How can you promote digital equity with technology?

1 Assess your students' needs

Before you plan and implement any technology-based activities, you need to assess your students' needs, preferences, and abilities. You can use surveys, interviews, observations, or other methods to gather information about their access to devices, internet, software, and support. You also need to consider their learning styles, interests, goals, and backgrounds. This will help you design and differentiate your instruction according to their needs and strengths.

2 Choose appropriate and accessible tools

When you select the tools and platforms that you will use for teaching and learning, you need to make sure that they are appropriate and accessible for your students. You can use the SAMR model (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition) to evaluate how technology can enhance or transform your learning objectives. You also need to check the accessibility features and options of the tools, such as captions, transcripts, text-to-speech, speech-to-text, magnification, contrast, and language settings. You can also look for tools that are free, open-source, or low-cost to reduce the financial barriers for your students.

3 Provide multiple modes of engagement

One of the benefits of technology is that it can provide multiple modes of engagement for your students, such as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and interactive. You can use technology to create and present content in different formats, such as videos, podcasts, infographics, games, and simulations. You can also use technology to facilitate communication and collaboration among your students, such as chats, forums, blogs, wikis, and videoconferencing. By providing multiple modes of engagement, you can cater to your students' diverse needs and preferences, and increase their motivation and participation.

4 Support your students' digital skills

Another way to promote digital equity with technology is to support your students' digital skills development. You can do this by providing explicit instruction, modeling, feedback, and scaffolding for the skills that they need to use technology effectively and responsibly. You can also integrate digital literacy and citizenship topics into your curriculum, such as online safety, privacy, ethics, research, and evaluation. You can also encourage your students to explore and experiment with technology, and to share their learning and creations with others.

5 Advocate for digital equity

Finally, you can promote digital equity with technology by advocating for it at different levels. You can do this by raising awareness and educating others about the importance and challenges of digital equity. You can also collaborate and network with other teachers, schools, organizations, and communities that are working towards digital inclusion and empowerment. You can also seek and share resources, opportunities, and best practices that can support your students' access and success with technology.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?