Participate 3.1.1 Access to the Digital Community Quest

Access to the Digital Learning Community - Resources & Barriers

From personal experience with my students and their families, I have seen over the years the disparity between individual students and their ability to access technology while at home. As an educator, I want my students using technology as a tool to remediate, to extend, and in general to support learning. However, my students are not able to always have this opportunity outside of school hours. The barriers that prevent this primarily are either geography or socio-economic status. While most of my students do have personal cell phones, access to an actual computer is limited in many homes. In some cases, I see parents who make the active choice to not allow their children to access the internet - out of fear of exposure to potential negative posts/images, etc... Less likely, but still an issue, are access issues due to disability. While this does still occur, in my experience this is rare due to the amazing opportunities that are now available for students with either visual,hearing, or motor skill disabilities. 

I personally feel so fortunate that I do live and work in an area where appropriate access is readily available - it is amazing the ways in which I am able to harness digital resources in order to be more productive in my job as a school counselor. By having this opportunity, I am able to work more efficiently which only help the teachers, students, and parents with whom I support. Furthermore, our local public library is a great access point, and the high school in which I work has technology readily available in EVERY academic classroom. When looking at ranking on the broadbandmap.gov site, Gwinnett County (where I reside and work) ranks #2 in the state with 100% access.

As we look at ways to eliminate barriers, I think we have to continue communicating and acting in the following ways:

• Educating parents/students on the positive benefits of incorporating technology with learning
• Providing affordable internet options for those families who struggle financially.
• Advertising the when/where/how of how students can have access to digital resources if these are not readily available in the home