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Framing the Issue of the Digital Divide in Education

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Continuing Challenges and Nuances

Devices, Access, and Training


School districts across the United States are integrating more devices into classrooms, although this integration certainly varies from district to district.  The visibility of devices and the expansion of school network capacity is an ongoing process.  Many people, though, are hopeful for the progress that is being made.

The more difficult problem, though, is figuring out how to provide access for students at home.  Currently, 67% of U.S. households have broadband access at home.  More families, might have access via phones, but this isn't the same type of access that is needed to complete collaborative and complex classroom assignments.    Unfortunately, the vast majority of districts do not have any plans to address home access.

As educators and districts throughout the country work to solve device and access inequities, these changes will not facilitate significant educational gains unless educators become skilled in coaching students in technology use.  This includes digital literacy, of course, but it also includes the transformative use of technology that goes beyond simple substitution tasks.   This process might take years to fully complete, but the current struggle and thinking around this issue is a step in the right direction.


1 comment:

  1. "...these changes will not facilitate significant educational gains unless educators become skilled in coaching students in technology use."
    I question the truth of this statement primarily because of the research work of Sugata Mitra in India with the 'Hole-in-the-wall experiment' and globally with The School in the Cloud and Self Organized Learning Environments. I also wonder if educators should be the ones doing the coaching, considering the use of experienced mentors with professional experience by XTOL Corp. Although educators could be trained in those roles by Socratic Arts.
    I also wonder if the statement about it taking years to complete is a convenient excuse. Let's remember that the process of converting from live lecturing(verbal) to the technology of books(print) has not been completed to this day.


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