Adopt Technology - Project Spotlight 1
Inquiry-Based Research
#devicedivide
Adopt Technology - Project Spotlight 2
K-12 Educational Professional Development & Technology Integration with Google Classroom
Adopt Technology - Project Spotlight 3
Digital Transformation Planning
Computers are financially out of reach for millions of people in the United States, especially for those with lower incomes, people of color, people with disabilities, and the older generation. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been steadily increasing support in the United States for the deployment of Digital Navigators who are trained to assist community members with acquiring affordable internet and computers, as well as provide digital skills resources and training. Yet their ability to assist clients has become increasingly challenged by a dwindling supply of affordable computing device providers.
To help drive their mission to make computer ownership possible for everyone, Digitunity commissioned Maribel Martinez Consulting to research Digital Navigators and their ability to procure large-screen devices in 2022, building on previous research on computer ownership in the U.S. also commissioned by Digitunity from 2021.
The aim of this small-scale qualitative research study was to explore the experiences of Digital Navigators and their computer procurement efforts for asset-limited people, to understand their challenges with obtaining affordable large-screen devices, and to gather insights for how to improve the overall process of affordable device procurement.
Like most teachers, students, and school leadership teams across the country, Aliza Kadish, Principal of Beacon Hill Preparatory School, and her K-8 teachers tried to balance the multi-dimensional effects of the COVID-19 pandemic while maintaining high student learning standards in 2020. Having pivoted to virtual learning, Ms. Kadish contacted Maribel Martinez Consulting in early 2021 to discuss the future of teaching and learning at Beacon Hill with cloud technology.
Maribel Martinez, the firm’s principal, began consulting on integrating Google Workspace (formerly known as Google Apps for Education) in New York and Miami classrooms back in 2011, and she continues to advocate its use for everyone but especially for under-resourced students and families because they are free with a Gmail account. Given the student population at Beacon Hill as well as the school’s current subscription to Google Workspace, the foundation for Google Classroom was already in place.
Ms. Kadish, along with her curriculum coordinator, sat down for long virtual conversations with the consultant around what the teachers and students had experienced since the onset of the pandemic, the unknown challenges that lie ahead, as well as the current emotional state of the faculty. Teachers were exhausted. There was tremendous apprehension to announce a new initiative in a school whose instructional year is already longer than most - 11 months. Some teachers also lacked the digital skills that would make learning and adapting to Google Classroom more challenging than for those who were already accustomed to working in cloud environments.
These informational and planning conversations painted a vivid picture for the consultant to design an appropriate, supportive, and immersive learning experience in Google Classroom basics in May 2021. Custom training materials were created for the Beacon Hill faculty which made following the virtual training and the independent learning pieces easier to manage and complete. Beyond the workshops, additional support via email was also built into the program. Given the consultant’s K-12 teaching experience spanning 14 years, she asked the right questions and facilitation was adapted to ensure teachers of different subjects and grades would be able to implement Google Classroom in ways that suited them. In the end, the teachers at Beacon Hill rated the professional learning experience very highly and because they recommended working with the same consultant once again, Ms. Kadish asked the consultant to return in 2021-22 to expand Google Classroom integration as well as deepen effective teaching.
Building on a successful track record of training seniors to subscribe to the internet affordably, provide access to a tablet device, and teach seniors to use devices in meaningful ways through public-private partnerships, Maribel Martinez Consulting is working with UPLIFT Florida Network, a 501(c)3 organization whose mission is dedicated to supporting healthy aging in place to members and their caregivers through a network of connected individuals and “villages.”
Since the internet is considered a social determinant of health, UPLIFT Florida Network recognizes the importance of digital inclusion activities such as affordable broadband internet and computers, as well as the skills that are needed to be able to use the internet and computers in personally relevant ways in order for elders to feel connected to their communities and to maintain their mental and physical health. As such, they have prioritized digital access for their staff as well as the people they serve, in order to ensure that everyone has equitable access to the digital technologies that are vital to life at any age.
Maribel Martinez Consulting is excited to work with UPLIFT Florida Network on its digital transformation journey by first providing internal digital skills capacity building support as well as lead pilot programs among its Villages network throughout Florida in the coming years.