Title: Bridging The Digital Gap: Strategies and approaches used by school districts to bring technology to their students while fulfilling gaps in the instructional and learning processes.
Author Name: Joseph McCrary
1. Introduction
In the early days of home computers, not everyone can afford internet. Yet, if it was accessible, it was slow with dial-up service. Because of spotty network connections and/or connectivity, “information may become inaccessible literally overnight. Despite fast Internet connections, transmission speeds vary considerably from day to day. In addition, the reliability and validity of digital resources can be difficult to establish” (Orey, 2010). Fast forward technological advancements, there exists wireless internet access at a commercial, personal, and mobile level. Unfortunately, there are those who need it but couldn’t afford it, i.e. poor, low-income students of families. However, times of crisis has cause drastic changes in internet access causing a greater gap in the digital divide. The challenge arises of what a big media communication company can do to “level the playing field”? One solution is to provide an “Economy Internet Service Option”; a lower tier internet speed, at an affordable rate for mentioned customer.
Expanded broadband can support engaging in critical digital activities. Being a global citizen may begin with being digitally aware, however it can shift toward probing into disparities in the world, racial and cultural diversity, and working together to tackle difficult global issues such s broadband internet access. Students and children from single-parent, poverty-stricken homes who have not been able to properly function in a normal generic school environment are often marginalized, and while many of those marginalized students are familiar enough to surf the internet and browse videos, the majority are not on reading level, therefore causing learning challenges when being advised to not use them in school.
Yet, companies such as Comcast who recently announced it will be increasing speeds for the Internet Essentials program and making the program free to new low-income customers for two months, amid the coronavirus outbreak. Comcast President of Consumer Services Dana Strong addressed that the change is “for the millions of low-income Americans who don’t have internet service during this uncertain time. It’s also serviced to help them stay connected to families, workplaces and more” (“Comcast offering ‘Internet Essentials’ package free for low-income customers for 60 days”, 2020).
2. Overview of the Case
Initially, the digital divide simply referred to the differences emerging between students that had technology in their schools versus those that did not have access to technology. Studies have shown that low socioeconomic status schools tend to be less likely to use technology in ways that promote higher-order thinking and are less likely to have technology facilitators. Concerns arose that those students without access (who were typically from lower socioeconomic status areas) would be less prepared and skilled for the twenty-first-century workforce. Consequentially, more technology was purchased by schools in order to prevent their students from falling behind. However, more technology may not be able to result in student preparation for the twenty-first century” ( Reiser et al, 2017).
The FCC estimated 14.5 million people in the U.S. lived in areas without access to broadband at the end of 2019, while the data aggregation company BroadbandNow estimated that number to be 42 million. The White House says 30 million” ( Chang et al, 2021). According to the Federal Communication Commission, estimated 1.6 million Georgians lack access to high-speed internet. In rural areas of the state, 30 percent of residents lack access to broadband. Deana Perry, Executive Director of Broadband at the Georgia Department of Community Affairs has been vocal about the state’s plan to bridge the digital divide (Wheeler, 2020).
It is observed that most of the people who lack access to broadband live in rural, remote, low-income and tribal lands. “Low population density and geographic barriers may discourage a service provider from offering service to that region. In places where broadband is available, some households may not be able to afford the services. A Pew survey conducted earlier this year found 45% of the respondents who didn’t have broadband cited monthly cost as a reason not to have it.” (Chase et al, 2021).
Katherine De Wit, project director for the Broadband Access Initiative at the Pew Charitable Trusts, further points out that the FCC’s count is based on the number of households that have access to a broadband connection with the maximum speeds advertised by providers — not the actual speeds they receive.
3. Solutions Implemented
Although libraries and other shops and stores that offer courtesy Wifi internet are currently closed due to the pandemic, cities could establish “internet-cafes” as setup in southern Florida and European countries. These are mini-computer labs in an urban setting for quick and attainable internet access using a kiosk for payment of timed used. Rates would vary for early users as the time of day would set the cost of internet use.
Again, Broadband director De Wit recommends additional support for state and local leaders to be able to collect the data that they need in order to illustrate just how many unserved households there are in communities that are ‘served’ based on federal data. “It’s important to remember that we are talking about a for-profit industry,” de Wit said. “So when we are looking at communities that are not densely populated, perhaps where income levels are lower, where providers don’t see an obvious business case, it is then incumbent upon the public sector to identify opportunities to incentivize investment in those communities.” (Chase et al, 2021).
Because understanding the practices of digital literacy in social media and beyond “provides students with better tools for critical thinking and for understanding different motives, purposes, and uses of media” (Valtonen et al 2019), the goal is to intrinsically guides them in their digital literacy to better serve the needs of the student. This can be currently seen in local COVID-19 initiatives as the transition to online learning is difficult already for students and teachers such as Georgia State University’s donating of technology equipment (I.e. laptops, hotspots, and Ipads) to equipping school buses for Wifi hotspots and placing them in neighborhoods and complexes where student internet access is limited (Staff, 2020). Organizations and institutions are trying to make sure there are no added difficulties, such as no access to the learning platform.
For a decade, Internet Essentials from Comcast has addressed the digital divide head on and has grown to become the nation’s largest and most successful broadband adoption effort. As the COVID-19 crisis has put may students at risk and accelerated the need for digital equity. Over the last 10 years, Comcast has connected over 10 million people from low-income families to low-cost, high-speed Internet at home. Comcast is committing $1 billion to reach 50 million people with the connectivity, skills, training, and resources they need to be ready for anything.
4. Outcomes
Studies have shown that low socioeconomic status schools tend to be less likely to use technology in ways that promote higher-order thinking and are less likely to have technology facilitators. Many school districts have found it difficult to implement a 1-device per student initiative because of issues with purchasing enough resources for their students and being responsible for the technical problems associated with those devices.
“In 2021 alone, WiFi connected Lift Zones across the country will enable students to complete over 25 million hours of homework and remote learning. Over the course of the program, Comcast has provided low-income Americans with 150,000 free or affordable subsidized digital devices” (Internet Essential, 2021).
To date, there are no known opportunities to cultivate discussions and strategies for learning between teachers and parents (and particularly parents of color) concerning digital and nondigital practices (Ellison & Solomon, 2019). However, to close the achievement gap due to lack of access to digital literacies, instructional digital design tools serve as a powerful way for teachers to address students who are marginalized in traditional mainstream schooling and how those tools draw on students’ out-of-school practices and talents such as Pop Culture/Digital Literacies when composing in-school and non-academic tasks. “Adolescent-researchers” and other students can do more than simply follow curricular scripts about what it means to collect information and build reference lists; “they also can reflect upon and examine their own ways of knowing and doing things digitally and non-digitally that build upon what it means to be a researcher” (Abrams et al, 2019).
Gathering this information from students is important, because student learning “includes all of the issues and experiences they encounter on a daily basis, such as identity, access, and literacies across diverse platforms” (Ellison & Solomon, 2019). The implementation of user-friendly interfaces with available feedback is needed in current online learning models and Learning Management Systems (LMSs).
5. Implications
In order to integrate these concepts, it would be best for teachers to have general technological knowledge such as hardware and software, as well as how technology can be used to support teaching and/or learning. However, because technology is constantly updating, “teachers need continuous professional development to keep their knowledge updated” ( Reiser, 2017). Also, wireless networks in schools need to be able to support the large number of users. To accommodate the wide range of devices, Reiser at al also recommends carefully selecting resources such as instructional apps that are available for a wide variety of devices and not proprietary to any one device in addition to available IT support for the various devices that students will use is essential.
At the same time that we are becoming more globally connected, we are also learning more about how digital literacy can support the development of multimodal expression. “Digital literacy can generate opportunities for students to engage with others in a variety of ways with and through texts [and] also can be used to promote new literacy practices in the classroom through the production of new kinds of texts and provide opportunities for students to broaden the confines of what counts as digital educational content” (Clarke, 2020).
Instructional designers would have to commit to getting to depth in their understandings of learning theories and educational approaches, and learning scientists would have to learn how to let go of the whole dream and be willing to go for good enough. Together, such teams could negotiate refinements and pathways from research ideas to broadly usable and acceptable designs for teachers and administrators (and parents). The goal would be to design educational materials that are within the zones of proximal development of those who choose and use them and that scaffold those people to the next level; then to have the next set of materials ready to take those people the next steps.
“Technology can help promote learning in powerful ways. To do that, it needs to be designed carefully taking the needs of learners and their whole social system and environment into account, and ways the software might be integrated into the learning environment must be considered and designed along with the software”( Kolodner, 2004).
References:
1. Abrams, S., Schaefer, M., & Ness, D. (2019). Adolescents’ Digital Literacies in Flux: Intersections of Voice, Empowerment, and Practices. Journal Of Media Literacy Education, 11(2), 79-94.
2. Chang, A., Isackson, A., & Janse, A. M. (2021, November 24). Life without reliable internet remains a daily struggle for millions of Americans. Retrieved from https://www.gpb.org/news/2021/11/24/life-without-reliable-internet-remains-daily-struggle-for-millions-of-americans
3. Clarke, L. (2020). Walk a Day in My Shoes: Cultivating Cross‐Cultural Understanding Through Digital Literacy. The Reading Teacher, 73(5), 662-665 https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1890
4. Comcast offering ‘Internet Essentials’ package free for low-income customers for 60 days. (2020). Retrieved 13 April 2020, from https://www.wxyz.com/news/national/coronavirus/comcast-offering-internet-essentials-package-free-for-60-months-during-coronavirus-outbreak
5. Ellison, T. L., & Solomon, M. (2019). Counter-Storytelling vs. Deficit Thinking around African American Children and Families, Digital Literacies, Race, and the Digital Divide. Research in the Teaching of English, 53(3), 223–244.
6. Internet Essentials. (2021, August 24). Retrieved from https://corporate.comcast.com/impact/digital-equity/internet-essentials?utm_medium=social-p&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=corp-ie10_fb/ig-feed_nat_n/a_none_comadvocates_ProofPoint-25KLaptopsPledged-VideoAnimation-1×1&utm_campaign=ie10&fbclid=IwAR14OavulKCJWZ0VqPSMWDLRR5LS5Xi94wXmfdR2J4J4OWQ96KqqDAlLNFU
7. Kolodner, J. L. (2004). The learning sciences: Past, present, and future. Educational Technology: The Magazine for Managers of Change in Education, 44 (3), 37-42.
8. Orey, M (Ed.). (2010). Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching, and Technology
9. Reiser, R.A. & Dempsey, J.V. (Eds.) (2017). Trends and issues in instructional design and technology. (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
10. Staff, W. (2020). Metro Atlanta school district equips buses with WiFi to help students. Retrieved 30 April 2020, from https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/cobb-county/metro-atlanta-school-district-equips-buses-with-wifi-help-students/PWLLK2MPHFBHPIT2E46XVWPJ2U/
11. Valtonen, T., Tedre, M., Mäkitalo, K., & Vartiainen, H. (2020). Media Literacy Education in the Age of Machine Learning. Retrieved 29 April 2020, from https://doi.org/10.23860/JMLE-2019-11-2-2
11. Wheeler, C. (2020). Closer Look: State Broadband Director Shares Plans to Bridge The Digital Divide; Mayor Bottoms Announces Action Plan for Safer Streets; Local Nonprofit C.H.O.I.C.E.S. Fights Childhood Obesity | 90.1 FM WABE. Retrieved 13 April 2020, from https://www.wabe.org/episode/closer-look-state-broadband-director-shares-plans-to-bridge-the-digital-divide-mayor-bottoms-announces-action-plan-for-safer-streets-local-nonprofit-c-h-o-i-c-e-s-fights-childhood-obesity/