ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a comprehensive primer on the digital divide that is pervasive across rural America and makes visible how this relates to rural students’ acquisition of digital literacy. This is followed by the argument that while Trumpism bolstered the deficit view of rural communities, the reality is issues such as the digital divide originate from the short-sightedness of national policies that privilege urban centric norms and free market ideology. A more nuanced look at rural community and school demographics frames the competing perspectives on the rationales elevating attention to the broadband access in rural areas and the digital literacy of rural students. This is followed by suggestions of how to use research on digital literacy and rural education to inform classroom practices. The chapter closes with a discussion of the role digital literacy plays in positioning P–12 learners in rural places to acquire global literacies that are imperative to social mobility within and beyond the rural lifeworld.
