chasms: the Learning Divide

Anita Brooks-Kirkland addressed the consideration of the digital divide with a more specific focus on the learning divide. The digital divide is no longer about access to computers, but rather the disconnect between the way students use technology at school and in the rest of their lives.

A systemic 'fear factor' regarding security and content filtering raises the divide between institutional networks and how students are accustomed to using technology beyond the school. Furthermore, Anita challenges us to consider the construct of the digital native vs. the digital immigrant. It may well have become the biggest excuse for adults to not extend their learning in technology, with the lament, "Well, I am a digital immigrant after all!". Anita asserts that it is the propensity for curiosity that crosses that divide. She cites Christopher Harris who addressed that dichotomy and coined the updated construct of Digital Nature vs. Digital Nurture.