Summary: 

For my first critical reflection, I read Andy Lane’s article “The Impact on Openness on Bridging the Educational Digital Divides.” This article discusses how the concept of openness in education has changed and could potentially increase the digital divide that society is already facing. In principle, openness enhances access to education by eliminating cost and prior achievement or qualification requirements. However, many learners face barriers when confronted with open education. This includes the lack of technological access, low digital literacy, cultural norms, and personal circumstances. This article argues that open education on its own is insufficient, and there needs to be added structure and support for it to decrease the digital divide. Lane suggests that support from intermediaries (teachers, community networks, etc) and the focus on cultural and social inclusion will help bridge the digital and educational divide.

Figure 1

(Image is from Lane’s article)

My Thoughts:

I found this article to be extremely interesting. When I first started reading about openness in higher education, I thought it was perfect. As I continued reading, I realized this could add to the growing digital divide. The article included a list of reasons someone may be excluded or have a barrier. This list was eye-opening for me. Before seeing this list, I couldn’t think of the many obstacles one might have regarding open education.

Here is the list:

  • Geographical remoteness, even in rural areas of small countries;
  • Cultural norms, with some ethnic cultures not supporting the education of women in particular circumstances, for instance (Khokhar, 2008);
  • Social norms, whereby some family groups or communities do not value education as highly as others, so discouraging engagement;
  • Prior achievements, such as prior qualifications being used as a filter related to accessing a scarce resource or to maintaining an individual institution’s social and cultural status;
  • Individual or household income, where the relative cost of accessing higher education by certain groups is very high;
  • Digital divide, in that although computers and the Web offer many freedoms, they still cost money to access, and people with less money may not easily afford such technology and may even find that the absolute cost to them is higher than to other groups because they are seen as a greater financial risk to a technology provider;
  • Physical circumstances, whereby there may not be any easy places to undertake the learning due to lack of a home, space in a home, or having a particular type of home, such as a prison, and similarly, people with certain disabilities may need specialist equipment or support (Cooper, Lowe, & Taylor, 2008);
  • Individual norms, where a person is constrained by social and cultural norms – attitudes and beliefs – that they are not capable or not good enough to study at this level, as may be the case with older people (Martin, 2009) 

 

After reading the list, I was able to identify why I couldn’t imagine these barriers before. I’m a pretty privileged person who has never had to experience these types of challenges. Thinking about my life, I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness that overcame me. As a future teacher, I strive to help learners and firmly believe everyone has the right to education. It is disheartening to hear that many people struggle even with free educational resources. I then couldn’t help but think about my current situation with education. This article speaks explicitly about higher education as an open concept. I’m currently in a higher education program and am enrolled in four summer courses. All four of these courses are fully online and include open resources (although I paid for the course, there were no extra expenses for readings, textbooks, etc.). As a privileged person, I didn’t even think twice about enrolling and completing these online, non-face-to-face, technology courses. Although I don’t consider my technology skills extending, they are proficient enough for me to have the confidence to complete these classes. That is a key element to bridging the digital divide.

As I think more about decreasing the digital and educational divide, I wonder how I can positively contribute. I want to ensure my students are well set up for success and feel confident in themselves. How can I do this in an elementary classroom?

Thank you for reading my blog! I hope I’ve sparked some thinking and would love to hear your thoughts on openness and how we can actively bridge the educational and digital divide.