Resources for increasing digital equity needed - Colloquium

From the time computers were new to the class room, educators have been talking about the digital divide ... the divide between students having access to technology and those without. At first, the major focus was on the hardware. The hypothesis was, "if students just have access to a computer, then things will even out." Like all educational equity issues, in reality the digital divide is much more complicated than having a computer for each student. To increase digital equity teachers need to know how to infuse technology into their teaching; educators need quality software and Internet resources related to their teaching; students and teachers need efficient access to the Internet; teacher preparation needs to use technology in teaching and learning; and administrators and school boards must provide the leadership and resources necessary for developing and implementing quality technology plans. At least one group has been working on digital equity strategies and resources to assist educators from kindergarten through college.

In 1999, the Digital Equity Task Force from Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers for Technology (PT3) projects met for the first time. The volunteer members of this task force represent projects located at colleges and universities and funded by the U.S. Department of Education. PT3 projects are designed to prepare K-12 teachers to integrate appropriate and effective technology into the teaching and learning of their students. The goal of the Digital Equity Task Force was (and is) to promote increasing digital equity in K-12 education, using teacher preparation as the vehicle for change.

Little did we know four years ago how complicated "digital equity" can be! After all, increasing digital equity in K-12 education involves revising the way education courses are taught, changing how higher education professors use technology in their professional lives, revamping professional development for teachers already in classrooms, and locating resources to facilitate these changes.

Since that initial meeting, the PT3 Digital Equity Taskforce has created three very valuable resources to promote digital equity. First, the National Institute for Community Innovations, under the leadership of Dr. Robert McLaughlin, offered to host the Digital Equity list-serv http://www.nici-mc2.org where Internet digital equity and educational resources are highlighted.

Second, the Digital Equity Taskforce designed the Digital Equity Portal, an Internet portal of resources to assist teacher educators, student teachers and K-12 teachers to increase digital equity. Resources are organized around five dimensions of digital equity:

1. Content creation

2. Cultural relevance

3. Effective use

4. Quality content

5. Technology resources

Also hosted by the National Institute for Community Innovations, the Digital Equity Portal is located at http://digitalequity.edreform.net. It allows users to conduct focused searches and to recommend online and digital equity off-line resources. Currently under construction is a compilation of links to reports related to the digital divide and digital equity.

A related resource developed by the National Institute for Community Innovation is the Digital Equity Tool Kit, which points educators to free, high-quality resources that help address the digital divide in the classroom and community. The toolkit is made possible in part through funding from PT3 and Technology Innovation Challenge Grant programs. The Toolkit is located at http://nici-mc2.org/ de_toolkit/pages/toolkit.htm or by a link on the "Highlights" menu of the Digital Equity Portal. Both the Portal and the Toolkit are updated frequently.

Third, a team from the Task Force wrote a book, Toward Digital Equity: Bridging the Divide in Education edited by Gwen Solomon, Nancy J. Allen, and Paul Resta, and published by Pearson Education Group, Inc. Toward Digital Equity helps educators understand the current state of technology in education and the "Digital Divide"--what it is, how it emerged, current trends, and potential solutions. It discusses how schools acquire hardware, software, and connectivity, and why some schools experience such Success in these endeavors while others are left heartbreakingly behind. Most importantly, it examines the most current research in the effectiveness of technology and pedagogy in diverse settings to make suggestions on how teachers can create powerful learning environments for all students.

In addition, I developed an activity designed to assist higher education professors and instructors to think about and discuss the digital equity issue. (See sidebar, "In Search of Digital Equity Activity.")

It is extremely important that all K-12 students have the opportunity to use appropriate and effective technology in their school experience. Educational technology can improve learning and help prepare students for future careers ... at the same time.

RELATED ARTICLE: In search of digital equity activity.

This activity was developed to assist higher education professors and instructors to think about and discuss the digital equity issue.

Directions

In Search of Digital Equity is an activity that can be included in workshops for educators at colleges and universities where the goal is to explore and clarify the issue of "digital equity"--increasing appropriate learning opportunities using technology. Small groups of workshop participants should be given the list of eight items, and asked to discuss the scenarios for a total of 20 to 30 minutes, with one person keeping notes for the group. At the end of 30 minutes, small groups should be asked to share some of their discussion with the entire group. This activity is greatly influenced by the Equity Scenarios developed by the Equity task-force of the Eisenhower-funded Regional Consortia www.enc.org/topics/equity, "Equitable School Walk" created by Ray Rose, now at Concord Consortium www.concord.org, and the ISTE National Education Technology Standards for Teachers www.iste.org/.

Activity

1. As you walk into the Education Department, you are struck by how technology seems to be integrated throughout the environment. What do you see?

2. In the Education building, you meet two students who are talking excitedly about how they are using technology in an education class. You ask them to tell you about this class and the technology. What do they tell you?

3. You ask if you can attend this course with the students. They say yes, and off you go to observe the class. You are impressed by how technology is so comfortably integrated into the classroom environment and pedagogy. What do you see?

4. During the class, the professor mentions that she is modeling science teaching pedagogy she hopes the students will use when they are teaching diverse student populations. What is the professor doing? What are the students doing? How is technology used?

5. You are invited to attend an Education Department meeting. The staff is eager to tell you how they enhance their teaching, productivity, and professional lives with technology. What do they tell you?

6. There is a discussion during the Department meeting about how Education students enter the program at different levels of technology literacy and expertise. How does the Education Department develop technology literacy and increase students' expertise?

7. You are invited to visit a middle school where education students get their student teaching experience. The Education Department collaborates with this school to make sure that prospective teachers use technology to maximize students' learning. Describe how this partnership works.

8. You visit many classrooms in the middle school, observing master and student teachers. How are they using technology in their teaching?

--Joy Wallace

Joy Wallace is an independent consultant, director of Columbia EQUALS, Family Math and Family Science, and a senior associate for the National Institute for Community Innovations (NICI). She conducts workshops for educators, moderates the Digital Equity and NICI-Equity national listservs, and updates the Digital Equity Portal for NICI. She develops educational materials, including The Digital Equity Tool Kit and Parent Workshop Manual for MathLinks.

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