...if we have computers and the necessary training and support based on our individual needs and interests.
The Problem
With all this talk about tech tool integration and the amazing collaborative possibilities that Web 2.0--and more recently Web 3.0--have portended, there exists a significant roadblock for important portions of our student populations. For some students, access to technology at home and at school falls disconcertingly short of that of their peers, and for several reasons. Those reasons are, of course, the same reasons that in far too many ways statistically oppress children in this country and in many other places throughout the world: less-than-desirable income, ethnic minority status, and physical or mental disability. These inequities are commonly referred to as the digital divide.
Socioeconomic Inequality & Racial/Ethnic Minority Status
Research on access to technology in United States schools has demonstrated an unequivocal gap in technology background knowledge, social technological support, tool availability, and ultimate tool usage among students of low and high socioeconomic status (SES) (Barron, Walter, Martin, & Schatz, 2010; Hohlfeld, Ritzhaupt, & Barron, 2010; Rideout, 2011). According to the American Psychological Association (2014), African American and Latino students are more likely to live in low-SES neighborhoods and thus have less technology access, less rigorous curricula, and less-experienced teachers with low expectations.
Students of high SES benefit from more home and mobile access to a variety of creative learning tools and apps, whereas their low SES counterparts spend a predominance of their screen time in front of televisions (Rideout, 2011), and thus miss out on the creative interactivity digital tools can offer. At school, high-SES students are also more likely to be surrounded by technology (Hohlfeld, et al., 2010) and to take high-level computing courses (Barron, et al., 2010) than the students in low-SES neighborhoods, thus deepening the divide.
Socioeconomic Inequality & Physical or Mental Disability
Students with mental or physical difficulty accessing the general curricula can benefit from a vibrant use of technology tools. There are a great many assistive technologies available, and schools are required by the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) to provide students who have documented physical or mental disabilities with the assistive technology tools they need in order to gain equitable access to curriculum. Despite the requirements of IDEA, the American Psychological Association (2014) has determined that students with physical or mental disabilities are far less likely to attend college and are far more likely to live in poverty than students without disabilities.
Workable Solutions
Increasing Access at School
All children matter and deserve equitable treatment and quality education. Thus, efforts to remove the roadblocks and provide all students with equitable access to technology, and ultimately to learning, are efforts that continue to push schools and educators to try new methods of technology integration both in the classroom and out of it. Many school districts now encourage students to bring their own devices to school to use for educational purposes, and some schools have even decided to purchase enough personal devices for each individual student. As far as leveling the digital access playing field for students of low socioeconomic status, this strategy has proven incredibly effective The video below provides case study evidence that 1-1 mobile device usage, when combined with teachers' understanding of how to appropriately employ the available applications, can produce environments of positive, collaborative, individualized learning that eliminate embarrassment and generate positive educational outcomes for all students.
With all this talk about tech tool integration and the amazing collaborative possibilities that Web 2.0--and more recently Web 3.0--have portended, there exists a significant roadblock for important portions of our student populations. For some students, access to technology at home and at school falls disconcertingly short of that of their peers, and for several reasons. Those reasons are, of course, the same reasons that in far too many ways statistically oppress children in this country and in many other places throughout the world: less-than-desirable income, ethnic minority status, and physical or mental disability. These inequities are commonly referred to as the digital divide.
Socioeconomic Inequality & Racial/Ethnic Minority Status
Research on access to technology in United States schools has demonstrated an unequivocal gap in technology background knowledge, social technological support, tool availability, and ultimate tool usage among students of low and high socioeconomic status (SES) (Barron, Walter, Martin, & Schatz, 2010; Hohlfeld, Ritzhaupt, & Barron, 2010; Rideout, 2011). According to the American Psychological Association (2014), African American and Latino students are more likely to live in low-SES neighborhoods and thus have less technology access, less rigorous curricula, and less-experienced teachers with low expectations.
Students of high SES benefit from more home and mobile access to a variety of creative learning tools and apps, whereas their low SES counterparts spend a predominance of their screen time in front of televisions (Rideout, 2011), and thus miss out on the creative interactivity digital tools can offer. At school, high-SES students are also more likely to be surrounded by technology (Hohlfeld, et al., 2010) and to take high-level computing courses (Barron, et al., 2010) than the students in low-SES neighborhoods, thus deepening the divide.
Socioeconomic Inequality & Physical or Mental Disability
Students with mental or physical difficulty accessing the general curricula can benefit from a vibrant use of technology tools. There are a great many assistive technologies available, and schools are required by the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) to provide students who have documented physical or mental disabilities with the assistive technology tools they need in order to gain equitable access to curriculum. Despite the requirements of IDEA, the American Psychological Association (2014) has determined that students with physical or mental disabilities are far less likely to attend college and are far more likely to live in poverty than students without disabilities.
Workable Solutions
Increasing Access at School
All children matter and deserve equitable treatment and quality education. Thus, efforts to remove the roadblocks and provide all students with equitable access to technology, and ultimately to learning, are efforts that continue to push schools and educators to try new methods of technology integration both in the classroom and out of it. Many school districts now encourage students to bring their own devices to school to use for educational purposes, and some schools have even decided to purchase enough personal devices for each individual student. As far as leveling the digital access playing field for students of low socioeconomic status, this strategy has proven incredibly effective The video below provides case study evidence that 1-1 mobile device usage, when combined with teachers' understanding of how to appropriately employ the available applications, can produce environments of positive, collaborative, individualized learning that eliminate embarrassment and generate positive educational outcomes for all students.
Increasing Access Outside of School
Providing students with access to technology beyond the classroom is essential to promoting equitable access. However, schools do not trust students, and in some cases, for good reason. Areas of high poverty are also areas of desperation, though, and the desperation is often tied with crime. Though some argue that causation is questionable, it is certainly in our country's best interest to provide all students, even those attempting to escape generational poverty, equitable pathways to success. Providing equitable pathways is worth the theft risk. Also, there's an app for that.
Educators also worry about what their students will do with 1-to-1 devices. Will students be productive, or will they goof around or worse? Educators should worry not these days. There's an app for that, too:
Providing students with access to technology beyond the classroom is essential to promoting equitable access. However, schools do not trust students, and in some cases, for good reason. Areas of high poverty are also areas of desperation, though, and the desperation is often tied with crime. Though some argue that causation is questionable, it is certainly in our country's best interest to provide all students, even those attempting to escape generational poverty, equitable pathways to success. Providing equitable pathways is worth the theft risk. Also, there's an app for that.
Educators also worry about what their students will do with 1-to-1 devices. Will students be productive, or will they goof around or worse? Educators should worry not these days. There's an app for that, too:
Increasing Access through Universal Design for Learning
Purchasing and assigning 1-to-1 devices may not be feasible for all schools, of course. In fact, budget cuts in Philadelphia schools have forced educators to spend portions of their own meager salaries to clothe students and provide them with pencils and paper. And toilet paper. Clearly, 1-to-1 is not an option everywhere. What is an option everywhere is the designing of curricular materials with universal accessibility in mind. Taking what resources are available and using ingenuity to create lessons that engage all learners--despite generational poverty-based learning gaps and physical or mental disability--lays the yellow bricks for a road that could lead to successful futures.
But How?
For students in poverty : Encourage parental and community support by implementing information and communications technology practices that aim to keep parents and community members informed and active. Know what resources are available, and gather those resources where available. Many local non-profits offer refurbished computers to low-income families at little or no cost; utilizing the information and communications technology practices, keep families informed of their options. Provide specific device and application training for students, parents, and family members so they can learn to use the Internet as a portal into possible advances in education and employment.
For students with disabilities: Consider principles of the Universal Design for Learning. Create lessons that include closed captioning and screen-readers or recordings of text and image descriptions read aloud. Present new content by using a mix of words, sounds, images, and tactile items. Take care in choosing materials and websites to use for instruction and student practice - ensure that the background color and text color allow for reading by students with color-blindness and that navigation is keyboard-accessible for students with fine motor difficulties.
Our collective future is worth it. Our students are worth it, too.
References
Barron, B., Walter, S. E., Martin, C. K., & Schatz, C. (2010). Predictors of creative computing participation and profiles of
experience in two Silicon Valley middle schools. Computers & Education, 54178-189. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2009.07.017
Hohlfeld, T.N., Ritzhaupt, A.D., & Barron, A.E. (2010). Connecting schools, community, and family with ICT: Four-year trends
related to school level and SES of public schools in Florida. Computers & Education 55(1), 391-405.
Rideout, V. (2011) Zero to eight: Children’s media use in America. Education Digest, 79(6), 59-63.
Purchasing and assigning 1-to-1 devices may not be feasible for all schools, of course. In fact, budget cuts in Philadelphia schools have forced educators to spend portions of their own meager salaries to clothe students and provide them with pencils and paper. And toilet paper. Clearly, 1-to-1 is not an option everywhere. What is an option everywhere is the designing of curricular materials with universal accessibility in mind. Taking what resources are available and using ingenuity to create lessons that engage all learners--despite generational poverty-based learning gaps and physical or mental disability--lays the yellow bricks for a road that could lead to successful futures.
But How?
For students in poverty : Encourage parental and community support by implementing information and communications technology practices that aim to keep parents and community members informed and active. Know what resources are available, and gather those resources where available. Many local non-profits offer refurbished computers to low-income families at little or no cost; utilizing the information and communications technology practices, keep families informed of their options. Provide specific device and application training for students, parents, and family members so they can learn to use the Internet as a portal into possible advances in education and employment.
For students with disabilities: Consider principles of the Universal Design for Learning. Create lessons that include closed captioning and screen-readers or recordings of text and image descriptions read aloud. Present new content by using a mix of words, sounds, images, and tactile items. Take care in choosing materials and websites to use for instruction and student practice - ensure that the background color and text color allow for reading by students with color-blindness and that navigation is keyboard-accessible for students with fine motor difficulties.
Our collective future is worth it. Our students are worth it, too.
References
Barron, B., Walter, S. E., Martin, C. K., & Schatz, C. (2010). Predictors of creative computing participation and profiles of
experience in two Silicon Valley middle schools. Computers & Education, 54178-189. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2009.07.017
Hohlfeld, T.N., Ritzhaupt, A.D., & Barron, A.E. (2010). Connecting schools, community, and family with ICT: Four-year trends
related to school level and SES of public schools in Florida. Computers & Education 55(1), 391-405.
Rideout, V. (2011) Zero to eight: Children’s media use in America. Education Digest, 79(6), 59-63.