In my last blog entry I talked about a prevalent opinion among young people I teach that the whole brouhaha over the Digital Divide may be nothing more than a Clinton-era left-wing invention (just like Climate Change!). So I was intrigued to see the following article in the Grand Rapids Press, citing this year’s annual survey by the Campus Computing Project:

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/01/save_the_computer_lab_some_exp.html

The article makes a case for "saving" campus computer labs because it would be incorrect - and possibly harmful - to assume that all college students own computers today (and that therefore all that is needed is to provide comfy cyber-lounge areas where students can settle down with their nifty, wi-fi and bluetooth equipped laptops...)

To me the most interesting statistic quoted from the CCP survey in the article was that, while student laptop ownership rates at regular four-year colleges average 70 per cent, only 35 per cent of community college students own laptop computers. Furthermore, only 56 per cent have access even to desktop computers at home. To me that is a clear indication of a social class-based difference in technological access...

The article also highlights the valid point that access to computers alone may not even tell the whole story. As the author observes: "Just having the equipment didn’t necessarily mean students - especially older folks who didn’t grow up with computers - were able to use them well."