The newly released 2024 National Educational Technology Plan (NETP24) provides a timely call to action for closing persistent digital divides in education. While the COVID-19 pandemic increased access to devices and connectivity for many students, it also revealed deeply entrenched inequities in how technology is implemented to support teaching and learning.
Defining the Divides
The NETP24 defines three key digital divides that must be addressed:
- The Digital Use Divide refers to passive versus active technology use by students. On one side of this divide, students actively use technology to create, design, build, and collaborate. On the other side, students predominantly consume digital content and use technology for basic substitution of analog tasks. This maps to the student corner of the “instructional core” – the dynamic relationship between teacher, student, and content.
- The Digital Design Divide refers to uneven access among teachers to the time, support, and capacity needed to effectively design learning experiences leveraging technology. This maps to the teacher corner of the instructional core.
- The Digital Access Divide encompasses uneven access to devices, connectivity, content, accessibility features, and digital health/safety/citizenship skills. This maps primarily to the content corner of the instructional core.
A Vision for Learners, Educators, and Learning Environments
A key NETP24 recommendation is for states and districts to develop “Portraits” defining the optimal skills, competencies, and experiences they want for learners, educators, and learning environments. For example:
- Portrait of a Learner/Graduate: Defines cognitive, personal, interpersonal skills students should possess when transitioning grade levels or graduating.
- Portrait of an Educator: Outlines competencies educators should have to design learning experiences helping students develop skills in the Learner Portrait.
- Portrait of a Learning Environment: Sets expectations for physical and digital learning spaces regardless of location.
Additional recommendations include implementing systems supporting these portraits, empowering learner feedback, and building public-private partnerships expanding learning opportunities.
Key Highlights:
- Conquering the Digital Divides: The NETP zeroes in on three major hurdles – the Digital Use, Design, and Access Divides. These barriers range from inequitable implementation of technology-backed tasks to disparities in internet access and device availability.
- Actionable Strategies for Each Divide: Recognizing the unique challenges each divide poses, the NETP doesn’t just diagnose, it prescribes. Practical recommendations for states, districts, and schools emphasize active technology use in building crucial competencies, ensuring all educators and learners thrive in the digital transformation.
- Learning that’s Active, Inclusive, and Tailored: The plan champions Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, fostering engaging experiences that cater to diverse learning styles and needs. Imagine classrooms where technology acts as a bridge, not a barrier, to personalized learning journeys.
- Real-world Inspiration: The NETP isn’t theoretical; it’s bursting with success stories – schools and districts that have harnessed technology to elevate learning. These narratives are testaments to the plan’s possibilities, serving as beacons of inspiration for educators and policymakers.
- Collaboration for Innovation: The NETP envisions a future where educational technology thrives on collaboration. Partnerships between schools, businesses, and community organizations are encouraged, fostering a shared responsibility for a vibrant educational landscape.
In Action Across the Country
The NETP24 provides numerous examples of states, districts, and schools embodying this vision, including:
- New Hampshire’s School Administrative Unit 16 aligning educator evaluation systems with skills in their Portrait of an Educator.
- Rural Northern Cass School District 97 in North Dakota implementing competency-based education founded on their Portrait of a Learner.
- Lindsay Unified School District in California taking a systemic approach to equitable technology access, referring to students as “learners” and teachers as “learning facilitators.”
- The Illinois Learning Technology Center’s Instructional Technology Coach Program, which allows small and medium-sized districts to share the costs of an instructional technology coach. This program has provided coaching support to over 2,000 teachers across 75 schools in Illinois.
A note on the Illinois Learning Technology Center (LTC). That team is amazing, and as a citizen who lives and works in the great state of Illinois and works with the LTC regularly, I can say they deserve a shout-out and a round of applause! It is great to see good work that people do for students and educators be highlighted in such an amazing way at the national level. I am glad the U.S. Department of Education’s Technology Plan incorporated great examples. Way to go Nicole Zumpano, who is the LTC Director of Instructional Technology Coaching and the rest of the team for their hard work.
Call to Action
By defining persistent digital divides and offering recommendations grounded in examples of effective practice, the NETP24 provides a timely call to action. Only by addressing divides holistically, keeping learners at the center and supporting educator capacity, can we realize technology’s potential for transforming learning.