EDUC 5353: The Digital Divide Blog 2 Call to Action
As I mentioned in Blog 1, the district I work in is a big virtual charter school where students can either work one-on-one with a teacher online or go to the Learning Center for daily interaction with their teacher and other students. When COVID-19 hit, our district was a step ahead of many other schools since all students get a Chromebook or iPad and a Mifi device when they enroll. But, the way our students worked had to change. Those who were meeting with teachers one-on-one had to switch to remote learning, and the students who went to the Learning Center now had to learn remotely as well.
Now that Covid has become a part of our “seasonal” normalcy, school has begun to look as it did before. We have transitioned into one-to-one meetings again and students can choose to attend the learning center. There are still many dividing factors in my district that could possibly impact student learning. Even though students are issued a Chromebook and portable Mifi device many students do not have the support they need at home due to a lack of digital literacy.
The Digital Divide in Online Education states that effective distance learning requires not only access to digital tools but also a conducive study environment, digital skills, and active parental involvement (Werfhorst et al., 2022). Some of our students are living with parents who can barely read themselves or with grandparents who just do not have the knowledge that is needed to assist their student.
The lack of technological knowledge affects not just our parents, but also our staff. Some educators may struggle to navigate the platform in which they are required to use, while others may struggle with how to read the data available to help them support their students. I believe that not only educators but also parents/guardians would benefit from technology training. These trainings could be provided through the school district. This is one way to ensure that every student has the support they need to succeed.
References
van de Werfhorst, H.G., Kessenich, E., & Geven, S. (2022). The digital divide in online education: Inequality in digital readiness of students and schools. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9435462/pdf/main.pdf
posted by Melody McCarty @ January 23, 2025
5 Comments
5 Comments:
Melody, I so enjoyed reading your post. Your current role is so interesting. I would be so interested learning more about how the Charter School works. I can see how living with guardians who are not technologically literate would produce some unique challenges. I think it's a wonderful idea to make trainings available for families. I look forward to seeing you develop your call to action.
Hi Melody. Thanks for sharing your blog. It is quite interesting to me that your school has remained in the state of remote learning. It sounds like to me you are in the right class especially since technology now plays a crucial role at your school. I think you make many valid points, but one in particular that I really appreciate is your focus on teacher training. If educators are responsible for engaging students via technology, it would be extremely beneficial to have everyone all on the same page and technologically savvy. With the proper training, both students and teachers can develop the necessary skills and knowledge to apply technical concepts in different situations. Thank you for sharing!
Melody-
I'm excited to be collaborating with you on this since we are at the same school. What do you think about planning some PD around our intervention students' families? I'm curious as to how many are struggling with the digital literacy of it all, and that could just be another layer of our MTSS plans.
-Liz
Hey Melody,
Nice write-up. One thing that you touched on that I have also found in my own research is the cycle that is created when parents and sometimes even teachers with low levels of digital literacy cannot teach or possibly even expose their children to technology. This cycle then perpetuates through the generations and as technology improves at an ever increasing rate, the digital divide just gets wider and wider with each generation. Before starting my research I had never even thought about this being a major contributor of the divide.
-Kevin Moore
I am focusing my project on a school that is similar to where you work. All students are entirely remote though, and have live class connect sessions with their teacher and other students. I have also found that many parents do not have the digital skills to provide adequate help for students. I agree with you that some type of training could be beneficial for these families.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home