Intra-Rural Digital Divides in Appalachia: Pathways for Digital Literacy and Inclusion
Open Access
- Author:
- Jonas, Rebecca
- Graduate Program:
- Informatics
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- February 08, 2024
- Committee Members:
- Dongwon Lee, Professor in Charge/Director of Graduate Studies
Daniel Susser, Major Field Member
Jack Carroll, Major Field Member
Kelley Cotter, Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Andrea Miller, Outside Unit & Field Member - Keywords:
- HCI
digital divides
rural America
Appalachia
digital skills
public libraries - Abstract:
- As digital access and education have become increasingly widespread, rural Appalachia, a historically marginalized region of the eastern United States, remains heavily impacted by the digital divide, with lower levels of digital access and use than average rates throughout the US. The digital divide is well-established from a rural-urban perspective. However, intra-rural digital divides, which I define as differences in access, use, experiences, skills, and outcomes between closely located rural areas and/or rural areas that have been designated as having a similar level of rurality, remain largely unexplored. Without an understanding of intra-rural digital divides, development efforts may perpetuate inequity if investments are inadvertently focused on already advantaged areas, to the detriment of smaller, more remote, and less privileged rural communities. In this dissertation, I qualitatively investigate the presence and impacts of intra-rural digital divides through four weeks of multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork at public libraries throughout one rural Appalachian county. In addition to rural-urban and intra-rural views of digital divides, digital divides can also exist along multiple domains such as access, use, experience, skills, and outcomes. As digital access divides close, digital skills divides may persist between those with varying ability to effectively use of digital technology. Thus, digital inequities cannot close through increased digital access alone. Considering Appalachia's historical marginalization, it is important that digital interventions in the region are driven by the community and align with local culture and needs. In this work I present two approaches to digital literacy education, digital storytelling and one-on-one tech tutoring, developed alongside community members and informed by tenets of Appalachian culture. These approaches leverage Appalachian cultural practices to offset inexperienced users' discomfort learning new digital skills, and are designed to increase learners' digital self-efficacy. My contributions in this work provide new perspectives to counter the rural deficit model, which positions rural areas as deficient compared to non-rural areas, and defined in terms of what they lack rather than their assets. I highlight how the deficits in digital experience in this community are driven by factors outside of the community and how leveraging local assets is key for improving digital experiences. Through this work, I build upon rural public libraries’ established role as drivers of digital equity and inclusion to highlight how rural public libraries may be a key asset to resolve intra-rural digital divides in Appalachia. Contributions of locally-informed digital literacy education and depictions of intra-rural digital divides can create pathways for equitable digital development that empowers Appalachian residents, rather than perpetuating extraction and exploitation through digital means.