Digital Equity and Restorative Justice

It seems while the world continues to move to increased digital reliance, this concept of the digital divide grows ever more prominent.  Understanding the inequity that exists when it comes to the use and access of technology is crucial to understanding how to best utilize technology in various fields, especially education.  At its most fundamental level, the digital divide is concerned with understanding how to integrate and utilize technology in a way that is equitable and provides the greatest service to the greatest number of users.  When considering the field of education, the digital divide also deals with a number of issues restorative justice practices also aim to improve.  

For our emerging technology practices project our group focused on the importance of restorative justice practices in peak transition periods in education (middle to secondary education and secondary to higher education).  What we discussed was an overwhelming theme of meeting students where they are at and finding new ways to create innovative practices designed to help students and better their experiences to proactively combat common struggles students face.  Can't we do that when considering the digital divide too?

When using technology in the classroom what is the most common infraction?  I think many would argue students' overwhelmingly inappropriate use of technology.  Whether it's students mishandling and damaging their technological devices, students using their devices to engage in cyberbullying or other inappropriate behaviors online, or a number of other small but inappropriate uses of technology, educational institutions are facing a new type of "behavior issue" staff and faculty must handle.  How does the digital divide play into this?  Well for some students they either have access to technology outside of the classroom and therefore do not engage in "inappropriate behavior" during classroom technology time, or they do not have access to this technology outside of the classroom and therefore want to take advantage of the opportunities in front of them to better their understanding.  Of course this is not the case for all students, but for some the digital divide is a contributing factor in their need for restorative justice practices.  These practices then come into effect when staff and faculty, who have been empowered to implement these practices, can use them to help students change how they view technology use in classroom settings.  

While much about this move toward a largely digital and technology-based world still leaves much to the unknown, it feels likely that with this increasing inequity in our classrooms, restorative justice practices will become ever more important to create equitable educational environments for our students.