COMMENTARIES Five Commentaries : Looking to the Future

E quity is at the core of the question posed. Broadly speaking, technology cannot be used effectively or ethically unless it is used widely and equitably among all groups in our society and—thanks to technology itself—our increasingly smaller world. Equity of use is critical to ensuring that technology has widespread and effective impacts on learning, communication, and community. In addition, “equality of digital opportunity” is fast becoming a synonym for “equality of educational opportunity,” central to our nation’s ethic of democracy. Limiting the expanded opportunities of technology to groups with greater educational and financial resources would be unethical—and in the future, perhaps even unconstitutional. It is conceivable that within the next decade, parents might sue their school board for denying their children’s rights to computers and the learning resources of the Internet.