Community Equity: The High Tech “Tech” Dilemma
When we first discussed the content of this course, I was confused as to why we would be taking time to discuss equity in the classroom. Of course we all assume our classrooms are equitable, so how would this class push my practice and make me a better educator? These questions were answered, in addition to raising many more. At the end of the first session, we were asked to journal about our hopes and fears of the class. I realized my hope and fears were the same. I wanted to establish ways I could make my class more equitable, but at the same time was worried to discover how I was not establishing a learning environment where all students were treated equally and offered the same opportunity to learn and be successful.
The first class focused on diversity, but concentrating more on the cultural and racial aspects of this matter. Although this is an extremely important matter, this was not the type of diversity I was seeing in my classroom. Not that it wasn’t there, but it was not the primary example of diversity. What has always stood out in my classroom, and at my school, was the socioeconomic differences in my school. I have had students that we suspected to be homeless, to others that had 5 bedroom houses overlooking the ocean. These students obviously had different challenges related to school and getting work done.
This made me think about the use of technology in our school. Each classroom has a set of computers, and there are times when assignments at home require the use of a computer with internet access. But, if a student is worried about where they are going to sleep, or if they are going to be able to sleep inside, a computer with internet access is the last thing on their mind. Other students had one computer, with 4 siblings, all trying to get time to finish assignments. These problems led to numerous questions. How can I create equity among students who have a wide range of technological opportunities? In addition, how does this make the student feel when they are in the classroom? Technology was creating a divide in my classroom.
This dilemma brought to light a problem that extended outside my classroom. If my students are not able to access the internet, what about their parents? We stress community at all the HTH campuses. This definition of community begins in our classrooms, continues with our teaching teams, across grade levels, and extends all the way to our families. There are many different ways families can feel incorporated into our community. Teachers and students have digital portfolios to keep families informed. They can be used to showcase work, projects, and update homework. They are a place where important documents can be found and downloaded if needed. There are even blogs, where students can update work, give and receive feedback, and comment on the happenings in the class. Parents can even see students grades, updated daily, through the program PowerSchool. Plus, with Google Drive, students can create a paper and share it with teachers and peers. This allows each user to comment and make additions and corrections to the document, and facilitates group work. All of these tools are available to students and parents alike.
We all have access to the demographics of our school. The stats covering how many students receiving free and reduced lunch are there, but does this really tell us how many parents are disconnected from our community? Looking back, I thought of all the students I have had in the past who had voiced their concern about computer usage. There were more than I would like to admit, and it was a problem. This concern came from students, who were concerned about finishing homework assignments, and parents who felt disconnected to their students education. especially with how I teach math.
In my class, I use a computer program called ALEKS to supplement my math curriculum. It requires students to have a computer with internet access. For those students expressing difficulty in completing assignments at home, I have printed out worksheets (created using the ALEKS program) which they would turn in the next day or the end of the week. The problem in doing this, is ALEKS has students mastering topics, which in turn fill in pieces of a pie. When students do worksheets, it does not transfer to the program and they still have to master the topics on the computer. In essence, they are doing twice the work. I have also tried giving students without access to computers at home more time in class work on ALEKS.
I do not think this is creating equity in the classroom. In fact, I think it is dividing my classroom. The students that are getting time on the computer feel embarrassed, while those that have the ability to do the assignments at home feel it is unfair that certain students get “extra” time to complete assignments. You cannot start building a classroom culture focusing on community if the class is complaining about entitlements and fairness in homework assignments.
This brings us back to the bigger picture of the community aspect of HTH. If the classroom is being divided, what about the families who are not able to access the internet, or have an understanding of using all the tools at their disposal? We can print out grades, or send them a letter through the mail updating the weekly happenings in the class, but this is not equity. These families do not get the same experience, the same photos, updates, opportunities as everyone else. This is not an equitable situation.
I thought about what could be done to try rectifying the situation. I had conversations with teachers at my school, and we started an action group dealing with technology usage and all the programs used at HTH. My colleagues and saw an immediate need to educate parents on the technology we use at the school. Not exactly how to use computers, but how to use all the resources to be involved with their students education. Some of the programs we have identified as important to educate parents on are PowerSchool, access to the weekly school email, ALEKS, digital portfolios, Google apps, the HTMNC website, HTMNC after care website, and the student handbook. Our hope is to have parents that are comfortable using these resources and be more involved with what is going on not only in the school, but in their children's daily class experience.
Now, although this will help parents understand and hopefully appreciate all the tools at their disposal, it still does not rectify the problem of not being able to get on a computer to access them, or understanding them once on a computer. The root of the problem is to find out who needs access, how do we get them on computers, and finally how do we train them on the programs.
We have set up a three step process in order to do this. First, we created a survey for the parents to fill out, to guide us in which aspects of technology not only need to be addressed, but to give us an understanding of how many families are unable to access the internet. We were targeting families who did not have internet access, and ran into the problem of giving a digital survey that all the families would not have equal opportunities to fill out. To alleviate this, we came up with the idea placing computers out during SLC’s, while parents were waiting. This would give every family the same opportunity to take the survey and again hopefully give us an idea of how many families had difficulty getting online.
The next step after collecting the data would be to help these families find locations with internet access. We could supply a list of local libraries or community centers offering these services. I would also like to speak to my director to see if parents could access the important programs at our school. We could offer different mornings or afternoons where computers would be available for them to check PowerSchool, or access grades online. It would also give them the ability to see digital copies of their students work, and hopefully make them feel more connected to the school and our community.
In addition to the survey, we created a website with links to all the resources mentioned above. Even though families may have internet access, one of the obstacles I have observed with parents is the ability to find and navigate all of these sites. For navigating the sites, we are going to have a “Tech Night” (or nights if the need presents itself), where parents can listen to a tutorial on how to use the different resources and then actually get on a computer and learn how to use them. Having them in one place will hopefully alleviate the problem of finding the sites.
The goal of this work is to create technological equitable situation for all the families at our school. This will help families stay involved with the daily activities of their students, as well as events and celebrations happening in the school. It will act to build a true sense of community, and create an environment where everyone feels welcome and involved.
Outcome of survey:
The answers given on the survey were unexpected. Of the 117 families that answered the questions, 97.9% of them stated they had internet access at home. It was still surprising that 1% of the families had no internet access, however 8% of the families responded that they access the internet at work. I would like to do additional research to see if these families have access at home as well, because if they don’t it most likely means that the students are unable to get on the computer at home. This may cause problems with assignments that require internet access.
The direction of this survey and research was to also build community and equity within the families and the school by ensuring that everyone knew how to access and use the programs we use in our schools and classrooms. When asked which programs families used the most, PowerSchool (the program we use to input and view student grades) was not only very widely used at 71.9%, but was also the most requested to receive help with using. The most surprising aspect of the survey was the way families would like to receive training using the programs. It was our intention to set up a training night, where families could come in, use the computers, and get a chance to use the programs. However, 31% said they would prefer to receive training via paper handout. This stat was saddening, as we felt the hands on training would be much more effective.
This survey was done by our families with the intent to bring equity to not only our classrooms, but our community as well. Technology is going to be a part of education, whether families except it or not. In order to create an equitable situation, it will be important that families are educated in using the programs and gadgets used at the school. With the data we collected, it is still unclear how to go about doing this. However, one stat that was encouraging dealt with how parents wanted to be trained. When asked how they would like to be trained, 36% of the families polled requested to be taught by their students. Not only will this allow us to build equity outside our classroom walls, but strengthen the sense of community. This is an encouraging piece of information.
The first class focused on diversity, but concentrating more on the cultural and racial aspects of this matter. Although this is an extremely important matter, this was not the type of diversity I was seeing in my classroom. Not that it wasn’t there, but it was not the primary example of diversity. What has always stood out in my classroom, and at my school, was the socioeconomic differences in my school. I have had students that we suspected to be homeless, to others that had 5 bedroom houses overlooking the ocean. These students obviously had different challenges related to school and getting work done.
This made me think about the use of technology in our school. Each classroom has a set of computers, and there are times when assignments at home require the use of a computer with internet access. But, if a student is worried about where they are going to sleep, or if they are going to be able to sleep inside, a computer with internet access is the last thing on their mind. Other students had one computer, with 4 siblings, all trying to get time to finish assignments. These problems led to numerous questions. How can I create equity among students who have a wide range of technological opportunities? In addition, how does this make the student feel when they are in the classroom? Technology was creating a divide in my classroom.
This dilemma brought to light a problem that extended outside my classroom. If my students are not able to access the internet, what about their parents? We stress community at all the HTH campuses. This definition of community begins in our classrooms, continues with our teaching teams, across grade levels, and extends all the way to our families. There are many different ways families can feel incorporated into our community. Teachers and students have digital portfolios to keep families informed. They can be used to showcase work, projects, and update homework. They are a place where important documents can be found and downloaded if needed. There are even blogs, where students can update work, give and receive feedback, and comment on the happenings in the class. Parents can even see students grades, updated daily, through the program PowerSchool. Plus, with Google Drive, students can create a paper and share it with teachers and peers. This allows each user to comment and make additions and corrections to the document, and facilitates group work. All of these tools are available to students and parents alike.
We all have access to the demographics of our school. The stats covering how many students receiving free and reduced lunch are there, but does this really tell us how many parents are disconnected from our community? Looking back, I thought of all the students I have had in the past who had voiced their concern about computer usage. There were more than I would like to admit, and it was a problem. This concern came from students, who were concerned about finishing homework assignments, and parents who felt disconnected to their students education. especially with how I teach math.
In my class, I use a computer program called ALEKS to supplement my math curriculum. It requires students to have a computer with internet access. For those students expressing difficulty in completing assignments at home, I have printed out worksheets (created using the ALEKS program) which they would turn in the next day or the end of the week. The problem in doing this, is ALEKS has students mastering topics, which in turn fill in pieces of a pie. When students do worksheets, it does not transfer to the program and they still have to master the topics on the computer. In essence, they are doing twice the work. I have also tried giving students without access to computers at home more time in class work on ALEKS.
I do not think this is creating equity in the classroom. In fact, I think it is dividing my classroom. The students that are getting time on the computer feel embarrassed, while those that have the ability to do the assignments at home feel it is unfair that certain students get “extra” time to complete assignments. You cannot start building a classroom culture focusing on community if the class is complaining about entitlements and fairness in homework assignments.
This brings us back to the bigger picture of the community aspect of HTH. If the classroom is being divided, what about the families who are not able to access the internet, or have an understanding of using all the tools at their disposal? We can print out grades, or send them a letter through the mail updating the weekly happenings in the class, but this is not equity. These families do not get the same experience, the same photos, updates, opportunities as everyone else. This is not an equitable situation.
I thought about what could be done to try rectifying the situation. I had conversations with teachers at my school, and we started an action group dealing with technology usage and all the programs used at HTH. My colleagues and saw an immediate need to educate parents on the technology we use at the school. Not exactly how to use computers, but how to use all the resources to be involved with their students education. Some of the programs we have identified as important to educate parents on are PowerSchool, access to the weekly school email, ALEKS, digital portfolios, Google apps, the HTMNC website, HTMNC after care website, and the student handbook. Our hope is to have parents that are comfortable using these resources and be more involved with what is going on not only in the school, but in their children's daily class experience.
Now, although this will help parents understand and hopefully appreciate all the tools at their disposal, it still does not rectify the problem of not being able to get on a computer to access them, or understanding them once on a computer. The root of the problem is to find out who needs access, how do we get them on computers, and finally how do we train them on the programs.
We have set up a three step process in order to do this. First, we created a survey for the parents to fill out, to guide us in which aspects of technology not only need to be addressed, but to give us an understanding of how many families are unable to access the internet. We were targeting families who did not have internet access, and ran into the problem of giving a digital survey that all the families would not have equal opportunities to fill out. To alleviate this, we came up with the idea placing computers out during SLC’s, while parents were waiting. This would give every family the same opportunity to take the survey and again hopefully give us an idea of how many families had difficulty getting online.
The next step after collecting the data would be to help these families find locations with internet access. We could supply a list of local libraries or community centers offering these services. I would also like to speak to my director to see if parents could access the important programs at our school. We could offer different mornings or afternoons where computers would be available for them to check PowerSchool, or access grades online. It would also give them the ability to see digital copies of their students work, and hopefully make them feel more connected to the school and our community.
In addition to the survey, we created a website with links to all the resources mentioned above. Even though families may have internet access, one of the obstacles I have observed with parents is the ability to find and navigate all of these sites. For navigating the sites, we are going to have a “Tech Night” (or nights if the need presents itself), where parents can listen to a tutorial on how to use the different resources and then actually get on a computer and learn how to use them. Having them in one place will hopefully alleviate the problem of finding the sites.
The goal of this work is to create technological equitable situation for all the families at our school. This will help families stay involved with the daily activities of their students, as well as events and celebrations happening in the school. It will act to build a true sense of community, and create an environment where everyone feels welcome and involved.
Outcome of survey:
The answers given on the survey were unexpected. Of the 117 families that answered the questions, 97.9% of them stated they had internet access at home. It was still surprising that 1% of the families had no internet access, however 8% of the families responded that they access the internet at work. I would like to do additional research to see if these families have access at home as well, because if they don’t it most likely means that the students are unable to get on the computer at home. This may cause problems with assignments that require internet access.
The direction of this survey and research was to also build community and equity within the families and the school by ensuring that everyone knew how to access and use the programs we use in our schools and classrooms. When asked which programs families used the most, PowerSchool (the program we use to input and view student grades) was not only very widely used at 71.9%, but was also the most requested to receive help with using. The most surprising aspect of the survey was the way families would like to receive training using the programs. It was our intention to set up a training night, where families could come in, use the computers, and get a chance to use the programs. However, 31% said they would prefer to receive training via paper handout. This stat was saddening, as we felt the hands on training would be much more effective.
This survey was done by our families with the intent to bring equity to not only our classrooms, but our community as well. Technology is going to be a part of education, whether families except it or not. In order to create an equitable situation, it will be important that families are educated in using the programs and gadgets used at the school. With the data we collected, it is still unclear how to go about doing this. However, one stat that was encouraging dealt with how parents wanted to be trained. When asked how they would like to be trained, 36% of the families polled requested to be taught by their students. Not only will this allow us to build equity outside our classroom walls, but strengthen the sense of community. This is an encouraging piece of information.