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Digital Divide

Published on Dec 05, 2015

The Digital Divide

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

The Digital Divide

By Michelle Edwards

 

The term digital divide is all about access to technology. Who has it? What kind of access do they have? How much does access cost?



Photo by GotCredit

The Individual

The digital divide can be examined at the individual level. How are different demographics accessing technology? Is content available to them? If so, what are they doing with technology?

The proponents who believe that we should rapidly pursue a narrowing of the gap argue that it is a social equality issue.

The Community

Proponents of narrowing the digital divide, examine technology in the community such as access at the local library. They also advocate for technology education classes for those in need. So many community resources are now found online and citizens need to know where to find the resources online and what to do with them once discovered.
Photo by Adam Melancon

The World

Finally, we need to pay attention to the digital divide around the world because we live in a global economy.
Photo by MarcelaPalma

The Digital Divide in Our Schools

With that said, the primary focus of this presentation is to analyze the digital divide as it relates to our school and district.

Educational policy makers and school leaders have a charge by the U.S. government to rapidly expand technology use in schools. There are five components to this plan.

http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/netp2010-execsumm.pdf

1. Learning: Engage & Empower

 
1.3 States, districts, and others should develop and implement learning resources that exploit the flexibility and power of technology to reach all learners anytime and anywhere.

My school district's five year technology plan also supports this and complements the AECT's Code of Professional Ethics:

Substantial evidence suggests that in order to build a tech‐enhanced classroom, teachers and students must be encouraged and supported to experiment, investigate, and try out technology advancements. Establishing a system that promotes these behaviors will not only accelerate innovation, but will support a culture that seeks to prepare the students of tomorrow.

http://www.hsd.k12.or.us/Portals/0/District/departments/OSP/Tech%20Enhanced...

AECT Ethic:
Commitment to Individual:
7. Shall promote current and sound professional practices in the use of technology in education

http://aect.site-ym.com/members/group_content_view.asp?group=91131&id=30996...

2. Assessment: Measure what Matters

2.5 Revise practices, policies, and regulations to ensure privacy and information protection while enabling a model of assessment that includes ongoing gathering and sharing of data on student learning for continuous improvement. (U.S. Government Technology Plan)

My district's data:
Students 45.5% said they would be more engaged if they were expected to use technology. 31.8% said they do not feel they have access at school to the technology they need to complete their school work. 75% of students identified self‐paced curriculum (47.7%) and project‐based learning (27.3) as their ideal learning environment.

Parents 97.2% have technology at home their student can access in English speaking homes. 50% have technology at home their student can access in Spanish speaking homes. Cost is a factor in purchasing technology for use at school—$50 is about the threshold for purchasing technology. Over 50% of parents want to see their students use more technology to complete their school work. Close to 50% of parents feel their students are not sufficiently being prepared for an increasingly technology‐based future. An increase in access to technology was second only to lowering class size as the highest priority for parents.

AECT Ethic:
Section 1—Commitment to the Individual
4. Shall conduct professional business so as to protect the privacy and maintain the personal integrity of the individual.
Photo by justgrimes

3. Teaching: Prepare & Connect

U.S. Government Technology Plan:
3.4 Provide preservice and in-service educators with professional learning experiences powered by technology to increase their digital literacy and enable them to create compelling assignments for students that improve learning, assessment, and instructional practices.

My district's plan:
The fostering of innovation in Hillsboro schools will include the building of tech‐enhanced learning spaces in which students interact with technology daily to meet 21st century learning goals. Parents, students, and educators alike understand the demand on our system to adapt, and our investment in innovative “pilots” or “studio classrooms” will allow us to see into the future and get smart about implementation and realizing a Value on Investment (VOI) in educational technology.

AECT Ethic:
Commitment to Profession:
7. Shall delegate assigned tasks to qualified personnel. Qualified personnel are those who have appropriate training or credentials and/or who can demonstrate competency in performing the task.

4. Infrastructure: Access & Enable

U.S. Government Plan:
4.4 Build state and local education agency capacity for evolving an infrastructure for learning.

My district's plan:
Teachers expressed concern about equitable access to technology for all students. There is a need for reliable and adequate computers for classroom use. The computer labs in the high schools are outdated and cumbersome to use which inhibits teachers’ ability to integrate technology into instruction. Teachers are concerned that students graduate without the technology skills they need to be college and career‐ready.

AECT Ethic:
Commitment to Society:
5. Shall engage in fair and equitable practices with those rendering service to the profession.

5. Productivity: Redesign & Transform

U.S. Government Plan:
5.3 Develop useful metrics for the educational use of technology in states and districts.

My school district's plan:
The effective implementation of technology into daily learning can have a transformative effect on a school and a school district. Research conducted on over 1,000 schools that have made access to technology the highest priority provides substantial guidance to those looking to follow suit. Project RED (Redesigning EDucation) systematically collected this data to identify key understandings and findings that, if adhered to, will generate similar results in other systems.

AECT Ethic:
Commitment to Profession:
10. Shall conduct research using professionally accepted guidelines and procedures, especially as they apply to protecting participants from harm.
Photo by duncan

Implications

Different Viewpoints 
The first encounter I had related to the digital divide this year was when a parent called the principal instead of asking for a meeting with me. The parent was concerned that his child did not need to be completing so many assignments using technology. What happened to good old fashioned paper and pencil? The real issue turned out to be lack of adequate technology at home because the father was completing online classes while his son was asking to complete online classwork.

When I heard about the conversation I did contact the parent and explain that students always have a choice about what tools they use to complete their work.

It is important that educators raise awareness about technology use in the classroom. This can be achieved by hosting a family technology night.
Photo by Dean Hochman

Implications

Inadequate or no access at home 
The more I integrated technology within my classroom the less some families felt responsible for connecting with their child to help them be successful. Despite a variety of options about how to complete learning projects, most students chose technology as their project tool. When technology wasn't adequate or available at home this meant I needed to build in project completion time at school. I also discovered that it is imperative that we teach digital citizenship lessons throughout our learning. A handful of students needed very basic information. It would be beneficial to have our school computer lab open during the summer so that families could learn together.

Implications

 Professional Development for Teachers 
Teachers in my school district have their own digital divide regarding how to use technology in the classroom. This makes it difficult to push technology out to all classrooms too fast. For now, besides the high school math teachers, the teachers who seek technology through grants, are the ones who join the innovation team. It is my district's hope that this has a ripple effect as the innovators begin to share their successes and failures.

Why Should We Care?

Closing the Digital Divide 
Technology alone does not make kids smarter.

Technology alone does not end poverty.

Technology alone does not unite the world.

But... technology in the hands of responsible and innovative people who put an emphasis on teaching others about solutions to their problems and how technology can be connected to those solutions is an incredibly powerful combination.
Photo by mrsdkrebs