The Covid-19 shift to school-at-home since last spring has helped us see how far we have progressed in our use of technology for learning—and where we must do better.

Many districts quickly issued computer devices to students for use at home. But other districts struggled to supply devices to their students. This was especially so in urban districts that serve many disadvantaged students.

So, what to do?

To start, let’s stop being content to just wring our hands over how disadvantaged kids consistently get short-changed in the provision of technology. Instead, let’s take inspiration from the TV ads that declare, “Just OK is not OK anymore.” We must insist that all our kids now need to enjoy a basic standard of learning technology.

But what are the basics that every student needs to have?

All students must have an appropriate computer device for use at school and at home. We have had computers in our schools since the early 1980s. But for years we rationed time in computer labs at the end of the hall. It was only recently that the falling prices of laptops and tablets made it feasible to give students easy access to devices.

Some districts had moved to “1-to-1” coverage and assigned each student their own device, sometimes letting them take the devices home. Education Week reported that, “In February (2020) … the EdWeek Research Center surveyed teachers (and found) about 57 percent said each student in their schools had a device. That percentage increased slightly, to 59 percent, when teachers were surveyed again in May.” [i]

But this coverage was more common in districts with fewer disadvantaged kids. We must now ensure every student has a device for school and home. And as students are returning this fall it seems that we are close to 100 percent—the expectation now is simply that the district issues each student a device.

If students do not have Internet access the district must issue them an Internet hotspot—and ideally provide wired access for the home. But we may not yet be quite to 100 percent in ensuring that all students have the Internet connectivity needed to make those devices work. Here again, disadvantaged kids have been losing out. In an analysis of 2015 Census data, the Pew Research Center found that, “roughly one-third (35%) of households with children ages 6 to 17 and an annual income below $30,000 a year do not have a high-speed internet connection at home, compared with just 6% of such households earning $75,000 or more a year. These broadband gaps are particularly pronounced in black and Hispanic households.” [ii]

A model of how to address this challenge is the Des Moines Public Schools, where 76.8% of the 32,545 students qualify for Free and Reduced Meals. [iii] Last spring DMPS issued Internet hotspots to quickly provide access at homes for those who needed them. The district then worked with an Internet provider to “install wiring and activate high-speed internet service for families designated by DMPS.” [iv]

This access incurs new costs. Federal E-Rate funds can help. In Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Public Schools’ private foundation and the City Forward Collective nonprofit worked to raise private funds. [v] And the recently introduced “Emergency Educational Connections Act” could provide up to $4 billion in federal funds. [vi]

But districts can’t wait to ensure Internet access until the feds or others fund this. As with all the other necessary parts of a child’s education, ensuring Internet access for kids who otherwise lack it now needs to be part of the job of every school district.

This still leaves the tough problem of a lack of broadband access in rural areas.

School-issued devices need to be pure business. Devices can also provide a powerful distraction. They must be carefully configured so they can only be used for learning functions.

The devices need all the right learning “stuff.” These devices must be set up to access the educational content and software that gives them their power. This begins with the Google G Suite or Microsoft Office 365 productivity suites. But possibly the most valuable use of the devices is to provide adaptive learning software that enables personalized learning for reading and math.

Districts must have integrated SIS and LMS systems. Teachers need to post resources and assignments and communicate with students. This requires some combination of student information system (SIS) gradebook and learning management system (LMS) software. LMS products such as Schoology provide district-wide, top-down support. One advantage of the LMS products is the district can work to integrate student, class, assignment, and grade data between the district’s SIS (and gradebook) and LMS. So teachers shouldn’t have to labor to key this data in or, worse yet, key things like assignments and grades into both systems.

An alternative to products like Schoology is the Google Classroom LMS, which is popular with teachers partly because it can be independently implemented in a bottom-up way. Also, it’s free.

In any event, the Covid-19 experience has raised the bar for LMS use, and districts that until now made do without a district-wide LMS will need to concentrate energy and funds in this area.

Schools need to use technology to engage modern parents. Schools and teachers need SIS portals, LMS systems, and notification technology such as BrightArrow to engage parents. And teachers need the technology to text parents without using their personal phones. Here again, the bar for communication has been permanently raised.

Districts must manage their larger technology picture and provide professional learning for teachers. Teachers already has the toughest job in town—and since last spring it has become tougher yet. Districts must work with their teachers to develop a unified technology approach with components such as standard software tied to the curriculum. They then must provide professional learning and one-on-one coaches to help each teacher put these resources to work. And of course, our teachers need deluxe devices.

. . . . . . . . . .

We’re trying to figure out the post-Covid-19 “new normal.” The new normal for learning technology must be that all our students get the same advanced level of technology.

In the midst of the pandemic we also found ourselves amid the Black Lives Matter demonstrations. These demonstrations are about things in addition to education. But our country has arrived at a place where all our people—and certainly all our children—must share in the same benefits of living in the wealthiest and most technologically advanced nation in history. We must equip all our kids for the challenging future they face. The best learning technology along with our great teachers can help us do that. Just OK is no longer OK.

[i]    Bushweller, K., “How COVID-19 Is Shaping Tech Use. What That Means When Schools Reopen,” Education Week, June 4, 2020

[ii]   Auxier, B., and Anderson, M., “As Schools Close Due to the Coronavirus, Some U.S. Students Face a Digital ‘Homework Gap’,” Pew Research Center, March 16, 2020.

[iii] https://www.dmschools.org/about/facts-figures.

[iv]   https://www.dmschools.org/2020/04/dmps-mediacom-connect-students-for-distance-learning.

[v]   St. Onge, N., “MPS Foundation and City Forward Collective Trying to Bridge Technology Gap for Milwaukee Students,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 8, 2020.

[vi]   https://www.baldwin.senate.gov/press-releases/emergency-educational-connections-act.