Notion of digital divide changes when you add mobile internet

[Elyse Eidman-Aadahl]

The Pew Research Center has released a new survey report that shows African-Americans accessing the Internet with a mobile device at twice the national average. This was part of a general trend (which will not surprise TLs) where mobile internet use has “increased sharply.” The report surveyed 2,253 American adults. Thirty-two percent reported using a cell phone or smartphone to access the Internet — up by 1/3 since December 2007 when only 24 percent of respondents said they had.

What I found particularly provocative for us as educators was that the survey found African-Americans to be the most active mobile Internet users. Here's a quote from John Horrigan, the author: “The notion of a digital divide for American Americans has some resonance when thinking about the wireless Internet. But when you introduce the mobile Internet, the picture changes and African Americans are the pace setters.”

Of the survey respondents who identified themselves as African-Americans, 48 percent said they had used a mobile device to access the Internet at least once, and 29 percent said they on an average day, they went online with a mobile device. Both numbers, according to the report, are twice the national average. The report provides other data that help craft an explanation, including data that show “Among whites who have ever gone online with a handheld device, some 88 percent have broadband at home. For African-Americans who have accessed the net on a handheld, 64 percent have broadband at home.”

He continues, “From the vantage point of non-broadband users, reliance on wireless access among African-Americans is quite pronounced relative to whites. Among white Americans who do not have broadband at home (that is, they either dial-up or are not Internet users), 6 percent have accessed the Internet on a handheld device. For African Americans without broadband, nearly 25 percent have used the Internet on their cell or smartphone.”

I think this raises another question for us as educators. We are, and should be, concerned about the digital divide. These data reframe the questions a little. In many cases, we look at access in terms of access to internet and use of (typically) a laptop or desktop computer and its various affordances. Schools for a variety of reasons, good and less good, don't tend to put mobile devices into the mix. That is, of course, changing as mobile devices develop into ever more powerful 'hand held computers' -- but still... How can we bring all this into the fold so that we can better leverage the learning that a broader range of young people are able to experience in their lives outside of school? Is there a way in which our images of technology contribute to a sense of the digital divide, one that would shift if we thought differently?

Here are some links on the report:
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/07/pe...
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/mobile-internet-use-shrink... http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2350637,00.asp