The Digital Divide
As the technological world continues to progress we are seeing it used in classrooms more and more. Technology can have so many positive educational benefits, and open doors to endless possibilities. With that being said, this boom of technology use in the classroom has created the digital divide.
What Is The Digital Divide?
It is the idea that as technology use in schools continues to grow, we are creating a gap between students with the financial means to access technology and those who cannot. This gap causes students who do not have easy access to fall behind due to the hurdles they have in their efforts to keep up. Looking at the history of technology in schools, computers were making their way into classrooms as early as the 1980s. During this time public schools were receiving funding by the government to provide these resources. However, eventually that government budget ran out and schools had to begin to pay for technological resources using local property taxes. This is where the digital divide began. Low-income areas did not have the same funding as high income areas, so some schools had greater access to technology than others. It also caused issues because even schools in higher-income areas did not have large budgets for technology so they were not able to provide enough for every student, so the divide began to grow.
Looking At The Numbers
87% of households in the United States have access to an internet-enabled device at home. Although 13% might seem like a small number, that translates to approximately 9 million children lacking consistent access to a computer at home. Those who do not have access are usually low-income individuals, people experiencing homelessness, people of color, English-language learners, or people with disabilities. 50% of low-income families do not have access to technology. For the 87% that do have an internet-enabled device it might be one computer or tablet that is shared among the parents and multiple school aged children.
Impact of COVID-19 on The Digital Divide
As COVID-19 began to grow, schools around the nation shifted from in person learning to virtual learning. The presence of the digital divide has never been greater. Schools were forced to close with little to no prep time. Some schools had access to technological resources to be able to provide all students, or at least students that did not have access to a laptop or tablet at home. However, many schools did not have the ability to provide that many devices to students. And the issue does not stop there. Providing a student with a laptop does not guarantee that they have wifi in their home to be able to use it. Places like the library and other public wifi access areas were also closed due to the pandemic. These issues left nearly 11 million students unable to join class calls or complete any work at home.
Technology is going to continue to develop and change. Although utilizing it as much as possible has educational benefits, we need to first focus on closing the gap of the digital divide. Students should not be falling behind in school due to their lack of access to technology. Technology is beneficial in the classroom, but only if all students have equal access to it.
References
https://soeonline.american.edu/blog/digital-divide-in-education
https://west.edtrust.org/resource/education-equity-in-crisis-the-digital-divide/
https://www.idra.org/resource-center/bridging-the-digital-divide-in-our-schools/
Emily, you have highlighted your argument by using statistics which allowed me to better understand the crucial facts of the digital divide. Now that communication is key to clarifying misunderstandings, email is a tool that provides access to students to self-advocate and ask questions. However, because of the disadvantage of not having a device, or access to the internet, it certainly damages the opportunities one has, and makes their task a bit harder. This blog has created me to widen my perspective and become prepared and open minded to those students who might not be successful due to their disadvantages as home.
ReplyDeleteEmily, thank you for discussing such an important topic in great detail! The statistics put the issue that we are seeing as educators everyday in the classroom into the perspective of the whole country. I completely agree that technology is extremely beneficial in education but not without equal access for all students. While the digital divide has been an issue for quite a long time now, COVID-19 has definitely increased the divide even further. All students have the right to an equal public education and the digital divide is a huge factor that is not allowing educators to provide this.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the digital divide is so prevalent anywhere you go, especially like you said in lower socioeconomic areas. During this past year, I was able to see the digital divide happen in real time during the COVID pandemic. I was interning at a Title 1 school so each student was able to receive an iPad, which was helpful. However, I still witnessed this technology gap in terms of students not having stable wifi or access to charge their devices properly. The pandemic displayed the large digital divide the education system is facing. How do teachers keep this in mind when planning for homework or assignments outside of class? How does the lack of access to technology put those students at a disadvantage for academic success?
ReplyDeleteAriana you make sure a good point with your questions. During the school year that the pandemic first hit, the charter school I worked for surveyed parents to find out the type of technology they had access to at home. With no clear advice from the powers of be, we relied on whatever technology students had at home - whether that was an actual computer, iPad/ tablet or a phone. This definitely put my students who had limited access to technology at a huge disadvantage. Fast forward to last school year, with students who were fully remote for the entirety of the year, were constantly having connectivity issues. The issues were mostly due in part to the fact that they were relying on government subsidized internet, which was not the most effective in terms of speed. Between shortages and connectivity issues overall it put students who lacked fast internet themselves at a large disadvantage to those whom had the means to obtain better internet. This also continues into today with students who no longer have the access to subsidized internet, but are having to stay home to quarantine when exposed to COVID.
DeleteI see the digital divide in the district I work in. I was student teaching in the district at the time that Covid began. The district rushed to provide all students with a device, but some households did not have access to internet. Instead they provided students with packets of work to do on their own. I would say that students from the district I work in are included in the 11 million students who were unable to join class virtually. It is unfortunate that there is divide, but it's the reality we as educators face daily.
ReplyDeleteI was also in student teaching when COVID began and we were rushed home with expectations of virtual learning. At the time, I viewed it as student not learning well on the computer. But now, I can see the great divide that this caused. So many of my students could not afford individual devices or proper connection. There were a few of my fifth graders that shared a single device amongst two other siblings. So many people assume that technology is easy to access, but this assumption just widens the digital divide.
DeleteGabi and Olivia, I was also student teaching during the COVID pandemic, so I can relate to the thoughts you both shared. The district I student-taught in was primarily low-income, so getting technology in the hands of students who needed it was a challenge. Another challenge we faced was making sure that all students had Internet access at home. Some of my students were also sharing their devices with siblings, which meant that they were forced to alternate which sibling attended virtual school each day. I felt for these students immensely. As Emily mentioned, students should not be falling behind due to lack of access to technology.
DeleteHi Emily,
ReplyDeleteI had never thought about the precursors to the digital divide - I did not realize that funding used to be federally provided for technology in the 1980s. Growing up, I went to a regional high school because my town and the surrounding towns were not large enough to constitute one high school on their own. Even then, it was interesting to hear about the cool technology resources the district next door had at their middle school, but that my school never had access to. I didn't understand how taxes helped to fund my educational experience then, but I do remember it felt a little unfair, or that I was "less than". And this was not during a time that students or teachers needed devices and the internet to teach and learn - so imagine how students who don't have equitable access feel now that it is so essential! I think your post speaks to how important it is for educators to be advocates and speak to our learner's educational experiences and where they deserve more funding and support. Certainly, we always do our best with what we have, but sometimes it really is not enough.
I couldn't agree with your response more, Jen! I really feel for students who do not have the technology that they need to succeed now. i think we really need to give support so that all students have everything that they need in order to be successful. Emily, this was a great post that really discusses the need to make sure that all of our students, equally have everything that they need in order to be successful in our classrooms.
DeleteWhen I was student teaching last year I saw the digital divide during this year. I student taught partial remote learning which made it difficult to get to know the students especially since a majority of them did not have access to internet or device. What we had to do during this time was provide each family with a paper packet each week. The families then got to decide whether they were going to complete the work on Google Classroom or in paper format. For Zoom meetings on average there were only about 5-7 students that showed up each time out of 18. This district also did not have the funds to provide each student with a device and/or internet access. All that can be done is that each teacher does their best for their students!
ReplyDeleteEmily, you hit the nail on the head! The digital divide that we are encountering has been a serious problem for low income districts. When we went remote in 2020 our district did not have enough of funding for every student to have a device which cause such a gap in our school. Student who had a device at home were able to join in on Zoom calls and completing online assignments while others were not getting direct instruction and completing paper pencil with little to no guidance. Thankfully our district was able to get devices for each student last year but when students arrived to school in September we saw a huge gap. Although we had devices many household were in need of hotspots, which then prolonged learning for students when we has to teach remotely. As educators we try our best to give each student equal opportunity, unfortunately as long as we have this digital divide it is very difficult.
ReplyDelete