Within Reach: Fostering Success in the Classroom through Equitable Access to Technology

Over the past decade, the expectation of access to technology to complete coursework has grown dramatically. It is now expected that students have 24/7 access to a personal computer, laptop, or tablet. While many students can meet this expectation without issue, for others, especially those from vulnerable or low-income backgrounds, reliance on technology in a course creates significant barriers to their success. Equitable access to technology, or the digital divide, has been studied since the emergence of public internet access in the 1990s. These studies showed that socioeconomic status and household income was the strongest predictor of individual internet use. More recent studies examine the impact of household income on the type of device that an individual has access to use, for example, a laptop or smartphone, and the type of internet access available, for example, mobile only or home broadband. Despite increased access to technology in general, the digital divide still exists.[1] West Chester University entered a partnership in Southeastern Pennsylvania in 2021 and joined the national, “Moon Shot for Equity” program to eliminate equity gaps in higher education.[2] This program focuses on implementing research-based practices to remove systemic barriers to student success. In support of the University's mission, Information Services and Technology examined what equity gaps were present that we had the ability to address. We identified two broad areas of focus: access to robust and reliable hardware, and access to software. Over the past three years, we have implemented several initiatives to address the digital divide and equitable access to technology. In this session, participants will learn about strategies including hardware lending programs, an overhaul of our virtual software delivery platform, and new software licensing structures we've developed to ensure every student has access to the technology they need to succeed. Attendees will leave with an understanding of the digital divide and how it continues to impact students from low-income backgrounds. They will also leave with examples of initiatives that can be implemented at their own institutions to address equity gaps in technology access to improve student outcomes.