Digital Equity: Access and Opportunity in the Digital Age

There can be no educational equity without digital equity.

The integration of technology into our daily lives has not followed a linear trend, but has seen rapid bursts of innovation that have put what were once room-sized computing systems into devices that fit into our pockets and have shifted the way we work, live, and socialize. These innovations have also brought new means of providing in-classroom, blended, and remote instruction. But while some education institutions have the infrastructure and funding to deliver impactful digital teaching and learning to students through educational technology and integrated learning systems, these opportunities are not universal, creating a digital divide that encompasses everything from access to physical devices, accessible high-speed home internet, and opportunities to learn in classrooms where educators have developed expertise in incorporating technology into effective instruction. Additionally, students who graduate as strong digital citizens, with in-depth knowledge and experience in emerging technologies have a competitive advantage that is needed to learn and adapt in our fast-evolving digital world; where many of today’s graduates will work in jobs and fields that do not yet exist and digital skills are a minimum requirement for many high wage, high skill, high demand careers.

Prior to the pandemic, nearly 17 million children did not have access to high-speed internet in their homes and disparities were greater for students from historically underserved populations, with one in three Black, Latinx, and American Indian/Alaska Native families lacking access and nearly two in five families living in rural areas. One-time federal funding made available during the COVID pandemic has funded numerous digital equity initiatives in states and communities nationwide, from an initiative to connect 250,000 families to high-speed internet using existing technology in Phoenix, AZ, to public-private partnerships to utilize $20 million of funding to build 95 miles of high-speed internet infrastructure to underserved areas in Brownsville, TX, to establishing an Office of Statewide Broadband in Maryland that provides assistance to local governments to help reach those struggling with no or poor connectivity. Additionally, the Federal Communications Commission’s Emergency Connectivity Fund has provided billions of dollars to provide devices and broadband connections in hopes of closing the homework gap.

While there has been progress on connectivity nationwide, as of 2023, 33 percent of school districts still did not meet the FCC recommendation of bandwidth of 1 Mbps per student and EducationSuperHighway reports that the cost of high-speed broadband still serves as a barrier to access, even where broadband infrastructure exists. And as we move out of the pandemic, fewer schools are offering students access to home internet, with the National Center for Education Statistics reporting 45 percent of public schools offering home internet in 2022, compared to 70 percent in 2021. With the critical nature of connectivity for students and families, it is vital that work to provide access does not slow down or halt in the coming years. 

Based on our commitment to take policy from the classroom to Congress, All4Ed conducted listening sessions with Superintendents from across the nation to understand the critical needs schools face around digital equity, as well as how policies are and are not working for practitioners. From these conversations, one early theme was that policymaker focus is concentrated on access to broadband and devices, which is critical, but not the entirety of the digital equity needs Superintendents see day to day. In addition to the “digital divide” as it’s frequently perceived, we also have a “digital-use divide,”  Superintendents noted that there is not enough policy conversation around educator access to digital resources and training, funds to support the need for repair and evolution of purchased devices and programs, professional learning opportunities and supports for educators, and other less tangible, yet important, technical supports, such as having technical assistance available in the language spoken by families in the home.

It is critical that policymakers are thinking holistically and sustainably through ways to ensure that barriers such as the cost to acquire technology, providing repairs and replacements for devices, and language accessibility do not stop families and students from accessing the programs they enact. Superintendents and educators are critical partners in ensuring that well-intentioned policy passed during the legislative session is structured to reach those impacted and is successful  in the classroom. Additionally, practitioners serve as critical supports for policymakers as they collect feedback, assist in amending existing policy to be more impactful, and support implementation over time.

To start this work, All4Ed has developed a few policies to support lawmakers as they engage in critical digital equity work.