Research on the effectiveness of information technology in reducing the Rural-Urban Knowledge Divide

To strengthen the information technology skills of students living in remote areas, the Ministry of Education of Taiwan advocated the 2008 Country Development Plan to diminish the gap between urban and rural education development. This study proposes a hypothetical model to evaluate the effectiveness of the government policy in decreasing the Rural-Urban Knowledge Divide in higher education. There were 427 participants in this study. From the research results, we found that the government policy had a significant impact on reducing the Rural-Urban Knowledge Divide in higher education, and it demonstrated that most hypotheses were supported. Finally, as a virtual teacher or classroom for students living in rural areas, this research provides several suggestions as strategies in building up prospective resources for a Digital Opportunity Center or e-learning environment beneficial for both rural and urban students.