ACCORDING TO REPORT THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IS SHRINKING - A recent
report by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting indicates that the digital divide in
the United States is shrinking as children from all ethnic groups and income levels
increasingly use the Internet. The report states that children under 17 spend nearly as
much time using computers as watching television, with use of the Internet among
minority and low-income children surging over the past two years. More than two-
thirds of low-income households now have a computer at home, compared to fewer
than half two years ago. Gaps still persist, however, particularly with respect to
high-speed Internet access at home. See:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53259-2003Mar19.html
(Washington Post, 19 Mar 03)

FACULTY HONORED FOR USING TECHNOLOGY WITH UNDER-SERVED
STUDENTS - The American Association of Community Colleges awarded its annual IT
Faculty Technology Awards to Susan Gaer, a professor of English as a Second Language
(ESL) at Santa Ana College, and Joyce Hawkins, who teaches Wake Technical
Community College's information systems diploma program at the North Carolina
Correctional Institution for Women. The $5,000 awards, which are supported by
Microsoft Corp, are made to those who have helped their students succeed with the help
of IT. Gaer taught beginning ESL students how to use the Internet to comparison shop
and to develop video stories using family photos. Hawkins put together a program for
prison inmates to solve typical business problems using spreadsheet analysis, database
management, and other computer basics. (Syllabus News, Resources, and Trends, 11
Mar 03)