The digital equity issues of confronting coronavirus with online education

The digital equity issues of confronting coronavirus with online education

Should schools teach anyone who can get online – or no one at all?
What Washington schools have learned about the digital equity issues of confronting the coronavirus with online education

The Northshore School District, in an upper-middle-class suburb of Seattle, was among the first in Washington state – and in the country – to close due to the coronavirus. Less than a week after the March 5 closure, one Northshore parent, Amy Amirault, noticed a shift in the tone of other parents on social media. “We’re in this together” quickly turned to finger-pointing at “those kids,” one of whom was her eldest son.

Amirault’s son Daniel Sabol, 14, has autism. She said he was essentially nonverbal and had difficulty holding conversations – either online or in person. Certain sounds and songs on a computer can send him into “screaming and sobbing fits,” she said, and a visual that catches his eye may make him demand to watch a tutorial again and again. Before now, the most he’d done on a video call was to wave to grandma. Online education was unlikely to work well for him.

On its website and in letters to families, the district initially boasted of its preparation “to move teaching and learning beyond the four walls of the classroom.” And in statements to the media, Northshore pledged to make that transition as seamless as possible for everyone, including students with disabilities.

55.1 million – students in the U.S. out of school (public and private) due to coronavirus

Problems arose right away.

“Our team in the Special Education Department continues problem solving issues and concerns from parents and guardians,” Northshore CONTINUE READING: The digital equity issues of confronting coronavirus with online education