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Pew Research Center Report: Digital Readiness Gaps

Concerns about “digital divides” have in the past focused mainly on people’s access to digital technologies. There is now an increasing focus on the extent to which people succeed or struggle when they attempt to use technology for problem-solving, decision-making, or finding pathways through their environments.

A new Pew Research Center report1 explores the attitudes and behaviours underpinning people’s preparedness and comfort in using digital tools for learning.

Specifically, American adults were assessed according to five main factors: their confidence in using computers, their facility with getting new technology to work, their use of digital tools for learning, their ability to determine the trustworthiness of online information, and their familiarity with contemporary “education tech” terms.

The analysis showed that there are distinct groups of people that fall along a spectrum of preparedness.

Digital Readiness Gaps

There are several important qualifying notes to consider in regard to the analysis:

  • The research focuses on a particular activity – online learning. The findings are not necessarily transferable.
  • There is some fluidity in the boundaries of the groups.
  • The findings represent a snapshot of where adults are today in a fairly nascent stage of e-learning in society.

Reference:

  1. Horrigan, J.B. (2016, September). Digital Readiness Gaps. Pew Research Center. http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/09/20/2016/DigitalReadinessGaps/.
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Also published on Medium.

Bruce Boyes

Bruce Boyes is a knowledge management (KM), environmental management, and education thought leader with more than 40 years of experience. As editor and lead writer of the award-winning RealKM Magazine, he has personally written more than 500 articles and published more than 2,000 articles overall, resulting in more than 2 million reader views. With a demonstrated ability to identify and implement innovative solutions to social and ecological complexity, Bruce has successfully completed more than 40 programs, projects, and initiatives including leading complex major programs. His many other career highlights include: leading the KM community KM and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiative, using agile approaches to oversee the on time and under budget implementation of an award-winning $77.4 million recovery program for one of Australia's most iconic river systems, leading a knowledge strategy process for Australia’s 56 natural resource management (NRM) regional organisations, pioneering collaborative learning and governance approaches to empower communities to sustainably manage landscapes and catchments in the face of complexity, being one of the first to join a new landmark aviation complexity initiative, initiating and teaching two new knowledge management subjects at Shanxi University in China, and writing numerous notable environmental strategies, reports, and other works. Bruce is currently a PhD candidate in the Knowledge, Technology and Innovation Group at Wageningen University and Research, and holds a Master of Environmental Management with Distinction and a Certificate of Technology (Electronics). As well as his work for RealKM Magazine, Bruce currently also teaches in the Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) Certified High-school Pathway (CHP) program in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China.

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