EDUC 5353 Week 2 Blog
The community members in my context would be the teachers and staff at my school. When evaluating the digital design divide among them, a few key dividing factors come to mind.
Geography plays a large part in the digital divide within my community. Since 2013, my city and school district has doubled in size. What was once a small rural town where everyone gathered at the Friday night football games to cheer on their home team is now a massive school district boasting eight elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school that is bursting at the seams. The large population has made it difficult for the school district and town to keep growing hand in hand. While many people still want the community to remain a small-town vibe, that is no longer the reality of the community. Community and school district officials struggle to bridge the gap between how the town used to be and what it is now.
Often, at school meetings and town hearings, there are debates on the use of technology and whether it is helping or hindering the students' learning and participation in the community. And while my school district is at the forefront of technology and technology integration, it is not always received well by community members, teachers, and staff.
Another dividing factor for the digital design divide I have identified is age. My school district's average years of experience for teachers is 10 years. However, the average age of teachers and staff is much older than that of other districts, and they are not large consumers of technology. With technology rapidly changing and the newest and best educational platform always rolling out, it is challenging to keep up with and entice teachers to implement it in their classrooms. I am sometimes met with pushback when talking to veteran teachers and presenting new digital platforms or programs. "My students have always done it this way. With paper, pencil, and books, and have been successful" or "I do not know how to use this technology. Is it even beneficial for the students? There is always something new that I do not know how to use" are often the arguments I am met with. And while I can agree with that statement and value paper and pencil tasks and understand the undertaking it can be to implement new technology into daily lessons, I also do believe that the clientele of students sitting in our classroom has changed in previous years and we as teachers need to adapt and meet students learning styles and goals; which most likely that includes incorporating technology.
The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally transformed education and how we implement technology in classrooms today. It also revealed technological challenges among students, teachers, parents, and members of the community and highlighted the importance of addressing the digital divide challenge.
Research shows that during the global pandemic, there were large disparities in access to reliable internet based on location, socioeconomic status, education, and race (Gallardo, 2022). The lack of access to the internet made it difficult for individuals to attend work and for students to attend school virtually.
While students' and teachers' access to reliable internet varied, another digital divide was revealed—digital literacy. Students and teachers often did not have the skills required to be successful with the use of technology. Suggesting school systems focus on the infrastructure and the digital competency skills teachers and students need to flourish in technological-based learning (van de Werfhorst et al., 2022).
Based on data, my community showed a low digital divide index during the COVID-19 pandemic (Gallardo, 2022). My school district worked hard to bridge the digital divide between students and teachers, providing hot spots on school buses and designated areas around the community offering free wifi for students and parents to use. However, I do not think the digital literacy divide was or has been addressed for teachers. My school district offers classes and programs for students to learn and address existing and new technology. However, there are few opportunities for teachers to do the same. This leads teachers to feel overwhelmed and stressed and hesitant to use new technologies in their classroom.
References
Gallardo, R. (2022, August 17). The state of the digital divide in the United States. Purdue Center for Regional Development. https://pcrd.purdue.edu/the-state-of-the-digital-divide-in-the-united-states/
A double increase in 11 years is quite an ammount, that coupled with the experience-level of teachers (which when it comes to tech, can be a good thing), is something. I liked the scene described, a simple life, football games, small town. Times change, that doesn't have to. The key is balance I would imagine.
ReplyDeleteI too have the same experience with teachers who are not really thrilled about integrating technology into their classrooms. As my schools Instructional Technology coach I hear far too often, "Why do I need to learn this technology? I've taught forever with paper and pencils and don't need to use it." However, students today do not learn like students yesterday. Times have changed and to be an effective teacher we also have to change. I debated on tackling this same issue so I look forward to seeing how you handle your call to action.
ReplyDeleteThe contrasting perspectives of veteran teachers and the evolving needs of students resonate deeply, especially when paired with the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your emphasis on addressing not just access but also digital literacy for teachers is spot on—empowering educators with the skills and confidence to embrace new technology is essential for meeting the needs of today’s learners.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you brought up the age thing. I wasn't going to do it...at least not yet. I can think of multiple teachers at my site who are barely able to operate Google Classroom and their students have zero opportunities at utilizing technology in a meaningful way. I would say that I am in a middle tier, but what I'm not afraid of is pushing buttons to see what happens. Neither are the students. I'm hoping through this project, I can encourage a few of these teachers to at least let their students mess with some higher level programs and see what happens. They may be surprised at what their students can do, even though it wasn't directly taught to them. Hopefully, this empowers them to give students more and more opportunity to authentically use technology.
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