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School systems have to educate parents and students on ways that they can access the internet. I know that not every school system can provide hot spots to every child, however, providing open internet access in areas of a city is a great way to make things happen.

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I definitely see digital inequity in my school. I teach in rural Lincoln County, so I definitely think students at my school don't have the same digital opportunities as students in other schools in the county or across the state. But, like some others in this class, my district doesn't allow elementary students to take chromebooks home. They have to wait until high school to be able to do that. This definitely helps with the issue and helps keep things more equitable.

I think an idea to help with this would be for the school district to partner with local businesses to refurbish old chromebooks or other devices to loan them to families that need that access.

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I have a unique experience with digital equity. I live in Tullahoma, and two of my children attended school in the city school system. Tullahoma is a 1:1 digital equipment school and expects students to have digital access, either through public or private means. However, I teach at Coffee County Central High School, our rural county school. We are NOT a 1:1 digital access school; some of our classrooms do not even have a classroom set of Chromebooks. We are asked not to assign work that requires digital access after school. Our students struggle with digital access due to availability, affordability, and adoption. Broadband access is not physically available in some areas of our county. We also have a relatively high level of students who live below the poverty line, making affordability an issue. Due to agricultural work in the area, we have a population of mobile students whose primary language is not English, and therefore, adoption becomes an issue. Some solutions to this inequity would be to build the infrastructure that would place broadband in all public housing units and to employ a digital navigator to serve the community. 

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In my role as a kindergarten teacher, I’ve seen digital inequity firsthand. Some of my students have access to devices and internet at home, while others have very little exposure, which can create gaps in confidence and digital skills early on. To me, digital equity isn’t just about having a device, it is also about ensuring families have reliable internet and feel equipped to support their children’s learning.

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As a second-year middle school teacher in a Title I school, I’ve definitely seen digital inequity affect my students. Some kids can take devices home, which helps them complete homework and stay engaged. But others are only allowed to use devices at school because of fines or limited resources. This creates a big gap in learning opportunities.Many of our students don’t have reliable internet or enough devices at home, making it hard to keep up. To help, I think schools could create loaner programs without harsh fines, so students aren’t punished for things sometimes out of their control. Partnering with local libraries or businesses to increase Wi-Fi access could also help. Providing assignments that don’t require constant internet and offering workshops for families on using technology could make a difference.

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(Apologies for the issues with my camera, I'll get it fixed soon! Although this is relevant to the conversation of digital equity, which is interesting.)

My experience working with adolescents and in particular with youth from low-income and system-involved backgrounds has given me a lot of direct experience with the impact and nuances of digital inequity and digital literacy differences. I think the fundamental solution to these issues has to begin with resource access -- getting people the devices they need to participate and achieve in our digital world and the support they need for those devices, like internet and phone connections, resources for learning to use their devices and for advanced education, and access to support with their devices as needed.

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Working with students who have social emotional needs it was a huge success to have this inequities worked through during covid allowing my students access to curriculum and teachers. This not only helped with academics but also the wellbeing of the students, and families.

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I work at UTK as the ASL Lab Coordinator. Our students rely heavily on technology to record videos of their ASL skills, while teachers depend on that same technology to grade assignments, quizzes, and other coursework. We now live in a society where nearly everything is online. Students are able to complete their videos in the comfort and privacy of their home or dorm. They also have opportunities to record them in the lab with the support of the staff.

Anna

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I have never experienced inequity of technology in my own life, but I do see it in my classroom. I teach in Mascot, a rural area in East Tennessee. Some students do not have any technology at home, and some do not even have running water. My school does not allow chromebooks to be taken home, which I believe evens the playing field for assignments. I do worry about them as they work up into higher education because it is much harder to keep that equitable, especially as assignments must be done on the computer. I do not have any good ideas on how to change the inequity of technology, especially as it connects to finances. 

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I work with EL students who do not have access to the internet at home, whose parents can't even download free apps like parent square, and who sometimes have no digital literacy whatsoever. Last week one of my students bought himself a computer to take online classes and he had to idea how to set it up or even turn it on.

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Digital Equity/Inequity in the Community

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Digital Equity/Inequity in the Community

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I had a student last year who did not have internet access at home due to financial struggles. I allowed him to work on online assignments in the classroom and take his textbook/workbook home. I allow the same strategy now to avoid any social embarrassment for the kids who are day-users (cannot take their Chromebook home) or if they don't have internet at home, but I know that these students are at a disadvantage compared to their classmates who have internet access 24/7.

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If image is broken

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MR8LS33_U9oE9cdUaS3uZ3OCaCtZsDVQ/view?usp=sharing

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Nikki Davis, Fulton High CDC