Week 7 Discussion

The Zhang reading indirectly highlighted a very fascinating issue about how the Internet facilitates the achievement gap. Zhang states, “highly educated adults were more likely to use the Internet for personal development, while adults with lower education levels more often were online for gaming and social interaction” (11). As a result, “the digital divide in Internet use could occur at a very early stage of the educational trajectory, suggesting that the Internet can be a potential accelerator for the digital divide and achievement gap” (11). I had not recognized the power that the search index has in shaping the content that drives the achievement gap. How can we transition this power for good? Would it be constructive to have website rankings based on educational value for audiences with lower education levels to decelerate this digital divide?