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EnglandComputer ScienceSyllabus dot point

How does digital technology change society, and who gets left behind?

The cultural impacts of digital technology: the digital divide, changes to work and jobs through automation, the effect of social media and the internet on behaviour and society, and issues of access and inclusion.

An OCR J277 1.6.1 answer on the cultural impacts of digital technology: the digital divide and unequal access, automation and the changing job market, the effects of social media and the internet on society, and issues of inclusion.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.89 min answer

Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed

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  1. What this dot point is asking
  2. The digital divide
  3. Automation and the changing job market
  4. Social media and the internet
  5. Putting it together
  6. Try this

What this dot point is asking

OCR wants you to explain how digital technology changes society and culture: the unequal access captured by the digital divide, the way automation reshapes the job market, and the effects of the internet and social media on how people behave and connect. These cultural impacts are one of the five categories, and they feed directly into the extended-response question on Paper 1.

The digital divide

The divide is not only about owning a device; it includes the speed and reliability of the connection and the skills and confidence to use it. The clearest exam examples are a student without home internet who cannot do online homework, and an older person who cannot access services that have moved online.

Automation and the changing job market

Social media and the internet

Putting it together

Cultural impacts are about people and groups, so the strongest answers always ask who gains and who is left behind. A new technology is rarely good or bad for everyone equally: it helps the connected and skilled, and can disadvantage those without access. Naming the digital divide, the workers affected by automation, or the wellbeing effects of social media, and then weighing them, is what moves an answer up the bands.

Try this

Q1. State what is meant by the digital divide. [1 mark]

  • Cue. The gap between those with good access to technology and the internet and the skills to use it, and those without.

Q2. Give two factors that can cause the digital divide. [2 marks]

  • Cue. Any two: cost of devices and internet, poor broadband in rural areas, age, and lack of digital skills or education.

Q3. Give one positive and one negative cultural impact of social media. [2 marks]

  • Cue. Positive: it connects people and lets communities form and information spread. Negative: it can spread misinformation, enable cyberbullying, or harm wellbeing.

Exam-style practice questions

Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.

OCR 20214 marksExplain what is meant by the digital divide, and describe two factors that can cause it.
Show worked answer →

Definition (up to 2): the digital divide is the gap between people who have good access to digital technology and the internet and the skills to use it, and those who do not. This gap can be between rich and poor, young and old, or city and rural areas.

Two factors (1 mark each): cost, because devices and internet access are expensive and not everyone can afford them; location, because rural or remote areas may have poor or no broadband and mobile coverage; age or skills, because some people, often older people, have not learned to use the technology; and education, because some have had less opportunity to develop digital skills.

Markers reward a clear definition (a gap in access or skills) and two genuinely different causes.

OCR 20226 marksDiscuss the impact of automation, where computers and robots do jobs previously done by people, on workers and on society. You should include both positive and negative impacts in your answer.
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A 6-mark levels-of-response question, so a balanced discussion with developed points and a conclusion.

Negative impacts: workers in routine jobs (factory work, checkout staff, call centres) may lose their jobs, causing unemployment and hardship, and the change can hit some communities and lower-skilled workers hardest, widening inequality.

Positive impacts: automation does dangerous, repetitive or precise work better and more safely than people, lowers costs (which can lower prices), increases output, and creates new kinds of jobs (designing, programming and maintaining the systems). Society can benefit from cheaper goods and people being freed from dull or hazardous work.

Markers reward developed points on both sides (who benefits, who loses, and why), and a conclusion, for example that automation benefits society overall but support and retraining are needed for the workers displaced.

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