The digital divide, or disparity in Internet access and computeraccessibility by income and race, has narrowed among high schoolseniors planning to attend college, according to a nationalstudy.
Art & Science Group, an independent research firm servinghigher education, surveyed 500 college-bound high school studentsof different races on their Internet use and access to computers inthe home. ASG interviewed 100 black students and 100 othernationalities. White students made up the remaining 300students.
The study, StudentPoll, released last week indicates 97 percentof white students and 94 percent of blacks have access to acomputer at home. The findings also showed black students use theInternet more frequently than whites. Nineteen percent of blackstudents surveyed reported they use the Internet 11 or more hoursper week for educational purposes compared to 14 percent of whitestudents.
Some experts attribute the increase of computer accessibilityfor black college-bound students to the decrease in the cost oftechnology.
"Personal computers used to cost $2,000 to $3,000, and now (thecost of personal computers) is in the hundreds," University ofMemphis professor and MIS department chair Judith Simon said."Income which was once a major factor is no longer an issue."
A change in attitudes among black families about the importanceof computers and technology, Simon said, is another contributingfactor to increased computer accessibility among blackstudents.
While these findings are encouraging, researchers said, thestudy did not include students who are not planning to entercollege this fall.
Officials in the Memphis City Schools agreed that families ofcollege-bound students are likely to place a greater importance onhaving access to computers in the home. For those students who donot have access to a computer in the home, MCS officials areincreasing the focus on using computers in the classroom.
"The classroom is a learning environment, and teaching studentsto use computers is one of (The Memphis City School's) toppriorities," said Vince McCaskill, MCS communications manager. "Ourtop priority is to make sure students have what they need tocompete in the 21st century."
Pollsters said they based their findings reported in the surveyon in-depth telephone interviews with a random national sampling ofhigh school seniors who plan to enroll in four-year colleges thisfall. To qualify for an interview, respondents must have achieved acombined SAT 1 score of 800 or higher or a minimum composite scoreof 17 on the ACT.
