The Digital Divide in Education.
By m.alic11 (Digital Divide) [CC2.0], via Creative Commons
Dolan, Jennifer E. (2016) Splicing the divide: a review of research on the evolving digital divide among k-12 students. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 48(1), 16-37. doi:10.1080/15391523.2015.1103147
Summary:
- Technology use at home and in school is not the same across the board for all students.
- 92% of 12-17 year olds go online, 97% play some type of games, and 75% own a smartphone.
- Access to technology for K-12 students now goes beyond just having a device. It now includes teacher/student knowledge, and cultural misunderstandings, as well as other factors: accessibility of assistive technology and personal skills students and teachers possess when it comes to technology, what they know about it and what they can do with it.
- Certain financial factors that play a major role: high income schools vs low income schools. High-SES schools tend to invest more in better support for technical services, resulting in more teacher use of technology. Lower funded schools tend to result in poorer technological advantages, and so on. Especially since technology is used for behavior management a lot.
- Poor implementation is not due to the technology or the students, but the lack of teacher knowledge and buy-in.
- More high resource schools tend to have more teachers actively engaged in computer and internet (C&I) use in the classroom, that encourages more creative and critical thinking.
- The focus must be on technology as a practice to be used, rather than as a tool to be learned. 1:1 device to student ratio promotes better, more individualized learning. However, it creates issues with integrating it into curriculum.
- Requiring more integration will increase engagement and technology use, thus actually leveling the field for all learners. Providing wrap-around services could prove to be helpful (supports that connect schools with home life, such as computer training for parents).
- Programs such as Tech Goes Home (TGH), in Boston MA, has resulted in a 50% decrease in the number of 6th graders failing math, and 20% in those failing English.
- Teachers are knowledgeable about using technology for their own personal use, but have a hard time using that in student learning.
- Factors that derive teacher support of technology use are: their own beliefs on methods of instruction and unwillingness to change, their personal interest and motivations, training, technical support, and more. Motivation and beliefs on the use of technology are the highest contributing factors as to whether the use of technology is supported or hindered.
- More students desired classroom support from their teachers, but feel that their teachers lack the needed expertise to teach them.
- Time constraints are also a big factor on technology usage; limited time for finding software, training and computer use in general.
- If the technology doesn’t work or work consistently, it cannot be relied on for integrated use.
- School filters and firewalls limit student/teacher ability to get their work done, or access needed sites.
- When teachers have proper training or strong technical support, the are more willing to use technology in their classrooms.
Evaluate:
- This article is a few years old (2016), however, the information is all relevant when it comes to the digital divide/gap.
- The author sites a lot of useful resources and studies throughout her writing. She offers a lot of detail, and you can tell she definitely did her research on this matter. There is a lot of useful information.
- It would be nice to see a follow up to this article, as technology is ever changing. It would be nice to see if anything has gotten better over the past few years.
KAMR Local 4 News (Producer) (2018, October 11) Digital divide and education inequality [Video file]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/besZ_7dxEvc
Summary:
- There’s mainly two issues with the digital divide: either there is no access, or there is limited access.
- With limited access, you are basically doing the same thing as before technology (pen and paper).
- Under-resourced schools tend to have children changing their outlooks on success and then changes the engagement levels.
- Giving updated technology, training, 24/7 access, has both teachers and students excited about both the changes and learning experiences.
Evaluate:
- This video hits on a more personal level, as you have real people telling you of the impacts of the digital divide and the benefits that could come from leveling the field for all students.
- This video hits on a more personal level, as you have real people telling you of the impacts of the digital divide and the benefits that could come from leveling the field for all students.
Reflection on the Digital Divide in Education:
- I feel that the digital divide in education is one of the most pressing issues with today’s education system.
- The lack of training, support, resources and desire to use technology is astounding. There needs to be more, everywhere, as it has too many negative effects on both teachers and students.
- Both teachers and students would benefit majorly from being able to use technology properly. Not just in education, but socially as well.
- Technology is a vital part of today’s society, therefore it needs to be a vital part in today and tomorrow’s education.
- I feel that the digital divide in education is one of the most pressing issues with today’s education system.
- The lack of training, support, resources and desire to use technology is astounding. There needs to be more, everywhere, as it has too many negative effects on both teachers and students.
- Both teachers and students would benefit majorly from being able to use technology properly. Not just in education, but socially as well.
- Technology is a vital part of today’s society, therefore it needs to be a vital part in today and tomorrow’s education.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Megan, your image was very grabbing. I was surprised about the facts you provided. I had not put too much thought into the percentage of younger teens on the internet.
ReplyDeleteMegan, I would have to agree with you that digital divide is a huge issue in today's education system. It is insane how much screen time children get these days. It is a good idea to limit the amount of screen time a child gets in a day.
ReplyDelete