Lack of Technology Equipment or Access - Another Crisis.

read  Digital Divide articles 

I've posted several articles on the MappingforJustice blog that focus on the Digital Divide, or the lack of technology access and/or equipment, that prevents millions of people from accessing the world via the Internet.  This problem is highlighted now during #Covid19, as schools in Chicago and other states are closed and students are forced to access the Internet for learning. Many are left behind.

This screen shot shows interactive map included in WBEZ article titled "Clear Signs Of The Digital Divide Between Chicago’s North And South Sides"

The article reports that "more than half the households in Englewood and nearly half the households in West Englewood (51 percent), Riverdale (49 percent), Auburn Gresham, and South Shore (both 46 percent), lacked internet access at home".

This is a disadvantage for youth and adults.

In 2017 I watched a one hour documentary showing the Digital Divide in America, and identifying three key challenges that must be overcome.

I created this concept map to visualize that discussion and add some other issues that were not included in the video.

Digital Divide concept map - click here

I show these maps and articles with the goal that readers will be concerned and will share the articles with others, who will also be concerned, and that this will result in people from different sectors giving time, talent and dollars to help reduce this problem.

Browse other articles on this blog, and the Tutor/Mentor blog, and share with your network, as the graphic below suggests.

These graphics visualize network of support needed by every youth, in every neighborhood.

The "hub and spoke" graphic at the top visualizes the range of supports every youth needs as she grows from pre-school through high school, college and beyond.  The graphic at the bottom illustrates the role every person can take to "get informed" using information libraries and blogs such as the one I  host, then share what they are learning with people they know, "to get other people involved".

One of those spokes would be technology skills and access.  Here's an example.  I saw this article about "ending poverty in one generation" on my Slack channel, then shared it in my Twitter feed.

I was introduced to this article in my #Chihacknight slack channel. It's long, but worth reading for those seeking to help economies grow in Africa, Asia, South America, etc. #clmooc https://t.co/91eAMzTGqb

— Daniel Bassill (@tutormentorteam) March 26, 2020

If other people read this blog, or follow my Twitter feed, they will find this article, too. They may share it with others who use the ideas in their own efforts.  That's the goal.

If this helps close the Digital Divide, or can make more mentor-rich learning efforts available to youth in all high poverty areas of Chicago, the USA, and the world, then we've done well with our time.

This work is not something that can be done in a day, or even a year or a decade. But it is work that needs to be done.  If you'd like help digging through the information I'm sharing, or in making sense of some of the graphics, I'm available.