Digital Divide in Education: Bridging the Gap
By Laura Slater
The global pandemic has been a stark awakening on the extent of the divides that exist in our society, not least the Digital Divide. This is commonly defined as “those who have ready access to technology and the internet and those who do not”.
At Equal Education, through our work with vulnerable students to narrow the attainment gap and improve outcomes, we have witnessed the additional barriers the rapid shift to online learning caused, making apparent the lack of resources.
Sutton Trust research during the second national lockdown in England, found that 5% of teachers in state schools said that all their pupils had access to a device such as an iPad for learning, compared with 54% in private schools. It also found that 86% of private schools were using online live lessons compared with 50% of state schools — a gap that had widened since the first lockdown.
A new report No One left Behind, the UK’s Digital Divide in 2021 from WPI Strategy and Vodafone reveals shows that digital literacy is becoming as important as reading and writing for young people’s future life chances and is no longer confined to older people or those living in areas with poor internet connections, but impacts those who are already at a disadvantage.
Key findings include:
Almost a third of respondents (28%) described their current level of digital skills as basic. And nearly twice as many people who were not working (59%) than working (35%) said they were not confident using more advanced software functions.
Almost a third (29%) of respondents have had to share a device during the past year; families with multiple children have had to decide which online lessons their children should attend, or choose between their own work and their child’s education.
Undoubtedly, the digital divide can impact long-term life chances, affecting people’s ability to:
attend online lessons and assessments
and gain the necessary digital skills for many of today’s jobs
Whilst moving our tuition model online, it became very apparent that many families did not have access to digital technology suitable for learning. Equal Education and our tutors continue to see children learning from mobile phones, struggling with poor internet connection, and schools with limited or no online delivery.
In one of the wealthiest nations in the world, this is simply not good enough.
Determined to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on our cohort, we built a partnership with Apple UK to develop a Technology Supply Service thanks to an Innovate UK grant to provide e-learning solutions for our cohort.
A student who benefited from the use of an iPad we provided for online learning last year told us:
Digital innovation: curating the Online experience
Seeking to create the best possible digital experience for our students, we led a research project with a group of students from UCL Institute of Education. The students developed a framework to evaluate and rate the best educational Apps for our cohort, producing a comprehensive list of recommendations - as seen below - of top educational and accessible Apps for students at KS3-4 in Literacy, Numeracy and Science and General.
We have collected feedback and consulted closely with our amazing Tutor Community along the way, with a consensus emerging that in the right circumstances with the right children, online can allow learning to progress. Our tutor continue to provide encouraging feedback on how devices are enhancing student engagement, accelerating progress and developing digital skills:
“Before he had the iPad, writing took a very long time and caused a lot of anxiety over handwriting, presentation and spelling. [Student] had no confidence in typing, but now he has learned to type all his written work, so he can focus on content rather than the laborious process of writing.”
It is vital that digital delivery remains a central part of education recovery efforts as we address the impacts of the pandemic. This is a key part of empowering children and young people with the digital skills needed to join the workforce of the future. At Equal Education, we are excited to have embarked on our digital journey and develop our digital offer further. This this year will explore different online platforms, continue building our library of vetted educational Apps and expand our tuition programmes utilising digital technology to improve academic outcomes so that everyone can access opportunities afforded by a modern economy.