36 Ashley Parks, EdD Recommendations for Policy Makers Districts in low socioeconomic areas struggle to have funds necessary to improve technology. Policy makers must understand the imperativeness to provide adequate funds for schools to improve infrastructure and purchase digital technologies. The pandemic only birthed new issues and needs that school districts are having to fund. Policy makers must act quickly to support costly technology initiatives for schools. Closing the second digital divide and promoting digital equity amongst all students can be solved through greater financial support from policy makers. To mitigate the second digital divide, schools must first get support to overcome the first divide. Conclusion It is evident that equity plagues the second digital divide due to varying experiences for marginalized students. If districts do not intercede, the second divide can be detrimental, potentially widening the achievement gap between socioeconomic groups. Continuing down the slippery slope of not effectively equipping teachers and students with technology and digital wisdom in low socioeconomic areas will be detrimental to not only education, but society as a whole. Before COVID, digital equity was already a widespread issue and COVID has only unveiled these deeply rooted issues in education. Although we are in the 21st century, living in technology rich environments, digital equity is festering and school districts are unequipped to meet the need alone. References Attewell, P. (2001). Comment: The first and second digital divides. Sociology of Education, 74(3) 252–259. Attewell, P., Suazo-Garcia, B., & Battle, J. (2003). Computers and young children: Social benefit or social problem? Social Forces, 82(1), 277–296. www.jstor.org/ stable/3589146 Chen, C. H. (2008). Why do teachers not practice what they believe regarding technology integration? The Journal of Educational Research, 102(1), 65–75. https:// doi.org/10.3200/joer.102.1.65-75 Davies, R. S. (2011). Understanding technology literacy: A framework for evaluating educational technology integration. TechTrends, 55(5), 45–52. Earle, R. S. (2002). The integration of instructional technology into public education: Promises and challenges. Educational Technology, 42(1), 5–13. Ertmer, P. A. (1999). Addressing first- and second-order barriers to change: Strategies for technology integration. Educational Technology Research and Development, 47(4), 47–61. doi:10.1007/BF02299597 Ertmer, P. A. (2005). Teacher pedagogical beliefs: The final frontier in our quest for technology integration? Educational Technology Research and Development, 53(4), 25–39. Ertmer, P. A., & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. T. (2010). Teacher technology change: How knowledge, confidence, beliefs, and culture intersect. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 42(3), 255–284. Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a culture of change. Jossey-Bass. Gibson, I. W. (2001). The role of school administrators in the process of effectively integrating educational technology into school learning environments: An evaluation in progress. Technology and Teacher Education Annual, 1, 502–506. Gorder, L. M. (2008). A study of teacher perceptions of instructional technology integration in the classroom. Delta Pi Epsilon J. 50, 63–76. Harmes, J. C., Welsh, J. L., & Winkelman, R. J. (2016). A framework for defining and evaluating technology integration in the instruction of real-world skills. In S. Ferrara, Y. Rosen, & M. Tager (Eds.), Handbook of research on technology tools for real-world skill development (pp. 137–162). IGI Global. Herseim, J. (2019). Digital equity: What comes after access? Students need to be taught how to use tech or a digital divide will persist even if everyone has a device. District Administration, 55(10), 83. Ismaili, Y. (2021). Evaluation of students’ attitude toward distance learning during the pandemic (Covid-19): A case study of ELTE university. On the Horizon, 29(1), 17–30. https://doi.org/10.1108/oth-09-2020-0032 Kim, C., Kim, M. K., Lee, C., Spector, J. M., & DeMeester, K. (2013). Teacher beliefs and technology integration.
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