common desire and commitment to build a people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge.” Although there has been significant growth worldwide in access to computers and the Internet, the digital divide continues to be a major form of social and economic exclusion for many peoples across the globe. Even in developed countries, such as the U.S., many children remain without access to a device or to the Internet and it's knowledge resources at home. The panel will discuss the global and national context of the digital divide and the opportunities and strategies for teacher education to take a leadership role, in partnership with school districts, business, industrial, and community organizations, to helping inform national policy and develop initiatives in moving toward digital equity.
Presider: Charles Woods, University of North Texas Graduate School College of Information Technology