Digital Divide Initiatives in the Beaverton School District

Student access to robust digital tools and curriculum is key to their success as 21st century citizens. Yet many students from economically disadvantaged families have limited access to these tools outside of school.   It is worth noting that nearly two-thirds of school system leaders do not have any strategies for providing off-campus connectivity to students. (CoSN Infrastructure Survey, 2016)  Closing this opportunity gap requires a variety of strategies involving schools and communities working together.  In Beaverton, we began addressing this challenge by starting a monthly "Digital Equity Brown Bag Lunch" discussion group.

We cast a wide net and extended invitations to people from different schools and different departments. Really, the main requirement was to show up and to bring focused energy to this issue.  The monthly meetings didn’t jump directly to solutions. Rather, we gathered data and wondered what more information we needed. Different people brought a wide variety of perspectives, and that led us to solutions that we might not have thought of in a small, similar group.  After a year of study, some initial action items emerged:

1. Extended Library Hours:  One outcome to support students was to extend library hours.   Although this is helpful, it doesn’t help students who work and/or take the bus home.  This year, our district has extended activity buses so that students can access school wifi.
2. Hotspot Pilot Project:  In 2016-17, we piloted a hotspot project in one of our high schools.  We learned quickly that demand far exceeded the available supply.
3. WiFi access maps: Some of our schools in highly impacted areas contacted local businesses to see if they would be willing to allow students to use their wifi after school hours.  This proactive approach helped build community support and engage others with our access challenges. To see a sample wifi map (in English and Spanish) click here:  https://goo.gl/NFGYZF
4. Sprint 1 Million Hotspot Grant:  In the Spring of 2017, our Digital Equity Team applied for a Sprint 1 Million hotspot grant.  We were fortunate enough to be chosen and this fall we deployed hotspots in all of our high schools.  In planning to distribute the hotspots, we emphasized making the experience an affirming process for students. To view one of our rollouts, click here:  https://vimeo.com/234439613
5. Latino Tech Parent Nights:  We host Latino parent technology nights to educate parents on how to support their students with technology.  Many of these parents have not used a computer before, so educating them about digital citizenship, expectations, and parenting helps show them the value of being connected and of being ready for the future.  See example:  https://goo.gl/E9WfcR
6. Kajeet Hotspot Project:  To meet the needs at middle and elementary schools, we are piloting a Kajeet hotspot project at three of our highest needs schools.  We are working closely to gather data on teaching and learning at these schools in order to inform future adoptions.
7. District Survey:  This year, we included questions about home internet connectivity in our district wide student survey.

Latino Tech Parent Night: We are all teachers and we are all students.

The video above tells a brief story of some of our initiatives, but we realize that this is just a first step.   Teaching and technology are changing quickly, and new challenges constantly emerge.   The important thing is to be willing to work together to address challenges (both short term and long term) in order to provide a quality and engaging education for all of our students.  Beaverton School District was recently recognized by CoSN with the 2018 Digital Equity Award.