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