Pursuing Digital Equity Through Access & Opportunity – All Means All

While devices such as laptops and tablets have become significantly more common in schools since 2020, challenges persist in access, especially due to connectivity issues at school and at home. Asd students have gained more access to technology in schools, connectivity challenges outside of schools are evolving and becoming more nuanced.

The First (and Biggest) Digital Divide: Access

Connectivity for students is an ongoing challenge, even in our wealthiest of districts. There is no one solution, but reaching out and looking at challenges facing students and families is essential. A study by the ACT Center for Equity in Learning shows that the definition of what it means to be connected is evolving. It used to be a yes or no question of home connectivity. Increasingly, though, it is a matter of how many devices a student has access to in his or her family. For example:

“Students with access to only one device may need to share that device with other family members in their household. These family members might include siblings who also need the device for homework and other school-related activities. This limits the availability of the device for homework, college applications, and the like. In addition, if the device breaks, students will not have an additional device with which to complete school-related activities. Students with access to more than one device are less likely to face these challenges.”

When several family members are competing for connectivity time that perhaps includes limited data, a student’s ability to fulfill school assignments can be challenging at best. Finding out the extent of the digital divide in an individual school district is a starting point, and it means being intentional and transparent in asking questions to students and families.

Once a district gets a general idea of the extent of the challenge, there are several avenues to explore to help students. Here are a few that the Beaverton School District tried in Beaverton, Oregon.

• Hotspot Pilot Project: The district piloted a small hotspot project in one of our high schools – giving students access to WiFi hotspot devices they could take home – and quickly learned that demand far exceeded the supply. The project included help and guidance from the school’s student leadership, administration, and library and tech teachers, as well as district librarians.
• WiFi Access Maps: Some of the district’s schools in highly impacted areas contacted local businesses to see if they would be willing to allow students to use their WiFi after school hours. This proactive approach helped to build community support and engage others with our access challenges.
• Sprint 1 Million Hotspot Grant: In the Spring of 2017, the district’s Digital Equity Team applied for a Sprint 1 Million hotspot grant. This is a five-year grant that provides 400 hotspots a year for distribution to our neediest students and will run through 2022.
• Latino Tech Parent Nights: The district hosts Latino family technology nights to educate parents on how to support their students with technology. Many of these parents have not used a computer before, so educating them about digital citizenship, expectations, and parenting helps show them the value of being connected and being ready for the future.
• Focus on High-Needs Schools: To meet the needs of middle and elementary schools, the district piloted a Kajeet hotspot project at three of our highest-needs schools. We are working closely to gather data on teaching and learning at these schools in order to inform future adoptions.
• School and District Surveys: The district added questions about home internet connectivity in our district-wide student survey to help us make informed decisions about future steps.
• Extended Library Hours: To support students, the school district extended library hours. In addition, the district provided transportation for students who depend on bussing. 

Download the Infographic: Digital Divide Statistics You Need to Know.

The Second Digital Divide: Instruction

More devices and improving networks, though, do not guarantee meaningful interactions with technology. Sociologist Paul Atwell observed that even as technology gaps close, a second divide often becomes increasingly apparent:

“Affluent students use the same technologies to support richer forms of learning with greater adult mentorship. This first section of the report offers evidence of how inequity persists despite removing technical and economic barriers, and what we know about the social and cultural forces that determine these inequitable outcomes.” (Connected Learning Alliance Report)

The second digital divide becomes more apparent when looking beyond the “number of devices” found in schools. The teaching that is taking place within schools with technology becomes a matter of equity and educational opportunity.

Using technology to “drill and kill” students for test prep saps the creativity and curiosity out of the classroom environment. These types of activities contain little to no collaboration and don’t allow for research and deeper inquiry skills. Using technology in this way might appear to be easier when it comes to managing classroom behavior as it can provide a framework for specific directions (e.g. “finish this practice test in the next 30 minutes”).

Paradoxically, these types of lessons can encourage boredom, dread, and misbehavior.

Classroom behavior and technology use is a nuanced problem, and schools of poverty often face extra challenges. Addressing the second digital divide and encouraging high-level learning opportunities for all of our students is key. Providing devices and strong networks for quick internet access is improving. Providing dynamic and transformational learning opportunities for all of our students remains an ongoing challenge.

From Awareness to Action

Teaching and technology are quickly evolving, and we must continue to address challenges from the first and second digital divides. A consistent and transparent approach is essential in order to provide an engaging and equitable education for all of our students.

Introspection is not always comfortable, and blind spots appear when we least expect them. With about 80 percent of public-school teachers being white and predominantly middle class, blind spots emerge as a product of biases and assumptions that educators make about connectivity and capability of students from vastly different backgrounds.

In the short term, a clear focus on policy to increase connectivity can yield meaningful and measurable benefits. In the long term, perhaps the more challenging work is addressing opportunity gaps emerging in the second digital divide. How technology is being used in the classroom matters, and expectations and assumptions need to be examined with an eye towards equity.

Finding a dedicated group of professionals in your learning organization who are willing to learn together and challenge common thinking is a pivotal step in the journey toward equity and inclusion.

This blog was originally contributed by Matthew Hatfield and published in 2019 and has since been updated.

Further Reading