The Digital Divide

As a teacher in an urban school district and a Title I School (having large percentages of students receiving free or reduced lunch), and since starting this Master’s in Instructional Technology, I have become interested in the issue of the digital divide and its impact on student awareness and access to Web 2.0 technology. In her article Access, Instruction, and Barriers: Technology issues facing students at risks, Monica R. Brown (2000) indicates that the equitable access and use of technology encompasses a wide range of students who are at risk. Students of color, inner city children, females, students with disabilities, limited English proficient populations, and rural students are at greatest risk in the digital divide. Brown states (as cited in Chambers & Clark, 1987) that technology inequities disadvantage students in three ways: “their ability to function as citizens in an increasingly technological society, their capacity to gain adult employment, and their development of general cognitive skills and positive attitudes toward learning.” The author points out that while funding is a primary barrier towards greater equitability it should not prevent schools and educators from pursuing equitable technology for their students (as cited in Davis & McCaul, 1990) . In reviewing Brown’s study, I assessed that the process of attaining, or achieving equitability must be a work in progress. Teachers and administrators must be cognizant of, and proactive in addressing inequities and resolving them. The issues related to physical access and use of technology, instruction and pedagogy, and recognizing barriers are continually being addressed in order to redress the divide as it is presently perceived. The school profile which I documented a year ago has been significantly altered. New and expanding technology, teacher training, and district wide access to Web 2.0 and other technologies are widely available. The current consensus is that the technology is now available and teachers must be willing to access appropriate training to competently utilize the these technologies to assist their students to circumvent the disadvantages related to technological inequities.

My School Profile
The digital divide is an issue that effects the population of students in my school. I work in a school of approximately 1667 students. The demographic make-up of the school is largely African American: 1251, White: 201, Hispanic: 187, Am. Indian/AK Native: 19, Asian/pacific Islander:9; The number of students receiving free and reduced lunch is high, Student mobility is 29.5 %, and the graduation rate is 80.5% (Maryland Report Card, 2009). The school maintains an ESOL program so it houses an immigrant population. The school is located in a middle income community, but its numerous students often reside two bus rides away from it. I interviewed the Business manager to determine if we as an institution fit the profile of a statistically urban school environment in its acquisition and use of technology. In the five years that I have worked in my school, I have observed computers being discarded at the end of each school year. When I inquired about the process, I was told that the school maintained a budget that allowed for the purchase of a percentage of newer computers annually. The newest technology would be allocated to administration, and then hierarchically to those individuals and classes that utilizes the technology as part of one of the” Career and Technology” pathways currently offered at the school. When asked of other “innovative” technologies that exist within the building he indicated that the school now maintained three Whiteboards. One Board was permanently housed in the “Pharmacy Technician” classroom, one is in the Media Center, and the third is housed in the “Business Academy”. This one appeared to be the only one currently in use as the teacher had been trained to use the technology and is planning to conduct a school based in-service training for the staff. The staff would then be able to rotate to this teacher’s classroom (when available), or to the Media Center to utilize the technology. The school also maintained LCD projectors, but that many teachers simply purchased their own. Outside of this, there was no other types of technology made readily available to staff. In interviewing individual teachers and observing their classrooms, I have seen the use of technology for both basic and higher order thinking skills. I believe that technology education is disseminated in different ways by teachers who are skilled in their pedagogy, but might lack adequate training in the use of varied and innovative uses of technology. I believe my school is well intentioned, but more needs to be done to not only access the technology but to provide necessary training in its use. The sub group of Students within the school who might not have computers at home, and are not in a career technology pathway, and are newly arrived immigrants are the students who are most readily affected by the digital divide. The school and the district have a responsibility to include these populations within the framework that allow them access to technology which mitigate the divide that already exist within an environment already effected by technology disparities. In viewing my districts website, I see notices for trainings offered to teachers having technologies like Whiteboards in their classrooms. The norm should be trainings offered to all teachers it because they all have the technologies needed to engender true educational change within the system.

Maryland Report Card (2009): Baltimore http://www.mdreportcard.org/Demographics.aspx?K=300405&WDATA=school#ENROLLMENTgr ade3all

Brown, M. (2000). Access, Instruction, and Barriers Technology Issues Facing Students At Risk. Remedial & Special Education, 21(3), 182. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.

Solomon, L. (2009). The digital divide. University of Maryland, University College, EDTC 605.