Policy Brief Part 1

Access, the Digital Divide, and Special Populations

Introduction
The digital divide threatens the mission of the Central York School District. If we are committed to providing educational opportunities through which ALL students strive to achieve their full potential, we need to act now and act appropriately. The digital divide is the gap between the people who benefit from technology and the people who are not able to do so. We have many students who do not have access to beneficial technology use. Without action, those students will fail to achieve their full potential. I have outlined two options below, with pros and cons to each plan.

Option 1
Netbooks are an affordable option for schools to provide access at home for those students who do not have that access.

Pro – We could provide four times the number of students with access to beneficial technology use at home with Netbooks than with the MacBooks we currently provide students at the high school. Teachers could assign work at home that requires using technology, which would give more opportunities for students to achieve their full potential. While netbooks do not have the memory available to install many programs we use in school, there are alternatives. Many for-cost programs used in school(Microsoft Office) have similar, free options(Google Docs, Open Office online that students can be taught to access and use.

Con – While netbooks are relatively inexpensive, they would take a large chunk of money to purchase enough of them to make a difference. The district’s current technology plan does not call for elementary or middle school students to receive any type of take-home technology. Purchasing netbooks now could possibly require the district to force a referendum to raise the tax rate, which would be extremely unpopular in this current economic climate.

Option 2
Technology workshops specifically designed for parents would help us to educate them on how we are using technology and the importance of the use of technology.

Pro – Being in the field of education, we all know how important lifelong learning is. If we were to offer monthly technology workshops, we could educate many parents in the various technology available and the way in which their children are using it. We could also show the short and long-term benefits of the use of the technology. Featuring beneficial technology that is not available wide-spread would also assist us. In that way, we could build a grassroots movement to support future bolstering of the technology budget.

Con – Trying to involve parents is not always easy. Usually, the parents you want to attract are the parents who are not going to attend. To attract the most parents, you would have to offer incentives such as child care, since the children would be more of a distraction, food, because everyone knows that if you have food, people in York county will come, and possible door prizes that could include digital cameras, flip cameras, and the like.


References
http://reviews.cnet.com/online-software-services/google-docs-spreadsheets/4505-9239_7-32115919.html?tag=lia;rcol

http://download.cnet.com/OpenOffice-org/3000-18483_4-10263109.html?tag=mncol#editorsreview