Standard 4.

1 Digital Equity
Standard 4.1 is focused on strategies for achieving equitable access to digital tools and resources
for all students and teachers. The artifacts chosen to support the skills reflected in this standard
are a blog post from ITEC 7430 and the IT Grant Proposal from ITEC 7410. Both were
individual assignments, so I had responsibility for their entirety.
The blog post reflects my disposition to promote all students being exposed to an environment of
digital learning throughout their personal community beyond the walls of the school building.
You can read this post by clicking here or the link above. This post also shows my ability to
promote and model strategies for providing digital access to digital tools and resources by
outlining the ways in which I provide digital access to students outside of the instructional time
during the school year. I also promote awareness of digital access to students by posting hours
and information for community technology access in student areas.
The IT Grant Proposal outlines a plan to model and promote strategies for achieving equitable
access to technology-related best practices for all students and teachers. It actually evolved
from the work I did on Assistive Technologies and is targeted toward our ESOL population. The
grant proposal outlines a plan in which the school could obtain and use translator pen technology
to aid in our instruction of English Language Learners. (ELL) By modeling the use of the pens
in my classroom and promoting their use through the school, I would be aiding the school
movement toward technology-related best practices.
What I learned from this experience is that the digital divide is present in our school and seems
to be a growing issue as technology in and out of the school day becomes commonplace. The
divide widens as some students are becoming skilled and adept at using digital media to
creatively produce projects at young ages rather than simply playing games. Yes, using
technology at earlier ages is becoming the norm, but there is a huge disparity in the quality of use
that goes on. The type of screen time that parents are providing to their children seems to also be
creating a divide in the students later ability to use technology effectively to access and acquire
knowledge.
What I would change about this learning experience would be to survey the student population in
its entirety to determine digital access. This could be done in our advisement program and
provide a better body of knowledge to all teachers, even teachers who were unaware to ask.
The work that went into this learning experience impacts faculty development through the
uncovering of student technology access outside of the school day and promoting that equitable
access. That knowledge should help students who need access to technology be able to obtain it
easier. That impact will be assessed in participation of low digital access students in technology
related activities outside of instructional time.