The Complexities of Digital Divides

Explore the complexities of the digital divides, as Gary Henderson highlights the importance of customised strategies to address and close these gaps

There have long been discussions of the challenges of the “digital divide”, often referring to students who have access to technology and those who do not. I think this view is a little simplistic and we should be looking at the challenges of the “digital divides”, plural rather than singular.

For me, there are many divides which will impact students and student learning in our schools, with the context of each school defining the nature of their impact.

The potential for technology to support individual students, to support English as an additional language (EAL) students, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) students, neuro-diverse students and basically every individual student is clear.

However, this potential is not uniform across students and across schools due to a number of digital divides. This includes:

Access to Devices

Not all students have access to personal devices like laptops, tablets, or even smartphones plus some students may have to share devices with siblings or rely on school-provided equipment. In relation to school equipment, there is also a divide where students in some schools will have 1:1 devices to take home whereas other schools may provide a limited set of shared devices or just access to fixed IT labs in a limited number of lessons per week.

In terms of the devices themselves for some students, their only access may be to outdated devices that limit their ability to participate fully in digital learning. In some cases, the best device a student may have access to may be their smartphone where school rules and screen size may impede students in using these devices.

Internet Connectivity

More and more of the technology tools used by schools is online requiring access to an internet connection, including the Google and Microsoft productivity suits now commonly used in schools. Students in rural or economically disadvantaged areas may have poor internet connectivity or lack broadband access at home, limiting their ability to engage in online learning, homework, or research. Even if students have internet access, data caps may restrict their ability to download materials or participate in virtual classrooms. In the schools, we may see similar, with some with high-speed internet capable of supporting all student devices, whereas in other schools’ students may not even have access to the school’s internet connectivity outside of fixed IT labs.

Digital Literacy

Another issue is that not all students possess the same level of digital literacy – their ability to use technology effectively. Students from households where technology is less prevalent may struggle with basic tasks such as navigating online learning platforms or using educational apps, let alone engaging in collaboration or problem solving with technology.

Linked to this, in homes where parents are less digitally literate themselves, students might lack the support they need to troubleshoot technical problems which may arise.

I suspect this divide might be particularly challenging when students engage in the use of technology without understanding safe and proper use, possibly engaging in the use of social media without considering the risks and challenges. Digital literacy and more broadly digital citizenship are key areas I think schools should be focusing on however this continues to be difficult as it requires suitable time and other resources to be made available in an already busy school day.

School Resources and Infrastructure

I have already mentioned a few divides where the issue may appear not just personally for students, but also in their school.   Yet, there are also areas which impact directly on or because of the school – such as where schools may lack funding to provide adequate digital infrastructure such as the required networking, Wi-Fi and client devices.

In terms of the funding, its impact may differ depending on how the school implements educational technology meaning, while some schools may offer a seamless digital experience, others may struggle due to outdated systems or lack of staff training in digital teaching methods. The professional development in relation to technology use in a school can have a significant impact on how the available technology is then used.

Teacher Preparedness and Digital Pedagogy

Not all teachers are equally proficient with digital tools, which can impact the quality of digital education students receive. This isn’t related to staff age and the weak concept of digital natives and digital immigrants. It is the result of some staff spending more time, being more confident, having more access to technology, or simply to more digital divides. As such some staff will confidently model the effective use of technology, while others may model fear and uncertainty at using technology in the classroom.

I suspect I could continue identifying further digital divides and turn this into a very long article, but I think the above does enough to identify the different divides which may exist. Schools and school technology leaders therefore must consider these digital divides and seek to, where possible, level the playfield for all students.

This is by no means an easy task, especially as some of the fundamental requirements of technology use, such as bandwidth, infrastructure, devices, training, etc, all require investment.

This therefore requires schools to consider their technology strategy and how it fits within their broader school strategy.   If we can try to do all we reasonably can to reduce or limit the digital divides experienced by students, this can only be a good thing for their learning experience and in preparing for the technology enabled future ahead of them.