To: Canton City School Board Members
From: Michael Betro, Systems Administrator
Date: 7/14/2008
Re: Eliminating digital inequities in our school district
The issue I am presenting is the “Digital Divide”.The term “Digital Divide” refers to the gap between individuals who effectively take advantage of digital and information technologies and those without access or not making effective use of such technologies. This “Digital Divide” is many times defined in the context of groups such as socioeconomic, race, gender, geographical and age. In defining the digital divide in the context of education the focus has shifted from whether or not computers are available to students but rather how students are taking advantage of digital and informational technologies. This idea was addressed in 1997 when the United States Federal Communications Commission created the Universal Service Fund which guaranteed that schools, classrooms, health care providers and libraries should have access to advanced telecommunication services. This was implemented in order to address the issue of digital inequality in schools. Digital inequality occurs when students are not provided with adequate technology or do not use the technology provided effectively. The effects of digital inequities result in decreased productivity, less educated society while slowing the growth of technology. Quantity and quality of technology although important, must be used effectively if inequities are going to be erased. Technology literacy has become increasingly important in today’s society. For students to be successful in school and in the job market one will need the skills necessary to be successful moving through the twenty first century. Students experiencing digital inequities will find themselves at a disadvantage as they move forward through their educational career.
To allow our institution the opportunity to eliminate these digital inequities I am providing a list of six resources I believe will allow students to effectively utilize provided technology resources.
1. Open source software applications
2. Free e-mail accounts hosted by a third party
3. Low cost USB flash drive
4. Used or donated equipment
5. People
6. Staff training
Taking into account the resources listed above I believe if we, as an institution, harness the availability of free software applications such as “OpenOffice” (www.openoffice.org), we will have the ability to expose students to word processing, spread sheet, database and presentation applications at no cost. Secondly, providing students with a personal e-mail account hosted by a third party will establish a means of communication. Goggles “Gmail” is a free web based e-mail application offering up to 2 GB of storage space, and includes many other features. A third suggestion would be to require students to have a USB flash drive. I am of the opinion that a USB flash drive should become listed as a required school supply. USB flash drives are inexpensive, portable and will allow students to effectively store data. To take advantage of the aforementioned resources we will need computers. Refurbished computers and sales items represent a cost effective means to tool our classrooms, labs and libraries. Community colleges and government organizations many times offer equipment as they retool labs and offices. Many times this available equipment is in line with today’s technology. This represents a cost effective means of obtaining technological resources. If our school hopes to decrease digital inequities we must ensure the resources we provide students are used effectively. Providing training for faculty and staff represents a means to increase the skills of staff in an effort to pass the obtained knowledge onto the students.
In conclusion creating a universal letter stating our goals should be created and forwarded to local colleges and business organizations in an attempt to establish a relationship that may assist us in creating an environment in which our school may obtain training and equipment in a cost effective manner. Moving forward from this point, taking advantage of free and open source applications will ensure that we give every student exposure to tools that will allow them to utilize technology effectively. In turn this effective use of technology will aid our school in doing its part in shortening the “Digital Divide”.
5 comments:
I love your suggestions for improvement - I think they give a really good opportunity to get the community more involved with the process of closing the Gap. I definitely like the idea of recycled parts, especially since most people don't realize that there is so much that can be done to make that equipment like new - and the school board would appreciate the money it saved them! Nice work all around.
I agree, your focus on the practical hardware related to closing the digital divide is good. Finding the least expensive, most cost effective ways of ensuring equal access to technology is very important. Although, I have found, in the public school system, this is not always the easiest route to gaining access. Firewalls, and district compatible codes often prevent us from being able to accept donations or used hardware. As a matter of fact, if a business or organization wants to donate to my school, they need to donate to a foundation which may or may not forward the donation to the requested site. There is no guarantee it will get there. I wish things were easier. I cannot connect to my district's network with any hardware that is not owned by the district.
I, too, liked your ideas about utilizing hardware donations from companies or organizations as they upgrade. I'm on the technology committee at our school and just wrote down a note to myself to look into your idea. But then I read Shanda's comment and I didn't know about the issues she brought up. Why couldn't our tech department at the district level work on the hardware to make them owned by the district and make sure they're cleaned up? Seems like there is a lot of waste but I also understand that there are probably more underlying issues than this that we're not aware of. Great ideas, though, Mike!
I think every step we can take as educators to close this gap on the digital divide is greatly needed. It is sad that so many hoops have to be jumped in order to help our children succeed in this technological world. Great ideas.
Great idea about students required to have USB sticks. Unfortunately, where I'm working we have the problem with the spreading of computer viruses and I got a virus transferred onto my stick and then onto my home computer. But other than that issue, my students often save notes I use in class and use them to study at home.
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