Diminishing the Digital Divide
ISTE makes efforts to lessen digital inequities with DE Summit
By Tracy Tierney
Countless technologies exist that students might say they can’t live without—a cell phone, an mp3 player, a laptop, a personal blog. But while navigating the Internet and using computers may be second nature to some students, it can be a challenge to others. Some students are unfamiliar with everyday technology due to economic disadvantage, or to a lack of resources or education. Others may hail from a culture or subculture in which technology is mistrusted, not valued, or simply perceived as hopelessly complicated.
This “digital divide” is most commonly seen in economically disadvanged communities. Mila Fuller, director of strategic initiatives at ISTE, sees the issue as increasingly paramount as technology in education becomes essential for participating fully in today’s competitive global economy.
“We can’t ignore digital equity issues that exist,” Fuller says. “There are some students who don’t own or have access to computers in their homes. They don’t know how to effectively and appropriately use the Internet and they don’t have a full understanding of the legal and ethical issues that they should be aware of when using the Internet.”
Fuller works alongside Sharnell Jackson, an ISTE member and chief of e-learning for the Chicago Public School System. Together, the two are co-chairing a summit to address digital equity, set to take place this July during ISTE’s annual conference (NECC). The ISTE Digital Equity Summit 2006 will bring together local, state, national and international leaders in education to discuss the issues of digital equity. Discussions will focus on how the digital divide affects not only students, but families and communities as well.
“Participants will develop an action plan to take realistic steps after the summit,” says Fuller. “There will be opportunities to continue discussions, share resources and suggestions, and to support one another.”
Fuller points to steps that school districts can take now to help lessen the digital divide.
“We encourage schools to continue developing partnerships with businesses and organizations for free or reduced, quality resources,” she says. “There should also be a focus on instructional software and hardware so parents can work with students at home.
“It’s about being able to use information to foster critical thinking and becoming information literate. By doing so, students have the ability to research information and career paths they’re interested in. We need to ensure that students are capable users of technology and that they have confidence as they prepare to enter the workforce.”
Fuller attributes much of her own success, as well as her dedication to the issue, to her own background and increased awareness of digital equity. As a young girl growing up on the south side of Chicago, Fuller had little access to computers, but her mother’s abiding focus on education kept Fuller interested in technology.
In college, Fuller was selected as a resident advisor, and one of the benefits of the position was receiving a computer in her dorm room.
“I was fortunate to have these resources,” she says. “As a resident adviser I had 24-hour access to a computer. This small benefit, particularly the convenient access, was a critical factor in my education.
“Fiscal and human resources are crucial as our society addresses digital equity. The summit is an opportunity to devote focused attention on digital equity issues, both the challenges and potential solutions,” says Fuller.
Attending the Digital Equity Summit at NECC is one way to participate in lessening the digital divide, but for year-round involvement, ISTE members can participate in SIGDE (Special Interest Group for Digital Equity), one of four new SIGs introduced last year, and a host of the DE Summit.
SIGDE president Bob McLaughlin notes that the group’s goal is to “provide proactive leadership and to get practical digital equity strategies more widely known and carried out.”
McLaughlin says his main objectives with the new SIG are digital literacy, and access to the best academic content. He explains that the Internet has two layers available for students, the “surface Web” and the “deep Web.”
“The surface Web is what you access when you use a search engine like Google,” he explained. “You get 10 billion pages of content, some academic, some not. The deep Web is published by academic and scientific communities.” He points to the latter as the more crucial, yet more difficult to access, of the two.
McLaughlin reports students cannot access the deep Web via search engines because the services are restricted, and usually require a login. These sites contain useful information and are much more abundant—the deep Web is about 400-450 times larger than the surface Web, according to McLaughlin.
“The surface Web is a mud puddle. That’s only the crude beginning,” he says. “If we want to provide the best instructional content, we need to ensure students know the deep Web exists, and [find] a way for access to be affordable. At the digital equity summit, we’ll be showcasing practical ways to do that and to achieve other important digital equity goals, such as providing access to high quality laptop and desktop computers at deeply discounted prices.”
McLaughlin invites all interested parties to get involved in the new SIG in order to help close the digital divide.
“We encourage all ISTE members to communicate with us about strategies,” says McLaughlin. “We’ve got to make sure, for our economic and cultural well-being, to give people a sense of hope—we’ve got to do a whole lot better at putting technology into everyone’s hands.”
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