Equal Access to the Digital World??

Can teachers provide equal access to the digital world to all students? My first thought is that no, teachers cannot provide equal access to all students to the digital world. Students in public school come from all walks of life and all socioeconomic levels, which allows for different levels of obtaining technology at home. However, as technology evolves and becomes less expensive, more people are able to obtain and access technology. I have been working as a volunteer at an organization that provides after school programming to low income and at risk students and I have been amazed at the level of technology that many of these students are able to access at home. Generally speaking, though, these students have just recently (within the last 6-12 months) been able to obtain a computer at home. From my personal experience, almost all the "middle class" students I came in contact with as a paraprofessional and as a mom had home computers 10 to 15 years ago. That is a 10 -15 year gap between what more affluent families can provide vs. what lower income families can provide! Assuming that dropping technology costs will solve the problem is not the answer. Also, even if there is a computer at home, what type of internet access is available? There is a huge difference between dial-up and broadband, which will significantly affect what students are able to do at home.

I think teachers have to be very careful about assuming that students have access to the digital world at home. I have heard teachers say that students without home access can just use the library. While that may be technically true, using technology at the library can be difficult to access if parents are unable to get the child to the library. Once at the library, students may face waiting for an available computer, as well as time limits on their use.

I think one thing teachers can do is to make sure that any assignments requiring access to the digital world can be done during the school day with access to school technology. As long as issues with teacher contracts don't prohibit it, teachers can provide after school access to technology as well. Students should be graded on what all students can access, not what a few or most can access. In other words, if some students can create a YouTube video at home, and some cannot, the gist of the grading or assessment should not be based on the video, but on what the students actually learned from the assignment.

Short of physically providing a computer or laptop to each and every student, teachers cannot provide equal access to the digital world. They can try to provide a more level playing field as far as assignments and expectations of digital literacy go. At some point in the future, perhaps access to the digital world will be considered a fundamental right and be provided by society. Until then, teachers can try to provide as much access at school as possible, along with education about the digital world.