When the pandemic hit, districts were left running frantically making sure students were ready and able to continue their education through remote learning. The problem quickly became students having access to the devices and internet needed to maintain their learning while schools had to shutdown. For some students and affluent areas this was not a problem. Other students and lower income areas struggled with this. This pandemic exposed the digital divide that exists across our country.
I work in a district that I felt acted swiftly in providing students access to a chromebook and internet devices as did most districts. While our district did have a plethora of technology and hot spots to disperse, not all districts could do the same. However creativity helped in these areas. Some students found themselves using the school's steps or restaurants to access Wifi. Wifi was placed on buses and rotated around to act as temporary hot spots. In some districts these are still being used for students with long bus commutes. Access to the internet can help transform learning and for some students, school is the only place to receive it. According to Frazier and Hearrington (2019), “access to a computer network and the wide-ranging resources available through the internet allows users to connect to information” not only locally but around the world (p.119).
The truth is the digital divide is still an issue. Coleman (2021) argues, “while COVID-19 has highlighted the impact of the digital divide in education, and more widely, concerns around digital exclusion remain even as we move out of COVID-19 enforced remote education”. This digital inequity did not just exist when we switched to remote learning. It is a very real problem within school buildings today. Sheninger (2019) argues, “the world of education is often defined by the haves and have nots” (p. 129). It is not fair that this drives decisions when it comes to technology. All students should be afforded the same opportunities no matter what. But that is not the reality in which we live. Schools are forced to get creative and implement BYOD type programs and use E-Rate funds to help fund technology. Thus making it more important than ever to take the time to clearly communicate policies and expectations to ensure that all technology is being used appropriately (Frazier & Hearrington, 2017, p.183). The goal for educators is to “provide our learners with experiences that will adequately prepare them to survive and thrive in a digital world” (Sheninger, 2019, p. 129). The pandemic has stretched educator creativity, however, many are finding ways to still provide that digital component to the learning process.
Education is still experiencing the residual effects of the pandemic and may for years to come. According to Coleman (2021), “the digital divide will remain a challenge for education and must be examined and addressed so as to ensure that disadvantaged students do not fall further behind”. We cannot allow the opportunity gap to widen due to lack of technology or access to the internet. This Digital Divide PDF gives great insight into data from the inadequacies of access and technology during the pandemic but also ways to help mitigate those inadequacies as well. Doing nothing will put our students at a great disadvantage during a digital learning era. We need to ensure our students have the technology and access to be future ready and ready to compete in a digital world, no matter where they reside.
References:
Coleman, V. (2021). Digital divide in UK education during COVID-19 pandemic: Literature Review. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED616296.pdf
Frazier, M. & Hearrington, D. (2017). The technology coordinator’s handbook (3rd ed). International Society for Technology in Education.
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sheninger, E. (2017). Digital leadership. Changing Paradigms for changing Times (2nd ed).
Erica,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post and could relate to what you shared about the digital divide. It was eye-opening to learn that so many of our families did not have access to reliable internet and devices in their homes. I remember going back and forth with one family trying to help them use some of the online learning programs when they were home in the spring of 2020. Come to find out, the 3 school aged children were all trying to share their mom's iPhone to do all of their work! Having access to computers and reliable internet is definitley something I took for granted. Unfortunately, the digital divide is not just in students' homes. Some school systems are still working to provide adequate internet access to their schools. "Access to the internet has quickly become an indispensible resource for schools" ( Frazier and Hearrington, 2017, p. 119). Although progress has been made, there are still too many students who are under-connected or completley unconnected (Tate, 2021). This will continue to be a problem that technology coordinators and school districts continue to battle so that all students have the access they need.
Thanks for sharing,
Valerie Matson
References:
Frazier, M. & Hearrington, D. (2017). The technology coordinator’s handbook (Third Edition).
International Society for Technology in Education.
Tate, E. (2021, January 27). The digital divide has narrowed, but 12 million students sre still disconnected. EdSurge. https://www.edsurge.com/news/2021-01-27-the-digital-divide-has-narrowed-but-12-million-students-are-still-disconnected
Erica,
ReplyDeleteThe pandemic provided both an opportunity but also gave many districts the harsh reality that there was a significant divide. The district in which I work managed to move to a 1:1 program but we quickly realized that a large number of our families lacked home internet access to use the devices. We partnered with Verizon to provide unlimited mobile hotspots for our students to provide access for our students. Herrington and Frazier (2017) state that for most schools, internet access is considered a standard utility like water and electricity. Coffin (2021) states that the government must be a major part of bridging the divide by providing adequate funding for districts to maintain and upgrade their infrastructure. It certainly remains to be seen where the future will take us.
Andrew Reid
References:
Jane Coffin. (2021, November 18). The Hill. The Hill. https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/technology/582243-bridging-the-digital-divide-investing-where-it-counts/
Frazier, M. & Hearrington, D. (2017). The technology coordinator’s handbook (Third Edition).
International Society for Technology in Education.
There are many plans with local, state, and national groups and government organizations to "close" the digital divide. I hope sometime soon this will be possible. I know in my district we were able to give everyone a device, I was able to have that device filtered at all times, even at home, but we were unable to provide everyone internet at home. Some of our kids have no option for home internet outside of satellite service, and cellular hotspots do not pick up. We can only offer to bring busses out close and provide external access at each school site.
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