As we continue to think about the "school" system of the future, we must seriously consider the issue of the "digital divide" that often times exists between the "haves" and "have nots" in our society. Having grown up in a home that would be better represented as economically "have not," I am very clear that there would NOT have been a computer and other technology in our home or available for my access. That is not a criticism of my family or any other -- just a reality. Fortunately, we live in Riverside and there is and has been an on-going effort to address this problem aggressively through Smart Riverside. Smart Riverside is working on "Digital Inclusion" to address both the frequent lack of equipment and technology training in some homes. Additionally, they have deployed wireless availability across 75+% of the community making Internet available. Both of these efforts provide a huge leap toward closing the "divide."
As we think about the same "divide," we are continually looking for new solutions that are both cost-effective and workable. We think we are now at a price point with "netBook" computers that will provide our students (and even families) with a relatively low-cost alternative to computing and the digital world and at the same time give them Internet access via the Smart Riverside wireless system. There are other strategies, but overall we are working on closing this significant gap -- it is imperative to our deployment of digital texts but more importantly it is the health and well-being of our community.
It is true that the SmartRiverside program has made a tremendous impact on closing the digital divide in Riverside. While the free wireless allows our students to access the internet, it does so at such a slow pace. The connection speed in many areas of Riverside is significantly slower than a dial-up connection. In order to make more head way on closing the digital divide, parents and educators should lobby for faster connection speeds through the ATT Freemetro WIFI.
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