The Digital Divide Is Getting Wider — Especially In Public Schools

The digital classroom has taken a giant step forward since the start of the pandemic, as remote learning has become mainstream. However, new research by the GBH Educational Foundation finds that there are some growing pains in the use of digital media resources in schools, and that the already wide digital divide may be growing. GBH Morning Edition host Joe Mathieu spoke with GBH Director of Research & Evaluation, Dr. Elizabeth Myers, about what the research found. The transcript below has been edited for clarity.

Joe Mathieu: We should note this survey was broken into two parts, not necessarily by design. It began a year ago as we entered the pandemic and schools began closing down, last February and March. Then a second survey was conducted as the school year came to an end in June, and we were in a very different world then. Dr. Myers, you found only 66 percent of teachers were very confident in using digital media services like Google Classroom, Discovery Education or PBS Learning [Media], for instance. That is not a very high number. Were you surprised?

Dr. Elizabeth Myers: We were surprised. The nature of the survey that we began with in February and March was not to actually compare teachers pre and post COVID-19 because we didn't really know that that was going to happen. So the survey was initially designed to help us with our work around PBS Learning Media. We actually conducted the survey to get a better sense of what teachers needed out of digital media and education technologies in their classrooms. On the first survey, we saw that 77 percent of the teachers who took the survey were pretty confident or highly confident in their use of EdTech and digital media technology in the classroom. COVID-19 happened, we shifted to remote learning nearly overnight in many schools and we saw this really unique opportunity to re-survey teachers after they had been working remotely and more focused on using technologies in their classrooms. So we fielded a second survey and in that survey we saw a significant dip in teachers' confidence using digital media technologies and education technologies in their classrooms. We also asked some questions that were specific to remote learning, and those are the questions where we got at the digital divide and the digital inequities in classrooms.

Mathieu: So did the shift to remote learning lower teachers' confidence? Was that the actual act of doing it?

Myers: Well, we theorize that what happened is that teachers felt fairly confident using technology in their classrooms. When they had to switch to remote learning, they had to learn new technologies, they had to use technology all the time and they didn't have the devices right in front of them in their classrooms with their students — the students were using devices at home [and] the teachers are using devices at home — [and] there's Wi-Fi issues. There was so much going on that it likely led to a decrease in confidence.

Mathieu: You also found that in the second phase of this survey, doctor, the turn to remote learning actually exacerbated existing inequities in digital.

Myers: Absolutely. So I know there's lots of stories about the inequalities we're seeing because of the switch to remote learning. The digital inequalities in particular is what we surveyed about. And what we saw is that teachers who teach in public schools, rural areas and schools that receive Title I funds were more likely than their peers in suburban and private schools to report that a majority of their students lacked access to requisite devices like your laptop or your iPad or Internet access. So five percent of teachers in the sample stated that there was no access to devices for a majority of their students, and 10 percent say that there was no access to the Internet for the majority of the students. That was overall. But when we looked at public schools and schools in rural areas and urban areas, the percent of teachers who report a majority of the students didn't have a device and Internet access increased.

Mathieu: This obviously has to do with funding, right? I know this is a national survey, doctor, but here in Boston, for instance, the city has been at least trying to hand out Chromebooks to a lot of students. But many communities don't have such resources.

Myers: Absolutely. We heard lots of stories locally about the schools in Massachusetts and in Boston distributing hot spots and laptops to students. But that's harder to do in rural areas where students are further spread out. Also it really depends district by district on the amount of funding that you have and the amount of technology that's already in homes. In some districts, students are already well equipped with high speed Internet and their own laptop or device, so it's not as much of an issue to try to distribute this technology widely.

Mathieu: Well, doctor, what's the takeaway here? Do teachers need more training? Would that not help both problems?

Myers: Yes, certainly we see that teachers not only need more professional development, but are requesting it. We're looking forward to a world where everyone's back in the classroom. We also assume that when we go back in the classroom, teachers are going to continue using some of the technology that they started using during remote learning. EdTech is not going away. It's only been growing, so we need to continue to look for how we support students in classrooms having the devices that they need.