The digital divide is new terminology to me. I understand the digital divide to be the limitations of bandwidth in rural, remote and lower socioeconomic places to connect, collaborate and create due to internet connectivity issues. I can empathize with this, as I live in a rural – remote location with a limited internet connection. The investment required to obtain internet is significant and cost-prohibitive for sure. I have recently been upgraded from 100 MB per month to unlimited. The highest download speed I have obtained with this service is 10 MB/s. I am able to create videos and communicate asynchronously to complete my studies, but synchronous learning via Zoom or Google Meet is happened by the download and upload speeds. During synchronous meetings, I generally have to keep my camera off and not share my screen.
A new Satellite option called Star Link high-speed option is now available, however, the setup cost is $800 CAD and then a monthly payment of $130. Lower-income families would not be able to afford the investment required to obtain download speeds greater than 50 MB/s.
The school board I work with has been working tirelessly to connect our students and educators. The school board has supported 1 to 1 device for students to ensure everyone is able to connect. The IT team and I support families, educators and students to ensure learners are engaged in DLE. I am proud of the school board I work with and the forward-thinking administration that is student-centred and strives to narrow the digital divide.
To support parents and students during learning at home the EdTech Team planned a Student Summit. It was a week-long event where students were engaged in digital literacy learning. Teachers learned alongside students through workshops and students created and communicated with “experts” with programs such as Google Draw, Google Earth and Google Slides. At the end of the week student work was showcased and celebrated. Additionally, parent communication and workshops are ongoing to ensure that parents have the support and knowledge to support their students throughout the pandemic.
I am excited to embark on the Digital Citizenship web guide assignment for the course. Digital Citizenship has not been a priority for the school board, for a number of reasons. The focus has been on engagement and promoting educator’s and students’ digital literacy skills. However, I believe that I am taking this course at the perfect time to support the system and educators consider and develop digital citizenship skills.
The first step that the board has taken is to create an awareness of Digital Citizenship. This past week the IT department has pushed out the Responsible Digital Citizenship Through the Lens of the Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations presentation. Each Monday a new slide will be the wallpaper on classroom interactive monitors and whiteboards. This will serve as the first step to create awareness for students and educators about digital citizenship skills. There is a plan to have students engage with the idea of digital citizenship for Catholic Edcuation Week. There will be a student poster contest whereby students will develop their own posters to share their learning and reflections on digital citizenship. Students’ work will then be posted on the desktop wallpaper of the interactive whiteboards in the classrooms.
Initially, my thinking around curation was that I don’t do it and it is not a focus for the school board, however, after reading through the articles I see bits of curation happening. Each portfolio lead within the board has curated digital resources to be shared with educators on an internet-type resource page. They took the time to vet resources based on pedagogical application (not privacy and cybersecurity, that is my project now) for classroom educators to implement into their programs. Another curation project that occurs at the board level is shared drives in Google Drive. Again each lead and superintendent uploads and shares resources, forms and documents through the shared drive. Again a repository that is searchable and has been sorted in a way that makes it accessible and can be added to. Finally, a student-centred curation project is students’ digital portfolio. Each student has been uploaded to D2L Brightspace Portfolio through the Student Information System and can access their digital portfolio. Each student’s portfolio is connected to their Ontario Education Number (OEN). It will follow them from Kindergarten to Grade 12. I was pleased to realize that I do support and actively participate in curation.
References
Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A. J., & Weigel, M. (2006). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21 st century [White paper]. MacArthur Foundation Publication. https://www.macfound.org/media/ article_pdfs/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF
Schradie, J. (2013, April 26). 7 myths of the digital divide [Blog post]. http://thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/ 2013/04/26/7-myths-of-the-digital-divide/