Creating an Even Playing Field: Learning Technologies to Bridge the Digital Divide Week 1

 Creating an Even Playing Field: Learning Technologies to Bridge the Digital Divide Week 1 

My name is Haylee Cannon, and I currently teach 8th grade English at 5A district in North Texas. I sincerely enjoy my job because I love my students and their ability to bring joy and laughter to any situation. I believe my main goal is to help students think both critically and empathetically about their world and to replace an empty mind with an open one. I have a strong passion for teaching students to be critical thinkers to help them be successful in whatever they choose to do after high school. As our world is exponentially increasing in the use and dependence of technology, the digital divide is something that impacts my students both every day and long term. I am passionate about this issue, and the inequity surrounding technology use and access is one reason I'm pursuing a career within educational technology. I hope to provide solutions for the students in my community to help even their playing field as they prepare to take on the world. 

In my district, we have an extreme wage gap with some student populations being very wealthy and some being economically and financially disadvantaged, creating a significant digital divide in both access and use. According to The U.S. News and World Report (2022), my district of just over 5,000 students contains a 60% minority with 38.6% economically disadvantaged (U.S. News and World Report, 2022). These students form my community. I have been called a career in education because I want to help these students succeed. According to the demographics, they are simply a point of data. To me, they are my 8th grade students who are filled with potential to make a better life and a better world. To help get them started, they need to have fair access to technology as it is such a vital tool in today's world. 

The digital divide can be detrimental to their ability to create, develop, and learn. Because of this, I strive to provide all my students, regardless of ability level, with opportunities to access and create with technology. My call to action will be with them in mind. Preparing them to create a better world is how I aim to create a better world. For these students to have a fighting chance, they need fair and equitable access to various technologies. Research by Van Dijk (2017) in the article, “Digital Divide: Impact of Access, explains how the lack of fair access to technology leads to the inability to create a fair society as he notes, “Unequal access to digital technologies brings about unequal participation in society (Dijk, 2017). Because of the consequences that result from the digital divide, it’s imperative that we work to create solutions to create a better world for the future members of our society because they’re sitting in our classrooms today.  

References  

Anna Independent School District. (2022). U.S. News And World Report. Retrieved January 14, 2025, from https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/texas/districts/anna-isd-110694 

Van Dijk, J. A. (2017). Digital divide: Impact of access. The international encyclopedia of media effects, 1-11. digital_divide_impact_access.pdf 

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