Online and Distance Education Commons^™

Socioeconomics And The Digital Divide : Access, Literacy, And The Online-Classroom Space At The U.S. Postsecondary Institution, Alison Lorraine Nolan

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This study examines the challenges faced by educators and students and how socioeconomics, the digital divide, and a lack of access can potentially lead to low digital-literacy rates. The digital divide describes those who have access to broadband (high-speed) Internet connections and those who do not. Since education has become reliant on technology, those who cannot access the academic-digital space are at a disadvantage. The primary focus of this thesis is to define digital literacy in online, hybrid, and face-to-face composition classrooms at the postsecondary level. A review of literature was supplemented by a brief survey to students attending Montclair …