By: Danielle Anderson
Barnesville Middle School Intervention Specialist and
Graduate Student at Boise State University.

This presentation will focus on three issues that Barnesville Middle School faces and my solutions for these issues. First, we must understand the difference between digital divide and digital inequality.

What is digital divide? Digital divide is the gap between individuals who have access to computers and the internet and those who do not.

Digital Inequality is
when individuals lack the skills, equipment, and/or knowledge to use technology.

I am going to focus on three current issues that Barnesville Middle School is experiencing. The following issues are staff technology usage, students understanding the programs available, and students having access to computers and internet.

The first issue is that the staff at Barnesville Middle School have access to a plethora of different technologies. However, the biggest problem is that staff are not using it.

Because staff are not using the technologies available, students do not know how to use the programs. Students not understanding how to use specific programs is another problem Barnesville is experiencing. When I surveyed the students, I found that the majority of our students do not know how to use basic programs. Our school just started using Google this school year, so it will be better next year.

We are living in the 21st century and you don't have a computer and/or Internet access at home? Issue number three for Barnesville Middle School is that a great deal of our students do not have computer and/or Internet access at home. Barnesville is a very rural area so Internet connection does not exists for some residence. Some Internet providers do not provide services for some residence that live way out in the country.

Many staff members at Barnesville Middle School do not use the different technology resources available. My solution to this problem is to provide hands-on professional development sessions for the staff. Staff members are give different resources but rarely use them. I believe that if staff members were offered a specific time for hands-on experimentation of the resources then we would have more technology integrated into the classrooms.

While reviewing the survey results, 36% of the students do not know how to use Google Docs. Because our school is focusing on going Google, this is very alarming. My solution to this dilemma is to provide student workshops before school, during school, and/or after school. The workshops would focus on the different programs needed to succeed not only in the classroom, but in society.

The many students in Barnesville do not have computers and/or Internet access at home. To solve this problem, Barnesville could open the computer lab in the mornings before school starts and after school for a few hours. Our school offers an after school tutoring program and students could utilize the computer lab during these hours.

In the 21st century, technology is constantly changing to help individuals better their lives. However, if the issues at my school are not addressed early on then the students will have a disadvantage in adulthood. Many of the skills that individuals need to obtain a "good" job as an adult can be learned during their younger years. As an educator, I am always trying to expose my students to the latest technologies but run into issues that I have addressed in this presentation.

Cooper, M. (2004). Expanding the digital divide and falling behind the broadband. Consumer Federation of American and Consumer Union. Retrieved from http://consumerfed.org/pdfs/digitaldivide.pdf

DiMaggio, P., Hargittai, E., Celeste, C., & Shafer, S. (2004). From unequal access to differentiated use: A literature and agenda for research on digital inequality. Social Inequality, 355-400. Retrieved from http://eszter.com/research/pubs/dimaggio-etal-digitalinequality.pdf