Inclusion

Throughout the remote learning era, for better or worse, students of all ages have truly relied on many different technologies to connect, communicate, and access educational experiences. That’s left many educators, administrators, and parents wondering about the role technology will and should play as students begin to return to normal.

It’s been a long 15 months since the pandemic upended the education world. Aside from necessitating emergency instruction and compelling parents to worry about their child’s intellectual and social development, another key factor has emerged. We knew there was a digital divide among our students, but may not have known how bad it really was.

Some students need intentional effort to be made in order to settle into their learning situation, feel more comfortable participating, or use it as a base to become more social with their peers. If educators don’t have the time for one-on-one conversations, they can still communicate using Synth—the focus of this week’s Rising Resources post!

Equity in remote learning involves more than just connectivity—though that is the main component. Disparities in reliable Internet access have resulted in varying levels of remote learning quality. On the other hand, keeping students safe (plus other needs) in a virtual world also involve equity considerations.

Mobile learning is making its way into K-12 education just as mobile technology is making its way deeper and deeper into our everyday lives and the best way for students to stay connected and be able to learn on the go is with Chromebooks—affordable, portable, and educational laptops for the 21st century.