Week 2

 At Humphreys Central Elementary School here in South Korea, there are many facets of digital inequity that are associated with the imbalance of digital divide. Technology is fast moving, but the education sector is running behind on keeping up with the fast paced change. While technology is valuable in the way that it connects people, it isn’t always flawless, and more adjustments need to be made. 

Infrastructure limitations, socioeconomic status, financial difficulty, and lack of technology fluency are the dividing factors that might be impacting students in making advancements in digital literacy. Low performance or outdated computers in many households also restricts students from having various educational opportunities. 

Factors causing digital divide in surrounding areas of Camp Humphreys 

Geographical isolation can be a dividing factor in digital exclusion. Very remote and rural areas lacking high speed broadband internet make digital learning inaccessible to students. The lack of infrastructure where students rely only on public wifi in urban spaces is also a problem for students who don’t have reliable internet to use at home.

Financial difficulty can also play a role in digital exclusion. Families who are unable to afford reliable internet service results in digital disparity and usage. At Humphreys Central, about half of the student population are on a free and reduced lunch program indicating economic disparity for many families. 

Lack of technology fluency with older generations can cause a digital exclusion issue. Many older parents/guardians with lack of knowledge on technology may not be able to support their child’s learning digitally, therefore making them not digitally literate.

What was learned from the Covid 19 pandemic

The quick shift to remote learning intensified digital inequities for many families. This pandemic overwhelmed many households due to inaccessibility to the internet and low performing computers that were not able to handle the workload. 

Connectivity issues restricted students trying to participate in virtual learning. Dropped zoom calls and lack of training on technology for veteran teachers were the challenges that occurred during the pandemic. Parents felt overwhelmed and stressed that their child could not access google classrooms and were not able to download the zoom application; especially for the primary age students from K-2. 

Community partnerships with the school district played a key role, ensuring students would have access to the internet free of charge and loaning out computers to students who did not have a reliable computer. 

Teaching strategies allowed teachers to collectively find a solution to enhance digital learning experience for all learners. This new innovative approach leads students to be fully immersed in virtual learning in ways that would not even be thought to be possible. 

District leaders were faced with limitations on resources when juggling both in person, and virtual learning. 

Ways to bridge the divide 

Advocacy on digital equity in small communities and working with local governments to expand access in those areas that need it most is necessary. 

An initiative on professional development equipping teachers with different technology usage and educational software apps is useful. Teacher training on technology usage is the district's primary goal in developing confidence to empower students' learning. 

The district is equipping teachers with resources and tools to enhance digital literacy for all students. Teachers are equipped with newer technology and computers to better serve students. 

Implementing policies and initiatives to reduce the divide through fully government funded programs, and expanding infrastructure to smaller rural and remote communities is helpful.

The work is never done. As we continue to understand the digital divide and work on strategies and interventions to provide low cost or free internet to people that really do need it, we will be able to work on closing the gap. I will advocate for digital inclusion to ensure student success through their digital journey. 

Week 1 Blog

 Greetings,

My name is Bradley Barker, and I have been an elementary art specialist for 16 years. I have taught 12 years with Lincoln Public School in Lincoln, Nebraska. I am currently employed with DODEA serving military connected students in the military community in South Korea. I feel privileged to work with students from all over the world. My job is unique because it differs from the public school I used to work stateside. My hobbies are travelling, art, playing guitar, and working out. 

Define your community for us.  Are you going to apply what you learn in this course to a school where you work? A community organization or non-profit? Who will your Call to Action serve?

My definition of a community is having a sense of belonging. It’s a place where whoever in the community networks together in a shared space. Being a part of a school community, I will make contributions and impact students positively with what I will learn from this course. Sharing my knowledge and applying what I learn from this course will allow me to make myself available as a contributing community member for my school. I believe this course will give me tools and resources that I need to become skilled and build knowledge and understand more on the digital divide. 

As an educator, my call to action is to serve each and every child, providing them with digital access and finding solutions to reduce the digital barriers. What I most worry about is the usage of artificial intelligence (AI). AI can be problematic as it may pose some risks.  I am not a fan of AI and educating people about AI awareness is not always a good thing to depend on. 

Provide some basic demographic data about the community you are focusing on. Who is served? What are the economic, political, historical, and social realities of the community?

The DODEA organization I am affiliated with, works mostly with military children whose parents are active duty service members. The demographic of the school community I currently serve a diverse group of 800 plus students ranging from K-4th grade. Most students come from parents who are affiliated with the US military. The digital divide affects everyone regardless of age and gender. I believe it all starts with educating our community first about the digital divide and the complexities it presents. 

From the article on digital divide: Impact of Access, it mentioned the benefits of accessing which includes physical, skills and usage. Van Dijk (2017) asserted that “while there may be computer anxiety or technophobia presenting barriers particularly affecting the female population, elderly or low level education, there are support services and opportunities available.” 

Student access to digital learning resources outside of the classroom reveals that “94% of children ages 3 to 18 had a computer at home but only 61% of children ages 3 to 18 had internet access at home in 2015.” (KewalRamani et al., 2018) This revelation is true with the DODEA organization that all the students have access to computers at home with internet access. The infrastructure and network is extremely accessible, fast and modern here, unlike the United States. 

References

KewalRamani, A., Zhang, J., Wang, X., Rathbun, A., Corcoran, L., Diliberti, M., & Zhang, J. (2018). Student Access to Digital Learning Resources outside of the Classroom. NCES 2017-098. National Center for Education Statistics.

Van Dijk, J. A. (2017). Digital divide: Impact of access. The international encyclopedia of media effects, 1-11.