Last month, the Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion delivered 110 computers to students in South West Sydney.
UTS sourced these devices with the help of Lenovo, at short notice and against surging demand, to support students in our partner schools, particularly those in the U@Uni Academy – our program to increase university intake of low SES students through an intensive two-year program.
There is a digital divide driving inequality in our education system. It affects capacity, critical thinking skills and access to online learning, and the pandemic has exacerbated it. While schools have now gone back to regular classes, the impacts of COVID-19 home schooling will impact a generation of students.
COVID-19 driving digital inequity
Only 86 per cent of Australian households have access to the internet at home.
While only 3 per cent of high-income households don't have access to the internet, this increases to 33 per cent among the lowest income households and presents a major barrier and risk for children who are learning remotely.
Unequal distribution of access to, and ease of using, digital devices, is an issue that is only getting worse as online learning becomes more common. The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the disparity, compounding existing barriers through limited access to digital devices, financial strain and family resources.
“It’s a question of whether students can engage meaningfully or not. Students are not starting on an even playing field and this has knock-on effects throughout their entire schooling, and of course potentially their career,” says Bethany Ross, Student Equity Project Officer, Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion.
“The feedback from high-school teachers is that access to reliable technology and secure internet remains a fundamental problem.”
Handing over a box of 40 laptops to teaching staff at Sir Joseph Banks High School.
Many students in our U@Uni program live in families who have been severely affected by business shutdowns and are at risk of falling on the wrong side of the digital divide.
“The teachers were just so worried that students weren’t engaging with the online learning resources. But they felt powerless to help,” says Bethany.
As public institutions, universities need to support communities, and particularly our students working toward a degree as part of our widening participation program.
The closure of schools forced us to move the U@Uni Academy learning material, resources and mentoring experience online – a challenge familiar to any educational institution right now.
However, moving the Academy online meant the students who were unable to access tech would continue to be disadvantaged - in some cases unable to engage with material at all. We needed to ensure that Academy students were able continue to engage.
“With schools and public libraries shut down, the usual safeguards were removed,” says Bethany. “Students who had been relying on these public resources lost these options. I think this drove home a reality that hadn’t necessarily been fully addressed in the gradual move to digital learning.”
As a result, we reconnected with our partner schools and students in South West Sydney to find solutions to their emerging needs.
This situation has stressed the need for flexibility in education - in design, in responsiveness, and most importantly, in listening to the community.
To provide the tutoring resources which are fundamental to the delivery of our program, we sourced and urgent delivery of 10 Chromebooks for Year 12 students at Liverpool Boys High School. The remaining 100 were delivered to the rest of our schools soon after.
The NSW Department of Education launched their own device provision scheme, but issues of this scale require support from multiple angles. UTS was able to fill a gap to help those in urgent need who were unable to access the Department’s device provision scheme.
Back to normal?
“Even though students have returned to school, the need is still there,” says Bethany.
The digital divide exists beyond this current pandemic, although the past few months have highlighted the extent of the need.
“Disadvantage doesn’t disappear with a return to structured learning. The same students who suffered from lack of access with the shutdown will now benefit from having a laptop at home – and they will keep the UTS laptops until the end of the school year. This will support year 11 students through their first year of the U@Uni Academy, and support year 12 students through their HSC.
“It’s a simple thing, really. But for some of these students, it will impact their whole career and life ahead of them. We can’t underestimate how powerful something like this can be.”