Digital Divide Guided Notes

Activity 1

Go to Global Information Technology Report (p. 32) and look at the Networked Readiness Index.

• What do you notice about a country's ranking compared to its income level?

Activity 2

Before you read an excerpt from Common Sense Media's report, think about your experience with remote learning during COVID.

How was the experience for you? What is mostly positive or negative? Why?

What challenges did you experience?

What could have been done to make the experience better?

As you read pages 6-15 of Common Sense Media's report on the Digital Divide in Distance Learning, answer the following questions:

1. Was there a digital divide among students before the COVID-19 pandemic? If so, where did schools see the divide? Explain.

2. Although it impacts every state and every type of community, which communities are most impacted by the digital divide?

3. How are teachers affected?

4. How much will it cost to close the digital divide for K-12 schools?

5. How is the distance learning divide defined?

6. What types of Internet connectivity support distance learning?

7. How many students in the United States are fully disconnected?

8. How many students are Internet insufficient?

9. How many students are device insufficient?

10. Where does your state fall on the proportion of students lacking adequate internet connection?

11. Is your state in the top ten for the largest population without adequate internet connection?

12. What percent of students in your state live in households without devices and adequate internet connectivity?

13. What challenges do teachers experiences with the use of devices for digital learning?

14. What trends impact the distance learning digital divide in 2020?