How does a teacher ensure equitable digital access in a classroom?
First of all, ensuring equitable digital access is ensuring that all students have an equal opportunity to use digital items. All students need to have the ability to use technology, so how do teachers ensure equal opportunity?
Teachers are the bridge between the leadership of the school and the students. If a school leader has an idea of how to implement technology, teachers need to be on board and knowledgeable in order to teach it to the students.
Some schools do not have access to technology for every student individually, and for those schools, teachers have to share and work together to ensure equal time is given to all students. Other schools have a 1:1 ratio for technology - whether that be computers, ipads, etc - that students are assigned and allowed to use for all their school needs.
In either situation, teachers and students need to be comfortable with the technology that they are using. “Equitable access requires sometimes the implementation of digital literacy programs that allow students to learn how to use digital tools” (Barzallo, paragraph 5). The world today is a tech world, and both teachers and students have to be willing to learn how to use technology and different programs. Whether technology is available for each student or they have to share, teachers need to be able to ensure that each student has access to technology.