At the Thought Leaders Summit as part of National Education Week, U.S. Education Department Office of Technology Director Richard Culatta told the story of how high school student Shay Bloxton discovered a new pulsar by accessing data from the giant Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT). This just goes to show how powerful access to technology can be for a student (Molnar, 2019). Yet sadly, access to technology is not something that comes easily for every student.
Over the years, we have seen the dynamics in K-12 classrooms change in terms of students’ backgrounds and tech-savviness. Educator preparation should also change in tandem so as to better support student learning in classrooms. One pitfall in educator preparation courses is in assuming that the technical skill and knowledge levels of preservice teachers are the same. It is also important to understand that proficiency in personal use of technology does not equate to mastery in using technology in teaching (Howard et al., 2018).
In this post, I’ll be exploring the case for digital equity and coaching strategies to close the digital equity gap in order to achieve sustainable improvement in student learning.
What is Digital Equity
According to Solomon (2002) as cited in Howard et al. (2018) digital equity means all students have adequate access to information and communications technologies for learning and for preparing for the future—regardless of socioeconomic status, physical disability, language, race, gender, or any other characteristics that have been linked with unequal treatment.
In simple terms, digital equity means all students have adequate access to information and communications technologies for learning and for preparing for the future—regardless of socioeconomic status, physical disability, language, race, gender, or any other characteristics that have been linked with unequal treatment.
-Solomon, 2002
Now, equity is not to be taken to mean the same as equality. The 2 words may seem similar but they are different in meaning. While equality focuses on everyone receiving the same resource or services, equity focuses on fairness to ensure that underrepresented groups are equipped with the tools needed to achieve their personal goals and contribute to society (City of Seattle, 2016).
Why is Digital Equity Important
In trying to close the digital equity gap in schools, we ought to start earlier on in the cycle by focusing on pre-service teachers. Oftentimes, when we think of digital equity, we think only of having access to hardware, software, and bandwidth. We should not neglect the fact that having trained educators to help students navigate those digital tools is equally important (ISTE, 2017). This leads us to think about how we might prepare preservice teachers for the use of technology as a teaching tool.
Terry Godwaldt, director of programming at The Center for Global Education in Canada even went as far as saying, “A lack of digital access is a lack of access to education period.” (ISTE, 2017)
Innovative Strategies for Digital Equity
1. Teacher Preparation Courses
Howard et al. (2018) citing Riccards (2016) says that the best way for teacher candidates to understand best practice is to experience it themselves. According to Riccards, “Prospective teachers are no different than those they will one day teach. So why aren’t more teacher education programs focused on the learner, with programs based on the needs and preferences of that adult learner?”
Training should include more than just access to digital tools but should also include participation in the actual use of the technology and the opportunity to gain the learning experience by using the tool (Fingal, 2018).
Technology should also be embedded into lessons for preservice teachers as part of the credentialing process. At the University of Redlands, digital equity and the use of technology are woven throughout the curriculum (Fingal, 2018).
2. Badges and Microcredentialing
Ideally, teacher training should never stop. A cycle of teachers’ continuous learning ensures continual improvement in student learning. Digital badges and microcredentialing could be an innovative way for coaches to encourage educators to obtain credentials related to edtech.
According to Braxton et al. (2019), “digital badges are validated indicators of skills or competencies, often representing the completion of a microcredential.” Very simply, they are a digital symbol of skill achievement. The digital nature of these badges makes for easier shareability and display on digital networks and social platforms to increase a sense of achievement.
3. Professional Learning Networks
Professional Learning Networks can happen within an organization or a school. It can be as simple as a group of teachers committing to meet regularly to share best practices, learn, and grow together. Coaches can encourage teachers to get connected to Professional Learning Networks for growth.
Beyond the four walls of the school, social media can also be a powerful tool for educators to build their Professional Learning Networks. Networks can be formed cross borders for greater sharing and deeper learning.”
Technology and social media today provide teachers with access to an abundance of tools, voices, and instructional approaches that originate from a variety of cultures and societies.” (Howard et al., 2018).
One noteworthy online network is EduMatch, a worldwide community of educators who learn and grow together. EduMatch’s mission is to connect educators around the world with similar topics of interest.
4. Equitable Access to Learning Materials
The internet has made learning materials much more accessible to educators if they know where to look. There is plenty of websites focused on edtech and teaching best practices. Coaches can point their coachees to relevant online resources to deepen their learning.
Flipped Learning Review is an online magazine about the global flipped learning movement and the people and ideas that are driving it. There is much that seasoned and new educators alike can learn from the resources in the magazine.
5. EdCamps and Unconferences
Where conferences are usually highly organized events featuring expert speakers, EdCamps and Unconferences are the opposite. They are an “informal type of professional development where there are no presenters, just conversations about whatever the attendees want to learn or share.” (Howard et al., 2018). Coaches might consider organizing EdCamps and Unconferences or encourage their coachees to attend one.
The day typically begins with participants indicating topics they are interested in on a session board and voting on topics will decide which topics get selected to be discussed. The beauty of this model according to Howard et al. (2018) is that “everyone has an equal voice and can share their questions, experiences, and ideas.”
Conclusion
In conclusion, before we even address the issue of digital equity in K-12 classrooms, digital equity among preservice teachers needs to be addressed. The strategies presented above highlights the importance of professional development leaders and coaches in shaping the learning of preservice teachers by guiding them in the right direction and encouraging them towards a path of continuous learning especially in light of how fast technology is changing these days.
References
- Braxton, S., Bohrer , J., Jacobson, T., Moore , K., Leuba, M., Proctor, C., & Reed, A. (2019, July 3). 7 Things You Should Know About Digital Badges. https://library.educause.edu/resources/2019/7/7-things-you-should-know-about-digital-badges.
- City of Seattle. (2016). Digital Equity Initiative Action Plan Phase 2: From Vision to Action. City of Seattle. http://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/Tech/DigitalEquity_PhaseII.pdf.
- Fingal, J. (2018, November 13). Digital equity starts with teachers-in-training. ISTE. https://www.iste.org/explore/Education-leadership/Digital-equity-starts-with-teachers-in-training.
- Howard, N. R., Thomas, S., & Schaffer, R. (2018). Closing the gap: digital equity strategies for teacher prep programs. International Society for Technology in Education.
- ISTE, T. (2017, April 12). 5 things every educator should know about digital equity. ISTE. https://www.iste.org/explore/Lead-the-way/5-things-every-educator-should-know-about-digital-equity.
- Molnar, M. A. (2019, October 7). Richard Culatta: Five Ways Technology Can Close Equity Gaps. Education Week. https://marketbrief.edweek.org/marketplace-k-12/richard_culatta_five_ways_technology_can_close_equity_gaps/.
- Solomon, G. (2002). Digital equity: It’s not just about access anymore. Technology & Learning, 22(9).
Your approach to close the digital equity gap is thorough and addresses ways both veteran and new teachers alike can benefit from target learning around digital tools. I really like that you distinguished equality and equity as well as offering solutions that go beyond just providing access to digital tools. If educators are not equipped with the proper digital education skills than equitable access to tools isn’t enough to address inequities. I also really enjoyed how organized your ideas are; the headers of each section really pop and your ideas are very succinct. The flow of your ideas read so easily! Great post and thank you for sharing!
Mun,
I appreciate your interesting post on coaching and digital equity. You raise many excellent points and provide practical tips for ways that educators can integrate digital equity into their training and professional work. Thank you for your insights!
Thank you for this post. I wholeheartedly agree with your inclusive definition of digital equity among teachers, “We should not neglect the fact that having trained educators to help students navigate those digital tools is equally important,” and the idea of micro-credentialling. I think a good starting point for encouraging existing educators to attain these micro-credentials is to include them toward CEUs which support step movement and license renewal.