Scholarly Writing - Assignment Example

RUNNING HEAD: SCHOLARLY WRITING Scholarly Writing School Scholarly Writing The of the passage seems to be presenting a perfectly valid scholarly argument. It is true that personal computer usage has grown to an unprecedented increase during the last decades, and many homes already have personal computers. Based on such assumption, the author purports that “digital divide” no longer exist. “Digital divide” refers to the gap among people who use the computer and have access to information technology (Digital divide, 2010).

This gap is caused by the disparity is socio-economic factors or level of skills in the use of computer interface and applications. Through critical reading (Douglas, 2000) and analysis of the author’s reasoning using one’s purpose, information presented and conclusion (Paul & Elder, 2003, Spring), it can be deduced that the increase in use of personal computers does not reflect the current status of “digital divide”. The issue of “digital divide” or its non-existence has been over-generalized by the author.

There are governments that restrict the use of computers in their countries or censor certain information. With the current technology, access to digital information from the computer or internet can be connected other gadgets. Thus, the divide can be perpetrated by the government according to its internal policies, such as the ban imposed by UAE (access of internet and sending of messages) and Saudi Arabia (on sending of instant messages) on some Blackberry functions because the government cannot monitor them (Walls, 2010, August 2).

The author has also cited the 2001 Business Week release that more than 80 percent of secondary students are “plugged in”, meaning, that they are constantly using the computer and the internet. Being “plugged in” may refer not only to personal computer use at home since there are public places and internet cafes that allow computer use for a certain fee. The author did not qualify the data presented. Since the main premise of the author is on “digital divide” in relation to personal computers, the presentation of data should focus on these two variables.

The data should be more specific, such as increase in use of personal computers in the US, the oriental countries, or the Middle Eastern countries. Many poor people in Asia do not have computers at home. Moreover, a large segment of people in Asia and Latin America who are poor or who belong to the elderly group are not computer literate. The author committed a blunder through a false deduction (Pope, 1998) by saying that “digital divide” has disappeared with the increase in use of personal computer.

Nevertheless, the author used clear and unambiguous terms that would not subject them to misinterpretation (Pope, 1998). References Digital divide – Definition. (2010). Retrieved 23 March 2011, from http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Digital_divide Douglas, N.L. (2000). Enemies of critical thinking: Lessons from social psychology research. Reading Psychology, 21(2), 129–144. Taylor & Francis. Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2003, Spring). Critical thinking: Teaching students how to study and learn (Part III).

Journal of Development Education, 26(3), 36-37. EBSCO Publishing Pope, K.S. (1998). Pseudoscience, cross-examination, and scientific evidence in the recovered memory controversy. Psychology, Public Policy, & Law, 4(4), 1160–1181. Walls B. (2010, August 2). Gulf States to restrict Blackberry use. SuperCom Daily News. Retrieved 23 March 2011, from http://supercom.org/gulf-states-to-restrict-blackberry-use/431142/