4.

1 Digital Equity

Model and promote strategies for achieving equitable access to digital tools and resources and
technology-related best practices for all students and teachers

For this artifact I created a document that features several different tools. The relevant part of this
artifact, however, is the section on the digital divide. The tools featured in this artifact are all ones that
appeal to a variety of different cultures and it includes some ways to combat the digital divide. Although
there is less of a divide in my school than most, it is still important to have those supports in place for
students who are in the divide.

This artifact shows my mastery because it demonstrates my ability to identify the severity of a digital
divide within my community. Additionally, it demonstrates my ability to find ways of achieving equitable
access to digital tools and resources both for teachers and students. When I completed this artifact, I
shared my research with my counseling department because they are usually responsible for providing
student and family assistance. In doing this, I was able to model and promote strategies for achieving
equitable access to digital tools and resources. Finding these resources and tools gave families in our
community the opportunity to have home internet for the very first time. This, as a result, proved to
make great strides in closing the digital divide in my school. Additionally, this artifact demonstrates my
ability to model and promote strategies for achieving equitable access to technology-related best
practices for all students and teachers because the first part of the artifact features several culturally
responsive tools that can be used to promote cultural diversity in the classroom. These tools were all
researched and used by my students before I shared them with my colleagues, so I was able to focus the
use of these tools to a specific need for a teacher who was interested in using these tools. The
combination of the two parts are connected because without the resources to close the digital divide, it
does not matter how many tools are available if students do not have access to use these tools.

In the creation of this artifact, I learned more about the community make up of the community
surrounding my school. In general, the school appears to be relatively affluent, however, there is a lot of
poverty hidden by that affluence. I was able to identify ways to make being a part of the poverty a little
bit easier for students and families who find themselves in need. Although when we think of poverty we
typically think of clothes, food, toiletries, etc., we often miss the need for things like technology; which
has become imperative to engage with the school and community. If I were to do this again, I think it
would make it an infographic to make the contents a little more accessible without it seeming like so
much information to process.

The work that went into creating this artifact impacted the school and the community because it gave
students who go to our school the ability to gain internet access, and computer access, inside their
homes. With the continuing trend of utilizing more technology to engage students, if a student does not
have technology he or she may feel excluded without equitable access. The impact of this can be
measured by the amount of families that are currently and continue to use the resource provided to
them. Additionally, we may see impact on student achievement due to them having more access to the
resources they need to be successful.