Participate 3.1.1 Access to the Digital Community

In order to be an effective digital citizen, access is a must. Whether one is a learner or an educator, understanding the levels of access can be beneficial. After completing the module on access I found the following results about my own connection:

I also discovered that Carroll County is ranked 67th out of 160 counties in the state of Georgia.
While I thought my broadband access was decent, compared to the national standard mine is much slower.  I am able to do just about anything I need to for education, so I am not complaining.
As an online educator, I would have to ask the following questions:

• What types of barriers might impede students’ opportunities to access digital learning?

Unfortunately, some students may have barriers to accessing digital learning. Some barriers could include low bandwidth, disabilities, income disparity, political constraints, and outdated equipment. Everyone that tries to access digital learning is no sitting in their living room in a big city.  There are those that are poverty stricken and can not afford new equipment or high speed internet.  They do the best they can with what they have. 

• What might we do to eliminate such barriers?

With new accessibility options there are ways to eliminate barriers for people that suffer from disabilities.  This is one of the easier barriers to overcome.  On the end of the instructor, there is not a whole lot that can be done to help students acquire better equipment or quicker internet.  However, instructors can take into consideration that some students do struggle with issues out of their control and be understanding with deadlines.