Having access to the Internet and acquiring the skills necessary to use, question, and create in a digital environment have become essential to living and working in the 21st century. Yet, this move to digitalization has created a digital divide between those who have broadband "access" and the "skills and attitudes" to…

The study discusses the impact of a nationwide deployment of Wi-Fi technology in some Senior High Technical Vocational Schools (SHTVs) in Ghana, using the first four levels of Guskey's framework. A stratified sampling approach was used to select 119 teachers as participants in the study. An embedded mixed method research design was employed to…

Qualitative research has been strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the possibilities that Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technologies such as Skype, WhatsApp, and Zoom offer to qualitative scholars. Based on the experience of using such technologies to collect qualitative data for our PhD studies, we present how we dealt…

As many as three million households with school-aged children in the United States do not have any Internet service at home, and 18% do not have a broadband connection, creating a "homework gap" between those who can access the Internet to support their schoolwork at home, and those who cannot. Based on a series of empirical case studies…

Digital and information literacy skills are necessary to succeed in today's knowledge economy but for the millions of people in the world without internet access, a frustratingCatch-22 exists: How can they develop digital literacy skills without internet access? When they get access, what good is the internet to them if they don't have the skills…

Purpose: In today's educational landscape, technology has become an undeniable force in shaping pedagogical approaches and even the definition of learning itself. But this path contains many obstacles. Within the higher education ecosystem, the digital divide -- the disparity in access and use of technology -- is proving to be a significant…

In today's society, individuals and households without reliable Internet connections are increasingly at risk of facing significant disadvantages. This article describes an Extension-led pilot project in Oklahoma centered on addressing this issue through the establishment of a hotspot lending program in four rural libraries. Through the program,…

Drawing on the experiences of a novel collaborative project between sociologists and computer scientists, this paper identifies a set of challenges for fieldwork that are generated by this "wild interdisciplinarity. Public Access Wi-Fi Service" was a project funded by an 'in-the-wild' research programme, involving the study of digital…

The pandemic spread of Novel Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has significantly disrupted every aspects of human life, including education. The alarming spread of the virus caused a havoc in the educational system forcing educational institutions to shut down. According to a UNESCO report, 1.6 billion children across 191 countries have been…

Tasmania, one of the first locations to have communities connected to the national broadband network (NBN), provided the context within which to ask significant questions about the implications of the NBN for all levels and sectors of education. This paper reports findings from a research project that developed innovative methodology to explore…

In early 2009, Congress directed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to develop a National Broadband Plan to ensure every American has "access to broadband capability." Congress also required that this plan include a detailed strategy for achieving affordability and maximizing use of broadband to advance "consumer welfare, civic…

In many school districts throughout the country, the unplanned and inequitable distribution of computers has tended to widen the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged, male and female, and majority and minority students. One of the missions of the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) is the task of achieving equality of educational…

This resource guide was developed in response to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990. It is designed to help administrators, counselors, researchers, and others concerned with special needs education to locate resources to help develop or improve transition…