Performance objectives
Students should be able to:
1. Explain the concept of digital age
2. Differentiate between old and new economy
3. Explain the limitation of the old economy
4. State the benefits of the new economy
1.1. WHAT IS DIGITAL DIVIDE?
Digital divide refers to the gap that exists between the total number of people thathave access to computers and the internet; have the skills, knowledge to switchon the computer system, type and save documents; search retrieve and saveinformation from the internet; and those that cannot. This gap could be between urban and rural areas; the rich and the poor; Non-educated and the educated; developing and developed countries. Those individuals, communities or regions that don’t have the skills, Knowledge and access to the computers and the internet are called “Digital haves nots”. Countries such as Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Ghana etc are examples of the Digital halves not countries.
1.1.1. IMPLICATION OF DIGITAL DIVIDE ON PEOPLE, COMMUNITIES,COUNTRIES ETC
The people of the “digital have nots” communities, regions, countries do not have the skills and knowledge to access information, work in government offices as well as conduct business in this digital age. This results in the followings:
a. high rate of poverty
b. Crime and other social problems.
c. Under development in those places.
1.1.2. WHAT CAUSES DIGITAL DIVIDE?
Digital divide is caused by different of factors namely:
1.1.2.1. Poor economy