New study points out school leadership plays a vital role in digital equity

Although laptops and tablets have flooded into schools over the past decade, a new study published online on March 1, 2024, in ECNU Review of Education warns that the real “digital divide” has not disappeared but has become more hidden. The study points out that in the “post-digital era,” digital inequality has shifted from a lack of hardware to how technology is used, and school leaders play a critical role in this.

The study conducted a systematic literature review of the current state of digital equity and school leadership in K-12 schools and found that the mere availability of devices is no longer the only challenge. Technology access, educational practices using technology, and the social context of technology implementation—a lack of equity and social justice in any of these three elements results in digital inequity.

The researchers proposed an approach to digital equity based on Selwyn’s three interlocking elements of technology—access, educational activities and practices, and the social context of the implementation—to recognize inequities not just in what technology students and teachers have at hand but also in what they do with that technology and in what contexts.

The article specifically notes that school leaders often overlook the latter two aspects. When school leaders fail to create a school culture that emphasizes educational equity, digital inequities do not inhere in the technology itself, its implementation, or the tasks teachers and students undertake with it, but in the school leaders and the organization they cultivate. If leaders lack sensitivity to social justice, technology can instead magnify existing inequalities.

“The implications of our model for school leaders are clear: Technology integration requires openness and responsiveness from all stakeholders, especially school leaders,” Dr. Liu et al. stated.

The study encourages school leaders, teachers, and policymakers to take actions that are more conscious of social justice. Dr. Liu et al. noted, “In this way, school leaders can work together with teachers, students, and families to address equity and substantially improve the learning of all students.”

Reference

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/20965311231224083