Photo From: https://hbr.org/2020/03/coronavirus-is-widening-the-corporate-digital-divide
Have you ever sat down and thought about your own digital literacy practices? Or have you ever heard of the term before entering College? Digital literacy is integrated into our everyday lives without many of us ever really noticing it or being able to put a name to it. This is something that Hunter related to as well. He has always had access to technology and has grown up playing video games and chatting with friends through the internet, however, he never really thought about what he was doing having a name. While interviewing Hunter, I noticed he has always had technology in his life. COVID and the shift to online learning did not affect him as much as others since in the past he has had the privilege of taking online classes. While interviewing Hunter I began to think about others at the college level, who have not been as fortunate.
The realm of e-learning is new to many of us, myself included. The atmosphere of online learning is different than the traditional way of classes and is more demanding. With the push for classes being completely online it has shifted the responsibility onto the students, something that many of us have not encountered. The professors are implementing different platforms into their curriculum in order to better modify the class to fit the learning objectives. This though has caused accessibility issues in the online formate. At the College of Charleston, Oaks has been the main platform for students to use. With the changing of classes, some professors are using Google Classroom, their own websites, or others. This is not all easily accessible to students. Students are expected to have the digital literacy skills needed to be successful in this transition to fully online, however, this is not the case. Some students attended class fully in person and an Oaks page was never needed. They even printed and handed in their essays to select courses.
While adapting to the 2020 way of living, students are beginning to enter the world of digital literacy. Some, like Hunter, has had access to technology early on, others have not. This causes a digital divide within the student body. There is a high demand for classes to become more accessible in order to better help students who are not as literate in their digital practices. These students include those with disabilities and those who do not have the same access to technology. Solutions to this would include more involvement from professors. Oftentimes, professors do not look at their classes from a student perspective. Students also struggle with communicating their lack of skills or are not even aware of the digital literacy practices that they lack until they are faced with these differences. When entering college, it is assumed that students are digitally literate and the platforms used are easily accessible.
During March, the introduction of Zoom was sudden and unknown. Our generation adapts quickly to change, but in terms of technology, there is still an adjustment period. Students at the college with disabilities went from a very hands-on curriculum and modifications to a completing new way of learning. Zoom was unknown and feared by many. It was not accessible for those with hearing impairments and the shift to online made personalized instruction harder. Modifications were almost impossible due to the lack of structure a semester of Zoom had. This is still an issue today. Though classes are better planned and hybrid, the different approaches to online learning presented by professors are difficult to adjust to no matter how digitally literate one is.
The average student at the College of Charleston attended in-person classes before the COVID era and did most of their work or submitted their assignments through Oaks. The introduction to other platforms is not accessible unless all students are able to easily access it and are able to learn at their fullest potential. This is not the case and the college needs to take notice of this. Flexibility, access to wifi, computers for students in need, and extra attention to those who need modifications due to learning or physical disabilities need to be taken into consideration while planning the semester’s course load.