In the digital age, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has enabled learning to happen everywhere, leading to a shift of schooling to the home field and strengthening parents' educational responsibilities. Meanwhile, it may also cause the digital divide and digital reproduction, thereby exacerbating educational inequality. Against this…

Purpose: The objective of this study is to present evidence regarding how young people, who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) in South Africa, lack literacy skills and access to enabling resources to actively search and navigate information services systems that are primarily web-based. Information Poverty Theory is adopted to…

Modern technology plays an important role in helping students from all walks of life to overcome barriers and benefit from teaching and learning. However, due to a lack of knowledge or skills with regards to educational technologies, K-12 teachers struggle to harness the full potential of digitalisation to support student learning and engagement,…

As soon as the Internet came into existence and the World Wide Web was introduced to make Internet utilization much easier, leaders have been worried about the "digital divide." The digital divide refers to the inequality of access to information services. There has been marked improvements over the last 20 years, however the poorest…

Considering the importance of digital skills in university education, this article reports on a study which examined access to technology among first year students at a rural South African university. The study focused on the digital readiness of students prior to their admission to the university, since many universities provide access to…

The vulnerability translates in concrete human groups that, although they know what occurs around them in a digital matter, by his own social and cultural condition they are alienated and, in this sense, away of the exercise of the information right. The aim has been to analyze the critical, media and digital literacy for the empowerment of…

Networking has been central to human communication and social engagement for centuries, but has changed dramatically with the advent of new technology. However, the practice of networking has received little academic attention and tends to be undertheorised. This paper considers the impact of the global digital and communication divide, and the…

Objective: Innovations in health information technology (HIT) provide opportunities to reduce health care spending, improve quality of care, and improve health outcomes for older adults. However, concerns relating to older adults' limited access and use of HIT, including use of the Internet for health information, fuel the digital health divide…

We recruited 20 community members in Ido Local Government Area, Oyo state and Yewa Local Government Area, Ogun state in Nigeria to explore experiences and perceptions of Internet access and computer use. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using open-ended questions to collect qualitative data regarding accessibility of information and…

In the United States, individual states have different means of determining and distributing funding. This influences library service and access to information particularly as it pertains to critical Internet access. Funding and service trends have changed, especially as it relates to public libraries, with some modifications working to their…

The digital gap is a threat to the participation of senior citizens in society, as a large proportion of seniors are not involved in Internet based activities (IBAs). To be able to overcome this disadvantage for seniors, there is a need to both learn more about the conditions that make seniors start performing IBAs and to be able to provide them…

This paper explores the potential of open educational resources (OER) and open educational practices (OEP) in helping achieve women's empowerment in the developing world. Our evidence comprises the Open Education Research Hub open dataset, featuring survey responses from 7,700 educators, formal and informal learners from 175 countries concerning…

This article employs a variety of theoretical lenses to describe the nature and ramifications of the Digital Divide, which, the author states, continues to remain one of the biggest social challenges to confront the human race in modern times--even as technological advances, globalization, and other socioeconomic shifts are rendering digital media…

There is increasing evidence that the lack of access to information and communication technology (ICT) or the "digital divide" severely limits education, employment and economic prospects. This paper reports on the evaluation of a project that aims to bridge the digital divide. In particular, the case study data has been used to bring to…

Researchers and policy makers have been exploring ways to reduce the digital divide. Parameters commonly used to examine the digital divide worldwide, as well as in this study, are: (a) the digital divide in the accessibility and mobility of the ICT infrastructure and of the content infrastructure (e.g., sites used in school); and (b) the digital…