Radhika and others, the knowledge gap hypothesis is a theoretical approach (not a full-blown theory) that was developed quite a while ago and that basically describes how the smart are getting smarter and the dumb are not, and so the dumb seem dumber in comparison to the smart that are getting smarter. Well, this is oversimplification, but you may get the idea this way. Famous case study: Sesamestreet in Britain, which was originally designed to teach the kids of the lower/blue color classes, but because kids of the middle classes watched it too and the middle class kids had more resources (supportive parents, exposure to learning opportunities, etc.), the middle class kids actually learned more from Sesamestreet than the working class kids did. Ergo: the knowledge gap widened, rather than closed. And yes, this is very applicable to the digital divide and I've long been asking myself why no one seems to have picked up on that and did some theory-based work here. Glad to see Michael's interest in this and hope good sources will pop up on the list. Ulla -- ***Address Change for Ulla Bunz: Starting July 1, I will be at Floriday State University. Please note my new email address: ulla.bunz@comm.fsu.edu. The new address is already in place, so you may use either the new address or the current address (bunz@scils.rutgers.edu) until July 1. Thank you!