Learning Loss The Digital Divide

2020 was an interesting year

is a phrase echoed by many over the last

several months the year was used as an

adjective to describe how bad something

was

that’s so 2020 it’s 20 20 what did you

expect

what else will go wrong these statements

activate me in ways that are different

from my peers

when i think of the year 2020 i think of

the inequities highlighted by the

interconnectedness of education

and technology globally families across

the globe

endured a second affliction sometimes

called the digital divide

the pandemic hit and schools in the u.s

began closing their doors and

transitioned to remote learning

while this process was not without

challenges several actions facilitated a

smooth transition

for remote learning to be successful

schools invested in portable digital

devices for students

who did not have them at home in

collaboration with school districts

internet providers made broadband

internet service accessible to students

while away from school

these partnerships made continuing in

school a possibility

and reality for students across the us

however

this was not the experience for our

global neighbors technology has long

been a resource we have taken for

granted in the us

and in many other countries students are

now raised in households

with multiple devices broadband internet

and a wide range of streaming services

these luxuries have become the norm that

we forget

these tools didn’t exist a couple

decades ago encyclopedias and library

visits were once the status quo for

completing assignments

fast forward 20 years and few students

have library cards

while we remain interconnected during

the pandemic in the u.s

the lack of technological tools created

a shift in deep isolation worldwide

many did not have the privilege to work

from home as their industries did not

allow for remote work

farmers who rely on selling their goods

in the market

cannot provide for their families in a

remote world this lack of infrastructure

and resources isn’t unique to countries

outside the us

families and students from historically

minoritized communities

have long endured without these

resources schools

libraries and community centers have

served as places of connection to a

world outside their immediate

neighborhoods

i remember the difficulty of having

internet access while living abroad

before the covet 19 pandemic

i lived in poland for some time and

while there i longed for connection with

my family

to do so i had to have an international

calling card

or call via the internet using skype i

didn’t have internet access at home in

my apartment

therefore my connection options were to

buy internet credit

and tether using my phone or walked in

my office

to call my family a similar experience

occurred in malawi

even further away from home tools such

as whatsapp

viber and facetime were helpful but

costly as it required substantial

amounts of credit

to pay for the required data unlimited

internet access

in my home was not a luxury i had

nonetheless my only concern

while living away from home in a

pre-pandemic world was

family connection not attending school

not

going to the doctor or purchasing food

the pandemic has shifted our use of

technology globally

especially tools such as internet access

video conferencing

remote learning and health care here in

the us we remain connected to our jobs

schools family and friends through zoom

calls

google hangouts and other video

conferencing me at the same time

our neighbors across the globe had

vastly different experiences

many schools closed their doors why

unlike the us many countries lacked the

infrastructure to roll out virtual

learning and work for their citizens

schools rarely had computers and when

they did

their employees teachers staff and

administrators did not have the personal

devices to continue their remote work

transition

similarly students did not have portable

devices and when they did

internet connectivity was limited

technological inequities surfaced

not as a byproduct of the pandemic but

as a contributing factor in the myriad

of losses the year produced

one type of lost experience was learning

loss learning loss typically occurs

during the summer

when students are out of school for

several months with no academic skills

and knowledge exposure

however learning loss doesn’t only occur

in the summer months

for black and brown students residing in

the u.s learning loss frequently occurs

when limited resources and

infrastructure to support ongoing

learning are absent

examples of learning loss include

ineffective or low quality teaching

interrupted education and school

absences the pandemic brought about a

unique set of losses

the losses go beyond being physically

present in school the inadequate access

to technology has impacted millions of

students globally

because they lost an entire school year

the following are example stories

provided by the world bank

sutil who lives in a remote village in

west kalamatan indonesia

has found educating his child during the

coven 19 pandemic

to be a monumental challenge as a farmer

with a lack of electricity and no access

to the internet or television

sutel has found it challenging to help

his child with his lessons

once a week teachers come to children’s

homes to help the children with their

learning

however in many cases they have

difficulty finding the children

because they are out with their parents

in the rice fields

rosa is a school teacher in bakassi

indonesia

her daughter attends a private school

and is accessing online learning several

hours a day

but she finds that juggling her job with

family responsibilities

and poor internet connectivity make

teaching and learning

so much more challenging during the

covet 19 pandemic

the pandemic also required me to shift

my scholarly work my work focuses on

research in several sub-saharan

communities

and during the pandemic i didn’t have

access to my ugandan students

nor partners due to school closures

country-wide curfews and limited

internet connectivity

to run a focus group with school-aged

children i had to choose between

forgoing the focus groups

or gathering groups of students together

in one room

to share one computer in the middle of a

pandemic

limited technological resources meant

placing students at risk of infection

or losing an entire year of research

many schools have now reopened across

the globe yet many students have not

returned to school

unesco a division of the united nations

estimates that

11 million girls won’t return to school

postcovid

for several of them like cetil’s

daughter the time off from school meant

they needed to work in the fields

or get jobs to support their family this

risk is magnified for girls

who are more likely to drop out of

school and are more vulnerable to

violence

child marriage and adolescent fertility

it is unclear what the effects of this

lost year of education will be

yet we can surmise that it will impact

millions of families

and the learning loss is one we will be

dealing with for some time to come

the pandemic has shown all citizens of

the world that we are connected

it has also shown us that we must work

together to ensure

those systems that support our ability

to remain interconnected and

interdependent

are available once seen as a luxury of

innovation

an excellent tool for interconnectedness

technology is becoming a development

metric for many countries

the pandemic has taught us that we can

no longer operate the way we once did

we need to find ways to bridge in some

places and shore up in

others the technological divide of our

global neighbor

tomorrow’s leaders depend on all of us

to ensure that they can redeem

the lost year