As the world population ages and older adults comprise a growing proportion of current and potential Internet users, understanding the state of Internet use among older adults as well as the ways ...their use has evolved may clarify how best to support digital media use within this population. This article synthesizes the quantitative literature on Internet use among older adults, including trends in access, skills, and types of use, while exploring social inequalities in relation to each domain. We also review work on the relationship between health and Internet use, particularly relevant for older adults. We close with specific recommendations for future work, including a call for studies better representing the diversity of older adulthood and greater standardization of question design.
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In this paper we ask the question “inequality of what” to examine the multiple inequalities revealed under the covid-19 pandemic. An intersectional perspective is adopted from feminist studies to ...highlight the intersection and entanglement between digital technology, structural stratifications and the ingrained tendency of ‘othering’ in societies. As part of a future research agenda, we propose that IS research should move beyond simplistic notions of digital divisions to examine digital technology as implicated in complex and intersectional systems of power, and improve our sensitivity to the positionality of individuals and groups within social orders. Implications for practice and policy are also discussed, including moving beyond single-axis analysis of digital exclusion.
•Digital inequality is relational and occurs along multiple fracture lines which demarcate social positioning.•Digital technology does not just provide ‘solutions’ and ‘innovations’, but also produces and reproduces social orders.•Individuals are not just users but also actors situated the intersection of various social structures and systems of power.•An intersectional approach sensitises us to the positioning and subjectivity of individuals and groups in power structures.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
For a long time, a common opinion among policy-makers was that the digital divide problem would be solved when a country’s Internet connection rate reaches saturation. However, scholars of the ...second-level digital divide have concluded that the divides in Internet skills and type of use continue to expand even after physical access is universal. This study—based on an online survey among a representative sample of the Dutch population—indicates that the first-level digital divide remains a problem in one of the richest and most technologically advanced countries in the world. By extending basic physical access combined with material access, the study finds that a diversity in access to devices and peripherals, device-related opportunities, and the ongoing expenses required to maintain the hardware, software, and subscriptions affect existing inequalities related to Internet skills, uses, and outcomes.
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Research on digital inequality tends to collapse people above a certain age into one “older adults” category, seemingly assuming that this is one homogeneous group when it comes to internet uses. ...Drawing on national survey data of adults in the United States, this article examines the online skills and behaviour of this group. Findings reveal diversity among older adults in internet skills and uses. Those with higher education and higher income have higher-level Web-use skills. While those of higher socioeconomic status are also more likely to use the internet for diverse types of activities from which they may benefit, once controlling for skills, these differences are less pronounced.
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This article examines the extent to which economic, cultural, social, and personal types of engagement with the Internet result in a variety of economic, cultural, social, and personal outcomes. Data ...from a representative survey of the Dutch population are analyzed to test whether engagement with a certain type of activity is related to “collateral” benefits in different domains of activities, independent from the socioeconomic or sociocultural characteristics of the person. The results show that what people do online and the skills they have affect outcomes in other domains and that this is independent of the characteristics of the person. This means that policy and interventions could potentially overcome digital inequalities in outcomes through skills training and providing opportunities to engage online in a broad variety of ways. A semiologic rather than an economistic approach is more likely to be effective in thinking about and tackling digital inequalities.
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The Covid-19 pandemic has created challenges and caused disruption across the Higher Education sector; university campuses closed, and face-to-face teaching and assessment shifted to an online ...format. Learning from our students’ experience during this period will help us shape future hybrid delivery so that it best fits Bioscience students. This pedagogical study explored Aston University’s Bioscience students’ experiences of studying from home, and the impact of the lockdown on mental wellbeing and quality of life. 151 students completed an online survey during August 2020, which included open and closed questions. Analysis of survey data revealed that a majority of students reported positive experiences of online open-book assessments and most would welcome this format in the future. The majority of students faced no technical issues, predominantly stating that they also had good internet connectivity. Shifting to remote learning and online classrooms uncovered conflicting preferences; despite wanting more interactive lectures, only half of the students were comfortable interacting using video cameras. Free text responses provided an insight into how some students reported an inadequate home working space/environment and lacked necessary items such as a desk, highlighting how remote working may intensify social and digital inequality - particularly for students from more deprived households. Wider detrimental experiences of lockdown included dissatisfaction with access to healthcare, decreased concentration, sleeping difficulties and a decline in mental wellbeing. Education strategies going forward will need to address the mental health needs of students who have suffered during the pandemic. Our university, amongst others, is embracing hybrid course delivery, which could offer a solution to ensuring Bioscience students receive hands-on laboratory experience and face-to-face contact to remain motivated and benefit from the on-campus facilities and support, whilst allowing students some of the flexibility afforded by remote study. In the current competitive higher education market where student retention is key, it is important to consider student demographics and digital equity to ensure an appropriate approach is applied to cater for all students.
The digital divide: A review and future research agenda Lythreatis, Sophie; Singh, Sanjay Kumar; El-Kassar, Abdul-Nasser
Technological forecasting & social change,
February 2022, 2022-02-00, 20220201, Volume:
175
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
•Digital divide is a grand societal challenge.•The pandemic has exacerbated the digital divide.•Factors affecting the divide can be classified into 9 main categories.•New forms of the digital divide ...are emerging.•Digital divide should be problematized more.
This article provides a systematic review of the digital divide, a phenomenon which refers to disparities in Information and Communications Technology access, usage, and outcomes. It uniquely identifies the factors affecting the digital divide that have emerged in recent years (2017–2021) as well as investigate if there are new forms or levels of the divide that have surfaced in recent literature. The findings, based on 50 included studies, show that the factors affecting the digital divide can be classified into three different segments and nine main categories: sociodemographic, socioeconomic, personal elements, social support, type of technology, digital training, rights, infrastructure, and large-scale events. Out of all factors, education has been linked to the digital divide the most. The majority of recent literature have studied Level 2 of the divide. Also, only one article in the sample has considered the digital divide at the firm level. Findings also show that a new form, type-of-internet access, and two potential new levels of the digital divide, algorithmic awareness and data inequalities, have been identified in the contemporary literature. The results contribute to the understanding and development of the different perspectives of the digital divide concept. They also contribute to the stream of literature on the determinants of the divide and to the social inequalities and digital inclusion literature. This review can be seen as a guide for managers to realize and understand the forms that the divide can take and to delve into their organizational capabilities on the digitalization front and evaluate where further development is needed within their organizations to help diminish the divide.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has excluded older adults from a society based on physical social contact. Vulnerable populations like older adults also tend to be excluded from digital services because they ...opt not to use the internet, lack necessary devices and network connectivity, or inexperience using the technology. Older adults who are frail and are not online, many of whom are in long-term care facilities, struggle with the double burden of social and digital exclusion. This paper discusses the potential outcomes of this exclusion and provides recommendations for rectifying the situation, with a particular focus on older adults in long-term care facilities.
This study uses a domestication approach to digital inequality. The aim is to uncover whether and why less-educated families benefit less from Internet use than highly educated families. The ...predominantly quantitative approach of digital divide research provides little explanation as to why digital inequalities exist. Interviews were conducted with the heads of 48 Dutch families. The results showed that Internet use and routines in the home are shaped differently for families with different educational backgrounds. In all four phases of domestication, the highly educated demonstrated a critical view toward the Internet, resulting in considered use and redefinition. Less-educated members tended to be less interested in Internet developments and overall have a less reflective stance. Inequalities between different social strata already arise in the early stages of domestication and are magnified in the subsequent phases.
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Smartphones are more prevalent than computers in the digital age, particularly in poor and minority communities. Is it the effect to reduce or perpetuate socioeconomic disparities? This article ...reviews two decades of research investigating whether mobile phones contribute to enhancing the status of disadvantaged populations. Conclusions on the nature and extent of the mobile effect vary across areas of inquiry, including digital inequality, social networks, and coordination and mobility. Advantages accrue in particular areas, such as strengthening core ties, promoting particular Internet activities, and enhancing daily coordination and safety. Device limitations and structural inequalities overwhelm the mobile effect in many arenas, though new conditions emerge with changes in mobile technology and digital habits. Future research will benefit from closer attention to how mobile affordances, user motivation and habituation, popular mobile uses, and the particular conditions of disadvantage shape outcomes for marginalized populations.
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