S. Meche's Portfolio

May 2022

Remembering Digital Equity when Bridging the Digital Divide

"Equity" by Nick Youngson is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 on Alpha Stock Images

Throughout my 6th year teaching career, I’ve heard and read the term “digital divide” more times than I can remember. If you’ve been a teacher for any amount of time, I’m sure you can relate! One of my favorite definitions of this digital divide comes from Stephanie Huffman and states that, “The digital divide refers to the gap between those who have access to technology and those who do not” (2018). Simple, yet to the point… to bridge the digital divide, we need to provide access to technology and the internet to all students. Seems like an easy enough fix, right? However, it wasn’t until further research through my Educational Technology Leadership Master’s program that I realized that my interpretation of that definition had been so wrong! While a major part of bridging the digital divide is, in fact, providing all students with technology and internet access, an even more important factor, which can often be overlooked, is digital equity and ensuring that access to technology is inclusive for all learners.

What is Digital Equity?

According to Vikram Ravi, “Digital equity is a condition in which all individuals and communities have the capacity and resources needed for full participation in 21st-century education, economy, and society” (2018). When considering the digital divide prior to my master’s program, my definition was missing such a critical puzzle piece. This was a major wake up call for me considering the population that I teach is primarily students with special needs. It finally hit me, like a ton of bricks, that just because all students have access to technology doesn’t mean that they have equitable access to learning through that technology.

"PICRAT Matrix" by Dr. Royce Kimmons is licensed under CC BY 3.0

In her article, Beth Holland states that, “For learning to be truly equitable, the environment needs to meet the individual needs of ALL learners—a premise that sits at the heart of Universal Design for Learning (UDL)“ (2019). Since technology rapidly began to take over in the world of education, so many teachers have simply used new technologies to replace paper and pencil strategies rather than using it to truly transform the learning environment. Though I considered myself a pretty techy person, after looking at and learning about the PICRAT Model for the first time, I remember feeling like I had been failing my students. I, too, had been guilty of just using technology as a replacement and not to its full potential of taking learning to new depths and really seeking out digital media platforms and applications that could help make the learning of my curriculum more accessible for all of my students.

The entire idea behind Universal Learning Design is geared to doing just that, but in conscious and meaningful ways that are inclusive and address the needs of all learners. In her article, Holland continued on to make the point that, “As a framework, UDL acknowledges that every student has different needs, interests, and requirements for learning. Therefore, curriculum, instruction and assessment should be adaptable by both the teacher and student” (2019). It is also important to keep in mind the fact that this doesn’t just mean for students with exceptionalities, but also includes students of different cultures and backgrounds as well.

What's my point?

I tell you all of this because I want to help enlighten others in case you, too, may have been missing that same critical puzzle piece that I was! The power of technology in the classroom goes far beyond just giving students access to search the web and simply complete assignments that could have been done with pen and paper. We are past that and we are better than that! We as teachers should continue to work towards bettering the learning environments we create and facilitate for our students, and when I say students, I mean all of our students! There are so many incredible platforms and applications out there that offer major affordances for our students, you just have to be willing to take the step to move outside of what you may consider to be your comfort zone and explore what taking your curriculum to the next level with UDL and accessible/inclusive technology holds.

Though we may still be in the early stages of our transition to a more transformative and creative yet fully inclusive learning environment, the way that my students are now beginning to demonstrate their understanding and engage with the content and technology has been a total game changer. They feel so much more empowered now knowing that they get to drive their own learning experiences and my only regret is not educating myself and making the switch sooner!

Holland makes such a meaningful statement when she says, “When students learn how to use technology to create multimedia artifacts as evidence of their understanding and knowledge, they gain access to opportunities that are not bound by the constraints of an 8.5” x 11” piece of paper” (2019). So my challenge to you is to just start! Whether it be reading an article on UDL, accessible technology, or researching new digital media platforms/applications to experiment with in class, just take the first step! I promise, you won’t regret it!

-Sarah Meche

REFERENCES

Holland, Beth. “Universal Design for Learning as a Framework for Digital Equity.” Getting Smart, Getting Smart, 24 Oct. 2019, https://www.gettingsmart.com/2019/10/24/universal-design-for-learning-as-a-framework-for-digital-equity/. Accessed 25 Apr. 2022.
Huffman, S. (2018). The Digital Divide Revisited: What is Next?. Mobile; Project Innovation, Inc.
Ravi, V. (2018). Digital Equity. In A. Ottenbreit-Leftwich & R. Kimmons, The K-12 Educational Technology Handbook. EdTech Books. Retrieved from https://edtechbooks.org/k12handbook/digital_equity

Helpful Resources

Universal Design for Learning as a Framework for Digital EquityUniversal design for learning allows districts, schools, and teachers to tackle the challenge of providing equal access to learning, not just technology.

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