4.1 Digital Equity
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Candidates model and promote strategies for achieving equitable access to digital tools and resources and technology-related best practices for all students and teachers. (PSC 4.1/ISTE 5a)
Artifact
Life is all about opportunities. They knock at our door every day. It is up to the individual on the other side of the door to decide to answer the knock, or not. Still, just because we all have opportunities presented to ourselves every day, every person’s opportunities are most definitely not the same. Every person’s opportunities are most definitely not as frequent. Some opportunities may not even have a positive outcome in any way one looks at that opportunity, all because of where they were born, who they were born to, or the decisions that others made that influence one’s life each day. The blog post from ITEC 7430, Internet Tools in the Classroom, is my artifact for this standard that provides documentation for my ability to excel within this realm.
When a child’s education pertains to educational technology, more so than the standard “reading, writing, and arithmetic,” the technological gap from household to house hold is staggering when comparing low-income families to middle-class families. Students just do not have the same equal access to technology devices. With that being understood, schools need to close the technology gap by ensuring that all students have equitable access to digital tools and resources within the classroom walls, and perhaps, even outside of them.
One method to work around a student not having access, at home, to technology is to provide it for them, as we do with pencils, pens, paper, … almost everything else it seems at times. Some districts already do this, and some, due to financial constraints, can only dream of this reality other districts are fortunate enough to be located in. If sending home technology is not an option for a district, providing students with the devices in school, and perhaps even for longer times than other students that have access at home, can help close this tech gap between students. It’s not their fault. They didn’t do anything wrong.
In my blog post that is downloadable on this page, I wrote, “As teachers, we have been taught to teach the students in differentiated styles to allow for the best chance for their learning and success. Students have different needs not just in learning, but to the digital tools and resources to educational and instructional technology as well. Whether it is an ESOL, ELL, SPED, BYOT, BYOD, 504, IEP, EIP, GIFTED & ADVANCED, or even a general education student, each student deserves equitable access to technology and everything else that comes with it. Without equitable access, by definition, the playing field is already stacked to reward the children that were born into the life that already has an app for that.” Closing this technology gap opens, I would say worlds, but more accurately would be universes, it opens new universes for all students to explore within, especially students without regular access to technology.
Strategies for achieving equitable access to digital tools, resources, and technology-related best practices for all students (race, gender, ethnicity…) and teachers:
• Provide internet access to all students
• Make available devices for all students
• Offer extra time with the devices to all students who need/want it
• Use digital tools, online tools, and instructional devices for creating and higher-order thinking skills
• Engage and connect with students using technology
• Use digital tools to empower all students
• Improve literacy and digital literacy through immersion activities
As educators, it is our moral imperative to ensure that each child achieves his or her greatest potential. All students work at different levels, learn differently and at different paces, and speak different languages. The commonality should be equal access to the same educational opportunities with equal access to everything that is aligned with an education. The opportunities at our student’s homes may not all be equal, but at school, each student, each child, will have the same positive opportunities to become the best person they can become, all from the same playing field.
I learned that digital equality is actually a real issue that easily gets overlooked by teachers and administrators. With people talking about it, and more importantly, people listening about it, changes can occur to ensure that all students have equitable access to the digital tools and resources.
I would have liked to do more research on this topic of digital equality so that I could present more precise research for my administration to view. This is an issue at our school and knowing more about this issue can help make the positive changes needed in digital equality for all students.
The mere fact that I became initially informed about digital equality while taking this class provides hope that, with proper training and education, others can join in the quest to ensure that all students have the access they so deserve within our school. This blog post, along with my newly acquired knowledge, will help to shape the school and faculty development through further educational training sessions and mini-sessions to bring this issue from the back to the front of the line. With more people becoming informed, the impact of this probable change for a focus on digital equality can be measured by the usage of technology by all students, in all classrooms, and for all relevant learning opportunities.
When a child’s education pertains to educational technology, more so than the standard “reading, writing, and arithmetic,” the technological gap from household to house hold is staggering when comparing low-income families to middle-class families. Students just do not have the same equal access to technology devices. With that being understood, schools need to close the technology gap by ensuring that all students have equitable access to digital tools and resources within the classroom walls, and perhaps, even outside of them.
One method to work around a student not having access, at home, to technology is to provide it for them, as we do with pencils, pens, paper, … almost everything else it seems at times. Some districts already do this, and some, due to financial constraints, can only dream of this reality other districts are fortunate enough to be located in. If sending home technology is not an option for a district, providing students with the devices in school, and perhaps even for longer times than other students that have access at home, can help close this tech gap between students. It’s not their fault. They didn’t do anything wrong.
In my blog post that is downloadable on this page, I wrote, “As teachers, we have been taught to teach the students in differentiated styles to allow for the best chance for their learning and success. Students have different needs not just in learning, but to the digital tools and resources to educational and instructional technology as well. Whether it is an ESOL, ELL, SPED, BYOT, BYOD, 504, IEP, EIP, GIFTED & ADVANCED, or even a general education student, each student deserves equitable access to technology and everything else that comes with it. Without equitable access, by definition, the playing field is already stacked to reward the children that were born into the life that already has an app for that.” Closing this technology gap opens, I would say worlds, but more accurately would be universes, it opens new universes for all students to explore within, especially students without regular access to technology.
Strategies for achieving equitable access to digital tools, resources, and technology-related best practices for all students (race, gender, ethnicity…) and teachers:
• Provide internet access to all students
• Make available devices for all students
• Offer extra time with the devices to all students who need/want it
• Use digital tools, online tools, and instructional devices for creating and higher-order thinking skills
• Engage and connect with students using technology
• Use digital tools to empower all students
• Improve literacy and digital literacy through immersion activities
As educators, it is our moral imperative to ensure that each child achieves his or her greatest potential. All students work at different levels, learn differently and at different paces, and speak different languages. The commonality should be equal access to the same educational opportunities with equal access to everything that is aligned with an education. The opportunities at our student’s homes may not all be equal, but at school, each student, each child, will have the same positive opportunities to become the best person they can become, all from the same playing field.
I learned that digital equality is actually a real issue that easily gets overlooked by teachers and administrators. With people talking about it, and more importantly, people listening about it, changes can occur to ensure that all students have equitable access to the digital tools and resources.
I would have liked to do more research on this topic of digital equality so that I could present more precise research for my administration to view. This is an issue at our school and knowing more about this issue can help make the positive changes needed in digital equality for all students.
The mere fact that I became initially informed about digital equality while taking this class provides hope that, with proper training and education, others can join in the quest to ensure that all students have the access they so deserve within our school. This blog post, along with my newly acquired knowledge, will help to shape the school and faculty development through further educational training sessions and mini-sessions to bring this issue from the back to the front of the line. With more people becoming informed, the impact of this probable change for a focus on digital equality can be measured by the usage of technology by all students, in all classrooms, and for all relevant learning opportunities.