Most of the articles that I have read and videos that I have seen all have one thing in common and that it says how Public Libraries help with the Digital Divide, by providing assistance to patrons who don’t have access to a router and modem at home or who can’t afford them. Public Libraries provided free Wi-Fi and access to electronic devices like a computer or laptop and Chromebooks even tablets. Where patron can check them out for their use if they don’t have a computer at home. I have a co-worker that doesn’t have a computer or a cell phone and she uses the computers at the library to look are her email from work or to do research. Libraries also provide assistive technology to disabled patrons and for students that have been identified with educational disabilities. But those libraries are not the only ones that try to help their patrons by bridging the digital divide. Some School libraries still have some challenges getting the devices needed for students with disabilities.
Work Cited:
Burgsthler, Sheryl. "Bridging the Digital
Divide in Postsecondary Education: Technology Access for
Youth with Disabilities." National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET), vol. 1, no. 2, Dec. 2002.
Bridging the Digital
Divide in Postsecondary Education: Technology Access for Youth with Disabilities.
http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=718
More information on this
article could be found here: http://www.washington.edu/doit/Faculty/Strategies/Academic/Webpages/webpages_case_study.html
It is awesome to see libraries checking out wifi hotspots as well! I agree, I think many schools have trouble getting devices, often due to cost. It is encouraging though that there are free technology resources, like apps and software, out there that librarians can try in an attempt to make things more accessible for their patrons.
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