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Digital Divide Presentation

Published on Dec 02, 2015

An overview of digital divide and the ways that it is impacting our students.

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

1.

Digital Divide Presentation

by Claire Dickinson
2.

Digital divide/digital inequality refers to the fact that people have differing accesses to technology around the world; ie. communication technology as well as computers and the Internet.

3.

Reasons associated with the Digital Divide:

  • Residing location
  • Gender
  • Income level/affordability
  • Age
  • Level of Education
4.

Many people have worked together to close the digital divide in the United States. President Obama has devised a plan to help.

According to a Fox Business article, "The White House said Obama's school-based Internet program is on track to make sure that 99 percent of K-12 students can use the Web in their classrooms and libraries by 2017." To improve the opportunity and quality of education for less-privileged students, President Obama wishes to provide "high-speed Internet" to more schools and homes.
5.

The global digital divide is continuing to decrease thanks to these efforts, giving more homes and schools access to the Internet worldwide.

According to Michael Kende of the Crunch Network, "Mobile telephony grew faster than almost anyone would have predicted 15 years ago, to the point where at least 94% of the world’s population receives a signal." Additionally, mobile Internet now reaches 48% of the world's population. Kende includes many other fascinating statistics, showing how the Digital Divide continues to shrink. He brings up an interesting point that in addition to the factors that I discussed on Slide 3 of this presentation, language differences and relevance might also be keeping people from purchasing access to the Internet. Kende also discusses how the government can help in this situation, including lowering taxes and prices.
6.

At Les Bois Jr. High, our students are impacted by the digital divide in many ways.

For this portion of my presentation, I interviewed one of my math teaching partners. The following slides discuss issues that we conversed about together regarding the digital divide at Les Bois Jr. High.
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Class research projects cause a disadvantage for some students because they do not have Internet access at home.

8.

To avoid this problem and to refrain from potentially embarrassing students without Internet access, take away the requirement of researching at home. All research should be done in the computer lab or library, as a class.

9.

Some students have parental parameters/controls for when and how they can use the Internet.

10.

I often provide extra help websites to struggling students. In the past, students have told me that they are grounded or cannot access the Internet after school while their parents are at work.

For example, my teaching partner had a student last year that was absent for quite awhile. Because of this, she missed a lot of concepts. To help her get caught up on the material, my teaching partner wrote down a list of websites that the student could use. The student then informed her that she was restricted and grounded from the Internet.
11.

To help solve this dilemma, teachers should have open communication with parents and keep them informed about their intentions to help their child.

Of course, the student could also come into the classroom during lunch each day to get extra help. While this seems like a good solution to some, and it could be for a few days, I feel that lunch should be a time when the students can have a break from school and spend time with friends as well.
12.

Also, due to the digital divide within our school, SBAC tests can be uncomfortable for students.

13.

A big part of succeeding on SBAC tests is the student feeling technologically comfortable. If they are inexperienced, that can put them at a disadvantage.

14.

Teachers could make an effort to provide students with more SBAC test practice during class in the school library or computer lab.

I truly feel that a student needs to be technologically comfortable, or in other words "computer savvy" in a sense, to stress less about the new SBAC testing. Students that do not have access to the Internet at home are certainly far less likely to feel technologically comfortable. Therefore, this creates stress for them in addition to the test itself, which is unfair.
15.

It is vital that teachers are aware of the digital divide among our diverse students so that we can provide students with equal opportunity. It would be helpful to receive this information from our counselors at the start of each school year.

It would be very helpful if there was a way to receive names of students without Internet access at the beginning-of-the-year registration, perhaps in survey form. That way, teachers would have a sense of the digital divide early on and would not have to ask students and potentially embarrass them. Of course these names could change and fluctuate throughout the year, but at least it would give us an idea.
16.

Relevant AECT Code of Professional Ethics

  • Section 1, Principle 7
  • Section 1, Principle 9
Section 1, Principle 7: "The member shall promote current and sound professional practices in the use of technology and education."
Section 2, Principle 9: "The member shall refrain from any behavior that would be judged to be discriminatory, harassing, insensitive, or offensive and, thus, is in conflict with valuing and promoting each individual's integrity, rights, and opportunity within a diverse profession and society."
17.

References

  • "In Oklahoma, Obama to Announce Program to Close Digital Divide, Connect More Homes to Internet." Fox Business. Fox News Network, LLC., 15 July 2015. Web. 15 July 2015.
  • Kende, Michael. "The Shrinking Digital Divide." Crunch Network. AOL Inc., 12 July 2015. Web. 15 July 2015.
18.

References continued

  • "Code of Professional Ethics." AECT: Association for Educational Communications and Technology. AECT. Web. 15 July 2015.
  • "Web 2.0 and Emerging Learning Technologies/Digital Divide." Wikibooks. 29 July 2009. Web. 15 July 2015.

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