Student access to robust digital tools is key to their success as 21st-century citizens. Yet, many students have limited access to these tools, both at school and home. CoSN is working to close the access gap for learning no matter where the students are.
CoSN Staff Contact: Jill Brown, MA, Ph.D., Director of Professional Learning, jbrown@cosn.org
Defining Digital Access 2022
Creating a shared understanding of what digital access is and what district leaders can do to realize digital access for the students that they serve is more important than ever. CoSN has created this resource to help leaders build a shared understanding of digital access for their district.
Digital Access Dashboard
Learn about the Digital Access Dashboard, an innovative and practical tool designed to help school districts and communities leverage data to close digital access gaps. The powerful instrument integrates various national data sets into one comprehensive dashboard. By anonymizing the data and breaking it down into county, school district and zip code units, the Digital Access Dashboard provides school and community leaders with valuable data to inform decision-makers and address access concerns.
Update: As of December 13, 2023, the Digital Access Dashboard has been upgraded to Version 2. While the core concept and purpose of the dashboard remain unchanged, there have been significant updates to the metrics, resources, and overall layout. These changes reflect the valuable feedback received from our partners and users.
Check out these additional free resources on the Digital Access Dashboard V1: Webinar Recording, and Webinar Podcast.
In The News
- Read the latest release in edCircuit on the benefits of the Digital Access Dashboard.
- Read more about the Dashboard in EdWeek's Market Brief
New Digital Access Dashboard Case Studies
Bridging the Digital Divide in Altona, Wisconsin: A Collaborative and Data-Driven Approach
The COVID-19 pandemic brought the issue of digital access into sharp focus, highlighting the critical importance of internet access for education, employment, healthcare, and civic participation. In the School District of Altoona, Wisconsin, a community with diverse demographics and varying levels of digital access, the pandemic underscored the need to address the digital divide within the school system and throughout the broader community.
Desert Sands Unified School District Commitment to Digital Access and Data-Driven Decision Making
Desert Sands Unified School District is a suburban school district serving approximately 26,000 students. As part of the Connect: One to World Device Initiative and to ensure and enhance digital access for all scholars, the district implemented a 1:1 Chromebook program for TK-12 students and established a private LTE network to ensure all students have access to the necessary technology for their education.
Student Home Internet Connectivity Study
This report is the second year of a breakthrough study on students’ at-home internet connectivity with a special focus on the home-to-school experience. The study fills a critical need among educators and policymakers for detailed insight on students’ learning experiences at home since returning to the classroom.
Seven K-12 urban, suburban and rural school districts from across the United States with approximately 300,000 students participated in the study. Now that most students have returned to their school locations for in-person learning, the study examines how network connectivity has changed. The resulting findings will serve as a guide for school district technology leaders across the United States working to improve online learning access, especially during after-school hours when students are doing school work from home. Policymakers and educators must not lose sight of the considerable inequities that remain around at-home internet connectivity, especially for at-risk populations.
View the 2021 Student Home Connectivity Report. View the 2021 Visualized Data.
View our Member Exclusive Briefs for the 2022 Student Home Connectivity Study
Please note that you must be logged in as a member in order to view the following links below, or they will not appear.
View the latest District Spotlights for the 2022 Student Home Connectivity Study
Conversation Starters
Using data to understand the needs within your district is important component to closing the digital divide. This presentation is intended for CoSN leaders to use as a conversation starter with the leadership teams in their district as a way to help navigate the work that is involved in collecting data in order to realize digital access. To get started, download the entire presentation and modify for your specific needs. You will find notes that accompany most of the slides to guide you through the presentation. We suggest using this during a leadership team meeting with the intention of it being as much about a conversation with dialogue throughout, as it is a presentation.
Please share this with others but give attribution to CoSN.
This presentation is intended for CoSN leaders to use as a conversation starter with the leadership teams in their district as a way to help navigate the work that is involved in realizing digital access for all students. To get started, download the entire presentation and modify for your specific needs. You will find notes that accompany most of the slides to guide you through the presentation. We suggest using this during a leadership team meeting with the intention of it being as much about a conversation with dialogue throughout, as it is a presentation.
Please share this with others but give attribution to CoSN.
Digital Access In Action
Districts across the country are working to close the digital divide for their students. In these videos you can see firsthand how CoSN members are ware working to ensure digital access.
Desert Sands Unified School District was the winner of the 2021 CoSN Community Leadership for Digital Access Award Recipient. Learn how DSUSD is creating an equitable digital learning environment for all of their students in this video.
Santa Fe Public School is working hard to close the digital divide for their students. Take a look at the holistic approach that they are taking to ensure digital access to ensure that every student in the district is prepared for their future.
Additonal Resources
Home Connectivity from a Digital Access Lens
As we set our sights on the 2021-2022 year, many school districts are focusing on how they will carry forward new digital learning environments. Schools rethought traditional school models during the pandemic, and the ability to differentiate and offer ongoing, quality, innovative learning experiences, including the option to learn from home during and outside of the classic school schedule, is essential. In addition, leaders must understand the connectivity issues that many of our students face supporting districts in making decisions that foster an equitable education for all students. CoSN recently published a new report, The Student Home Connectivity Study. This new study will assist leaders in understanding the inequities that families face when it comes to virtual learning and offer recommendations to help leaders better support students when learning from home.
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