Solutions To Close The Divide Based
On van Dijk's Access Gaps Model
The nature of ICT is dynamic and evolving rapidly. To reduce the digital divide, we have chosen to present projects and ideas that are occurring in ‘real time’ as we feel this will make it more relevant to our research. We feel that these projects speak volumes in their ability to reduce the divide. Therefore we have specifically chosen them as we feel they have the potential to be adapted to New Zealand educational setting.
Solutions to overcome Motivational Access
There are factors that can motivate or demotivate educators from using ICT. New technologies are perceived as a catalyst for change in teaching and learning styles (Chigona & Wallace, 2014). Chigona and Wallace’s (2014) qualitative research was undertaken in disadvantaged South African schools to investigate factors that motivate educators to use ICT. They discovered several factors that increased motivation they are:
Professional Satisfaction
Showing teachers how the use of technology made teaching more interesting and easier helped motivate teachers to engage with ICT.
Technical Support
Institutions should have technical support in place. Without the required support in place teachers showed a lack of motivation.
Availability of ICT Resources
Ratio of learners to computers needed to addressed.
Learner Readiness to learn with ICT
Teachers who suffered from poor computer skills were unable to focus on their content during teaching as the ICT equipment became a distraction. By upskilling teachers they were more motivated to use ICT in the classroom as they felt more confident.
Responsibility
Analysis of the data found that those teachers who felt they didn’t have ‘control’ over their use of ICT were less likely to take responsibility and were therefore less motivated.
An example of using these factors to motivate teachers comes from Singapore. Singapore teachers receive ongoing professional development and support to develop their skills and knowledge of using ICT in education. Most of the schools have an IT department to help teachers, by offering courses on online learning. Teachers work and help each other by forming professional learning communities. Click on the image to see a video that shows this in depth.
Professional Satisfaction
Showing teachers how the use of technology made teaching more interesting and easier helped motivate teachers to engage with ICT.
Technical Support
Institutions should have technical support in place. Without the required support in place teachers showed a lack of motivation.
Availability of ICT Resources
Ratio of learners to computers needed to addressed.
Learner Readiness to learn with ICT
Teachers who suffered from poor computer skills were unable to focus on their content during teaching as the ICT equipment became a distraction. By upskilling teachers they were more motivated to use ICT in the classroom as they felt more confident.
Responsibility
Analysis of the data found that those teachers who felt they didn’t have ‘control’ over their use of ICT were less likely to take responsibility and were therefore less motivated.
An example of using these factors to motivate teachers comes from Singapore. Singapore teachers receive ongoing professional development and support to develop their skills and knowledge of using ICT in education. Most of the schools have an IT department to help teachers, by offering courses on online learning. Teachers work and help each other by forming professional learning communities. Click on the image to see a video that shows this in depth.
Solutions to overcome Material Access
Plan CEIBAL
This is Uruguay’s adaptation of the One Laptop per Child project (OLPC), introduced by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Beginning in 2007 this nation-wide policy provided one laptop per child in every public funded primary school from Grades 1-6. This was completed in 2009 and in 2010 this was extended to secondary schools. Internet access for all these schools was funded and children were able to take the laptop home. (Pittaluga & Rivior,2012). This greatly reduced the material access of the digital divide, but it should be noted that teacher support is needed to help guarantee the educational use of a computer.
Internet.org by Facebook
Internet.org is an initiative started by Facebook to access the internet for free. Through their app called internet.org people can access internet and browse webpages on health, employment and local information. This initiative is being well received in developing countries and is currently operating in Africa, Asia and Latin America with the hope to expand to the rest of world (Internet.org.(n.d.).
Learning and Innovation Network
In the below video link, Aleph Molinari discusses how the Learning and Innovation Network can meet the needs of material access for more people with less infrastructural expense by creating community learning education centres. They begin by doing ‘Urban Acupuncture’ which includes looking at the geography, income, education and then find a suitable and welcoming location to build the centre. Education is then provided, so that the community understands how to not just connect to the internet, but make greater use of the opportunities the internet can provide. So far the project has reached over 140,000 people. (Molinari, n.d).
This is Uruguay’s adaptation of the One Laptop per Child project (OLPC), introduced by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Beginning in 2007 this nation-wide policy provided one laptop per child in every public funded primary school from Grades 1-6. This was completed in 2009 and in 2010 this was extended to secondary schools. Internet access for all these schools was funded and children were able to take the laptop home. (Pittaluga & Rivior,2012). This greatly reduced the material access of the digital divide, but it should be noted that teacher support is needed to help guarantee the educational use of a computer.
Internet.org by Facebook
Internet.org is an initiative started by Facebook to access the internet for free. Through their app called internet.org people can access internet and browse webpages on health, employment and local information. This initiative is being well received in developing countries and is currently operating in Africa, Asia and Latin America with the hope to expand to the rest of world (Internet.org.(n.d.).
Learning and Innovation Network
In the below video link, Aleph Molinari discusses how the Learning and Innovation Network can meet the needs of material access for more people with less infrastructural expense by creating community learning education centres. They begin by doing ‘Urban Acupuncture’ which includes looking at the geography, income, education and then find a suitable and welcoming location to build the centre. Education is then provided, so that the community understands how to not just connect to the internet, but make greater use of the opportunities the internet can provide. So far the project has reached over 140,000 people. (Molinari, n.d).
Solutions to Overcome Skills Access
This was one of the most difficult areas to find research on. However we did discover:
SAME (Satellite and Advanced Multimedia Education)
This satellite based education initiative focuses on providing high quality education to all schools, including urban and rural in Karnataka (India). Schools are using SAME as a means to bring in educational expertise in the forms of expert teachers and content developers via the Indian Institute of Management (IMM). This consists of students receiving lessons created by expert teachers using high quality and reliable satellite and multimedia technology.
SAME (Satellite and Advanced Multimedia Education)
This satellite based education initiative focuses on providing high quality education to all schools, including urban and rural in Karnataka (India). Schools are using SAME as a means to bring in educational expertise in the forms of expert teachers and content developers via the Indian Institute of Management (IMM). This consists of students receiving lessons created by expert teachers using high quality and reliable satellite and multimedia technology.
Solutions to Overcome Usage Access
Wifi Partnerships
Once a school has internet access they still need to overcome quality of access and availability for students. The Clark County School District have been creative by partnering with the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce to establish wifi partners and create a free wifi directory for students. This enables students to access wifi outside of school and opens up learning for ‘anywhere, anytime’ (Clark County School District, n.d.)
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE, 2009) identifies these ‘essential conditions for better usage of ICT’. They are:
Obviously it would be rather difficult for one school to address all of these conditions. It would make sense for schools to take a systematic approach and find out in which areas they experience the greatest weakness and work from there. A study of Ravine Junior High in the United States (Banister & Fischer, 2010) chose to focus on two essential conditions to increase the usage of their ICT : ongoing professional learning and technical support.
The school addressed these issues by making software and hardware purchases to upgrade their current technology. Introducing workshops that focused on training teachers in best practise in e-learning. Developing teachers’ interest and desire to apply technology. Providing ongoing technology support and providing a technician support person and offering deeper professional development for those who were ready to move beyond novice uses of technology.
Once a school has internet access they still need to overcome quality of access and availability for students. The Clark County School District have been creative by partnering with the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce to establish wifi partners and create a free wifi directory for students. This enables students to access wifi outside of school and opens up learning for ‘anywhere, anytime’ (Clark County School District, n.d.)
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE, 2009) identifies these ‘essential conditions for better usage of ICT’. They are:
- empowered leaders
- implementation planning
- consistent and adequate funding
- equitable access
- skilled personnel
- ongoing professional learning
- technical support
- curriculum framework
- student-centred learning
- assessment and evaluation
- engaged communities
- support policies
- supportive external context
- shared vision
Obviously it would be rather difficult for one school to address all of these conditions. It would make sense for schools to take a systematic approach and find out in which areas they experience the greatest weakness and work from there. A study of Ravine Junior High in the United States (Banister & Fischer, 2010) chose to focus on two essential conditions to increase the usage of their ICT : ongoing professional learning and technical support.
The school addressed these issues by making software and hardware purchases to upgrade their current technology. Introducing workshops that focused on training teachers in best practise in e-learning. Developing teachers’ interest and desire to apply technology. Providing ongoing technology support and providing a technician support person and offering deeper professional development for those who were ready to move beyond novice uses of technology.
What solutions do you know of and where would they fit within van Dijk’s Access Gaps Model?
Head over to our discussions page to add your thoughts.
Head over to our discussions page to add your thoughts.
References
Banister, S., & Fischer, J. (2010). Overcoming the Digital Divide: The Story of an Urban Middle School. Mid Western Educational Researcher, 23(2), 2-9.
Clark County School District. (n.d.) Mobile Device Initiatives. Retrieved from http://ccsd.net/district/mobile-device-initiatives/
Chigona, A., Wallace, C., & Davids, Z., (2014). Educators’ motivation on integration of ICT into pedagogy: case and disadvantaged areas. South African Journal of Education, 34(3), 1-8.
Internet.org by Facebook.(n.d.). Retrieved from https://internet.org/
ISTE. (2009). Essential Conditions for effective technology integration. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/essential-conditions
Molinari,A. (n.d.). Bridging The Digital Divide. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=571&v=kaxCRnZ_CLg
Pittaluga L., & Rivior A., (2012). One Laptop per Child and Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Plan CEIBAL in Uruguay. Information Technologies & International Development, 8(4), 145-159.
Banister, S., & Fischer, J. (2010). Overcoming the Digital Divide: The Story of an Urban Middle School. Mid Western Educational Researcher, 23(2), 2-9.
Clark County School District. (n.d.) Mobile Device Initiatives. Retrieved from http://ccsd.net/district/mobile-device-initiatives/
Chigona, A., Wallace, C., & Davids, Z., (2014). Educators’ motivation on integration of ICT into pedagogy: case and disadvantaged areas. South African Journal of Education, 34(3), 1-8.
Internet.org by Facebook.(n.d.). Retrieved from https://internet.org/
ISTE. (2009). Essential Conditions for effective technology integration. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/essential-conditions
Molinari,A. (n.d.). Bridging The Digital Divide. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=571&v=kaxCRnZ_CLg
Pittaluga L., & Rivior A., (2012). One Laptop per Child and Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Plan CEIBAL in Uruguay. Information Technologies & International Development, 8(4), 145-159.