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Tag: Equity & Access

Bridging the Three Facets of the Digital Divide

Written by HES Marketing on . Posted in EdTech & Digital Literacy.

How have you used the internet recently? Maybe you searched for information, read an email, paid a bill, attended a meeting, collaborated on a project, created a presentation, or consulted a doctor. Convenient internet access makes these and other actions quicker and easier.

In this modern era, not using the internet puts people at a significant disadvantage in many aspects of life, including education. The chasm between the haves and have-nots of internet access is called the digital divide. Optimizing the internet’s capabilities requires three components: 1) a computer or other internet-capable device, 2) reliable high-speed internet, 3) sufficient digital literacy skills.

Unfortunately, far too many students in the US lack one or all three components. This video shows the stark difference between students searching for information with internet access versus without it. As dramatic as this video is, searching for information barely scratches the surface of how technology, or EdTech, enhances student learning.

Inequity Factors

Research from the Pew Research Center, the National Education Association, and the International Computer and Information Literacy Study all tell a similar story. Personal factors heavily influence students’ access to computers and the internet. These factors often compound each other and include:

  1. Income level
  2. Geography
  3. Education level of parents
  4. Racial /ethnic background
  5. Income

Not surprisingly, families on tight budgets allocate limited funds to shelter, food, and healthcare over broadband internet service and computers. Even the least expensive devices cost a significant amount of money, and cheap devices often break and lack enough processing speed to be truly useful. Many low-income students do not have a device at home, or multiple household members share one device preventing students from having enough time to finish their homework.

Internet providers typically charge by the speed of the internet they provide. Streaming videos, attending virtual meetings, and uploading and downloading media require about 1.5 megabits per second, or 1.5 Mbps. Cable tends to be the cheapest way to get broadband internet. Texas residents pay about $.12 per MB per month for cable internet, whereas Wyoming residents pay $1.00. Many families cut costs by paying for slower internet that allows students to read and answer emails but not watch videos.

  1. Geography

The cost of broadband does not tell the whole story. The availability of high-speed internet varies dramatically depending on where you live. Students in areas such as rural West Virginia and Montana lack broadband infrastructure, making their internet connections too slow to be useful.

The NEA study ranked states based on students’ access to broadband internet. Complete access meant that they had enough working devices and reliable high-speed internet at home. Mississippi ranks 50th, with only 64% having full access. Meanwhile, 87% of New Hampshire students enjoy complete access. The geographic discrepancy is partially due to students living in rural versus suburban conditions and partly because some populations and policymakers do not prioritize access to the internet. However, even in top-ranking New Hampshire 25,000 students lacked enough access to take advantage of many digital education tools.

  1. Education Level of Parents

Children of parents with limited education have significantly less exposure to computers and digital literacy skills. This trend holds true globally. Higher education typically leads to careers that use computers and technology, whereas a lack of education often leads to jobs involving manual labor.

Ninety-one percent of students with parents with advanced degrees have sufficient internet speed and devices, compared with only 48% of those whose parents did not finish high school. More educated parents are also significantly more advanced in digital literacy skills and can guide their children’s learning.

  1. Racial and Ethnic Background

Finally, there is a high correlation between digital haves and have-nots according to students’ racial and ethnic backgrounds. Eighty-six percent of Asian American students have sufficient access to the internet and devices, compared with 50% of Native American students.

How Schools and Communities Provide Access and Training

While the digital divide in schools correlates with personal factors, community and school infrastructure can help bridge the gap. US municipalities that include broadband as a public utility are rare but quickly growing. State laws with strict requirements about cable providers are a big roadblock for towns wanting to provide broadband as a public utility. There are valid reasons for why public utility broadband is not right for every community, but it often gives more families access to reliable internet at home. This allows lower-income students to work from home instead needing to travel to a library or school. School districts might advocate for state and local measures that would provide more families with low-cost options for internet.

Changing state law and convincing local governments to invest in broadband infrastructure may be great long-term goals. Still, many students’ families need more immediate relief. Some schools are innovating creative solutions. The Coachella Valley Unified School District sends buses with WiFi to underserved neighborhoods to provide access. Some schools work out discounts with commercial internet providers. For more ideas, check out the Discount Internet Guidebook put out by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance.

Schools are also doing a lot to help families acquire devices. A common method is that the schools buy devices using monies from grants, Title One, CARES ACT, or other special funding. Many of these schools then allow teachers and students to take school devices home for homework. Another method is working with non-profits that refurbish devices to help families buy low-cost devices. Partners Bridging the Digital Divide lists many great resources, including where to find refurbished devices.

Overcoming the hurdle of internet access for students and teachers at home is tremendous, but it is not enough. Teachers and students need explicit technological training to take advantage of the tools. Without detailed training, teachers are less inclined to introduce technology in the classroom, so EdTech becomes more frustrating than solving problems. Students of undertrained teachers will get fewer opportunities to advance their digital literacy skills, limiting the closure of the digital divide which could dramatically affect their higher education, career, and daily life. District and state leaders can find professional development resources at the Office of Educational Technology.

A Partner in EdTech

At Harris Education Solutions, we are firm believers in the power of digital solutions for education. We understand that Investing in EdTech is a massive undertaking because it requires carefully considering your desired student outcomes and how to maximize teacher effectiveness. We hope our blogs help guide you in your EdTech journey. Try our Solutions Tool to see which products will help the people at your schools most.

Enable All Students to Access Curriculum with Strong Computer Literacy Skills

Written by HES Marketing on . Posted in EdTech & Digital Literacy.

Angela entered middle school with a strong foundation in reading, writing, and math. However, middle school teachers expected her to use unfamiliar technology, causing her to feel lost in many lessons. Although her elementary school was academically rigorous, it had neglected to incorporate adequate technology lessons. Angela’s computer literacy deficit made accessing the content in middle school stressful and frustrating.

Recognizing their mistake, the staff at Angela’s former elementary school changed their approach to teaching technology. Teachers introduced lessons focusing on fundamental computer skills and empowered students to learn, create, and collaborate. Students began to hone their skills using learning software with rapid feedback and enhancing projects with multimedia such as music, videos, pictures, and animation. Students transitioning out of that elementary school now have the computer literacy skills to thrive in middle school.

Educators without a strong technology background may feel unsure about how to start integrating technology in their lessons. If that describes you, start with reading Essential Digital Literacy Skills to Teach Digital Natives. Now that you have an overview of digital literacy, this scope and sequence will give you an idea of what to teach in different grades. These guidelines are a starting place and not meant to replace your state standards nor information from your assessments.

Students should master the following skills by 1st Grade:

  • Asks permission before going to any game or website not pre-approved.
  • Understands and uses computer-related vocabulary, such as the hardware and basic operations.
  • Knows how to turn on a device and shut it down properly.
  • Opens and exits programs and apps.
  • Understands how usernames and passwords protect privacy and account settings and can successfully log in using them.
  • Understands the importance of logging off and how to do it.
  • Uses icons and arrows to navigate to desired locations.
  • Uses a touch screen, mouse, or mouse pad to click, drag, double click, and scroll.
  • Ability to use the standard keys on the keyboard such as backspace, space bar, letters, and numbers.
  • Can adjust the volume on headset or speakers to appropriate levels. Too many children suffer hearing loss from having the volume of their headphones too loud.
  • Independently follows multi-step directions such as turning on a computer, opening an application, logging on, choosing a specific menu item, using the application, saving work, and logging off.

Students should master the following skills by 3rd Grade:

  • Understands the different types of devices and their benefits.
  • Distinguishes between being online versus offline and asks permission before going to any new website.
  • Can play, pause, rewind, and forward videos.
  • Saves, names, finds, and prints documents.
  • Uses a child-friendly search engine to find information.
  • Uses a word processor to write, highlight, copy, and paste text in documents.
  • Draws and paints with simple programs.
  • Uses some multi-key functions such as Shift and letter for capital letters and Control Z for undo.

Skills to Master by 5th Grade:

  • Follows online safety guidelines set by adults.
  • Understands the potential damage and permanence of anything posted online.
  • Reads error messages and follows simple troubleshooting directions.
  • Types with fingers on the home keys rather than hunting and pecking.
  • Uploads and resize images.
  • Edits documents with proofreading and formatting tools.
  • Finds specific websites and navigates the menu options.
  • Understands the different types and purposes of websites.
  • Shares and collaborates using simple EdTech tools.
  • Conducts online research and analyzes the information for credibility.
  • Knows how to write and send an email.

Skills to Master in Middle School

  • Recognizes when a website is not safe or appropriate.
  • Identifies common problems and troubleshoots them effectively, such as reloading a frozen website and reconnecting to the internet.
  • Understands the different methods for storing data (thumb drive, hard drive, cloud, etc.) and when each one is most useful.
  • Collaborates with others using comment features, message boards, digital whiteboards, and more.
  • Creates and shows multimedia presentations with pictures, music, and interesting transitions.
  • Creates simple graphs, tables, and spreadsheets to show information.
  • Understands how social media posts affect themselves and others. If the school encourages social media participation, students follow rules of conduct.
  • Knows how to download, rename, and find various file types.
  • Understands the basic ideas behind intellectual property to avoid copyright infringement. Gives credit to original creators with links and names when mentioning or using their work.

Skills to Master in High School:

  • Protects themselves online from phishing, viruses, scams, identity theft, and radicalization.
  • Chooses which (if any) social media platforms are helpful and how to stay safe on them.
  • Customizes settings to optimize their experience.
  • Integrates various applications such as email, calendar, and reminders.
  • Uses proper etiquette when communicating via email, social media, and message boards.
  • Understand how different technology systems work together.
  • Independently learns new computer skills using directions, videos, and other resources.
  • Uses specialized technology in fields of interest.

Just the Beginning

These basic skills will allow students to interact with technology in school and daily life.  As you and your students gain proficiency, you may expand into other computer-related domains such as coding, programming, and creating original work.

Harris Education Solutions partners with educators to help teachers and students thrive. As software providers, we understand that adapting to technology takes time and practice. That is why we provide robust training and support to help you get the insights you need. Visit our solutions page to see which product will most benefit the teachers and students at your school.

Supporting English Language Learners

Written by HES Marketing on . Posted in MTSS & Student Support.

Everyone wants more resources to help English language learners. Harris Education Solutions has two platforms that teachers of ELL students appreciate. Castle Learning and eDoctrina include several tools that support students overcoming language barriers.

Different Tools for Different Levels of English Proficiency

English language learners have widely different instructional needs based on their backgrounds. While not every tool available on the Castle Learning and eDoctrina platforms is appropriate for every ELL student, each feature greatly benefits a particular subset of ELL students.

Plenty of ELL students have lived in the US for years. Many of these students have an advantage over their monolingual peers because multilingualism promotes cognitive development. However, biliteracy takes years to develop, so primary teachers will want to provide consistent support and instruction to promote English proficiency and literacy. Teachers will also want to encourage developing fluency and literacy in the home language whenever possible.

Recently immigrated students frequently need significant, global support. In addition to their academic challenges, they often struggle with culture shock and homesickness. Immigrant students with a solid academic background will transfer their content knowledge and skills, making their transition less challenging than immigrants with minimal formal education.

Whatever the new arrivals’ background, your patience and empathy make adjusting to a new system, culture, and language less stressful. The Castle Learning and eDoctrina platforms decrease the work it takes to meet their academic needs, freeing some time to support their emotional needs.

Helping ELL Students Meet the Standards

The educational goal for ELL students is the same as their native English-speaking peers. Regardless of their background, they should meet the standards in all subjects, including English literacy. To help students succeed, teachers scaffold content lessons and teach English. Students with more limited English proficiency may also need their assignments adapted.

Castle Learning and eDoctrina make scaffolding and adapting easier. The platforms also include resources for teaching English.

Scaffolding means structuring lessons to help ELL students meet the same objectives as their peers. Teachers unfamiliar with scaffolding instruction sometimes make the mistake of choosing activities that require only low-level thinking skills. Watered-down instruction limits English language learners’ access to a quality education.

Adapting assignments and assessments provides a way for some ELL students to show what they know. These adaptations lower the frustration level for immigrant students struggling in a new language.

Follow State Guidelines

Your state provides guidelines for assessing, setting benchmarks, and promoting quality instruction for English language learners. Thirty-five states belong to the WIDA consortium, which provides the comprehensive WIDA 2020 Standards Framework. Notably, California, Arizona, Texas, and New York, which all have high concentrations of English language learners, use independent frameworks. Some districts may supplement the state’s framework.

You will want to use your state’s formal assessment to measure students’ English proficiency for academics. Gauging students’ proficiency levels with informal interactions distorts perceptions. Many students have a higher level of proficiency in social contexts than they do in academic contexts. The distinction misleads many educators into thinking that some students no longer need supports. Sadly, sometimes teachers wonder if a child is “faking” not understanding due to the discrepancy in academic and social language proficiency.

To experience how ELL students often feel reading in a non-native language, you might try reading articles in The New England Journal of Medicine. Notice how much time and concentration it takes to understand text with unfamiliar ideas and words.

Provide Support with Scaffolded Instruction

You could spend years learning to scaffold instruction. Below are a few quick ideas to get you started:

  • Connect prior knowledge to new lessons.
  • Pre-teach and display academic vocabulary.
  • Use graphic organizers and other visual aids to help students organize information.
  • Teach and display sentence frames related to the content. Sentence frames allow students to fill in the blanks with their ideas without coming up with the syntax. For example, a history teacher might teach, “The ______ caused _______ because _______.”
Provide Support by Adapting Assignments

Here are a few ideas on how to adapt assignments and assessments for ELL students needing additional supports. These adaptations are beneficial for students with low to medium levels of English proficiency and literacy.

  • Irregular spelling doesn’t make learning to read English easy. “Enough” and “though” don’t rhyme, but “queue” and “to” do. Students with emerging literacy skills benefit from hearing and reading words simultaneously. Give students audio versions of written text until they read fluently in English.
  • Reading text in a non-native language takes longer to process. Give ELL students enough time to think by individualizing how much time you allow them on assessments.
  • Provide extra practice before tests, so students hear the associated vocabulary more.
  • Allow newly arrived students with minimal English skills to use a dictionary or translation tool to help them understand.
Use eDoctrina and Castle Learning to Teach English, Scaffold Instruction, and Adapt Assignments

eDoctrina and Castle Learning reduce the workload of supporting ELL students. Choose the appropriate features to make your life easier and meet the needs of your ELL students. All features are available on both platforms unless otherwise noted.

  • Share your best assignments with other ESL teachers with a few clicks. Invite them to share their best assignments with you too. Collaborating to create effective ESL resources will help students improve their English proficiency.
  • Supplement your ELA program with a wealth of pre-made English language arts resources.
  • Add explanations to assignments that help ELL students access the material.
  • Upload graphic organizers, videos, and pictures to any assignment to help students visualize ideas.
  • Customize the assessment window for students who would benefit from extra time.
  • Provide assessments in Spanish for newly arrived Spanish-speaking students. Castle Learning has assessments available in Spanish to help you check a student’s understanding of various subjects and place them in the correct classes. You can print these in Spanish or convert them online. Available Spanish translations include NYS Regents exams in Algebra I, Global History and Geography, US History, Earth Science, and Living Environment.  Castle Learning also offers K-12 reading sets that are translated into Spanish.
  • Encourage continued literacy in French or Spanish if that is their home language with Castle Learning.
  • Allow students to use the Google Translate feature to translate a question or passage into their native language. Google Translate is far from perfect, but it is often sufficient for students to understand the content and not spend time translating.
  • Help students overcome some of the obstacles of English spelling oddities by allowing them to use the text-to-speech feature.
  • Preview vocabulary with Castle Learning. Later, when students come across the word in the lesson context, they will better understand what it means and how to use it. Castle Learning has a vast bank of vocabulary questions that you can search by keyword, level, and subject. You can also quickly make digital vocabulary flashcards.
  • Assign Castle Learning’s self-study to direct students to practice in the subjects they need help. The self-study feature provides unlimited practice and instant feedback with vocabulary and language structures.
  • Include audio, video, or text to any assignment using eDoctrina. Students can also answer with audio, so they get practice speaking.
One Lesson at a Time

When you first start teaching ELL students, helping them achieve grade level may feel daunting. However, helping them flourish is one of the most rewarding parts of any teacher’s career. At Harris Education Solutions, we make tools to help you do your best work.