The Need for a Well-Managed Technology Infrastructure

Abstract

As commonly defined, the “digital divide” means inadequate access to the Internet in urban or rural areas where telecommunications resources are limited or non-existent. This gap normally exists because of an insufficient economic incentive for investment by telecommunications providers. For educators, the digital divide means that students and teachers are unable to learn and apply the technologies most used by other educators, business, and industry in the information age because these technologies are not available. When there is inadequate access to the tools needed to learn and work in the information age, a barrier is placed between teachers, students, and successful achievement of learning goals.