The Digital Divide After 20 Years: A Rural Philippine Perspective

Abstract

The digital divide is still a real concern in the developing world; however, strides are being made to overcome information technology gaps with the developed world. Given the changing patterns of technology usage, this study explores what the digital divide looks like today in a small, rural school community in the Philippines. This paper examines self-declared computer knowledge of high school students, college students, and teachers. The overall level of computer knowledge was found to be low, and no significant differences were found between the students and teachers. Implications of the findings include the fact that with both student and teacher knowledge being low, there is little motivation or support for either students or teachers to improve.