Equitable Digital Access

Creating a setting for equitable digital access in a school can be a difficult task for administrators, media specialists, and classroom teachers. While some schools may have many and a wide variety of technology devices at their disposal, many schools have very few devices. Below, you will find some suggestions to help schools and a classroom teacher best utilize the technology devices that they do have available:

Schoolwide Technology Access (Computer labs, computers on wheels, IPads, student response systems, graphing calculators, etc.):

• Calendars (digital or paper) should be readily available to all who wish to schedule use of a particular set of devices. Schools with few devices can easily use dollar school calendars for teachers to sign-up. If a school has many different devices, using a Google document or a scheduling software tool would be more practical.

• Guidelines should be in place so that one particular class, teacher, or content area do not monopolize the devices. Media specialists may want to set-up daily/monthly usage restrictions on the devices.

Classroom Technology Access (Classroom desktops, chrome books/laptops, IPads, cameras, student personal devices, graphing calculators, etc.):

• Create workstations with specific tasks that will be best performed on a specific device/s that can be shared. Then, groups may rotate through the different technology devices.

• Depending on system/school policy, allow students to utilize their own personal device. Note: teachers should find out early in the school year about her class’s availability of personal devices.