The Digital Divide and Its Influence on Public Education Diffusion

It is evident that information and communication technologies (ICTs) have improved performance and efficiency for different types of organizations. One of the important applications of ICT in public and private businesses is related to education, where electronic learning (e-learning) is a domain that became a paradigm more than a specific application. To utilize the full benefits of e-learning in public education and to exploit the diverse options of e-learning and specifically the synchronization of learning, digital divide is becoming an important obstacle that prevents teachers, students, and society members from benefiting from this phenomenon. Governments are striving to bridge the digital divide so that equal opportunities for education are guaranteed for their citizens in urban and rural areas. It is vital to explore the influence of digital divide on rural areas and how it affects the learning process. This study will explore the digital divide phenomenon, its relationship to e-learning concepts, how governments bridge this divide through e-government options, and finally, conduct an empirical test that explores the perceptions of students living in rural areas around the digital divide and its relationship to e-learning and education.