Equity, Access and Social Justice

As our society reaps the benefits of the technological gold rush, educators are increasingly feeling the pressure to prepare their students to be knowledgeable and competitive. It is popularly believed that knowledge of technology is the gateway to success. However, this drive to infuse technology into the curriculum presents educators with a multitude of ethical dilemmas as they attempt to teach students with different skills and an inequity of resources. Educators often find themselves in educationally and economically diverse classrooms. Often the students in a particular classroom are not on a level playing field in several respects, but most notably the greatest inequities exist in their experience with and access to technology that may be educationally beneficial.

In a House Government Reform subcommittee meeting, Michael Fleisher, CEO of the Stanford, Connecticut Gartner Group technology consulting firm said, "The Internet will soon be so pervasive that not having access to the technology or not knowing how to use it will be the equivalent of not knowing how to read and write". A study conducted by the Gartner Group found that among those having a lower-income, only 35% had Internet access. Compare this figure with an average of 66% for middle-income status and 83% for upper-income status, and one can see how the ever-increasing technological dependence will surely exacerbate existing inequities in student access to technology. Students in rural areas are often subject to inferior Internet connections, keeping them even further behind their urban counterparts. Gender gap and disability access issues add additional wrinkles to this problem. Educators most take a proactive role and commit themselves to leveling the playing field and avoiding the creation of additional inequities among their students.

A. Using technology information to benefit, rather than harm
Integration of technology into a curriculum should have at least a two-fold purpose: 1) delivery/furthering of a curriculum that is consistent with standards set by the school, state, and/or community; and 2) the further development of technical skills that will further a student's abilities in this area and prepare for their future, no matter what it holds. As educators continue to strive to include more technology skills and concepts into their curriculums and assignments, they should also keep in mind that their students most likely have different resources available to them outside of the classroom and that some will have advantages over others because of these inequities. Educators should work to ensure that within their classroom all students have equal opportunity and access to technology, regardless of a student's background.

Educators need to realize that technological skills will be needed by all of their students, regardless of achievement and/or future goals. Hardly a job exists in our society these days that does not require computer or technology skills. Look at almost any occupation, and the need for some computer skills is apparent. Computers fly airplanes, heat and cool buildings, repair cars, calibrate medical equipment, run elevators, wash cars, complete sale transactions, design construction sites, design clothes, and more. All occupations will require technical skills; educators have a responsibility for using any and all technical means provided them to ensure that ALL students have the experiences needed to compete in this technology-dependent society. In addition, having technical skills gives citizens an edge in such areas as politics, culture and current events. As we progress forward into the future, technology will guide many of our students' decisions on such matters as who to vote for, where to go to college, the best car to buy, and more. Educators should take the initiative in providing the skills and knowledge students will need to complete these tasks as educated citizens and consumers.

Educators should learn the technological skills, tools and abilities of their students to help drive their curriculum and shape students' expectations. Students come to school with a wide range of knowledge, skills and resources. Educators quickly find this out upon first entering the classroom. If an educator is to expect students to use technology as a requirement for successful completion of a course, the educator has an obligation to find out what resources students have available. If there is disparity among the students, then the educator should provide alternatives or make accommodations for those students who are less advantaged (see next guideline of the code). In this way educators will also avoid duplicating knowledge and/or skills that are already possessed by the class. A math teacher would not spend a year teaching facts and skills that all students in the class already know or possess. By knowing students' technological backgrounds, educators are better prepared to educate their students.

Educators should make reasonable demands on students to use technology outside of class, and should recognize complications this may cause for some students. Technology in schools should be used to its full educational extent. Requiring students to routinely use technology resources and continually helping them refine their repertoire of skills will help prepare all students for successful transition into their futures. However, educators at all levels should realize that requiring use of technology outside of class might benefit some students while inadvertently placing others at a disadvantage. While home computer sales have surged and consumers are hooking up to the Internet at a rapid rate, many homes still lack computers or Internet access (CNN-Reuters). Many factors beyond income level affect the likelihood of having technology resources in the home. Thus students who are thought to already have a disadvantage are disadvantaged even further, when they are unable to easily do computer work outside of school that their more advantaged classmates can easily accomplish. If educators are not careful, such a situation could cause further inequity in such areas as education delivered to students and grade distribution. It is certainly unethical to teach more to the more advantaged population in the room, which could easily (though inadvertently) lead to higher grades for students simply on the basis of their socio-economic status. According to the Commerce Department's October 2000 report Falling Through the Net: Toward Digital Inclusion - A Report on Americans' Access to Technology Tools, "… a digital divide remains or has expanded slightly in some cases, even while Internet access and computer ownership are rising rapidly for almost all groups. For example, our most recent data show that divides still exists between those with different levels of income and education, different racial and ethnic groups, old and young, single and dual-parent families, and those with and without disabilities." This entire report, and a myriad of statistical data on the issue of the "digital divide" can be accessed at: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fttn00/falling.htm

Educators should avoid widening the digital divide and make arrangements or provide alternatives for students without technology access at home. The easiest way to ensure that educators avoid inadvertently favoring the technology-haves over the technology-have-nots would be to avoid using technology in their curriculums. This would be a grave mistake. Clearly, there are tremendous benefits when technology is integrated into schools' curricula. Educators should be aware of the technology have-nots in their classrooms and ensure that such students are not punished in any way (intentionally or unintentionally) for their lack of resources.

One step educators can take to avoid negative outcomes caused by the digital divide would be to provide ample class time to access required technology. In addition, if it is feasible to provide students without technological access alternatives in completing assignments, teachers should take such steps. Examples of such alternatives include allowing hand writing (rather than typing) of documents, allowing students to make a phone call to the teacher or a recording providing information from a course website, obtaining print outs of research at school and so on. Finally, educators working collectively across a school or district could arrange convenient, multiple out-of-class opportunities to give students technology access. Much of a school's technology tools sit dormant outside of the school day. While computers and Internet access are available at public libraries, these are often in limited numbers and have to be shared among a large number of patrons. In addition, help would more readily be available at school, where personnel were more familiar of what is expected of the students. After-school technology programs are growing around the United States in just one attempt to bridge the digital divide. Additional Information about the US Department of Education's After School Technology Initiative, including information on grants to start up such programs, is available at: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/After_School_Programs/Technology_Programs.html

B. Respecting Others' Rights
Educators are under constant pressure to integrate technology into their teaching so that "no child is left behind." Under this pressure, it is sometimes difficult for educators to balance such technological expectations with the reality that some of their students are already behind. The goal is to effectively integrate technology with the learning process without exacerbating disparities among students that already exist.

Educators should make all reasonable accommodations for those students who cannot access the technology through regular channels due to a disability, and should educate themselves on the availability and use of assistive technologies. Students with a hearing, visual, or learning disability are already at a disadvantage in the classroom. Some of these disabilities include deafness and hard of hearing impairments, blindness and other visual impairments, learning disabilities, and severe emotional problems. Technology should be the great equalizer, not another hurdle for such students to overcome. Statistics about these special populations suggest that educators are likely to encounter students with these impairments over the course of their careers. The National Center for Educational Statistics in its 1996 Digest of Educational Statistics estimated there are 63,000 students in K-12 settings with a hearing impairment and 24,000 school children with some type of visual impairment. But perhaps the disability educators will face the most will be students with learning disabilities, which included almost 2.5 million school children in 1993-94, a number that increased every year over the 20-year study. Other statistics about disabilities and technology access can be found at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs/d96/D96T051.html.

Educators have a responsibility to educate themselves on how to efficiently use assistive technologies that will be needed for students with disabilities to succeed. While it is probably impractical for any one educator to know all about such assistive technology, especially considering it is changing and improving every day, they do have an obligation to educate themselves on such technologies when the student population of their classrooms warrants such. Otherwise, the educator will be providing them with an education inferior to that of the other students in the class. (See the equity resources in Works Cited List

C. Using Technology resources for the greatest good
Technology has tremendous capabilities in our increasingly global world. To ensure that all are able to participate in its benefits, children must have exposure and experience from an early age. If issues of universal access are ever resolved, technology could become a key component of leveling the playing field for all participants in our society. No child should be denied this chance.

Educators have a collective obligation to infuse technology into all areas of the curriculum to decrease technology-related gender inequities and reach all students, male and female. According to a study by the American Association of University Women, some gaps between the education of boys and girls have narrowed while others have widened. High school girls and boys take similar numbers of science courses, but boys are more likely than girls to take all three core science courses-biology, chemistry, and physics-before they graduate. Girls take fewer computer science and computer design courses, while boys take fewer English courses. Girls cluster in traditionally female occupations in School-to-Work and vocational education programs. For these reasons, it is clear that technology use in education is the responsibility for ALL subject area teachers to reach the widest audience possible.

Some have speculated that such a technology gap exists between the sexes because much of information technology is geared towards men. The vast majority of video and computer games are designed with a male audience in mind. For cultural reasons boys and girls gravitate towards different courses of study. Since it is clear that all benefit from learning how to use technological tools, educators from all disciplines (not just computer and technology teachers) need to take some responsibility for infusing technology into their curriculums since it will be an integral part of their students' lives, no matter what the future holds for them.

More information about gender differences in education is available at http://www.aauw.org/home.html

Educators have an obligation to infuse technology that it is culturally relevant to the students as the nation's classrooms become increasingly diverse. Immigration is at an all time high in the United States and "immigration accounts for nearly all of the national increase in public school enrollment over the last two decades" (Camarota). In addition, many of these students are entering our school systems at age-appropriate grade levels, despite having a limited educational background. Technology holds much potential in reaching these students, but often it does not. Consider the substantially higher dropout rates for Hispanic students, who drop out at a rate of more than twice that of white and African-American students. The drop out rate is even more marked for Hispanic-immigrants - almost half of school-aged Hispanic immigrants never receive a high school diploma. First generation Hispanics fare better - 4 out of every 5 graduate from high school, but the drop out rate is still higher than that of whites and African-Americans (Forgione). If technology is to reach these at-risk populations, it must have some relevance to their lives.

Digital content, like other content, should be crafted so that it is culturally relevant to the students, according to Karen Ellis of the CyberPlayground, as cited on the Digital Divide Network site. "The Internet provides several advantages in regard to providing such curricula", Ellis said. The extensive resources available on the Web, for example, allow the opportunity to target information to numerous ethnic and cultural groups.

Although at a practical level it would be impossible to translate all curriculums into dialects and all examples into culturally specific examples, it is recommended that teachers review their materials with a sensitivity to cultural differences and make an effort to develop culturally relevant materials whenever possible. Educators should locate sites such as the Multicultural Education Internet Resource Guide (http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/Multi.html), which has a listing of over 100 rated sites on multicultural education. Technology and new developments in the use of computers hold new promise for promoting access for bilingual and English As A Second Language learners (see: http://www.ncbe.gwu.edu/ncbepubs/issuebriefs/ib7.htm ). A creative example of how to create culturally relevant content for ESL learners was done at Columbia University, Titled: "Assuring the Academic Success of Language Minority Students: Collaboration in Teaching and Learning"
(http://eric-web.tc.columbia.edu/pathways/smt_literacy/collaborate.htm ). For early childhood education there is a wonderful resource called Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (http://ericps.crc.uiuc.edu/clas/materials.html)
For those working with ECE/Special Education populations a good example resource site is: "Portraits of Inclusion: through the eyes of children family and educators" (http://www.newhorizons.org/spneeds_portsocial.html ).

Educators have a responsibility to teach students technical literacy in addition to other kinds of literacy. A February 2000 report by the Gartner Group found that as many as 50 million American adults who are not online are in danger of becoming "functionally illiterate." Jobs from all points on the spectrum are increasingly infusing technology into their required skill set. As much as employers want workers who can read, write and perform basic math functions, they also want employees who have technological literacy. According to the United States Department of Labor, in 1999, e-commerce generated over 300 billion in revenue - almost as much as the Big Three American automobile producers combined. The average high-tech job pays over 78% more than the average non-high-tech job. More and better technology improves productivity and wages of most workers.

In addition to providing an advantage in the workplace, technology also will be an integral skill of a well-informed citizen and smart shopper. Such activities as studying political candidates and issues, comparison shopping, and banking are now done online, and in the future will certainly continue to be done in this environment. For these reasons, educators should design curriculum and lessons that incorporate this online technology so that students have experience and familiarity after graduation.

Educators must teach with an awareness that they are educating tomorrow's workers. It is clear that American workplaces are going to become more and more infused with and reliant upon technology and workers that possess the skills to work with technology. As the gold rush for information technology moves on, it is obvious that America cannot afford another generation of 50 million functionally illiterate adults in the area of technology. While it is impractical and impossible for educators to take on the responsibility to teach all the technology required for tomorrow's workplaces, it is very practical and indeed very possible to teach students about the technology today's schools possess. In his testimony to the House Subcommittee on Government Reform, Gartner Group CEO Michael Fleisher spoke of an experience gap. Groups of people who have only recently gained access to modern, innovative technological tools derive little benefit in the short-term, according to Fleisher, who says this is because there is a "very steep learning curve that accompanies any new, complex technology." Once one has learned to use one technology relatively well, it becomes easier and easier to learn new technologies as they are encountered. Schools provide the ideal setting to overcome the learning curve Fleisher discusses, because the workplace of tomorrow may not be as patient with employees lacking technological literacy.