Dissertation
School leaders' role in dismantling the digital divide: technology use for Black K-8 students attending low-income schools
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Drexel University
Sep 2023
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00001846
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed that, instead of narrowing, the digital divide has widened. During the pandemic, we received data on the inequitable uses of technology in different K-8 schools. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine the digital divide in the US K-8 school system and the school leader's role in dismantling it. This study focused on schools that educate Black K-8 students in low-income urban public schools in the United States. This study provides insight into school leaders' lived experiences with technology use and implementation at their schools. The primary research question in this study was as follows: How do urban public school principals understand and address the digital divide? The following sub-questions guided the study: 1) How do principals leading schools in predominantly Black urban public schools in low socioeconomic communities support a technology-enabled environment? 2) What do these principals consider the biggest impediments to digital equity? 3) What are these principals' perceptions of technology in teaching and learning? This study took a social constructivist approach to researching principals' roles and the effects of the digital divide on Black students' academic success. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with principals of urban public schools on the East Coast of the United States. Keywords: digital divide, second digital divide, COVID-19, Black students, school leaders
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Details
- Title
- School leaders' role in dismantling the digital divide
- Creators
- Lori L. Ferguson
- Contributors
- Harriette Rasmussen (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- 73 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- School of Education (1997-2026); Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991021229614504721